Friendly Wave from Northern WI

[Wood Violet]

New to this forum and backpacking. Planning a car camping trip to Colorado and Southeastern Utah this August. Will be hiking in several National Parks w/my two teenage daughters. They've never seen a real mountain or a high desert, so it will be a memorable time. Hope to learn lots from this beautiful and informative magazine and forum. Hello to all!

[John B]

Welcome! Hope you enjoy the beautiful state of Colorado this August!

[Jen]

Welcome to the site! Sounds like a great trip you have planned... the deserts and mountains of the west are so beautiful. Hoping you & your daughters have a great time!

[tmountainnut]

New to this forum and backpacking. Planning a car camping trip to Colorado and Southeastern Utah this August. Will be hiking in several National Parks w/my two teenage daughters. They've never seen a real mountain or a high desert, so it will be a memorable time. Hope to learn lots from this beautiful and informative magazine and forum. Hello to all!

Welcome. What part of Colorado and Utah are you planning on visiting?

-Ted

[Wood Violet]

Ted, we are spending a couple nights at Aspenglen campground in RMNP, already made the reservations, so hoping for good weather mid-August. Then it's a couple nights at Dead Horse Point State park in Utah where we'll also visit Arches NP. Then added an overnight at Goosenecks cause it's close to Monument Valley, where we'll make a brief stop. Hitting the Four Corners monument as well and then back into CO to stay at Mesa Verde NP. A quick visit to Telluride before our last NP at Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Finally, up to Fairplay South Park museum and down to Canon City to see the Royal Gorge Bridge. Thanks for all the warm welcomes:)

[tmountainnut]

There are lots of great places to camp for free in the valley of the gods area, just north of monument valley if you don't want to stay at goosenecks. There's also a few places in the moab/arches area i can elaborate on. don't forget to visit Bridges NM and the cedar mesa area on your way to monument valley.

Be aware, royal gorge suffered some fire damage and last i heard there were some closures around that area, and there are still some issues around rocky mountain NP due to the flooding last fall.

[HikerJen]

Yay - another Midwesterner! I'm also from the Midwest - northern Illinois. There aren't a whole lot of us on this forum so it's nice to see another person from the same region as me here. I've done my share of hiking in Wisconsin, and love the fact that there are some good weekend trails there. Both Kettle Morraine parks, and Devil's Lake are a few of my favorites. If you have any suggestions about other trails in your area I'd definitely am open to hearing about it. Welcome to the forum!

[Wood Violet]

Thanks for the heads up tmountainnut. And "Hi" to Jen. I hope to check out a segment of the Ice Age Trail near our cabin when the weather gets warms. I think the trail also runs down to the Southern part of WI, down through the Kettle Morraine State park, so you've maybe hiked on it. I'm up near the Northern section in the Blue Hills area.