I'm finally done editing the 300+ photos from the hut trip. I'll pick it up on the travel day (last post here). I had no Internet (it was wonderful) on the trip, so I took notes every couple of days on paper.
After a hectic night of packing Jo, Andrew, and I left for Paradox at 4:40 in the morning. I had slept only 1 hour and 45 minutes. We decided to run the shuttle from Moab to Durango on the front end of the trip, as it would be less driving total. Andrew had to leave the trip on day 5 to go to London, which required leaving a vehicle for him in Paradox. This meant we had to drive the truck and the honda from Boulder through Moab to Paradox and back to Moab to meet up with the group. We had to be there by 2:00pm. Then we all would pile into a van for the 3 hour drive to Durango.
The Paradox Valley was the highlight of the day. I had been trying to get to the Paradox Valley ever since Lee described it to me years ago. The narrow valley, surrounded by red rock cliffs in the shadow of the La Sal Mountains, is called Paradox because the Dolores River cuts it in half rather than run through it. The north rim is perfect for hang gliding with cliffs over 2000 feet high and multiple directions to launch from. More on Paradox later, here are my notes from the day (bullet points).
After a hectic night of packing Jo, Andrew, and I left for Paradox at 4:40 in the morning. I had slept only 1 hour and 45 minutes. We decided to run the shuttle from Moab to Durango on the front end of the trip, as it would be less driving total. Andrew had to leave the trip on day 5 to go to London, which required leaving a vehicle for him in Paradox. This meant we had to drive the truck and the honda from Boulder through Moab to Paradox and back to Moab to meet up with the group. We had to be there by 2:00pm. Then we all would pile into a van for the 3 hour drive to Durango.
The Paradox Valley was the highlight of the day. I had been trying to get to the Paradox Valley ever since Lee described it to me years ago. The narrow valley, surrounded by red rock cliffs in the shadow of the La Sal Mountains, is called Paradox because the Dolores River cuts it in half rather than run through it. The north rim is perfect for hang gliding with cliffs over 2000 feet high and multiple directions to launch from. More on Paradox later, here are my notes from the day (bullet points).
- Long drive, racing against the clock.
- Must be there by 2:00pm.
- Very tired.
- Made it to Moab late, made it to Paradox early?
- Google maps is wrong.
- Road to Paradox is amazing, wish I was in the M Coupe.
- Fun even in the Tacoma, good lines, threshold braking, heel-toe shifting.
- Paradox more beautiful than I imagined.
- Red rock cliffs lush with green vegetation.
- Aspens at the top, desert sage at the bottom - amazing!
First View of Paradox
- Cloud streets - drool.
Cloud Streets
- Left Honda at Post Office.
- Very nice post woman offered to watch it.
- Paradox store abandoned.
Paradox Store
- Made it back to Moab early, everyone was running late.
- So hot, over 100 degrees at the ball field (meeting place).
- Like an oven.
- Met up with Doug, John, and Jean-Paul.
Jean-Paul and Andrew
- Loaded up in the Van.
- 3 hour drive to Durango was long.
- Lack of sleep catching up with me.
- Picked up Joni in town, 30 more minutes to Durango Mountain Resort.
- DMR, used to be Purgatory.
Long Van Ride
- Condo Doug rented at DMR is tight!
- No food though.
The West Needle Mountains from the Condo Balcony
- Rode 3 miles to School House Bar where they have pizza.
- Pizza took forever.
The Group at the School House
- Heavy sleep that night.
You can see all of the photos HERE(Travel Day, Pages 1 &2)
1 comment:
Wait until you see the view from the air at Paradox. I have a picture on my cube wall of a huge round valley with a tiny oulet on one side. Years later it still enthralls me. There is also a very nice lake in the tall pine trees for top landing. All time awesome.
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