I recently returned from a family vacation in the states comprising the Four Corners area (NM, AZ, UT, CO) and it was so nice I thought I would share some of the highlights as incentive for others to visit. There were some letterboxes along the way and I added 12 of my own as extra enticement.

After spending the first day crossing Texas we arrived at The Catwalk in New Mexico. This is a short, scenic hike along a creek with some of the trail on an old catwalk anchored to the cliff walls. We found ourselves in Arizona that evening looking for a place to stay and ended up in the pretty town of Pinetop, where I found a nice park called Woodland Lake Park. I had never been to this part of AZ, but I will go back. The next day found us at Petrified Forest NP, then on to Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. This is the place where Pluto was discovered and it has a great visitor center with tours. That night and the next we stayed in Sedona, and it has so much to do that 2 days is not enough. We visited Red Rock Crossing for the view, but ended up swimming in the creek. We also visited Slide Rock SP, where you can literally slide down the slick rocks in the creek for quite a distance, and it is a lot of fun, not to mention refreshingly cold in the hot summer sun. However, the best thing we did was rent a 4WD jeep for day to explore some of the scenic back roads in the area. I still can't believe the places that jeep let us go!

Next it was on to Moab, Utah for a visit to Arches NP, after a quick stop at Wilson Arch on the way. There are several nice hikes to arches in the park, the best being the one to Delicate Arch, the famous one you have probably seen pictures of. After a full day of hiking, we drove to Telluride, Colorado for 2 days of cool, scenic beauty in the mountains. Now I have been to Colorado many times, but never to this town, and I must say I was very impressed! We stayed in Mountain Village, a town above Telluride connected by a free gondola, and it was awesome. We hiked to Bridal Veil Falls (highest in CO) and Bear Creek Falls, plus a few other shorter trails. We even attended a free BBQ put on by the local library. What a friendly town!

The next stop was Ouray, where we visited Cascade Falls before driving the "Million Dollar Hwy" to Durango. We stopped at several places, including Red Mountain Pass, Molas Lake and Andrews Lake before arriving at Durango Mt. Resort for the night. We got there just in time to ride the alpine slide, a "toboggan" you ride down the mountain after taking a chairlift up. What a hoot! The next morning we had just enough time to hike a few trails north of Durango, including the scenic Animas Overlook, before going to a Dude Ranch (Wilderness Trails) near Vallecito Lake. We spent 3 days there riding horses, fishing for rainbow trout, and stuffing ourselves with great food.

Finally, it was time to head home, stopping in Santa Fe, NM on the way, where the kids and I hiked and letterboxed while the wife shopped. We then entered TX at the Panhandle and stopped at Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, always a fun place to visit. After a few more stops the next day, we arrived home tired but satisfied, and ready for work and school (not really).

Silver Eagle