September 2020 Travelogue - The American West

Oct 28, 2020, Destinations

In my personal life as well as in my professional life as a travel expert I have endeavored to explore the far reaches of the Western USA whenever given enough time to do so.  Knowing all the nooks and crannies of the American West allows me to suggest unique destinations for my clients who would have never known about them.  My travels also introduce me to the local experts and suppliers I can count on to service my groups since a personal relationship is so much more important than simply picking someone out of a Google search and hoping they know what they are doing.  Corporate incentive clients most especially demand the highest level of service and in this regard I consider myself uniquely qualified in the West to offer it.

So during this pandemic shutdown I took off in my 4x4 vehicle to reacquaint myself with some of the most beautiful regions of Utah on my way to the very remote Ruby Mountains in eastern Nevada where I was to meet up with lifelong friends for our annual wilderness backpacking adventure.  We were smoked out of our California destination due to the wildfires there, so settled on the Ruby Mountains as a last-minute alternative (although they, too, were a bit smokey).

Follow along with the attached photographs (click on them to enlarge for better viewing) to see the beauty of southern Utah, the glacially-carved valleys of the Ruby Mountains, and the most incredible mountain scenery of southern Colorado during the Fall season when the Aspens, Elms, Boxelders, Alders, and Oaks change color into radiant hues of green, yellow, orange and red.  I will take you up the highest mountain roads where I love to take the most adventurous corporate groups, either guided, or driving on their own as they follow our professional instructors.  The visual and verbal history of the old west miners is abundant when you visit here, as well some fascinating engineering history of worlds-first importance, as I will describe later.

My first stop was en route to Goblin Valley State Park, where in the middle of Utah one can drive by (or spend a lifetime exploring) a rare geologic formation called the San Rafael Swell, an impressive uplift in the earth’s crust, which was then folded and eroded into a dinosaur-back ridgeline, split by river canyons, water pockets and slot-canyons. Exploration here must be done by 4x4 and then on foot and it is a rugged, dangerous place. Few people venture off the main highway that passed by, or go into Goblin Valley State Park, but if they do they will see a wonderous valley full of “goblins” and “hoodoos”.  It’s enough to make you think you’ve landed on Mars with ominous looking life forms surrounding you.  Nearby is Little Wild Horse Canyon, one of the more accessible slot canyons and an easy hike of several miles for those willing to challenge themselves.  What can be done with incentive groups here?  Well, not much is the truth, except if you want to include a self-drive program where the fantastic visual sights of the West are part of the attraction. What is amazing about America is that we have built roads just about everywhere so that we can have access to these wonderous places.  True West Incentive Travel has the expertise to assist you in planning any activity you may want to attempt here, so please keep that in mind.

Next stop on my adventure was Capitol Reef National Park.  This remote park doesn’t get the visitors of Zion or Bryce National Parks because it is less accessible and further from any major city.  But the geologic formations here and the Native American petroglyphs (rock paintings) are as spectacular as anywhere else.  Again, this park could be included on a group road trip program, and at least there are numerous tourist-class lodgings to be found nearby so the drive time to/from the next destination can be shortened, while still allowing enough time to properly explore the beauty of this park.  In my previous blog titled “True West 2017 Road Trip - Day 5” (see website page here) I describe some of the most remote and beautiful regions of this park, which would be an incredible attraction for an incentive group wanting to try a driving discovery program.

Now for the part of my adventures which are certainly not for everyone.  In fact, you need to be in good shape and have experience with wilderness hiking to attempt this.  True West can provide this expertise, from myself and professional guides, to any corporate group that wanted to attempt a short 2-4 day wilderness trip, and we will find the perfect location for you, if you do.  But for my personal trip I spent 7 days in the Ruby Mountain wilderness of eastern Nevada, a very remote region of a very sparsely populated state.  This mountain range contains a series of glacially carved valleys, lakes, creeks, and hanging valleys, separated by narrow ridgelines and passes.  The hiking begins at about 2625m elevation while the passes get up to about 3125m, with the peaks rising to about 3400m. It is very rocky terrain and in fact, with few actual trails most of the hiking I did was cross-country boulder-hopping, scrambling up and down steep scree slopes, and route-finding to avoid dangerous descents on the other side of the passes.  My lifelong friends who accompanied me on this adventure have been hiking these destinations with me since we were teenagers, and it always helps to be with other experienced hikers on trips like these.  The big payoff for all of us was having entire valleys, lakes and ridges to ourselves for almost 3 days, not seeing or hearing another human being during those days (see some video here).  We certainly don’t take phones into these destinations so it was just the 4 of us communing with nature, fishing for trout and gazing at the most amazing stars in the incredibly dark skies.  A wonderful experience I can highly recommend to anyone who would give it a try!

