Hello my friends! When last we communicated, I had just left Rocky Mountain National Park. I am now in Forks, Washington about 10 minutes from the Rialto Beach portion of Olympic National Park. In the last week I have done a lot of driving and seen several very cool places. Let’s get into it.
Upon leaving the Rockies I drove west on I-70 towards Grand Junction and my next campsite. On the way I happened across a very cute little ski town called Frisco. I cannot emphasize enough the cute factor. I initially stopped for lunch but wound up spending most of my afternoon there and I didn’t want to leave. It looks like a great place for a week of hiking/biking in the morning followed by lazy evenings in town. I perused the bookstore, bought a photograph from the local artists co-op, and played the guitars in the record shop. Truly, what more could I ask for?
After a night camping in Grand Junction, my fourth of July was spent at Canyonlands National Park. I saw the Mesa Arch, where I met a family who were delighted by my national park water bottle. I hiked up Aztec Butte, which has Native American architecture built into some of the larger caves, and awesome scrambles up rock face on the route. There were also several cool overlooks from which the Green River and several vast Canyons are visible.
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Canyonlands and Arches National Parks are 20 minutes apart, with the town of Moab in between. On July 4th, 2024 it was 106 degrees in Moab. So though I wandered around town a bit, I spent most of the evening in the pool after hiking around Canyonlands in that heat. It did cool down into the 70s overnight so I slept okay. But I had the problem I would have several nights in the west - the temperatures don’t really drop until the sun goes down sometime after 9pm and it isn’t truly dark for another hour or so after sundown. But after a day of hiking or exploring in the heat, I’m tired much before ideal sleeping conditions. Some nights I waited it out until it cooled off, other nights I was so tired even the heat and sunlight couldn’t keep me up.
Canyonlands was cool, but Arches was otherworldly. I was in awe the entire time I was there. I liked the deeper red/orange hue of the stone, I liked learning about the geology of how the Arches form, mostly I liked marveling at things which towered over my head. In the pool at my campsite in Moab, I met a couple who had done Arches the day I was at Canyonlands. They suggested I do the park back-to-front. This park has a single entrance and single drivable artery back out into the park. All the hikes, viewpoints, and parking lots are directly off this main artery. Apparently most people stop at the first thing they encounter and then continue stopping as they drive back into the park. So the theory is that by starting in the back, especially first thing in the morning, you avoid the crowds. I took this advice, with one tweak - I did the Delicate Arch hike (the most famous in the park) as soon as I arrived at 7am.
The hike to Delicate Arch was only really challenging at one steep ascent along a rock face without stairs. It was very cool to see the arch up close though. And I got there early enough to get some nice pictures without too much standing around in line. The other main section of the park with major hiking opportunities was Devil’s Gardens. This spot way in the back has several smaller or differently shaped arches, of which my favorite was Pine Tree Arch. So named because a pine tree grows in the middle of the arch. There was also more scrambling up a primitive trail to Landscape, Navajo, and Double-O arches.
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I do not plan the stops on this road trip exactly in order. I have the big stops where I really want to go, I’m meeting other people, or reservations were required to be made months in advance, planned first and I fill in the spaces in between later. When I was planning this Denver- Portland part of the trip, I knew I would have to be efficient about my driving if I also wanted to stop at both Moab for Canyonlands and Arches and Crater Lake in Southern Oregon, a bit of a detour from the most expedient route to Portland. So, the genius that I am I thought it would be fine to spend the morning hiking around Arches and then drive four hours to the Salt Lake City area in one day.
Reader, this was a mistake. One, I didn’t factor in how hot it would be in Moab and therefore how tired I would be when I left the park. Two, I thought I would get an early start in the park and be done by lunchtime. There was so much I wanted to see though that I didn’t leave Arches till close to 2pm at which point I drove four hours straight to SLC area. Luckily, after the heatwave in Moab the previous day I knew I needed to call an audible. I ditched the campground I’d planned on for the night outside SLC and had my darling mother pick out hotel for me while I was at Arches. I believe my exact words were, “in this general area, as long as it has a/c I don’t really care where it is. I’m about to lose signal, I trust your judgement.” She made a great choice and I took perhaps the most refreshing shower of my life in that hotel.
