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T2Ts 2022 Phx Cruiser JourneysT2Ts 2022 Phx Cruiser Journeys
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T2Ts 2022 Phx Cruiser Journeys

May - September 2022
The stories from our short getaways around Colorado … with a quick dip in and out of Utah. Read more

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  • Two to TravelT2Ts 2022 Phx Cruiser Journeys
    2

    Dry Camping at Elk Run

    June 5, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    The Sylvan Lake campgrounds are five miles up a dirt road from the visitor center. The road was hard-packed but full of potholes, so the going was a bit rough. But we’re veterans of the dirt roads of Alaska, so we did fine.

    We’re in site 22 in the Elk Run Campground. We’re dry camping here for four nights. For those not familiar with the terminology, dry camping means that we have no utility hook-ups … no water, no electricity, no sewer. No worries, though. We are self-sufficient. Solar panels float our house batteries … supplemented by our generator when necessary. We have a tankful of fresh water … and our grey and black tanks (for sink/shower and toilet water, respectively) are empty.

    There is no cell signal … no wifi. We are unplugged from the world … except that we’ve got a clear view of the southern sky … which means that our satellite TV is working. So, we have entertainment for when we are not outdoors.

    The campground is situated at 8,500 feet … give or take 100 feet, depending on where your site is located. It is in a scenic high valley surrounded by mountains clad with trees. There are lots of aspen stands amongst the pine trees. I bet this place is gorgeous in the fall when the aspens turn golden yellow.

    Since lunch was early, we had dinner early … eating indoors at the dinette because the windchill made it a bit too crisp to sit outside. Fingers crossed well have better luck in the days ahead.

    The sun is now out and inviting us to take a quick walk down to the lake. Time to live in the moment!    Read more

  • Two to TravelT2Ts 2022 Phx Cruiser Journeys
    1

    Lake Shore Loop

    June 6, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    We woke up to the pitter patter of rain on the Cruiser’s roof. The rain was gentle and rhythmic…signaling that it would not last long. Nor would it make a muddy mess of the trails that one can hike from the campground.

    It was 9:30a before we got going … the rain over … the temp up to 53F from the 45F we woke up to. We chose to do the 1.4-mile Lake Shore Loop today … more a walk rather than a hike. The scenery along the way was beautiful … mountains; trees in every shade of green; a still lake that served as a mirror at times. We encountered very few people along the way … most fishing from the shoreline. It was a peaceful walk with frequent stops for photo ops.

    We had some wildlife sightings along the way … Canada geese … a fox that was running around the tree line … hummingbirds buzzing around. Those sightings we enjoyed. What we didn’t enjoy were the bugs that were swarming … at times a black cloud that we had to walk through … so thick that we could hear the hum of their collective wings. The good news is that they weren’t biting, and they were mostly in the sunny areas … there was enough shade and breeze that we didn’t have to endure them for the entire length of the trail.

    Despite the swarms, we really enjoyed our walk/hike … a great start to our three days of being unplugged here at Sylvan Lake State Park.    Read more

  • Two to TravelT2Ts 2022 Phx Cruiser Journeys
    1

    Afternoon Tea Al Fresco

    June 6, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    We were hoping to have dinner on the patio, but it didn’t seem like that was going to be possible today. So, while the sun was still out, and before the wind really picked up, we enjoyed afternoon tea outdoors instead.Read more

  • Two to TravelT2Ts 2022 Phx Cruiser Journeys
    112

    West Brush Creek Trail

    June 7, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Pitter-patter … pitter-patter. The rain fell during the early part of last night. But by the time we went to bed, the rain was no more. Stars were twinkling in the sky.

    We woke up rested, and after an easy morning, we were ready to tackle at least a portion of the West Brush Creek Trail … definitely more of a hike than yesterday’s walk around Sylvan Lake.

    Technically, the trail starts at the day use area up by the visitor center. The 5.8-mile long trail ends at the Sylvan Lake Dam. We started in reverse and hiked 2.1 miles from the campground to Bear Gulch. There were some up and down portion. Some steps in the steeper sections. If one starts by the visitor center, there is an elevation change of some 1,000 feet. Starting at the dam, the section we did had an elevation change of just a few hundred feet. Overall, we felt it was an easy hike. And no bug swarms … which made the hike all the more enjoyable.