After leaving the Ruby Mountains I proceeded across southern Utah, now traveling with my business partner from Agentours, Inc., he on his motorcycle in tandem with me in my Toyota 4Runner.  This time I crossed Utah from West to East, passing through Capitol Reef National Park again, and turning south in order to cross over Lake Powell at the Hite Crossing bridge.  The road leading to Hite is another of those unforgettable routes through canyon country and is officially designated “Trail of the Ancients National Scenic Byway”.  You can feel the history in your bones as you travel the landscape. The short hike out to the viewing point of the Hite Overlook should not be missed (see the video here).  This is jaw-dropping scenery.   Hite Marina is actually the eastern-most part of Lake Powell, where the Colorado River begins to widen as it transitions to become the lake which is formed by the Glen Canyon Dam 300km to the west, in Page, Arizona.  For any of my clients that will consider a Cataract Canyon rafting program (starting in Moab, Utah that is one of the GREAT off-the-grid incentives you could ever offer a client) the Hite Marina is the terminus of that rafting trip, whereupon guests board small planes to fly out to their next destination.

Continuing East I came to Natural Bridges National Monument where I camped for the night and in the morning hiked to some of the majestic bridges which were formed millions of years ago.  This is a lightly visited park but the visual rewards for going there are enormous.

Passing by the entrance to newly established Bears Ears National Monument the next day eventually lead me to one of my most favorite destinations in all of the West.  This is a region called the “Switzerland of America” due to the impressive number of high peaks dotting the skyline around Silverton and Ouray, Colorado.  I’ve come to this region in late September several times in the last few years because this is the peak time for the color changes in the trees.  Much like Vermont and New Hampshire get tourists who come for the Fall colors, there are similar numbers who come to Colorado for the same reason.  Only here you can also travel into the high mountains on some of the world’s most famous jeep trails and that was my intention for this trip.  I would love to lead your incentive group up these mountain trails, or have the guests drive themselves with our guidance.  They will return home with stories to tell for a lifetime! Some passes rise up to almost 4000m, and the views into canyons below, and to the higher peaks above (yes, still higher!) are breathtaking.  At times the driving can be slow, scary, and “white-knuckled” with precipitous drops below if you are not careful, but if we outfit you with proper vehicles and instructions it will be easier than you think.  (See some video here). Then when you need to soak in the hot springs after the end of a long day the Ouray Hot Springs will be your well-earned reward.  Nearby is the old mining town of Telluride which currently is one of the great ski areas of Colorado.

I previously mentioned the history of the miners here was worth learning, as they scrapped out a very hard living in dangerous locations and built most of the roads by hand on which we drive to this today.  They established all the mountain towns and the stories of their successes and failures are evident when you visit.  What many people don’t realize is that the streetlights of Telluride (one of the best historic towns of the West and now a great ski resort town) were the first in the world to be converted to electricity due to the hydroelectric dam designed and erected by Nikola Tesla (you may know that in most parts of the world the streetlights were lit with whale oil at that time). They then ran that electricity under the mountains in tunnels to power the massive mining equipment near Silverton and Ouray, itself a tremendous feat of engineering.  Some of the original 1890’s light fixtures are still in use in one of the historic hotels in Ouray.  And the wonderful Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad which is nearby is a byproduct of those mining days, offering our groups a chance to relive the Old West in private rail cars as it winds through a river valley and narrow gorge.  So this part of Colorado can offer both Summer and Winter activities for incentive groups which are unlike any other in the country.

After another gorgeous drive over Owl Creek Pass and through a beautiful valley (see video here) and a visit to Crested Butte (yet another old mining town turned into superb ski resort) I finally returned home after 16 days.  Another great exploration of the West now complete, and time to get ready for Winter here in Colorado.  But as always, I’m here to help you organize your incentive programs and give your clients an unique adventure in the American West where social distancing is the natural order in our vast open spaces. 

Stay safe,

Jeff Hollander