Week 11 - Utah

Colorado became a state in 1876, beating Utah by 20 years, and thereby earning the legal claim to a much better state name.  Utah dallied around with plural marriages before entering statehood and missed out, but it really should be called Colorado.  The state has the most dramatic and varied geography and colors across the spectrum.  Colorado.  Wait, no, Utah.  Utah?

Our final state of exploration was indeed Utah.  We've spent a good amount of time in south Utah, such as Moab and Escalante, but we'd never been to the northeast, along the borders of Wyoming and Colorado.  We've seen such stunning areas of natural beauty over the course of this trip, but Utah is definitely the top draw.  (If you're viewing this in an email, click here for a better viewing experience.)

Wild camp overlooking the Flaming Gorge

Our first stop after Steamboat was the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Center.   It's a boater's wonderland, thanks to the damming of the Green River in 1964.  For us terrestrials, it's also a wonderland of trails, creeks, and plentiful remote campsites.

The weather was just starting to change as September approached

A moment of perfect happiness

Do you ever have one of those sublime moments when you realize there is nothing that's missing from your life, no where else you'd rather be, nothing you'd do differently?  That's what we call a moment of perfect happiness.  This trip has had many.

Free range cows stopping by for breakfast

Biking along the rim of the gorge

Bighorn sheep vs. Specialized bike

It's nice traveling with an artist/photographer to capture the moments

People have asked how comfortable our bed in the van is.  It's fantastic!  We've been sleeping like champs on this trip, even 9-10 hours a night. The bed is wider than a queen and made of memory foam.  It requires a ladder to ascend, which is the easy part.  Descending in the middle of the night and navigating around the dogs requires an agility that makes mountain biking look easy.

Even with the great sleep, our active days seem to require more and more stretching episodes in order to maintain them.  The inexorable march of time does take its toll.

I got a lot of slack from my shower picture of Dennis last year, so I had to include another one.  Unfortunately, Dennis wouldn't let me post it as is, so I had to crop it.  We have a 20 gallon water tank that shoots out scalding hot water on demand.

I posted this picture on Instagram with the caption "Best toilet by a dam site".  I don't think anyone understood the double entendre - there is a dam down below.  Oh well.

This is actually just for night time use in the van (I'm scared of animals at night, all by myself, in a very vulnerable position), but I liked the juxtaposition.

The Last Supper before civilization

The end game of this summer's journey has always been a grueling endurance mountain bike race that Dennis wanted to do, called the Park City Peak to Peak.  Our final 6 days were spent in Park City, staying at an Airbnb.  The town is yet another wonderful mountain resort, replete with community events, well marked trails, dog parks, great restaurants and really friendly people.

Concert in the park

The trails were so enjoyable I found myself
running much farther than I normally would

Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, which were predominantly in Park City.  The Utah Olympic Park remains a very active training center for Olympic athletes.  We took a ride on the bobsled course, careening down at 70 mph for all of 1 minute and 3 seconds.  I don't need to do that again.

The dog parks of Park City are the best I've ever seen.  They have man made lakes with docks and rubber mats to protect their paws from the rocky edge.  They have another one adjacent to the city library, with live music, a cafe and Chuck-its (ball flingers) that you can check out at the front desk in case you forgot yours.  There are buckets of balls at the entrance to each park, with signs inviting you to partake.  People bring coolers full of gallons of cold water to replenish bowls in areas without a nearby water source.  Serious dog lovers.

Dennis and his teammate, Ken, just before the race

The Peak to Peak is a 75 mile race climbing over 12,000 feet, all at elevations between 8.000-10,000 ft.  It takes about 8+ hours to complete.

Beautiful race course among the Aspens

Ending the race strong and happy

And so ends our Summer 2018 journey of 7,701 miles.  What an incredible time we had!  I fully expected to want to return home far sooner than the 11+ weeks we'd planned, but that wasn't the case.  Traveling without plans or expectations, with people (and dogs) you love, was one of the most pleasurable, anxiety-free trips I've ever experienced.   The beauty of the western US and BC, the kindness of everyone we encountered, the laid-back pace of life, the lure of the road less traveled, enjoying life when and as it comes, the softness that comes from disconnecting from our over connected life - this was an incredible journey.  We're already looking forward to the next adventure.