    Rather than returning the way we had come, at Bear Gulch we crossed the bridge and returned via Forest Service Road 400 … the hard-packed dirt road to the campground.

    11,093 steps later we were back at the campground … slightly weary … but happy to have made the most of a delightful blue-sky day with temps around 68F. Even more so, we were happy to be settled back at our place before the seriously gusting winds really picked up.    Read more

  • Two to TravelT2Ts 2022 Phx Cruiser Journeys

    Wine and Snacks Al Fresco

    June 7, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    We returned from our hike around 2:30p. Our delayed lunch meant that we weren’t very hungry when dinner time came around.

    Instead, we enjoyed snacks and a bottle of Mon Reve, a Montepulciano red we picked up from the Lucien Arkas Winery in İzmir last year. Luckily, the gusting winds died down long enough for us to be able to enjoy our wine al fresco

    Cheers!    Read more

  • Two to TravelT2Ts 2022 Phx Cruiser Journeys
    1

    Hiking Along FSR 400

    June 8, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    After a good night’s rest, we woke up to clear blue skies. It was only 37F at 6:30a … but the temp rose to 43F within an hour … faster than it has in the past few days.

    Bundling up, I sat out for a bit to read. Good thing I did. Otherwise, I would have missed the mule deer that came charging out of nowhere, running through our campsite so fast that I had to wonder if there was a predator in hot pursuit. If there was, it was nowhere to be seen and the deer quickly disappeared.

    We left the Cruiser around 9:30a. Our plan was to hike the Sneve Gulch Trail … 5.2 miles in/out … with about 1,600 feet of elevation gain.

    When we got to the trailhead, however, we decided to save our energy for a meadow hike we had in mind for later and opted to follow along Forest Service Road 400 instead. It was closed to traffic. It was wide. The elevation gain was gradual … only about 300 feet to our turnaround point. And it had the one view we were really interested in seeing … an aerial look at Sylvan Lake.

    We stopped to have a snack at the pond formed by the muddy headwaters for Sylvan Lake. Then, instead of retracing our steps, we found a narrow path through the forest … ¼-mile down to the inlet of the lake. The bug swarms were out in thick clouds again, so we didn’t dally once we got down to the Lake Shore Loop. We had our photos already … and had somewhere else to be as well.    Read more

  • Two to TravelT2Ts 2022 Phx Cruiser Journeys

    Ranching in the High Country

    June 8, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    On our way back from Bear Gulch yesterday, we spotted the ruins of some log cabins in the Borah Gulch Conservation Area … part of the non-fee section of Sylvan Lake State Park. Noting that there was a break in the barb wire fence line near the group camping area, we put a hike through the meadow to the cabins on our agenda for today.

    According to the signage, there were periods of gold mining in the area. But it was agriculture that drove the valley’s economy from the late 1800s through the 1950s. The cabins we walked over to check out date back from when the land was acquired by the Dice Family … who ran cattle here. The ruins sit just off the banks of West Brush Creek. Not sure exactly how old they are, but the buildings are visible in a photo of the meadow from the 1930s.    Read more

  • Two to TravelT2Ts 2022 Phx Cruiser Journeys

    Wrapping Up with Mon Reve

    June 8, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

    With the wind gusts far more manageable this afternoon, we were able to spend most of our time on the patio.

    Afternoon tea first … followed by wine and snacks in lieu of dinner. We finished up the bottle of Mon Reve Montepulciano that we opened yesterday.

    What a great way to wrap up our stay at Sylvan Lake State Park!    Read more

  • Two to TravelT2Ts 2022 Phx Cruiser Journeys

    Back Home from Sylvan Lake

    June 9, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    With severe thunderstorms forecasted for this afternoon, we didn't want to get caught on the road traveling back home from Sylvan Lake.

    So, we opted for an early departure and a more direct route via I-70E to I-25S. Mui even made sandwiches that we could eat "on the run" ... so to speak.

    We pulled into the driveway around 1:15p, took out the laundry and perishables, and Mui drove off to store the Cruiser until our next getaway.

    We loved Sylvan Lake State Park. It's definitely on the "must-return-to" list ... especially for a fall getaway.    Read more

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