Road to the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming

July 25 – Friday (Cool, Dry, 80’s)

When we woke up today, the sun was shining and the night had been cool (50’s). It felt good after all the heat we have endured. Since yesterday we were turned back from getting to Bear Lake and Alberta Falls, we left early to arrive at the bussing point and get a jump on the crowds. We arrived at the Alberta Falls trailhead around 8:00am. We hiked the 2.1 miles to the falls where we were treated to a small water fall whose creek ran into Bear Lake. There were only a few people there and the day was perfect.

Isaiah, the daring son, hopped over rocks and somehow ended up on the other side of the creek. He posed out on a branch. We were amazed at how clear and sparkling the water was. I wet my face and took a taste. It was cold and refreshing. There is something about a waterfall that is made by God that reminds me of his awesome power. The water challenges any hard surface to remain the same because of its persistence in eroding away at whatever it touches. Isn’t that just like the cleansing water from on high. Constantly washing us and purging us from sin.

After staying a while at the falls, we walked back down and instead of returning to the trailhead, went on to Bear Lake. It is a rather large lake and as smooth as glass at this time in the morning. It made Sprague lake look small. The trail around Bear was more rugged and could not be done in the time we had so we looked, we saw, we took pictures and we left for the trailhead where we returned to the shuttle bus that brought us to our car. Because of the late start, we knew making the Tetons before dark was not going to happen so we stopped short in a small town of 500 people called Bondarant. We were treated to a wonderful sunset. We pulled into a Phillips 66 gas station because it looked like the only place that felt safe. As it turned out, there was an RV Park there but it was full. I asked the lady if we could hang behind the dump truck next to the river and she agreed. She asked me to square up in the morning. We backed into a perfectly level spot and retired. Early in the morning I paid the man $10 for the night.

The Rocky Mountains – God creates a unique world above 11,000 feet

July 24th – Thusday (Cool, Sunny, Dry, 80’s)


