TandemHearts

The Grand Canyon.   The name says it all.  There may be no more iconic natural wonder.  Google says that there is a  “Grand Canyon of..”  Yellowstone, Yosemite, Texas, and even Pennsylvania.  While these are fine gorges, I’m sure; there really can be Only One.  For years we have talked about going there to ride mountain bikes.  The National Park Service generally has a “no bikes on trails” rule.  The Forest Service (FS) does not and some of the land north of the Canyon is FS land.  So while you can’t ride in the Canyon (which is NPS land), you can ride the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which is FS land.  The Rainbow Rim Trail (RRT) was created especially for mountain bikers and it is spectacular. (more…)

The “Work is Over Rated” tour reached its outer limits of civilization with a trip to Badlands National Park and the Minuteman Missile Historic Site. This corner of South Dakota is pretty empty and is a long drive from anywhere (2 days from Glacier National Park and 2 days from Moab), but it was worth it. As a “bonus”, we stopped at Wall Drug.

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The first stop on our “Work is Over Rated” Tour was Yelowstone National Park. Yellowstone’s most famous feature is probably the Old Faithful Geyser, but we found the hydrothermal pools to be at least as interesting. Yellowstone sits on a geological hotspot – hot magma sits just 3-8miles under the surface of the Earth. This compares to most places in North America where the magma is 20+ miles underground. The heat from below reaches up and heats the ground water, which then needs a place to go. Sometimes it finds an easy outlet and forms a steaming pool of water. When the super heated water can’t find an easy way to the surface, it needs to build up pressure before it can force its way out; this is where geysers come from. (more…)

We drove to Glacier National Park as part of our Work is Over Rated Tour 2007 for 5 days of camping and hiking. This park has some of the most jaw dropping views (and tamest animals) we’ve ever seen.

Glacier National Park is in Montana, on the Canadian border. The park is tied to Waterton National Park in Canada, so if you go, take you passport so you can visit “the other side”. We didn’t have time for that, so saved the Canadian side for our next visit. The park is named not for the glaciers that it has, but for the ancient glaciers that carved the dramatic landscape. Even so, the glaciers are a rare treat. Global warming threatens these glaciers, with some sources estimating that there will be no more glaciers in the park by 2030. In 1850 there were 150 glaciers in the park; today there are 35. There is some irony in lamenting the loss of the glaciers and then driving 1,000 miles to see them. The park has added a shuttle bus system to limit crowding and pollution, but if you are going to visit the park, leave the gas hog at home.

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We’ve ridden in more than a few cool places, both on and off the road. Without question, Crater Lake is the most jaw dropping ride we’ve ever taken.

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