Rafting the Colorado

We have just returned from a 3 day trip on the Colorado River. It was the kid's first overnight rafting and proper wilderness camping trip. Not that they did all that much actual rafting! Maya did have a few splashes with a paddle but was a little bit of a danger as she would let her T grip (the top part of paddle for non rafters) wave around. This is a big NO NO in the rafting world as it will usually end up hitting someone's nose! Thankfully that didn't happen.



I should mention that we did this trip through the college hence all the students in the pictures. It was a lot of fun to be part of a young group and they provided much attention for the kids. Several students came away knowing much more about Star Wars character than they had previously!
The kids and I did two days with one nght of camping on the river then the rest of the group headed into a harder whitewater section and all came through unscathed but pretty wet!


The setting was gorgeous...red rock canyons with wondeful markings and outcroppings and we had it all to ourselves...apart from a few Bald eagles! We were super lucky wth the weather having left behind a blizzard in Colorado Springs and headed into constant sunshine (very cold at night though).
Not the best photos but I had to keep my camera in a dry bag and didn't have the best access to it.



A muddy stop...the guides had the right idea of just removing shoes altogether instead of losing them in the mud!

Grand Canyon

The next point of interest was the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Well it was most definitely jaw dropping! First of all we were driving for a while through a very forested area (some big areas destroyed by fire) where we didn’t have any view of the canyon then as we got closer to the edge we would catch glimpses and a collective ‘wow’ would ring out from the car! We had a picnic right near the edge….actually the first spot was so near the edge that our food was in danger of being blown away so we moved inland a little.

We then took a walk out to a view point called Angel’s Window, an exposed piece of rock that sticks out into the canyon with miles of views all around. We tentatively ventured out and held on tightly to the kids!

Mesa Verde

Well we’ve now returned from our whirlwind tour and I’ve just put on 3 loads of washing!! Not that we did a lot of activities that involved getting dirty! We were mostly taking in the stunning vistas and diverse landscape from the car…with the odd wee walk here and there.

First of all we drove through southwestern Colorado into the San Juan mountains and stayed in the trendy mountain town of Durango…all outdoor activities imaginable…including a whitewater park right in town!


David also saw a mountain lion cross the road in front of our car …I only saw it’s rear end and tail disappear into the bushes….still pretty exciting though! Sorry no pictures!

The following day we went to Mesa Verde National Park to view the ancient (1400 years ago) cliff dwellings of the ancestral Puebloan culture. They built these elaborate homes into the cliffs which they had to climb in and out of using hand and toe hold trails cut into the rock.
We had a few options for tours and it was decided that Grandpa, David and the kids would go on the adventurous Balcony house tour which involved climbing a 32ft ladder, crawling through a tight tunnel and climbing up a 60ft open rock face with two ladders!! Mum and I opted for a more leisurely drive with short walks and views.