When I awoke today, I knew something was different. The air was colder, the smell of Ponderosa Pine filled the air and my head was throbbing a little. Our site was at 8000 feet above sea level. It was not so level but beautiful. We are at a level known as the Montane. This is where ash trees and Ponderosa Pines grow to be 150 feet tall and there is definitely a difference between the lush shaded faces of the mountains and the more arid sun drenched faces. I stopped a volunteer ranger and chatted with him for a while. He was not a Christian but very nice. I told him about our adventure and gave him my testimony. He lived here during the summer with his wife and during the winters went back near San Diego where his children and grand children lived. He was a family man who had his grand daughter for several weeks out of the summer. He is in his 70’s and loved the Rocky Mountains. My mind was wandering and I was thinking that this would be a great retirement job.
I went back into the motorhome and we all ate breakfast and packed up the motorhome so we could drive the long route to the Alpine Visitor Center at 11,700 feet. It is the highest road in the USA and is well above the Tundra which I will talk about later. On our way to the Alpine visitor center, we will go up 4000 feet of elevation in Bailey’s Blessing. Along the way we will see vistas that blow the mind! Pondersosa Pines. Immediately we began to climb and soon reached the Subalpine region (9000 to 11000 feet above sea level). This region is known as the snowest forest on earth because it gets all the wind blown snow from the tundra. It tends to be cool and wet most of the year. The trees look more windblown and they are smaller and more sparse. They do not grow tall and straight but more crooked.After seeing beautiful vistas, we climbed higher. Into the tundra or Alpine Tundra. Here the change in landscape is very noticeable. Snow lasts here all year round and the temperature does not get above freezing for 8 months out of the year. There are 72 named peaks above 12,000 feet and 54 above 14,000 feet. Mt Elbert being the highest at 14,433 feet. These are known as the “Fouteeners”. You can become part of this elite club when you climb all 54. By now, we all are feeling the effects of the high altitude. We were not sick but to climb 100 feet caused us all to breath hard and suck air like never before. It was a weird feeling because their no way to feel better but to go to a lower elevation. There are signs that tell visitors to acclimate first if staying for a while in the tundra. Here it’s a world of rock, granite rock, some of the hardest in the world as well as snow. We of course thought it was very cool, no pun intended, to see snow in July.In fact I was determined to get out and slide on the snow as well as start a snowball fight. We were not the only ones thinking like this. My family thought I was crazy. We hiked up to the snow then we all walked onto the snow. It seemed colder than usual and very icy. Ethan Isaiah and I walked to the top of the snow hill and formed a train to slide down. It was wet, cold and FAST! I could not stop and we ended up on the rocks. Ouch! We each made snow balls and pelted each other. I made a second and kept it as a souvenir. So did the kids. We left the snow and continued to climb.We made it to the highest point one can drive in North America. It is at a point prior to reaching the Alpine visitor center at an elevation of 12,183 feet. I took a picture from its point. It’s a one of a kind photo in that you must make the trip to get it. We continued on to the visitor center, bought our memorabilia, had lunch. We then hiked to the ighest point we could. It is 2.3 miles above sea level. Each step was tough. We climb 300 to 400 feet to the geological marker. 12,0005 feet above sea level. You could tell the air had less oxygen than we are used to. We were as close to the heavens as humanly possible and still be standing on the earth. Wow!After making the climb, we observed the beautiful scenery 360 degrees around us. This for sure is a whole different world. Once again our God and Lord has treated us to a different view of his mighty creative ability. I am in awe of our God. We left the Alpine area and headed down…and down…and down. I hate going down, smoking brakes, low gear, road rage because I am too slow. But the beauty around us made it all worth it.We had some time left in our day after returning to our site so we left for Bear Lake to view Alberta Falls. Upon driving there we noticed that the park would not allow motorhomes there…and the enforced it, so on the way back we went to Sprague Lake. We arrived and parked in 2 car spaces. Some horseback riders walked by. We left to see the lake. We saw people fishing and decided to give it a try. I did not have any trout lures or flys but had the itch to cast a few. My wife and I decided to walk around the lake when we heard some commotion coming from the bridge. Four ladies were having a fun time. I approached them and struck up a conversation. Of all places they were from NYCity. I asked then why they were all in skirts. They answered because they were Jewish. I spoke a biblical phrase in Hebrew and they all began to smile and wondered why a non-Jew would speak Hebrew. I shared with them about the love of Jesus and how I was saved in 1982 and how we have one of the best biblical Hebrew teachers in our church and that a book was published on it. They were amazed. I told them I would pray for them and that they too needed to know personally Jesus Christ. After that my spirit was quickened and we returned to the motorhome. We left Sprague Lake and returned to our campsite where we stayed one more night. We did, however, switch sites to a more level one. Shortly after we retired for the night.

The Royal Gorge – shows forth the awesomeness of our God

July 23 – Wednesday (90’s, Dry, Sunny)

We awoke, packed up for the zillionth time! We headed for the Royal Gorge. The day was perfect and clouds seemed to suspend from the heavens.

