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7/27/2020 (San Juans "Rona" road trip, day 1 of 9)
The New Wave is a rock formation right outside Page, AZ. It's an easy walk among the rocks, and also the trailhead of the obscure "Ropes Trail" which is what I intended to hike. The Ropes Trail is a thrill ride, entailing an 800' rappel down the cliff to the Colorado River. However, I walked along the edge of the cliff and couldn't find the marker for the rappel. Perhaps it's fenced off by the power company which owns the land there. Not sure.
In the end of the New Wave video, I dug into archive and included some old photos from my hikes to "The Wave" (2008) and "The Fire Wave" (2018) for side-by-side comparison.
San Juans "Rona" Road Trip Playlist: [ Ссылка ]
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx San Juans "Rona" Road Trip xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I wanted to escape from the oven called Las Vegas, but the virus thing gave me worries. Flying was out of the question. I loaded up my car with food, water, and a sleeping bag, and hit the road for 9 days with Colorado's San Juan Mountains in mind. Lots of driving. But the hikes were worth it, especially I got to try via ferrata in America for the first time. Here's the itinerary --
Day 1 (7/27/2020, Mon)
- drive: LV to Page, AZ
- visit Toadstool Hoodoos and The New Wave
- overnight at Beehive Campground, Page, AZ
Day 2 (7/28/2020, Tue)
- drive to Durango, CO
- visit Shiprock, NM and Durango, CO
- overnight at Engineer Mountain TH
Day 3 (7/29/2020, Wed)
- hike Engineer Mountain (12,968', class 2-3)
- visit Silverton, CO
- overnight at Ice Lake TH at South Mineral Campground
Day 4 (7/30/2020, Thu)
- hike Ice Lake, Island Lake, to Grant Swamp Pass (12,900')
- overnight at Ice Lake TH at South Mineral Campground
Day 5 (7/31/2020, Fri)
- drive Hwy 550 ("Million Dollar Hwy") to Ouray, CO
- Ouray via ferrata
- drive Camp Bird Rd + Yankee Boy Basin Rd
- overnight at Mt Sneffels 2WD TH
Day 6 (8/1/2020, Sat)
- hike Mt Sneffels (14,158', class 3)
- overnight at Ouray
Day 7 (8/2/2020, Sun)
- drive to Telluride, CO
- Telluride via ferrata
- visit Telluride gondola and Mountain Village
- overnight at Telluride
Day 8 (8/3/2020, Mon)
- long drive to Cedar City, UT
- overnight at Cedar City
Day 9 (8/4/2020, Tue)
- drive to Las Vegas
9-day total miles driven = 1428 (38.33 gallon gas)
