dinosaur national monument to flaming gorge national recreation area. 9.3.14

After waking up in Dinosaur, we enjoyed some coffee and breakfast while studying our surroundings that we'd precariously driven through in the dark the night before.

Lots of muddy rutted out road.

In daylight, we realized what an iffy trek it'd been to get into our camping spot.

Getting out was a balancing act.

En route to Ashley National Forest.

The drive was winding and gorgeous.

Utah is truly a very colorful area.

And out of nowhere, a mine.

He told me to do something for the photo.

Loulou slacking on the job as navigator.

Ashley National Forest.

First view of the reservoir.

Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

Flaming Gorge Dam.

The Campbulance looks good anywhere she's parked.

A dumpster near the Green River put-in. 

This day was so jam-packed with adventure that we have to split it into two posts so we don't totally inundate you with photos. Next post…paddling the Green River!

finally hitting the road. 9.2.14

Because we'd worked well into the darkness the night before we intended to leave, after arriving back at my apartment to load up all our stuff and Loulou, we decided it'd be a lot smarter to leave a day later than intended to give us more time to prep and not rush.

Loulou wasn't exactly stoked when we first hit the road.

Loulou finally got settled right where she likes it…in the driver's seat.

Main streets don't have to be paved.

Christian consults Loulou the Navigator.

We headed north from Edwards, Colorado to Steamboat Springs and eventually found ourselves driving alongside their local stretch of the Yampah River. Readily equipped with our river gear and a Hyside shredder we'd borrowed from some of our good friends, we scouted the takeout, left our bike chained up to run shuttle and headed up to the put-in to pump up the boat and start paddling.

Our Campbulance quickly attracted a local's interest when we had parked and were prepping to get on the river.

Pumping up the shredder with our hand K-pump. Thankfully, it's a small boat.

The river was barely high enough to get through some spots, but luckily, a shredder handles shallow water extremely well and we were able to enjoy the sunshine and chilly water on the four mile stretch we paddled.

The weather couldn't be more perfect and as we rounded a bend, we noticed some natural hot spring pools so we pulled over to jump in and take our first river dip of the trip.

"This counts as a bath, right?"

My brand spanking new PFD made the hot spring experience even more relaxing.

They had some fun play waves along the way and a friendly sunbather offered take snap some photos of us attempting to surf.

After we dried off and got back on the road, we aimed toward Dinosaur National Monument for the night. We'd read about some BLM campsites just outside the boundaries of the monument on a Free Campsites website so we followed the directions to a beautiful secluded spot under the stars and made our first dinner on the road.

Our outside kitchen space makes cooking around a campfire pretty darn easy. Just pull up, open the hatch and get started!

Our first camp spot couldn't have been a more perfect start to the trip. Next update...onto Utah and another river adventure!