We parked in the RV lot for the zillionth time and walked to the entry gate where we paid the park fees for the zillionth time. Every national site seems to have a fee associated with it. Above and beyond our taxes which pay for the DOI (Dept of the Interior) to maintain these parks and national points of interest. As we entered, we saw a water powered clock. It is one of the few in the world. It was nice to see the year, month, day, hour and seconds since we loose track of time frequently on the road.We then saw the Royal Gorge suspension bridge; it is the highest in the world. It is really neat to see this bridge from the river (at its lowest point) then from here (at its highest point). You can see in the following photo the view of the bridge then far below the river we all rafted! It is an awesome site and I remembered the scriptures I read the day before and how beautiful God’s creation is and how much more heaven will reflect or Lord’s glory! We rode the sky tram over the gorge from one side to the other over 1000 feet in the air. We were like the 5 millionth people to do it. It took about 5 minutes. On the other side there several things to do, one of them was a big swing that allowed you to fly over the edge of the gorge. I am not a risk taker and like being on the ground, but Ethan and Isaiah wanted to go and they would not Ethan on without an adult. My wife said no…quickly so that left me. I of course asked the guy about their safety record. 100% over 25 years sounded solid enough for me. We all strapped in, locked arms, were raised 100 feet backwards in the air. Isaiah had the rip cord. The countdown…3….2….1…Fly! RIP! We fell downwards towards the gorge! Free falling …I felt like we were really falling until the wire gripping us caught and pulled us upwards into the air. We almost broke vertical which is an erie feeling since you feel like you are falling backwards. Then backwards we swang; like a pendulum. Four times then we were brought down. It was something I’d only do again if put in a similar circumstance. The kids bought shirts saying they survived the sky-coaster.

We then saw a movie on how the Royal Gorge bridge and the inclined railway which we rode later to the bottom of the gorge. After seeing the film, we walked across the bridge itself. Every flag from the USA is on it and it actually swung back and forth as we walked across it. It was a thrill to be 1053 feet in the air after looking up at this bridge from the water. It actually looked no thicker than a wire from down there. We then went on the inclined railway, the first and only one of its kind. I determined that it uses very little energy to run. There are 2 cable cars that are connected like 2 weights around a gigantic pulley. As gravity pulls the one car down, the other car goes up. They are loaded in parallel. The people wanting to go down are loaded at the top and the people wanting to return from the bottom to the top are loaded at the bottom. The only energy needed is to overcome the friction. Ingenious I thought. Once at the bottom, we saw rafters coming down the river. Of course we cheered them on. We then loaded up, and returned to the top of the gorge. By now we were into the afternoon so we ate lunch there then left for Rocky Mountain National Park. We knew we’d arrive at dusk so we wanted to get moving. We drove through Canon City and was impressed with its size given it was in the middle of no where. We then traveled and arrived at RMNP at dark. We drove through Estes Park which is quite the town. The city is on couple lakes and very busy since most folks stay here to visit Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is at 8000 feet above sea level. For the next 3 days we would not be below this mark. We all felt the altitude change on our bodies. Upon arriving at our site, we were not level at all so I was determined to get a different site in the morning. We set up camp and went to bed. Big day coming up tomorrow.

Recovery day at the KOA in Royal Gorge

July 22 – Tuesday (Hot, Dry, Dusty, 90’s)

Today we have nothing planned but relaxation. We pulled out the mat and the awning and the chairs. I sat outside and blogged. Therese cleaned the motorhome and the boys swam and played and built Bionicles. Isaiah likes making his own creations.

We are staying at the Royal Gorge KOA. It is a dust bowl, little grass and a lot of dirt. I wanted to wash Bailey’s Blessing but it would had turned into a mud hole. Nothing happened to report on. I made great progress on catching up with blog entries. Looked at photos and movies then grilled chicken for dinner. We decided to stay one more day and see the Royal Gorge the next day. Therese went to the office and obtained literature. We found out it is a park in itself and it would take a morning to go through it. This would be a great way to spend the morning and we would head to Rocky Mountain National Park in the afternoon.

I spent time in the Word and studied more in depth on Nehemiah. I am in awe of his dedication to the Lord and desire to restore the Lords vision and hope in the nation of Israel. Remember they are in exile! Stiffnecked, Proud, Hard-hearted and scattered throughout the world. Nehemiah helped them to rebuild the wall then booths to have private worship with the Lord. Not since the time of Joshua had Israel done this. To me a booth speaks of a personal relationship with the Lord. It is a place for you to go privately to get together with the Lord. They are everywhere and is a place for prayer and repentance. Continual prayer in the Lord. Nehemiah then established the Feast of Tabernacles. I studied this in Numbers and it represents 7 days of offerings and one day of rest, No one was to do any customary work during this time. I realized the first 3 days are offerings soley to the Lord and in days 4 thru 7 they include a sin offering, the last day is to be sacred unto the Lord. In a way this reflects our trip in that we are in awe of His creation. The mission of the National Park Service is to protect and preserve these magnificent examples of our Lords creation from becoming overrun by man. In a way, proclaiming the glory of God in this magnificent land of ours. Yet man himself is one of God’s most wonderful creations and we decided to become corrupt and were in need of a sin offering thru the blood atonement of Christ Jesus. Wow! I can’t wait to continue on but for now its time to retire and get ready for tomorrow.

