Colorado Backpacking Trip + Grand Canyon & Monument Valley

Atop a 14,000 foot summit in the Weminuche Wilderness, San Jose National Forest, Colorado, USA.  These photos are of the road trip, camping and backpacking trip my uncle, my cousin and I went on, are untouched, and sometimes out of order (Thanks random Blogger upload!) Hope you enjoy. - A

Our journey began in Arizona. Tuscon to be exact. This is hours into our drive, close to 4 corners. This is an abandoned hotel I would have loved to see: Asasazi Inn.

First view of the Colorado Rockies. Blew me away, and just a hint of things to come.

The pickup-dropoff point in Silverton, Colorado. Yes, that's an actual coal burning train that takes us into the trailhead. My environmentalist uncle was not thrilled to hear the word "Coal" outside of a campfire.

First group selfie of the trip. (While we were still clean and didn't smell.) My uncle Gus, his son and my cousin Aidan. The three family related amigos.

View From The Train

First pic from the trail.

Then this happened. Yes that's a moose at 9 o'clock. More images/video below. Felt it was a blessing on the trip. Moose sighting on the first day.

Aidan was the trailblazer of the trip. Always the first of the pack.

Atop a pass. It was windy.

Those are switchbacks...that went on FOREVER! Brutal.

Gus applying moleskin to Aidan's blister mid-hike. Fun stuff!

Breakfast time. On the trail that means oatmeal. Breakfast of champions.

Gus resting and Aidan pumping filtered drinking water from the creek. I'm doing what Gus is. (Not pictured)

So that's a Marmot. More of him to follow. Gus is in blue.

Remnants of a mining station. We got to go in. Pics below (again, these pics are somewhat out of order.)

This is a beautiful lake that's made of melted glacier water. So of course Gus wanted to swim.

Yeah, that Marmot looks happy.

Does it get better than this? Greetings from postcard country. Feels like what heaven is supposed to look like.

That's right, wild mountain goats. They say hello.

That piece of metal means you're more than 14,000 feet up. Congratulations.

Picture of my thumb...And some mountains.

I made it! And didn't die!!! Just a touch of hyperventilation. Phew!

Nothing but mountains, 360 degrees.

Just a little view

We made it back alive! My camera/cell battery died for the last day. This is after a little battery boost from Gus' portable battery. This is after we all went swimming in the river that connects to the one below. Felt cold and clean!

Here's that train again. God bless.

And now we're on to Monument Valley, Arizona. That little ant-like figure on the left is Aidan. He's 6'3" or 6'4". On the right is "Mexican Hat".

Uncle Gus and the Prius that could.

Panoramic shot. Was so gorgeous. It was raining with thunder and lightning. We got to this dramatic landscape under the most dramatic weather. It was wonderful, exquisite and awe-inspiring.

Another Panoramic shot.

Now we're at the Grand Canyon during the solar eclipse. This is a Panoramic shot with Gus on the right side taking a photo. We were all trigger happy when we got there.

Eclipse time!

Gus multi-tasking during the eclipse.

For perspective, on the far right at 3 o'clock is a 3 story tower. On the left is Aidan watching the eclipse.

The trail down into the canyon. Truly awesome. Recommend!!

We could have used some of these in Colorado.

This is a pic of Flagstaff, Arizona. We had a great lunch and dessert there to cap off our epic journey.

And taking the friendly skies back to Los Angeles. I liked seeing the city through the clouds, or haze.

Since the flight was from Tuscon, the plane was small, and LAX is under construction, we landed in a strip that wasn't attached to the airport. We were shuttled to a spot to get to the main terminal. Felt like we were in Alaska or something.

THE END!! Was truly an epic journey. These photos don't even do justice to the amount of physical beauty we were surrounded by and the amount of work it took to get there as well as the reward of being in such a dramatic landscape. But I hope you enjoyed and got an idea of what it was like. Thanks for visiting. -Asher