Dad was turning 70 on August 12th. The family planned a surprise gathering for him in Detroit the last weekend in July. With a couple days filled with family, baseball, beautiful weather, and making more memories, it couldn't have been any more perfect. Happy 70th Dad! We love you!
It has become an annual summer retreat for the Lautzenheisers to explore the impressive San Juan Mountains below via Jeep Trails.
Red Mountain #1, #2, and #3....those are really the names.
This year, we stopped in Cedar City, Moab, and Twin Lakes on the way to our final destination of Silverton, the southern most town of the San Juan Range. While in Cedar City, we broke in our new mountain bikes on Lichen It Trail. Moab gave Scott the chance to revisit the trails that he and his brothers had ridden in the past.
After leaving Utah, we attempted to visit the famous Bells Maroon area, but all the campsites within a million miles were full, so we continued on. We ended up well above the clouds on Independence Pass and finally settled in a campground on Twin Lakes, which was beautiful.
Once in Silverton with Duane and Mom, the days just got better. We started out on Corkscrew Gulch (where we had to turn around last year due to a broken jeep) to California Gulch with Como Lake in between. The red mountains were just as impressive as we'd remembered. The drivers decided to take it easy on day two, where we traversed Stony Pass and did a historical tour of the town. Our final full day took us across Engineer Pass (with nearly a 360 degree view of the mountains) to Lake City and back to Silverton on Cinnamon Pass.
Anxious to return to Patches, we (meaning Scott) drove back home in one day, with a couple stops. First, the not-so-impressive Four Corners Monument. Fun fact: the monument isn't even on the four corners. If you stand on the monument, you're actually only in New Mexico. Ha...suckers! Finally, we stopped at the famously photographed Horseshoe Bend in Page, AZ. Although the gorge was impressive, there were too many people for our liking. From afar, all the tourists walking to and from the lookout looked like ants on a hill.
Topo cooling off in Moab, Utah.
Independence Pass, CO
Near our campsite in Twin Lakes.
Tramming it up to Monarch Crest Summit
Animas Forks, an old mining town
Molas Lake Campground near Silverton
Como Lake
Beginning our self guided tour of Silverton history
That brown spot is a bear just on the other side of the river
The Four Corners Monument is not really on the four corners...oops!
Horseshoe Bend in Page, AZ
We took an impromptu trip to Northern Nevada to escape the 115 degree temperatures. With our camper hitched, tent packed, and Topo's head out the window, we left Patches in good hands and headed north.
Last summer, we visited Lamoille Canyon and were greatly impressed. While hiking across Liberty Pass, we saw some tent campers near the alpine lakes, and told ourselves, "That will be us one day." While most people upgrade from tent camping to trailer camping to motorhomes, we took a step backwards from our pop-up trailer and bought ourselves a quality tent and lightweight sleeping bags to backpack to these gorgeous alpine lakes.
Our first stop was Great Basin National Park, where we surprised our neighbors, who just so happened to be camping there. Stop number two was Angel Lake, located south of Wells, Nevada. A beautiful waterfall, surrounded by green grasses backdropped the isolated lake. We spent the afternoon hiking around the lake where Topo was happily reintroduced to snow.
The following day we set up camp at Thomas Canyon Campground in Lamoille Canyon and set out to explore. With a greater amount of snowfall this year than last, and visiting the canyon two weeks earlier than last year, massive amounts of snow were yet to melt. Island Lake, a 4-mile round trip hike, was mostly covered with ice. The heavy snow, however, only made the granite cliffs more picturesque.
Realizing that the snow levels were still high, we headed up to Liberty Pass the next day with our gear packed, ready to camp next to a frozen alpine lake. Although our initial trail became too risky to traverse, we found another route hiking through high snow levels and crossing quick flowing streams to make it to Lamoille Lake and Dollar Lakes. We were relieved! With a cold night ahead, we climbed into our sleeping bags and slept surprising well.
With our goal met, tired legs, and even a worn out Topo, we headed back south to embrace both Patches and the suffocating heat.
We spent a couple nights tent camping twenty feet from the coastline! Before hopping on the Catalina Express, we stopped in to San Pedro's Brewery to some locally brewed beer. While at Two Harbors, we broke in some of our new camping gear, such as the AMAZING Jetboil! It boils water in less than minute so we could enjoy fresh coffee in the mornings and hot meals in the evening. We hiked an eight mile route up to one of the highest points on the island, with a view of both the East and West coasts. The landscape was still a healthy green and there were wildflowers scattered everywhere! The beach, however, was not as picturesque with a red coating of washed up baby lobsters.
As teachers with a week off for Spring Break, we would feel guilty not taking advantage of the time off. Scott had the chance to get back on the ocean with Bud and Petra to do some deep sea fishing with none other than Captain George. They were able to get their catch cooked up as soon as they docked. I joined a day later where we spent the afternoon exploring Newport Beach on bikes. Of course no trip to the beach would be complete without a visit to Joe Josts to enjoy some good beer, shuffleboard and pickled eggs!