Taming the Arkansas River – Day 3

July 21 – Monday (Very Hot, Dry, Sunny, 90’s)

I did not sleep very well last night. I was up a couple of times and was thinking about the trip down the gorge. Not ever rafting it left me wondering why they only allowed 16 yo and over down it. Shahir and I had one last chat at breakfast. We had French toast, fruit and Mrs. Butterworth syrup. We also had Kona coffee again. We needed to head out early to get to the launch point. Sanet packed up the van and trailer and our family packed up our personal gear and we headed for the last put-in. It showed a picture of the Pinnacle Rock to Centennial Park run we would do today. 19.1 miles total. The water flow is about 1670 CFS as of 7/20. To give you an idea of how fast that is, the park service will not allow commercial rafting in the gorge when it exceeds 3000 CFS. In fact one part of the run can not be done when the water is that high due to a low bridge. One must portage around it. So most of the rapids ran like a class lower but if not executed properly had the same consequence as when the water is high. The most difficult rapids we will do is Three Rocks, Sunshine Falls and Sledgehammer. Shahir likes sledgehammer the best of all named rapids on the Colorado stretch of the Arkansas River.

The first section was 9.1 miles. The rapids were named as follows: 1) Tree Forks class 3-4, 2) Three Rocks class 4-5, 3) Five Points class 3-4, 4) Spike Buck class 3-4, 5) Sharks Tooth class 3-4, 6) Double Dip class 3-4 and 7) Puppy class 2-3.

For the last day, we all put on our wet suits, booties, splash jackets and vests; we also brought our helmets. Commercial boaters must use them on Royal Gorge rapids. We proceeded down the last leg of our journey before Royal Gorge at a leisurely pace. Many opportunities to swim, float backwards, spin and of course run some rapids to get wet. This part of the Arkansas is way down stream and there is little drop in elevation. It’s the part that many people like to fish. We saw many people doing just that. The scenery was beautiful, despite the privately owned homes and the road so close to the river. I was still not sure what the last leg of the day would be. Sanet had to meet us at lunch for us to run the Gorge. We had pictures taken as we hit a huge rapid. It must have been three rocks. Honestly we had so much fun I can’t remember.

We came up to our docking place for lunch. Echo had a permanent tent there and Paul and his grandson Dillion made all the food. Not just for us but for all of the Echo boaters that were doing the Gorge. It was here that we met another guide Cameron. He was younger than Shahir with less experience but fun to talk to. He told us a guide had flipped his raft at one of the rapids, I believe it was sharks tooth. The people were a little surprised but willing to continue. He also told us Shahir’s nickname for the first time. I guess his full name sounds something like Shear Mayhem. We had cold cuts, mac salad, watermelon, lemonade, chips and homemade salsa. It all was good. Even the squirrels liked the chips. They let the boys feed them. I was getting a little antsy because I had not seen Sanet and without her we would be riding the train through the gorge. Soon she showed up and I knew our afternoon was set. Shahir motioned for us to leave so we all packed up put on our helmets and started down the river. Sanet and I were in front and Therese, Isaiah and Ethan behind us. We did a paddle check and Shahir talked to us about how to get out of the rapids in case we would fall in.

