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Re: [chalker7] Non-Climbing Travel:
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clymbrchk
Apr 2, 2012, 8:19 PM
Views: 2717
Registered: Mar 25, 2007
Posts: 115
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My hubby and I stayed at a nice little cabin in a canyon near Rocky Mountain National Park for our honeymoon. The best thing about the canyon is that cellphones rarely work. yeah. We went hiking in the park and there was also great fishing - a non-climbing hobby that we happen to have.
Based on your criteria, I might do something like:
Fly into Denver, stay in the city for some urban fun. Hit Rocky Mountain National Park and Eldorado state park for climbing, fishing, hiking, biking. Or, you can hike and watch climbers and bikers, if you really want to travel sans gear.
If you're adventureous, most of the ski resorts offer downhill mountain biking during the summer. You can rent gear (including bikes) at the resort. Or, you can go and just people watch.
Option A would be to catch the train west to San Francisco and then drive to Yosemite. It follows the I70 corridor through the mountains and across the Colorado Plateau.
Option B, for max National Park hits would be going to RMNP, Black Canyon, Great Sand Dunes and Mesa Verde in Colorado (pretty much in that order). All of them have really beautiful hikes. Mesa Verde is near Durango, which is a great place for, ahem, college type fun.
From Mesa Verde, head west to Indian Creek and check out Newpaper rock on the way to Canyonlands National Park. Then go north to Moab, and hit Castle Valley, Fishers, Arches, and the North side of Canyonlands. If you like clipping bolts, I recommend a jaunt down Wall Street. If you're into bouldering, i would stop at Big Bend for some fun bouldering.
From there, hit capitol reef and the san rafael swell on your way west. (Still in UT.)
From there, since you want to pass on vegas, swing down to zion national park, and then head over to yosemite.
Catch the train back east to Denver and rent a car for the push back to PA. (Actually, you could catch the train all the way back to Chicago and spend a night in the city .. in which case, i'd add pizza, sailboating, and wandering around lakeshore to the list.) And then catch your car.
You will find loads of rafting and mountain biking anywhere in the west.
since this is a day-dream type break from my work day, i did not bother googling prices, but i have done trips like this in the past on a very tight budget - shoot for camping on BLM land to manage costs pretty aggressively. cooking over a campfire can also help manage costs and can be pretty darn romantic. you'd have to pick and choose the locations that you like best to fit on your 10 day schedule.
have fun!
(This post was edited by clymbrchk on Apr 2, 2012, 8:25 PM)
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Edit Log:
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Post edited by clymbrchk
() on Apr 2, 2012, 8:20 PM
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Post edited by clymbrchk
() on Apr 2, 2012, 8:21 PM
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Post edited by clymbrchk
() on Apr 2, 2012, 8:24 PM
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Post edited by clymbrchk
() on Apr 2, 2012, 8:25 PM
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