Last weekend we went to Kane Springs Wash, which is a very long valley that connects the 93 Fwy to the old railroad stop pf Elgin, NV. We stopped at a couple of guzzlers and Sara spotted a covey of quail. We were able to get two birds and Topo had her first quail flush!!! This weekend, to reinforce Topos first hunting success, we headed back out to Kane Springs and stopped at Willow Spring, which had a lone tree and fresh spring. Sure enough, Sara spotted another covey walking away from the spring. With the dog's help, we were able to get three more birds, and Topo flushed 2 of them herself! We saw petroglyphs and traveled to visit the schoolhouse at Elgin before heading home for a fresh quail dinner. It was a successful trip and perfect day to be outside.
With one week off for Christmas break before family came into town, we were able to accomplish a lot of projects around the house, but we wanted to make sure we got out and had some fun too. Under a cloudy, misty day, we packed the dogs up and drove out towards Fossil Ridge to find ourselves some fossils. We ended up hiking directly in the low lying clouds and the cool rain, which was beautifully refreshing!
The school district restructured its calendar and we were given an entire week off for Thanksgiving! We spent the first few days in Show Low, AZ visiting with Scott's family and the last few days in Las Cruces, NM visiting with mine.
While in AZ, we hiked around a serene alpine lake near the Mogollon Rim, Topo played enthusiastically with Rosey, and we spent quality time with the family. Nearing three, Tyler, a truck enthusiast, brings so much joy to the household!
In NM, we hiked around Picacho Peak, where we saw a couple coyotes. While walking near the Rio Grande River, Topo successfully chased her first covey of quail. Scott was very proud! The trip wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Coas Map Room nor the purchase of Hatch Chilies!
We spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon near Searchlight, NV (the birthplace of Harry Reid) introducing Topo to hunting. With her stellar sense of smell, Patches led Topo around the desert, sniffing for quail. Although we didn't see a single quail, the dogs played in the Colorado River and Topo figured out exactly what to do when Scott fires the shotgun...run in fired direction and recover the dead. With better luck next time...
It was our last trip of the summer, extreme sad face. The destination: the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado. For Scott and Duane, this would be their third time there. For Marcia, trip number two. For me, my first time. And let me tell you, I was amazed! Despite both Scott's and Duane's jeeps needing welding jobs while we were there, the vacation still surpassed my expectations. The dogs chased marmots, the rain pitter-pattered on the trailer as we slept, wildflowers bloomed everywhere, and the mountains reflected the sun beautifully. Until next time...
As temperatures in Las Vegas rose to 118°, we decided to take the dogs and get out of the heat. With the North Rim of the Grand Canyon only four hours away and 30° cooler, we packed up the Skamper and the dogs. The Kaibab National Forest has tons of forest service roads that lead right up to the edge of the canyon. With a plethora of free dry camping spots available we made the impromptu decision to visit the rim.
We spent a wonderful long weekend at my brother's house hanging out. The pinnacle of the trip was the Ypsilanti beer festival where over 100 Michigan breweries had over 1,000 different beers on tap. While we weren't drinking beer, Zaina and Vivienne were our entertainment. Good times!
This place is an amazing hidden gem of Nevada. Nearly nine hours north of Las Vegas, most people haven't even heard of it. Lamoille Canyon is located in the Ruby Mountains south of Elko, Nevada. It is a long canyon with hanging valleys, lush vegetation, granite peaks, and alpine lakes. We camped in the only campground in the area, Thomas Canyon. Wildflowers were blooming everywhere and Topo discovered she absolutely loves snow.
Overlooking Liberty Lake
Those two specks in the snow at the top are mountain goats!
Topo is in the middle, loving the snow!
We spent a couple days exploring the only National Park in the state of Nevada. Known for its dark skies, Scott took some great night time pictures of the billions of stars we rarely see. We camped at nearly 10,000 feet with Wheeler Peak (the second highest peak in the state) as the backdrop to our site. The biggest attraction is the Lehman Caves; a vast cave system that visitors were once told by the original discoverer, "If you can break it, you can take it." As dogs are not allowed on trails in National Parks, we were limited in what we could do, however, we were able to explore 'off trail' some beautiful alpine lakes.
We took on the challenge of hiking to the highest summit in Southern Nevada, Charleston Peak in the Spring Mountain Range. There is a traditional North/South Loop trail that takes 18 miles to reach the nearly 12,000ft peak. We chose to hike via an unmarked route from Wallace Canyon on the west side of the mountain versus the marked trail on the east side of the mountain. Our hike was going only going to be approximately 6 miles roundtrip, however, it was going to gain all 4,000ft of elevation within the first 3 miles up.
We made it! For sections of the hike, we rock scrambled up and slid down on our bums, but we made it in 8 hours! Whew!
Marcia, Duane, Scott, the dogs, and I took the jeeps from Cold Creek to Pahrump via Wheeler Pass, up Carpenter Canyon, across and up to Wallace Canyon, and back up through Wheeler Pass. The total off road mileage for the day was over 80 miles. Whew!