This part of the trip included the following rapids: 1) El Primero class 2-3, 2) El Segundo class 2-3, 3) pumphouse rapids class ?, 4) sunshine falls class 5 (pictures taken), 5) sledgehammer class 4-5 (great rapid), 6) squeeze box class 3-4 rapid, 7) Narrows class 3-4, 8) Wall Slammer class 3-4, 9) corner pocket class ?, 10) boat eater class 3-4, 11) soda fountain class 3-4, and 12) pipeline class 2-3. I believe our photo was at sunshine falls.

Wow what a ride. The combination of great rapids, small boat and cold refreshing water makes this one of the best rapids in the river. We had three more just like this one. Sledgehammer proved to be as good as it gets and going through the narrows was just gorgeous! We took many pictures as we exited the narrows and looked up at the Royal Gorge bridge. It is the highest free span bridge in the world. You can see the bridge in the red circle in the following pictures. We also saw in several places the old wooden water pipeline the early Americans built to get water from the Arkansas to local towns and crops. It was the only source of water for a long time and without the Arkansas, this area and many others would never had been farmed.

It was a great run and after it was all done, I had Shahir snap a picture of the winning team, we obeyed the first 2 rules of 3 of rafting on Royal Gorge; 1) Stay in the raft at all times, 2) Be sure to stay in the raft at all times. We did not need the third which is swim to shore as fast as possible if the raft flips.

We had plenty of calmer waters to swim. The cool refreshing water now 10 degrees warmer at 65 degrees was refreshing and invigorating. The boys and I had a blast floating down the river while Shahir, Mary Therese and Sanet drove the raft.

We took out at Centennial Park. It was a joy to watch Shahir and my boys, who had bounded for these three days enjoy a little fun. Remember I told you that for three days the boys had wanted to get Shahir wet. Well today they obliged him … or maybe it was the other way around but I had a big smile on my face knowing that our little family was such a good testimony to this man and I hope he will not soon forget our Christian faith, our family commitment, my Kona coffee and the fun times we had.

We drove back to Canon City where we left the motorhome 3 days ago, but first had to stop at the little gourmet coffee place in Buena Vista for one last Kona/mocha frappachino.. I was thinking about the trip, and the Lord, and how he smashed my expectations using one of his most awesome creations…water as well as the land around it. We all kind of had a hard time leaving. We decided to see the Royal Gorge from above before leaving Canon City and found a KOA campground to stay the night. I went to bed and dreamed of rafting!

We went into town that evening and had a pizza from Pizza Madness. They make their pizzas from scratch. It was recommended by Sanet. Yum, yum!

Family quotes about the trip:

Ethan says “I thought the trip was cool and liked it a lot”. “I am glad we got to get you (Shahir) wet”. “If you (Shahir) have any questions about movies call me anytime and I will tell you about them”.

Isaiah says “ I owe you (Shahir) a dunkin donut without the donut”. “I think the trip was fun”.

Therese says “Thanks (Shahir) for making me feel safe and giving me a thrill of a lifetime”.

Taming the Arkansas River – Day 2

July 20 – Sunday (Hot, Partly Cloudy, Dry, 90’s)

After a good nights sleep I got up at 6:30 am and walked down to the camp. Shahir had already scrambled up the rocks and saw the sunrise and Sanet was getting things ready for breakfast. Emily was stirring as well and shortly arose to help Sanet. I helped Shahir make my Kona coffee. It was on the light side but tasted better than any canned coffee. The guides cooked breakfast while I sat and watched. I really waned to help but they would have nothing to do with it. We had scrambled eggs with cheese, bacon, toast, sausage, coffee and orange juice. Oh yeah! After breakfast Sanet cleaned up and we went to pack up our belongings. Shahir, Sanet and Emily began packing their gear to bring to our next camping site. We began talking about the third day and the possibility of doing the Royal Gorge. It is Echo’s policy that no one under 16 yo raft it due to the number of class 4’s. We had some rights of passage before he would make the request. The boys had to demonstrate there ability to swim to shore from rapids. I went with them for support. I went out first, then Isaiah, then Ethan. It was tough…for all of us. I guess I am getting older than I think. We all made it to shore and Shahir gave the boys the OK. Dad was happy too!

