Day 9 - April 4 Going to the Wineries & Signage

Wineries and Signage

April 4, 2005

We woke up early today and found that we were very sore from yesterday’s “the Mighty Hike” so today we decided to take it easy by going to some wineries. Wineries in Colorado, yes I could not believe it myself but I knew it to be true. And the wines are actually quite good with some making ports and cabernet sauvignons as good as California or Spain. But first we had to do some other things first, before we went to the wineries.

First - we slept in - actually again we slept like the dead, if nothing else on this trip, I learned that the more we exercise, the better I sleep. We woke up and had breakfast and put in a couple of pictures and the log from yesterday, as our fans are waiting, after all. Then we decided who to call for getting signage for our camper. What this means is we want people to know of our excellent adventure - so we want to put on our camper - Laura & Sasha’s Excellent Adventure - www.Laura-N-Sasha.com on our camper. So we went to Angel Signs and asked for someone to come out to us to put the lettering on. So on April 6th they will come out and do that for us.

We then went to Burger King. Sasha wanted to treat me to Italian food, but I wanted to check out the wineries so I said, “NO give me fast food and get me to the wine!” Maybe I was little forceful, but it was already 2 pm and most of the wineries close at 5 pm and we had to find them. All in all, we went to 6 wineries in Grand Junction and the town of Palisade - let me tell you, there are very nice wineries here.

The first winery that we went to was not on the Grand Junction map (the link is a PDF of a similar map we had, in case you want to look at it as we go from winery to winery), as it was so new, Graystone Winery. But the woman was so nice, and it was a neat winery, she had crystal glasses in cases as well as for tasting the wines. She had a White port, which is very unusual and tasted so fine, we had to get it.

- Sidebar - Actually looking at this map, it is better than the one we had, but as I do not have a printer here, we could not use it. Maybe I will get a portable printer in the next couple of months so that I can print out these things on the road. Now that would make me a true mobile woman. - End Sidebar -

Port usually is red but they did not use the skins within the fermenting process, so it is more of a pink color.

From Graystone Winery, I wanted Sasha to try mead, a sugar-honey brew and so we stopped at Rocky Mountain Meadery. They had over 12 different alcoholic substances to try, so by the sixth or seventh, Sasha was feeling woozy, I think. We got a mead bottle to bring home. And we took pictures starting with the Meadery.

Then we went to Plum Creek Winery which was across the street. They had a tasting room in Denver area but the vines were here in Palisade so they decided to make a tasting room area here. It was a beautiful tasting room with high ceilings and a gas fireplace. We tasted their wines and got a bottle. It was funny; she had a metal rooster sculpture outside, so we took a picture of that.

We seem to buy at each winery, I guess my feeling is, we taste the wines, and I feel we should buy something, so we do. I don’t want to think of it as feeling guilty about drinking and not buying, but maybe that is what it is.

We went up the road a bit more and came to the Grande River Winery and they had a few wines there - but by now Sasha was tuckered out from drinking, so I kind of did it on my own. They had a beautiful place and we took a picture or two and then we got on the highway to get to Canyon Wind winery. We got a little lost on the way; there is no exit 44 going east, only going west, which we did not realize until we went past to exit 49 or so.

A little note about Canyon Wind wines - we had their 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon when we went to The Winery Restaurant and had it with lamb and steak. When we got to the winery, I wanted to make sure to try that wine again and so we did. We also tried their other three wines they had available (their port was sold out) and I bought 2 bottles of that Cab because it was so good. We took a picture outside near their vines and then headed back towards Grand Junction and Fruita to get to Two Rivers Winery and to check out Route 340.

This route is quite nice, Sasha had gone along it without me the other day to check out the next trailhead (for April 5th) and he stated that there were also some large and beautiful houses on that route.

We got a little lost again heading back, because I wanted to take Route 6 to Route 70 and then to Route 340, but on Route 6 we headed the wrong way and ended up seeing some elk. These elk were penned up but we thought, well, we probably are not going to see them in nature, they would hide from us most definitely so we decided to take pictures. The first picture taken was under a little duress, as there was a 18 wheeler coming down this dead-end road toward us. So I took the picture and we started to move down the street and he was still coming! Finally he pulled over and we were able to head back to the elk. We got them to come over to the fence so that we could take close ups. The one elk was doing something weird with its head, kind of showing off it seemed so we took a bunch of pictures. We only put two in the website to show you, but we took a bunch. Like we had never seen deer before…us suburbanites!

I called ahead to make sure that the winery was open until 6 pm (they were) and so we headed off. Route 340 went through the back end of Grand Junction and is closest to the Colorado National Monument, so they can look out their windows and see all. This winery is very close to where we are staying, I was very happy to try their wines. They only had a few to try, but their tasting room had high ceilings and chandeliers made from elk antlers. Very cool. We bought a wine there and then headed home for dinner of leftovers and cheese and pretzels (instead of crackers as we had none.) Happy and woozy, we went to bed.

Day 8 - April 3, 2005 - the Mighty Hike

Day 8 - April 3, 2005 - the Mighty Hike

or What Were We Thinking?

