Summer Camping Trip (July 27-Aug 4, 2013)

We decided to take a camping trip that included northern AZ, CO, and UT. This is the general route we took, going north on the right side of the "8" and coming home on the left.

We loaded up the Jeep and trailer to start our trip towards Canyon de Chelly. 

Our first stop was to experience standing on a corner in Winslow AZ.

We  also decided to visit the Old Trails Museum across the road, just to give the girls a longer break.

From Winslow, we headed to the painted desert, where we stopped at various scenic overlooks for pictures.

We then headed to Chinle, to set up camp in the Spider Rock campground in Canyon de Chelly for the night.

While the campsite seemed a bit sketchy when we first arrived, it was actually quite nice. 

Summer Camping Trip - Day 2 - Canyon de Chelly to Durango

Day 2 - Canyon de Chelly to Durango

We planned to take a guided tour of the Canyon in the morning, but then got caught in the rain 

We also had car problems (some hose came off or was leaking), so we skipped the tour. and just took pictures from above, instead of a guide taking us into the canyon. 

We tried fixing the car issue in Chinle, but everything was closed for the day, so we cautiously headed to Four Corners.

After leaving Four Corners, we spent much of the day driving through rain as we reached Durango. 

To make life a bit easier, we camped at the Durango KOA. The weather improved once we set up our tent.

Summer Camping Trip - Day 3 - Durango to Silverton

Day 3 - Durango to Silverton

We got a slow start leaving Durango, so the girls could swim in the pool at the KOA, leaving around noon. From there, we drove toward Silverton. Along the route, we stopped at various scenic overlooks to take in the views. At one in particular, we could see a lake in a distant valley. The girls asked if they could hike to the lake. We didn't realize the distance, so we told them to go ahead and we would meet them there.

When Steve and I arrived at the lake, we did not see the girls. I started  walking on a trail towards the direction they should be arriving and found them as he got in the jeep to go looking. I tried calling him as loud as possible (STEEEEVE) but he didn't hear it. Eventually we found each other (but didn't get any pictures of the lake!!)

Summer Camping Trip - Day 4 - Alpine Loop

Day 4 - Alpine Loop

Today we decided to drive part of the Alpine Loop trail. 

On the way, we saw a bunch of sheep on the hillside.

As we neared Animas Forks, we saw an old mining ghost town and stopped to explore for a bit.

We then drove up to Engineer Pass, despite warnings that we wouldn't make it with the trailer (we did). 

It was starting to get late and we didn't have a campground lined up, so we headed back towards Animas Forks, where we saw a few nice places for wilderness camping.

We arrived as it started to get dark and had just set up the tent and started the campfire when a major thunderstorm and torrential rains hit. We hunkered down in our tent (part of it leaked slightly) for a couple hours until the rain stopped and we could make dinner. The stars were beautiful once the skies cleared (although it was really cold!!)