Ridgway is touted as one of Colorado’s nicer state parks and it lived up to that reputation. The facilities were quite clean and it even had a compost toilet near the walk-in tent camping area. There were also wheel-barrow-type carts available for loading and pushing items up to the camping area. They would have worked well had they not been filled with water (a few holes drilled in the bottom would remedy this?). Anyhow, the night at Ridgway was great; we should have known since a full double rainbow greeted us at the entrance.

Double rainbow at Ridgway State Park

From Ridgway, we headed further south through Silverton and to the trailhead of our first (and last for me!) high country adventure in the Weminuche Wilderness. The Highland Mary Lakes were our destination and the trailhead was a bit difficult to find based on directions from the book we were using. It turns out that San Juan County Road 110 is a bit tricky. Had we paid closer attention to the roads, the book turned out to be more accurate than we originally expected. Just before the trailhead in the Cunningham Gulch, our progress in the truck was interrupted by many 18-wheelers loaded with sheep. Apparently the farmers let the sheep out in the summer to feed on the grass and pick them up again in the fall. The sheep and the herders hiked directly up the face of one of the mountains in the gulch and it was quite a sight!

We started the Highland Mary Lakes loop hike around 3:30 in the afternoon. The first part of the trail was definitely less forgiving than the second day. Parts of it were actually pretty scary, with the crawl across the boulder field just before reaching the first lake topping my list. With a constant misting rain, the rocks were very slippery and it didn’t help encourage a positive frame of mind. Nevertheless, about 3.5 hours after starting, we reached around 12,000 ft and set up camp.

Camping at first of Highland Mary Lakes

We started back hiking in the morning around 10:30 after a decent night’s rest. Had the rainfly stake not blown loose and allowed my sleeping pad to become partially saturated with water, the night would have been more restful :-) Anyhow, the hike back down the mountain was much less intense than going up. The terrain was significantly less challenging, though it was damp, boggy, and muddy on most of the trail. The wildflowers and views were fantastic, even if it was very foggy in the higher elevations.

Taking a break at a Highland Mary Lake

Highland Mary Lakes wildflower

Stream on the descent

It felt nice to be back at our vehicles in Cunningham Gulch and I immediately ripped off my boots and let my feet dry out in a pair of flip flops. We headed back to Silverton and some rest and relaxation at the Triangle Motel.

After the wilderness (mis)adventure, we decided it might be a good idea to take things easy for a bit and headed over to Mesa Verde National Park, site of the Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings. We arrived at the park somewhat later in the day after setting up camp at Mancos State Park. However, we had just enough time to catch the Cliff Palace tour, guided by Ranger Donal Lindsey, who gave a fantastic overview of the site and its history.

Cliff Palace

While driving through the park, we spotted several chimpmunks and even a couple of elk right near the park road. It’s a shame that so much of this park has been burned by wildfires in recent years. The ranger said it would take over 400 years for the forest to recover.

Old tree at a Mesa Verde N.P. scenic overlook

After Mesa Verde and Macos State Park, we headed further west to stop by the Grand Canyon en route to Las Vegas. The other half of the crew met a friend in Durango for more backcountry adventures. Having had enough of that for a while, a couple of days in Vegas were much enjoyed. But it seemed time to get back home so a 19.5 hour drive (got to love the 75 mph speed limit on I-40 through Arizona and New Mexico) straight back to Texas capped off the trip. Oh, I did make a quick stop by Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona.

Rock formation in Arizona

More interesting rocks

At Meteor Crater

A couple of fantastic restaurants along the way:

• Millwood Junction in Mancos, Colorado
• Himalayan Cuisine on Main Ave in Durango, Colorado

View from room at Outrigger Lauana Waikiki

Saturday, 20 May 2006

• Arrived at HNL around 7:30pm, picked up rental car, drove to hotel for check-in and relaxed
• Returned to airport around 11:00pm to pick up friends
• Crashed; 5 extra hours aren’t always good!

Sunday

• Went to Eggs ‘n Things for brunch – had a ham and cheese omelet and chocolate chip pancakes (delicious!)
• Drove to Pearl Harbor to visit the USS Arizona Memorial
• Shopped at a Foodland grocery store
• Window shopped in Waikiki
• Dinner at Duke’s Canoe Club

Eggs ‘n Things

Pearl Harbor

Duke’s Canoe Club

Monday

• Attended a free breakfast followed by a sales presentation for Fairfield vacation ownership (mistake!) — ended up taking almost 3 hours and not sure it was worth the discount I was “gifted” for the luau
• Visited Waikiki beach and lounged by the pool
• More shopping in Waikiki

Tuesday

• Visited the Dole Plantation
• Drove north from Dole to Haleiwa to eat at Cafe Haleiwa
• Continued driving along the north shore to see Pipline, Sunset Beach, and Chinaman’s Hat
• Drove the wrong way into the Polynesian Cultural Center parking lot; was stopped by a parking lot guard; inquired about admissions prices and promptly left after being informed it was $40/person :-)
• Drove down the east coast and through our first highway tunnel
• Visited Waikiki beach even though there was light rain
• Stayed by the pool at Outrigger Reef for happy hour

Dole Plantation

Cafe Haleiwa

Sunset Beach

Chinaman’s Hat

Wednesday

• Woke up early and went on a Makiki Valley Hike – we ended up turning around less than half-way through our intended route as the path was narrow and muddy with little protection from the cliffs
• Went back to Waikiki beach
• Went on a Starlet dinner cruise which had beautiful views of Waikiki, Diamondhead, and a nice (if a little cloudy) Hawaiian sunset

View on Makiki Valley hike

At the end of the hike, we came upon this sign and our shoes really needed washing!

View of Diamondhead onboard Starlet dinner cruise

Sunset aboard Starlet dinner cruise

Thursday

• Drove out to Hanuama Bay – as we were driving out, the lot was full and thus we set aside our plans of going back into town for snorkel gear (it was barely 10:15am; must get there earlier!)
• Drove up the eastern coast, visited “The Blowhole”
• Visited Kailua Beach Park
• Rented a kayak and paddled out to Flat Island – walked around the island, which is also a bird santuary and heard the strange baby cry noises of one bird
• Dined at Keo’s Thai Food in the heart of Waikiki

Lagoon just west of The Blowhole

Kailua Beach and Flat Island

Friday

• Slept in – vacation beggining to wear us down
• Returned to Eggs ‘n Things for late brunch
• Went to Germaine’s Luau out west of Pearl Harbor – the food was not as good as I expected, their frozen drink machine was inoperable (grr), but the show itself was quite nice – the bus ride could have been a bit quieter (our “escort” was on the PA system virtually the whole ride and late at night, it’s a bit much

Performance at Germaine’s Luau

The poi at Germaine’s Luau

Saturday

• Decided to hike Diamondhead as it was our last full day
• Lounged by the pool
• Went for an early dinner at The Cheesecake Factory in Waikiki

View from atop Diamondhead

Sunday

• Back to Eggs ‘n Things for a third time (mmm, this place is good) – instead of the ham and cheese omelet with chocolate chip pancakes I opted for scrambled eggs with Portuguese sausage (very delicious as well)
• Went to the airport for a dropoff around 2pm
• Decided to make one last trip around the island
• Drove as far as possible out west until the road ended near an observatory, doubled back, headed north back up past Pipeline, etc., then back down the east coast

edit: updated itinerary and published on 14 June 2006