The guides thought it would be fun for the 3 of us to float down the Arkansas on a Paco pad so we tried it onl to be pushed back by the river. I then doubled one over and tried it myself. Oh no! I went too far into the river and had to paddle from one side to the other. I missed the turn off and Shahir threw the bag of rope to me and helped guide me to shore. I was not embarrassed at all. When someone throws a rope to you, grab it! I also saved the pad. Whew! I was tired.

After drying off, we loaded our gear into the gear boat then climbed into our raft and continued down the river. Today we are entering Browns Canyon, a private wilderness preserve. The major rapids today included Pinball, Zoom Flume, Big Drop, the staircase a series of 7 rapids, and many more. There are mostly class 3 and we went through the narrowest part of the river. The entire Arkansas River flows through a section no bigger than the width of the raft. Browns Canyon is a wilderness preserve that was set aside by the state. Basically there are n homes or other commercial use allowed. It is pristine and although the rafting is mostly 1’s, 2’s and 3’s, it is beautiful and gave us a a leisurely float down one of the most beautiful rivers in the most beautiful canyon. Shahir showed some of his talent and we floated backwards, did circles and swam several times. We did get a picture opportunity on this day. The name of the rapid was Zoom Flume and it was class 3 almost a 4 and we hit it hard. Everyone was having a blast. Oh yeah, for those of you who have seen the show LOST. Who does Shahir remind you of? He actually could double for him.

Shahir remembered a little water fall that he had not visited in years so we pulled over on a beautiful afternoon and went for a short hike up the tributary that fed the Arkansas. We climbed over granite, some of the hardest in the world and found a beautiful waterfall. I noticed in the second picture a portrait of a lion. We named it Simba’s rock. Shahir had never been to the upper part of the waterfall and of course my daring son Isaiah had to explore more.

AS we went down the river, the boys went for a swim and I snapped pictures of the river.
We took the rafts out down river and had a rather long drive back to the second nights camping spot. On the way I snapped several photos of the land around us.
We camped the second night where we ate lunch the first night but not before a quick stop in Buena Vista for a Mocha Frappachino made with real ground Kona beans. Once at camp, Sanet and Shahir started dinner while Emily showed us her Girt. A girt (spelling) is a Mongolian home that was used by Genghis Kahn because it could be moved very quickly. The accordion style wals just collapse and the canvas walls are folded up. Cool!We also met Nikko. She is a Frisbee dog. I would toss the canvas Frisbee and Nikko would catch it then return it to me. The only problem was Nikko wanted to play with the Frisbee for ever. We then played botchy ball. Ethan and mom beat dad and Isaiah by one point. At this point dinner was ready. Mahi-mahi fish sandwiches with a salsa spread made of red cabbage, yogurt, chipotles and onions. Shahir bought a nice French cheese roll that was out of this world. I put some lettuce and tomato on them and wow! We also had a tomato, mozzarella and basil salad with a balsamic vinegar dressing. We had smores for desert but no one wanted any except Isaiah. After dinner, I convinced Sanet and Emily to leave the dishes and come to the hot springs with us. Shahir and Emily had been before. When we arrived, they were closing in 10 min. Sunday they closed early. Normally they are open to 11pm. We were a little bummed but came back to camp, Discussed the agenda and strategy for the Royal Gorge. Shahir had called the office to let them know we were going down it if Sanet would help paddle. In fact, Emily volunteered to help on her day off, but ended up working after all. Isaiah and I set up our sleeping bags and pads under the stars. There was a slight breeze, the sound of the Arkansas and absolutely no bugs. We felt comfy in our 15 degree bags. I was a little too warm. Soon we were all sleeping. We have a big day coming up tomorrow.