Tag Archives: Canyonlands National Park

Yellow Stones and More Snow!

 

 

  Woof, woof! We are resting in Eugene, Oregon right now and it is nice. It has been a little while since I have updated everyone. After my last blog posting a big storm with wind, rain, and snow made us go stay at a motel in a town called Grand Junction. We were camped close to Arches and Canyonlands parks and when we left it started getting windy, then cold and rainy. After that big storm passed we went to a place called Colorado National monument. We stayed there two nights waiting for it to get warmer because Matt said where we were going was up higher in the mountains and colder too. That was another big canyon called Black Canyon of the Gunnison. I liked it there, deer came right into our campsite and we hiked down into the canyon. It was windy and cold there like Matt said and it rained that night, when we woke up the next morning everything was frozen, woof! I stayed under the warm sleeping bag with Matt for a long time before we got up that morning. Matt waited until the sun had been up a while before we got out.

Me and Matt at the black canyon.
Me and Matt at the black canyon.

  Just when I thought I had seen everything, then we see something else strange and new. We went on a long drive after the black canyon and went to a place with water shooting out of the ground. The whole place smelled funny. At first I thought my human was being impolite until he explained the stuff called sulfur which was in the air. We went to a place where the ground bubbles, shoots up water way in the sky and makes all kind of strange noises. Some places had steam all over the place and those strange smells. The place is called Yellowstone and some places do have yellow stones, and white, and red, and a whole lot of colors. We had to walk on boardwalks to stay safe. The water looks clear and fresh but Matt said some of it was very hot and some was dangerous because of stuff call acid and he explained what toxic meant. I really enjoyed watching the water spurt up way in the air. Some went all the time and some only now and then. We stayed at Yellowstone for three days.

Strange things happen at Yellowstone.
Strange things happen at Yellowstone.

  After Yellowstone we went to another strange looking place, it was called Craters of the Moon, the name is longer than that, but that is all I can remember now. A lot of the land has no plants and it is very rocky. The strange thing is the rocks have holes in them and they are not as heavy as you would think. We went on several hikes there. That place was in a state called Idaho. Woof, talking about states I have been to four new ones for me. Oklahoma was my first new state a long while ago on the trip. Now I can add Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon!

  When we got to Oregon there was more rain and snow, we sure have seen a lot of that. The weather has been strange; when we first got in Oregon it was hot, 80 degrees, woof! Then the next day it was 50 and the next day is when it rained and snowed.

  Well I have things almost completely updated in this report and I am holding up my paw in a promise to start my next blog tonight.

Two Months and Still Going

 

  Woof, well really more than two months. I have been having a great time working as a service dog. We have been going on a lot of hikes everywhere we have been going. Sometimes it is hard to remember I am working so many people are kind and well meaning and they want to pet me. Sometimes Matt lets them if we are resting. This year has been more fun than last year. I hardly ever have to wait in the truck anymore. We were recently in Zion and Bryce national parks, at first I thought Matt said it was Rice Canyon. Can you imagine a canyon full of rice? Matt had a good laugh with that one.

 

  We had a nice weekend not too long ago with Matt’s cousin and his family camping out. Woof, of course when are we not camping out right now? I spent the whole time off leash and not working, I got to roam and play all I wanted to until I just had to lie down to take a nap. We were not near a road and the best thing is there was a creek there, I got to play in it all I wanted and it was fun. I had kids to play with and they wore me out. We stayed there for two days and I got to eat real meat, Tim gave me so much and it was good, ruff! We spent almost the whole time in camp enjoying each other’s company. When we got ready to leave Theresa gave me a new toy and I love it.

 

  After that we went back to the big lake called Powell and this time Matt let me go swimming. Then we went to see a big river called the Colorado. The river was big and the water was flowing too fast Matt said. The net place we went was Zion where we did a lot of hiking. Woof we have been to so many places it is hard to remember them all right now. Then we went to Bryce the rice canyon. I still like to think of it by that name.

Me swimming at Lake Powell!
Me swimming at Lake Powell!

 

  We camped in Bryce Canyon park for several days. I think Matt was tired when we arrived. He just about pulled into the first place he saw. After trying to find camping places at pother crowded parks he said we were going to stay for a while to have fun plus get some rest. So far we have hiked down into Rice Canyon (woof, just making a funny) and then hiked at another canyon close by called Red Canyon. The next day we hiked at Kodak Park, at least I thought it was called that, Matt told me it really was Kodachrome Basin State Park.

It ws windy at Kodachrome park!
It was windy at Kodachrome park!.

 

  The next places we went were Arches and Canyonlands  parks then we went to Capitol Reef, I got excited because I thought we would see the ocean. Matt told me it was not that kind of reef. It was a beautiful place, we hiked on several trails and it even started snowing when we were on a trail so we had to go back to camp.