This hike was to go to the Rattlesnake Canyon Arches, the 2nd largest concentration of natural arches, only behind Arches National Park; a 14 mile round trip voyage to the center of the Black Ridge Canyon Wilderness State Wildlife Area.
(--Sidebar--I will try to line up the pictures with the text in blogger but it is not always easy.-)

(Explanation of the day- This hike is a strenuous 7 mile+ ONE WAY hike, that is rated difficult by our topo map and guide. What were we thinking? We really did not know how hard it would be, as let me tell you, hiking in canyon country is unlike anything back home. The Appalachian Trail (or at least the sections we've hiked) are a cake walk by comparison. Here in canyon country, the trails tend not to follow the ridgeline, but instead they directly bisect multiple side canyons that lie in between your ultimate destination. So what this means is that a single one mile trail segment can have several up/down sections of eye-opening steepness. These steep sections also tend to have a barely marked trail, making route finding somewhat challenging and making for slow going. A couple of sections I had to remove my pack and lower it down to Laura by rope.

Our topo map was 1:75,000 scale with 80' contour intervals of the entire Grand Valley, and thus, did not show the excruciating details of the hike we were about to undertake. We knew it would be tough and I was already mentally prepared to turn back before we reached the Arches, if it came to that. If there is anything I've learned thru my years in the outdoors, that is that you need to leave a reserve to make it back to the trailhead. As it turned out with this hike, I just barely stayed within those reserves and was pretty beat by the end. Laura fared better on this hike than me, I must say and I need to bump up my training program when I get back. )

This was the day of the mighty hike, Sasha had figured we could go to this trail which was not too far from the campground, and if we could get to the end, we would see the MOST interesting landscape. Well, how could I resist that? And we forgot to spring forward. So we were off the entire day. It is weird, but my Calendar did not remind me either, and we did not look at the news or anything. Just found out at 11 pm this day because I wanted to listen to the radio - I am the true Radio Girl, have no idea who is singing what song, but like to sing along. So where it states that we started at 10 am, it was really 11 am, oh well.
Actually we did get a late start, having woken up at 8 am, as Sasha wanted to get up at 7 or 7:30 but since I slept in, so did he. We do not have an alarm clock, just a CD/radio in the kitchenette, that also tells time but I do not think it has an alarm on it. So we woke up, had a larger breakfast of oatmeal, bananas, dried fruit and water and then got ready to go.

We went to the trail start (called trail head) which was just outside of the state lands. The trail is maintained by the state and they even have an outhouse at the trail head. There was a sign stating that the trail we were taking was a rigorous 7 mile one way trip, great for those that want to do it as an overnight trail. When I saw that, I was a little worried, because we planned to come and go in a day. We had originally planned 8 hours, four hours in and four hours back. We always set a turn-around time before we go in, something we learned when we read “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer a book about the Mt. Everest disaster in 1996. And we figured we had enough water: five 500ml water bottles and two 1 Liter bottles between the two of us. We had our Cliff bars and apples for lunch, our sturdy hiking boots, walking sticks, and we both had packs on. This hike was also to see how “in shape” we were.

So we started the hike, thinking this wasn’t too bad, what was the map saying for difficult? (It had a D rating on it for mountain bikes so we assumed the same thing for hikers. But it was relatively flat with some rocks. Then we got to the TRUE trail head, which I believe was about a ½ mile away from the trail head at the parking lot. When we got to the true trail head, the sign said no mountain bikes. So that posting had to be for hiking. At that point, you could start to see the hills and valleys that we would have to take to get to the famed arches. So we started going down. The first down was not too bad: I have a rating for downhill hikes, full butt or half butt rating. What this means is do I go down by sitting down and sliding with my butt, or can I go in a crouch position or can I stand upright? This first downhill was a stand upright kind of hill, so not too scary.

Then we went up. It seemed to be the norm; we go down, go up and then walk a bit. So the first walk down was not bad, the second was a half butt, slightly scary way down. But the third, OH MY GOD, scared for the hills; if I could have put my entire body in horizontal fashion to get down I would have. As it was - a full butt downhill - that went into Pollack Canyon. At this point we were like, how are we going to get up that afterwards? But we will talk about that later. So we went walking, seeing cactus and lizards as well as a running stream. I thought, if we were stuck in the canyon, at least we would have water. And maybe some meat, if we could catch a lizard.

Anyway, we went up this unbelievable canyon wall, see pictures please. There is one wall that we had to scamper across that if wet, would have been impassable. But it was very dry, and so we made it across. But one slip and a meal for the mountain lion. I kept looking up (I swear, I am not going to watch another nature show right before I go camping, the last one was about mountain lions and how they catch their prey and how they are found in Colorado and mountainous areas) ready to see a mountain lion and hit it with my walking stick.

Anyway, after we got up this canyon, Sasha said, “that is going to be the last up-down that we will take, if the arches aren’t around this next corner, we are going to turn back.” Well, they were not around the next corner but we did not stop at that point. The fourth up down was gradual (fully upright rating) and on the other side was these very cool rock formations. We sat against some trees next to the formations and had lunch of Cliff bars and apples. We called our parents and let them know where we were. We divided our water and found we did not really have enough. But as we are going back we know that we can get more once we are out of the park.

