2020: After spending the 2019 summer in Virginia’s heat and humidity, we’ve decided we want to travel in summer 2020. We are heading back to the Mountain Time Zone. We have two trips planned. We deliberated on whether or not to travel in the time of COVID-19 and have decided to move forward with our RV travel plans.
Trip #1: We are spending 7 weeks in Southwest Colorado during June/July. We will be staying in Pagosa Springs, Durango, Ouray, Gunnison, Lake City, and Creede. We will be touring/hiking in the San Juan Mountains. The region includes lots of public lands in the San Juan, Rio Grande, and Grand Mesa – Uncompahgre – Gunnison National Forests. We have numerous hikes picked out that travel into the Weminuche, Lizard Head, Mt. Sneffels, Powderhorn, Uncompahgre, and La Garita Wilderness Areas. We also plan to explore forest service roads and 4WD roads in our Jeep Rubicon. We’ve done some of the 4WD passes in Colorado on other trips. In addition to Forest Service Maps, we use Charles Well’s Guide to Colorado Backroads and 4-Wheel-Drive Trails to find and navigate routes.
Trip # 2: Our second trip will be mid August through mid October. We will be splitting our time between Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. We plan to visit & hike in the Wind River Range, Yellowstone (see next paragraph), and Grand Teton National Parks of Wyoming; Crested Butte and the nearby White River National Forest, Maroon Bells – Snowmass, and Raggeds Wilderness Areas in Colorado; Moab region (Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Canyon Rims Rec Area and BLM) Bryce Canyon, and Escalante regions of Utah; and a final stop back in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
Karla turned 50 in December 2019 and decided to celebrate this milestone by hiking/backpacking Yellowstone National Park’s 68 mile Thorofare & South Boundary Trails in late August. The Thorofare Trail is considered to have the most remote location in the lower 48- with the distinction of having the furthest spot from any road at well over 20 miles in any direction. This backpacking trip is contingent on getting a permit from Yellowstone’s Backcountry Office. Karla applied early in 2020 and found out in late April that we received our permit! We have planned a 9 day/8 night trip to allow plenty of time to soak in the sights. For a good introduction into backpacking the Thorofare, we read Walks in Wild Yellowstone: A Summer of Solo Backpacking in Yellowstone National Park by Cliff Murray which details the trip we’re doing and three others: Bechler region, Sky Rim, and Hoodoo Basin.