 

We are stayed more than one night in a motel in Grand Junction when the weather got bad, I learned about motels last year. There were a lot of dogs and humans there, woof and they are nice and warm. We are heading out this morning to start camping again and more adventures.

The Big Building & the Snow!

For those that have just joined us on Jackson’s blog I am adding this note. We are on a month-long road trip visiting the desert canyons in the American west. I enjoy traveling, but I always regret my best buddy can’t go on a lot of my adventures. This is one of two we have planned this year centered around Jackson joining in on the grand adventure. Jackson is going to be doing all of the blog posts. We will be posting our photographs on our Facebook pages (and a few here also!)
– Matt

Our Colorado National Monument Camp.
Our Colorado National Monument Camp.

Woof, woof, what an adventure! After playing ball with my human at camp yesterday morning, now we are in a room in a big building. My human calls it a hotel! I got to ride in a box that moves up and down, ruff, that was fun. You may wonder why we are staying in this big building that has boxes that go up and down. We were supposed to go camping at a new place after camping at Colorado National Monument. It was nice at the monument, there were friendly people at the campground, it didn’t get cold, and the stars were out.

The stars that night at our campground.
The stars that night at our campground.

My human had been looking at the weather on that little thing he talks into and said it looked okay. He picked another place to go camping called Rifle Falls State Park. Ruff, when we got there is was cold and snowing. I told my human to go back to town and check the weather forecast. He finally listened to me, sometimes he is hard-headed about things. I knew when I saw the frozen lake and no humans camping something was wrong. He decided to drive east to to a place called Boulder, ruff, is that a big rock? I have seen a lot of big rocks on this trip. Well my human said we had better try to beat the storm to the highest mountain ahead of the storm, but we did not make it.

The snow storm before it got bad!
The snow storm before it got bad!

We got on the big fast road and drove and drove. Woof, at first everything looked fine but then we stopped in the middle of the road with the big trucks and cars and weren’t going anywhere. The snow started coming down harder and harder. We waited and waited and it snowed and snowed. Then my human got on the little thing he talks into and talked and waited and talked and waited. He had to drive on a part of the road he called the shoulder. It made a rumbling noise I don’t like. Then he had to weave around cars that were stopped on the road blocking his and other humans way. They just stopped when they could have moved out of the way. After we got around the stopped cars we drove and stopped at a big building. I had to sit in the truck and wait, and wait , and wait. Then Matt came out and started taking things out of the truck. Then he came and walked me around in the snow, I like snow, ruff! Then he took me in the big building with all the good smells and I met some humans that were staying here. A lot of humans are here.

Woof, woof, that’s my story and I’m stikin’ to it, Ruff!

Arches and Canyonlands

For those that have just joined us on Jackson’s blog I am adding this note. We are on a month-long road trip visiting the desert canyons in the American west. I enjoy traveling, but I always regret my best buddy can’t go on a lot of my adventures. This is one of two we have planned this year centered around Jackson joining in on the grand adventure. Jackson is going to be doing all of the blog posts. We will be posting our photographs on our Facebook pages (and a few here also!)
– Matt

Woof, woof,I’m tired, but I am behind on my blog so I am starting it tonight (Saturday) and will finish in the morning, ruff! We have been so busy since the last time I wrote. We drove from Bryce Canyon to a town called Moab. What a busy and interesting place! We had a hard tiime finding a place to stay, but we did. There are a lot of humans here, racing, riding, and driving big cars and trucks out in the wilderness and city, ruff. We have been visiting two parks here, Matt said they were called Arches and Canyonlands. My human also found out about some places I could go for a hike so we went to a place called Portal Arch. Matt put on my boots so I wouldn’t hurt my feet on those nasty sticky plants. We had a big surprise on the hike and I had to climb up some rocks while my human climbed up a ladder, but I made it okay. then we had to go back, but Matt figured out how to help me. He is pretty smart for a human. We explored the two parks for two days and it was so different than what I am used to at home. Hardly any trees and you can see a long, long way off, ruff!

Me hiking on the Portal Trail..
Me hiking on the Portal Trail..
Portal Arch.
Portal Arch.

We got up early today on Sunday, my human said something about time changing. I don’t understand what he meant about that, how does time change? Humans are so strange sometimes, he said it was an hour later, but it looked the same to me. Matt told me I will be going to a new state today, one I haven’t been to before. I think I am beginning to understand what a state is. Each one looks and smells so different than the other. He says we will be going to some more canyons, those are deep holes in the ground and when you are in them you can’t see as far, but you do see some amazing thing like big rocks, sometimes there is a river and sometimes there isn’t, woof!
Well I had better stop writing for now and get ready to go, I am all packed up and ready before my human, humans are so slow sometimes! Of course he is up earlier and is almost ready, he is faster than usual today. Oh, before I forget here is a link to my YouTube video of my hike the other day to Portal Arch: