Tag: Biking

Baños (de Agua Santa) An Andean Mountain Town

After the capital city it was time to head to the great outdoors in the little town of Baños in the Andes Mountains. We caught the local trolley bus from Old town to the bus station for $0.25 each rather than a taxi for $15 and would recommend it. From the there we caught the bus to Baños which took around 3 hours after all of the stopping to pick up and drop off random people. After the underhanded compliments in the Lonely Planet: Ecuador I wasn’t sure what to expect out of the town. They said the mountain scenery was spectacular but that the town was basically a concrete block tourist trap. I personally found it quite charming if a little touristy, but with the tourism comes easy cheap tours, accommodations, and a healthy variety of food to choose from.

We stayed at Hostal:Nomada and I would highly recommend it. It ended up costing $24 a night after taxes and included a flat screen tv, private bath, access to a kitchen, and free tea, coffee, and water. The hosts were friendly but only spoke spanish. We met people from all over Europe but I’m not sure that we ran into another American there(It’s interesting listening to French, Italian, and German people all speaking Spanish). I will also say that there seemed to be an abundance of Italians having a good time on both Tuesday and Saturday night and that the walls seem paper thin making it rather annoying to sleep(We’re old folks these days, at least I am).

First up on the tourist hit list was Casa del Arbol, a place where a number of award winning pictures have been taken, one of which Victoria saw on a Facebook group and had been dying to see ever since. It’s about 40 minutes outside of Baños and there are numerous ways to get there: bike, hike, bus, tour, or taxi. The first two are only for masocists, it’s about 15 miles…all up hill. You can catch a taxi there and back for around $20 or catch the local bus for a $1 each way. That was an easy decsion, we took the bus. If you really want to hike or bike I would suggest what we did, take the bus up and then hike or bike back. After the 40 minute ride up through the stunning mountain scenery you arrive at Casa del Arbol and after a short walk and wait your turn to get your once in a lifetime pictures. It was only $1 to get in and in addition to the swings they had the tree house(of course) , some ziplines, and a few other photo oppourtunites. We saw some people with bikes when we got up there and thought it would be a good idea to rent them. Unfortunately they only rent them in Baños and you have to bring them up with you. We settled with walking down which took about two and a half hours and was a great way to get away from everyone, we only saw a couple other people the entire way other than the few cars and buses headed to Casa del Arbol. After walking for a ways on the road you can hit a trail at Bellavista that runs straight into town. It was a great hike with stunning views of the town and valley. We both felt pretty tired afterwards and I couldn’t imagine if we had tried to hike or bike up it.

The next day it was time for some whitewater rafting which we hadn’t done since our maiden journey out to Washington. The Pastaza river is divided into two sections, the upper and the lower, and the guides decided the day of where you are going based on rainfall the night before. The upper has rapids up to 4+ when the conditions are right(they were:) and the lower has class 3 rapids. The company provided everything including lunch and wetsuits. Unfortunately the wetsuits are only overalls and it was raining and of course being up in the mountains the water is quite cold and with class 4 rapids, you get soaked(plus…..we’re southerners). We ended up wearing our rain coats and we’re warm enough while our boat mates looked a bit chill. It was a short(1 hour) but exhilarating ride and for $30 was an absolute steal. It also included all the pictures and videos from the saftey kayaker which was a nice change from the States where they gouge you for them. Be sure to check with your hotel/hostel, some people got deals where it was only $25. Another tip for those not familiar with rafting, try to get in the smallest boat, with the fewest people, and ride in the front for the best ride 😉 Also be sure to check out the rest of the videos and pictures from the rafting at the bottom of the article.

The next day even though we were sore we decided to rent bikes and ride the Ruta de la Cascadas(The waterfall route) which is basically just the road to Puyos, a town in the Amazon basin. It’s mostly downhill and then you can catch the local bus or truck back. Most people stop in Rio Verde but it is possible to ride all the way to Puyos. The route is aptly named, it seems like everytime you look up there is another huge amazing waterfall. The is also plenty of opptunites to hike, zipline, bridge jump, or ride cable cars across the gorge on the way. We passed on everything but a bit of hiking at Palion del Diablo (Devil’s Cauldron) and some hiking and swimming below a waterfall at Machay. That was about 15 miles and took most of the day with a nice lunch break towards the end. I got some delicious heart clogging fried pork called Fritada that I’d highly recommend trying and Victoria had some refreshing fresh lime and strawberry juice. I’d recommend doing it on a weekday as there was a lot of traffic on Saturday.

We had grand plans of going to one of the local hotsprings afterwards but again were too tired and just wanted to relax. Unfortunately the next day Victoria woke up with some stomach issues(It couldn’t have been the food as we both ate the same things and I felt fine) so we sat around and watched TV. The next day she felt better but was still weak from not being able to eat anything, so we stayed another night. Then finally she was feeling better so we hoped a bus to the Amazonian town of Tena.

 

Wind River Range, Wyoming

After we left the Tetons I really wanted to go check out the Wind River Range. I had planned a backpacking trip to the Cirque of Towers(Google some pictures!) years before and it didn’t end up happening. So this was my chance to get a look. We stopped at Rim Station for a night on the way to dump, shower, and refill our water and propane (The only night we’ve paid for in over a month now!). It was a nice park right on the border of the national forest. From there we drove into Pinedale to stock up on groceries again.

From there it was back to the boondocks 🙂 We stayed at a spot about half way up Skyline Dr(740) and the road lives up to it’s name with some pretty spectacular views. Our spot was at the Nordic Ski area, during the summer there are 5 to 7 spots there all very well spread out and several of them would fit almost anything. I found the spot indirectly through FreeCampsites.net. The road was mentioned as having nicer spots than down by the lake. We confirmed this with the ranger whose station is actually on the way up(convenient or what?). Even better it’s a paved road all the way up to the nordic ski area (and beyond to Trails End), then it’s a good dirt road. Unfortunately there was construction along Skyline Dr but the delay wasn’t more then 10 minutes and you couldn’t hear it from the spot.

After getting situated we decided to ride our bikes up to Trails End. It was a long uphill ride but the views were spectacular. It took us about two hours to ride up and about 15 minutes down. I forgot to start my GPS but I’m pretty sure we hit 35-40 mph, it was amazing. The next day we went back up to Trails End to do some hiking. Again the views were stunning, much like the Tetons but with a lot fewer people. The forest can be difficult to access so it’s mostly backpackers in the area and even then the trail-heads are usually down long gravel roads. Luckily not the case on Skyline Dr.

However the next day we drove about an hour from 191 to 352 and finally to 650 to get to another trailhead where you can hike some of the CDT(Continental Divide Trail). 650 is a 10 mile gravel road that runs along the Green River all the way to green river lakes. There are boondocking spots all along both 650 and 600 also, with many on the river. From there you can hike the CDT to views of Flat Top a stunning mountain with a…… flat top. The view across the lake and on to Flat Top is on the cover of the map for this ranger district if that tells you anything. Speaking of maps, whatever you do, do not buy the official map for this ranger district. It was next to useless Benchmark Wyoming book had much(much!) more detail. None of the trails in the wilderness area were on the map?? Also be aware that the maps at the trailhead list the trail numbers but on the trail they have names?? Anyways we were able to find our way despite all of that.

I will definitely be coming back to the Wind River Range, I still haven’t done the hike to the Cirque de Towers. It was too cold to go without getting a new sleeping bag for Victoria (I ended up buying a used Western Mountaineering bag in Moab for $150!). If you like to hike or backpack this has to be one of the premier areas in the country. Plus since it’s a National Forest we can take our dog with us. Yes she can hike 10-15 miles a day in the mountains no problem.

Up next Dinosaur National Monument.

St. Joe’s National Forest, Idaho

With the help of the rangers at the Avery ranger district in the St. Joe’s National Forest, we found an awesome boondocking spot off FR 456. It is only 4 miles up 456 after you turn left onto it from Avery. We had no problem getting to it in our 35 foot fifth wheel, even going through the one lane tunnels. This road used to be a portion of the Milwaukee Railroad.

When we finished setting up camp, we went on a bike ride up FR 456. There are multiple tunnels along this road that go through the mountains. They are really creepy to drive through, but even more so on foot or on bike. When you begin to go through, the tunnel is so short you can see the light from the other side. But as you get more in the middle, the pitch black darkness consumes you. Even though you can still see a little bit of light from the other side, it can be disorienting. The walls of the tunnel disappear along with everything physical about you. All you can do is focus ahead and quickly follow the light…While riding we found trail head 196 at the Telipah campground (called North Fork campground in the atlas). The next day we explored this trail that hiked to Big Dick Point (not kidding on the name). It was a difficult 11 mile hike with a 3,000 foot elevation gain and max grades of 34% and -32%. Bring your hiking poles, or find a good stick.

After boondocking a few days we went to a little town in Idaho called Wallace to do laundry, re-up on supplies and take a much needed hot shower (not that we can’t shower in the RV, just better to save water when boondocking). We stayed at the Wallace RV park for $25 a night, full hookups. There is a nice restaurant/brewery on the property. After a hot shower and a flight of beers with fish and chips, I was one happy camper.

One of the things to do around here in the summer time is biking the Hiawatha trail. This 15 mile path used to be part of the Milwaukee Railroad. It’s in St. Joe’s NF and northeast of where Tim and I rode bikes a couple days earlier. The trail is pretty fun, there are multiple trestles and tunnels to go through. In fact, the start of the trail is a dark, wet and coooold 2 mile tunnel! It was really creepy to go this seemingly endless tunnel. The price to ride the trail is 10 dollars a person and if you don’t have a helmet and light you have to rent them. You are supposed to wear this equipment at all times. However, at the halfway point I took my helmet off since I HATE helmets. My philosophy is if I ride off the cliff I’m dead anyways so I might as well feel the breeze…I digress…For the most part, the entire trail is at a 1.7% downhill grade, meaning you don’t have to pedal hardly at all. Then you can take the shuttle back (for an extra fee $9/pp). We opted to ride the bikes back since we were already annoyed they charged us to ride on a bike path in the first place lol. I will say- it is a really awesome bike path.

Soon we will be heading to West Yellowstone and hope to find a boondocking spot outside the park. Thanks for reading. 🙂

Davis Mountains, Fort Davis Texas

Davis Mountain State Park is a quiet Texas state park nestled in the Davis Mountains(surprise!). It has 100 sites, sites with water($15), some with water and electric($20), and some with sewer hookups and cable also($25). They also charge a $6 per day per person entrance fee. If you’ll be in Texas a while it’s well worth it to buy their state park pass which waves the entrance fees. The sites were fairly spacious and open with nice views of the mountains. The water and electric sites were back-in only while the ones with sewer were pull through. The odd thing about the layout was that the dump station was on the wrong side when leaving the campground. So you had to go around the loop to get it on the correct side and then go around the loop again to get out (weird). A small town with groceries, gas, restaurants etc. was only 5 miles from the campground. Be sure to pick up some Julio’s ”Hotter than hell chips” while in town for some of the best tortilla chips I’ve had.

There were a number of both hiking and biking trails. One of them ran from the campground 3 miles to Fort Davis National Monument. The fort was built pre civil war and a number of the buildings had been fully restored including furniture so you could see how the soldiers lived back then. If three miles is too far to hike you could also drive up skyline drive and take a shorter one mile hike or just drive the main road straight to the fort.

Skyline Drive was quite a nice scenic little road. It was very steep with a number of switchbacks like a hiking trail that took you to the top of two different peaks overlooking the campground and the town. It also allowed us to get the reception on our phones that was lacking down in the campground. It was a great place(and popular) to come and watch the sunset and then view the stars. We rode our bikes up the first night there and it had us huffing and puffing. Also available close by is the McDonald Observatory that offers star parties($15pp) on Friday and Saturday where you get to see what a REAL telescope can do.

If camping isn’t your thing they also offered rooms in an “Indian Lodge” along with a restaurant.

Five star scale rating
Scenery – ****
Campground – ****
Campsite – ***
Recreation – ****