Eating the apples of course gives you water that you need, which is good. I was slightly dreading the walk back, especially the Pollack Canyon area. So we went down and up the gradual valley first and my confidence went up, which was good. At this point, some trail runners came by. They were running. I repeat - running the trail. They were both rail thin and wearing sneakers. With only one water bottle each…I just don’t know how they do it. We both looked at them in awe.

Then we walked a bit and came to the down hill of Pollack Canyon. There was one part where I was totally afraid, I could not go on my butt, I could not crawl, I HAD to walk across, this was the slippery slope seen in the pictures. My heart was in my throat the entire time. I don’t understand myself sometimes, I walked across it before with no problems, but I was so scared walking back. Go figure. So we went down very slowly, helping each other whenever we could. Sasha had to take off his pack a few times to get through some areas, again, going up is different than going down, your center of gravity is different.

We went back up the Pollack Canyon on the other side, and there was a little area that I was afraid I was going to fall backwards, my arm and leg strength was not there. But Sasha was and he helped me up. Then I was not afraid anymore.

After that, we took it easy and the trail was fine, a couple more up and downs and then a long stretch of land before we got to the first trail head. Would I do this trail again? Yes, with more water and more strength in my arms and legs (better shape than today). Maybe next trip we will get to the famed arches.

After the Mighty Hike, we got some Gatorade and picked up a menu for a Chinese & American restaurant. Sasha’s body was killing him and he didn’t want to make dinner, and neither did I. So we ordered Chinese - Szechuan Chicken (spicy) and me - fried chicken, with a baked potato and a salad. It is interesting to have fried chicken made by a Chinese person, did not think this was possible. We put as much info into the website and went to bed early. A great 8-hour day, and went to bed full and tired.

Day 7 - April 2, 2005 - a lounge kind of day

Day 7 - April 2, 2005
A Lounge Kind of Day

Spoke to Dan (of Sue and Dan the owners at the park), and he stated that the guys next to us did not even sign in and so they hadn’t even paid. He apologized for the fact that they came in and took our spot. Then the woman came back from the bathroom and he told them that they had taken our spot and she said that they were leaving today. So we will go back to our spot ASAP. He said the next time if we go with everything, to move the picnic table in the middle of the spot so people do not take it. Dan said he thought our set up was great, I said that we had only had it for 6 days, the truck since Christmas 2005.

The people left at 8:30 so we spent the morning going back to our spot, and FOR THE FIRST TIME, without any help (OK, Sasha did call Five Star for information) we got the camper off of the truck. See the pictures of the mighty truck and camper separated. Sasha said his heart was pounding so hard, and he was moving very slowly away from the truck. While he was working on the truck and camper, I took care of household chores and washed our laundry for the first time on the trip. It costs $1.25 for the wash and $1 for the dry - all in quarters no less. Of course, I should know this, life as a camper is kind of like as a college student, and everything revolves around quarters.

So the rest of the day was spent enjoying ourselves at the campground. I spent most of the day inputting pictures, and writing text for the website. Even with internet connection semi-fast, it still takes a while to get the pictures into the website. We took the pictures at a high resolution, (in case we decide to use them for something else beside a website) and each one had to be changed by name - from DSC000111 to something real like Laura and the Mighty Camper. Then the pictures have to be resized to that it does not take half the evening to see our website. One thing that changed half-way through the trip, the compression on the pictures and the quality was just a little less, so that we could have a higher resolution and a smaller file size. This is why some of the Colorado pictures look bigger than others. When you look at April 3rd’s pictures, of our mighty trail hike, you will see this higher resolution. (-Side note-now that we are using Blogger.com, I can put the pictures in higher resolution and all you have to do is click on the picture to see the higher resolution. Just click the back buttom to come back.--)

I also read a book while I was putting info into the website called: The Second Assistant by Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare. So I multi-tasked my day.

Sasha on the other hand, stayed outside and caught some rays as well as smoked a cigar. Then he went shopping to get something for dinner and other miscellaneous things. When he left the campground, he stated that his 110 psi (for the tires) was too high without having the camper on the truck. He stated it felt like it had no give at all and that he was driving on full rubber tires. Each bounce was jarring. So he searched around inside of the truck and found my hiking pole, which he used to get some of the air out of the tires. He actually had 120 psi in each tire and he took it down to 70 psi, the right amount for driving without the camper.

After he started driving correctly, he went to check out a couple of trail heads that we could do for April 3rd. Then he went shopping: to Lowes for 5 pound propane cylinder which they did not have, Wal-Mart did not have either both just had the 20 pound size, but he got everything else (at Wal-Mart.)

When he got home he pulled out our propane cylinder from the camper (which was still pretty heavy) and used it to heat up our little infra-red portable gas grill. The steaks, potatoes and asparagus turned out beautifully and tasted great. We had bought steak knives from before and Sasha got heavy-duty paper plates for our dinner. We opened a bottle of wine that I had gotten at Applejacks in the Wal-Mart campground, and we had a great meal. Even if the wine was pored into a Styrofoam cup, it was still good. We went to bed happy and ready for the new day.