I had another day of driving, this time to Idaho the next day. But thanks to the push after Moab, I only had about 4.5 hours. Since that was the extent of my plans for the day, I hung around in the hotel lobby and watched the England vs. Switzerland quarterfinal of the men’s European Championships before I left. It was a nail biter of a game and the England men finally won a game that went to Penalty Kicks.
The next day I got myself to Bend for my first venture into Oregon. The city itself was fine enough, but I camped at Cultus Lake which was spectacular. Cultus is one of several lakes along the Cascade Lakes scenic byway. The drive in and out of the campsite was gorgeous, I had a beautiful lakeside dinner, and camped at a site that could and should be used for camping and outdoor recreation advertisements everywhere. This was on of the best true delight surprises I’ve had so far.
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Crater Lake, is the only National Park in Oregon but I drove through much of Oregon in my few days there and I would argue they could easily have more. There’s a lot of beautiful nature in that state. I don’t want to disuade anyone from going, because it was definitely cool; but for me, Crater Lake as a National Park was just okay. The first gap in the trees you come to along rim drive is definitely a clutch the steering wheel and try not to crash while you stare into the pretty pretty water kind of moment. But once you’ve seen it, you’ve seen it. There are lots of viewpoints to stop at but it’s all the same lake you’re looking at. I did hike down to water level to take a boat tour around the lake and swim. The tour was informative, but could have easily been half as long. Plus it was 85 and breezy at the rim but probably more like 88 or 90, full sun, minimal breeze down on the water in the crater. So it was toasty. After two hours I was not in a great mood but a snack and quick plunge in the 60 degree water fixed me right up.
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On the way from my campground near Crater Lake to Portland the next day, I stopped for lunch in Eugene. I ate and wandered around the 5th street market, which was very cute incase any of you ever find yourself in Eugene or at the University of Oregon.
For the last day and a half, I have explored and enjoyed Portland. The very first place I went when I arrived on Tuesday afternoon was Powell’s City of Books. One, because I would have gone to a bookstore anyway and this one is the largest independent bookstore in the country (I’m 80% sure), which is reason enough on its own. Two, because Roian would have disowned me if I didn’t. It was massive and disorienting in the best way. I found lots of awesome books, very few of which I had originally be looking for. I also had delightful interactions with every employee who helped guide me on my treasure hunt. These are the books I left with. I could have easily selected more but my wallet and car storage space reserves are happy with the two.
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Up first on my full day yesterday I walked to the top of Mt. Tabor and enjoyed the nice weather and views of the city from there. I descended in time to watch the Aces vs. Storm WNBA game from The Sports Bra, a now semi-renown sports bar that shows all women’s sports on their tvs. My lunch was good and it was a close game so it was bound to be fun. Sitting around at the bar with a bunch of other wnba fans who had stakes in and knowledge of the athletes and the team standings made it a great two hours. As if the bar itself wasn’t cool enough, it is located directly next door to a guitar shop. So really, all I need is an apartment above the first-level storefronts and I could live on this block and never need to leave. The guitars were super fun to noodle around on and I actually found some cool new strings to try when I get back to my own guitars.
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I rounded things out with a trip to the Rose Garden; which came with the not entirely surprising drive through an old neighborhood with big fancy houses, ice cream, and an evening walk around the neighborhood in the South East section of town where my airbnb was located. All in all a pretty stellar day.
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I am now in Forks, Washington. Tomorrow my parents fly out to spend the next week of the roadtrip with me. Big fun! I’m very excited. I’m going to be in Washington and the three National Parks for the next two weeks. More soon!
Edit: Forgot the music again. This is what happens when I write this thing at 10pm while falling asleep in the tent.
If I Had A Boat - Kate Rusby (Lyle Lovett cover)
I love how prominent her accent is in this
Head On A Swivel - The Dip
I'm enjoying living vicariously through your excellent travel diary. You are having quite the adventure! Say hi to your Mom and Dad for me!
Trip sounds wonderful. Enjoy your visit with Mom and Dad. Safe travels Erin!