Acadia NP

Another National Park, yay! So many places to explore.

We came through Bar Harbor where we found an apt bumper sticker (the green one) ... I wish I had gotten the lighting better - it says "WWJBD":


On Cadillac Mountain, on a misty day with the sun trying to burn through - we were almost high enough to see it above the clouds:




A cat on a leash? Fancy that!


The Beehive trail - it reminded me of a simple via ferrata course:






Balanced Rock on South Bubble Mountain - you can do it, Mom!


Almost got that rock off the mountain:

The Maine event

Our days in New England are almost over for this year, sad to say. We are really enjoying visiting our parents and seeing some sights.

I'm pleasantly surprised to find excellent Sprint card access at my parent's house in Waterbury. No excuse for not catching up on some blogging - well, except that we've been on the go, keeping everyone busy, even getting in a bit of running training.

We started with a driving tour to the Maine coast - Kip and I haven't been since we were wee ones. First stop... Camden, ME.

Renee enjoying an apple core in the van:


Quaint little downtown (there were restaurants with excellent seafood of all types!):


We took a short trip on a sailboat and John got to help set up the sails and rigging:


Renee was a hit with the kids:


A nearby lighthouse:


Sea dog:


Sea dog:


The Maine coast (which was surprisingly hard to find - the main travel roads mostly stay inland because of the peninsular topography) and John doing ... something:

Running above Flagstaff

Today we did a long (individual) run on the trails around Elden Mountain behind the campground - nice area for running, some interesting trails for maybe biking someday.

I need to practice my selfie photos (this is the best of several shots with the lookout tower):


Views of Flagstaff:


A funny little tree:


A beautiful trail in pine forests:


Interesting rock formations - possibly volcanic in origin? All lot of things around here came from volcanoes:


This weekend we're flying to Vermont to visit Kip and our parents! The first week we'll be traveling to the coast of Maine and then the White Mountains, so you may not hear from me for a while. I'll post again when I can. 'Til then - happy trails!

Sedona Superfly

Today was a "long biking day" so we got a trail map and drove to Sedona. There are a ton of bikeable trails there, and some really pretty red-rock scenery.

We got off to a rocky (and cactus-y) start on the trail along the backside of the airport. I'm not sure who decided this is a "moderately difficult" trail when they put that description on the map, but I'd like to have a word with him/her. The ratio of walking to riding was quite high, especially near the end of the runway. On the bright side, the views were awesome and it was interesting riding on a narrow trail on the side of a hill (John enjoyed that more than I did).

The next trail we took was unnamed (not a good sign) and even worse than the first trail - carrying the bikes over rocks and through cactus is stupid, even more so when it's not part of a race. Finally the trails started improving, from Ridge to Carroll Canyon and finally Herkenham up to the high school. We were mostly riding now, much better!

An easy Red Rock Loop trail and a road led us to Red Rock State Park where we bought sodas and Oreos. I love Oreos. When we started on Baldwin trail and it felt just like Texas terrain (dirt and flat rocks with small steps), I was really happy we hadn't given up on the whole venture.

Then we found Templeton trail. It started slowly, climbing over rocks next to Oak Creek and climbing switchbacks up to a ledge under Cathedral Rock, but then it turned out to be a ton of fun, riding large slabs of red, flat rock. Very cool.

Here's me being happier:


John on Templeton trail:


We'll be riding in this area in the distance a bit later (Courthouse Butte on the right):


I can see you in the Ocotillo!


Fun on the red rocks:



We rode some easier trails (Bell Rock Pathway, Big Park Loop) and found more fun singletrack on Little Horse. I even got slightly airborne a couple times (on purpose).

A flowering Century Plant - we hadn't seen one before:


At the base of Twin Buttes:


Don't do it, John!


The Chapel trail was slow for me (too rocky), but short at least. At the end of it we found this:


Coming back into town we had a fun ride down Mystic to finish off the day.

Go Team V!

AZ High Point

Today we set out early to beat the daily monsoon (and I'm mostly not exaggerating about the weather), aiming to climb the highest point in Arizona: Humphreys Peak at 12,633 ft.

In May 2001 we made an aborted attempt to climb this mountain, turning around due to finding too much snow and not enough trail. So I didn't consider this a "gimme" hike.

At the start, before the sun cleared the top of the mountain:


Tug in the aspens:


Marcy on the trail:


Agassiz Peak across the way (the second-highest in Arizona):


Team V on the snow:


The last part of the trail to the top (looking back down):


We made it!


Waaaay off in the distance, the north rim of the Grand Canyon appeared on the horizon:


I believe this is Beard Canyon:


My new favorite photo of John - at the very highest of the high point in Arizona:

To top it off, it was warm and sunny this afternoon - ah, very nice indeed!

http://www.kipley.com/marcy/highpoints/arizona.html

Walnut Canyon NM

Yesterday we paddled on Lake Mary near Flagstaff. It's a pretty lake surrounded by pine trees and a nice view of Mt Humphreys, or at least a view that lasts until the late-morning clouds show up in anticipation of yet another mid-day storm. I don't think I've mentioned yet that WHITE STUFF has fallen on us several times recently. We're not sure what it is - something between snow, sleet, and hail. Anyway, we got to the lake early, paddled most of its length, and got off the water in time to dry off the boat before the sun disappeared.

Then we drove over to Walnut Canyon National Monument - the last of our cliff-dwelling sightseeing... for now anyway!

Can you spot the cliff dwelling in this photo?


Here's another one - there were ancient home sites all over the canyon, pretty much every direction we looked.


John's thinking how that would look pretty comfortable in the middle of an expedition race:


Taller Sinaguans would have to duck:


View from inside the room:


Another very nice National Monument - so many treasures in Arizona.

Painted Desert/Petrified Forest

One more stop! With barely enough time (well, really not enough time at all), we drove through Petrified Forest National Park. It's pretty amazing that most of this isn't visible from I-40, the highway that cuts right through it.

A piece of the Painted Desert (and badlands), which we had also seen while driving through other areas of northeast Arizona, just never this close:



This jalopy kicked it in on Route 66:


More badlands:




Jasper Forest, littered with hundreds of petrified tree pieces:


A much closer view of petrified trees - they are more colorful and interesting than I had expected:


The largest one in the park, called "Old Faithful" - like John says, you always know it will be there (as opposed to other pieces of petrified trees) because this one's so big and heavy that NO ONE is going to steal it:


A slice of petrified tree that was sent to Barre, VT for cutting and polishing - and apparently this stuff is way harder than granite!


Phew! What a tour. We thoroughly enjoyed all of it, and now we're enjoying being back in Howie in Flagstaff. This next week is devoted to training, exploring the local area, and trying to avoid the daily rainstorm (maybe it will stop soon?). Looking forward to it!