From Matt’s cave

[Matthew]

Hey all-

Just got back last night from my summer holiday. So easy to get into the great outdoors and over the last seven years have have figured out how to make it a great experience . Taking food for outdoor trips is more of an art than it is a science. Everything worked out well this year but always an adventure.

Drove over to Fruita Colorado and did a two day bicycle ride on the Kokopellis trail. Since it was just over night I simply took a frozen stew and eggs and sausage for breakfast and a small gas camping stove. Not a difficult ride approximately fifty miles each day. But Hot, Hot Hot. Had plenty of water to stay hydrated but did just fine

http://2pedal.com/trails/kokopellis-trail

Nothing more magical than western Colorado , a great place to renew ones spirit and energy.

Went from their to Moab. Put my solo canoe in early in the morning and spent a splendid four days paddling the Colorado River. Perfect weather, never put up a tent just a ground cloth , sleeping pad and sleeping bag. Nothing more glorious and renewing than to fall asleep under Millions of stars unobstructed by city lights.

Until the last afternoon. I had just pulled off the river on a sand bar deep in the canyon when the wind picked up going down stream. A sure sign of an impending storm. Emptied the canoe tied everything down,scooped out the sand and tied the canoe down over it an climbed in . A deluge of rain and then a good twenty minutes of golf ball size hail . I was dry and warm but I would say it might be something like being inside of a snare drum.

I pack two coolers that fit nicely into my elegant canoe. One with ice for everyday food and one with dry ice. All the pre prepared foods stay frozen for many days in the dry ice cooler even in the one hundred degree heat of the canyons and every evening I just move the next days meals from one to the other and they are thawed by the time a want to heat them on my little stove. Such a joy to spend time away and not have to hunt for foods I can eat.Or try to find a restaurant that has any idea.

Got off the river and spent the last night at Colorado National monument high above Fruita. Awake enthusiastically at four A.M. and watched a spectacular sunrise while eating breakfast. What a nice way to end a glorious time off .

Gabes.

Just read all your posts on globe trotting. Not as simple as how I get out of Dodge but pure and simple truth that one can get on with ones life, have a great time and still be healthy.

Have a great forth of July everyone.

To everyone's continued recovery

Love

Matthew

[mbeezie]

Matthew,

Your trip sounds wonderful! We absolutely love Moab. We went there 2 years ago on a road trip and it was amazing - by far the best trip we ever took. We love to pack up the truck with needed supplies and head out - makes travelling so much easier.

Mary Beth

[Joefnh]

Matthew I used to live in Woodland Park Colorado and loved the area. We did many of the river trips, I certainly do miss that part of the country. The trip sounds like a lot of fun

--Joe

[tex]

Matthew,

That was quite an adventure, and it's great to hear that it went so well, (outside of the hail storm - there never seems to be a good cave handy, when you need one). It's a good thing you have a sturdy canoe, and you know how to use it.

Tex

[JoAnn]

Matthew, Moab is one of our favorite spots here in Utah. Hiking, river running, biking, you can do it all. Beautiful red rock country. Have you been to Arches National Park? Hoping to get down there soon. Your trip sounds wonderful and rejuvenating. JoAnn

[Polly]

Hi Matthew!

What a wonderful experience! Did you see any wildlife? Did you get a chance to meditate under the stars? I got a good laugh over your snare drum experience. Someday I'd love to see this area. When are you coming to canoe in the Chesapeake Bay wetlands?

Love,

Polly

[Matthew]

Amazing that others find this little corner of the high desert as magical as I do .

Mary Beth, Joe and JoAnn.

I grew up in a small town on the Connecticut shore, vacationed with my family from the Chesapeake to northern Maine, my dad and I sailed all over long Island Sound from Cape Cod to Martha's vineyard to Block Island. Went to college in Vermont and camped hiked and canoed their. It is just amazing the magical energy that the high Mountain canyons have, Beauty but a very different beauty than what I grew up with. What an amazing group we have here and a joy to find others that enjoy this area as much as I do. Thanks for your wonderful comments.

Tex.

You made me laugh. A good cave is hard to find but an upside down canoe , warm , dry, comfortable and tied down so it does not blow away is a good cozy substitute. Of course being aware of weather in this corner of the incredible outdoor world is ones biggest advantage on solo trips in order to stay out of trouble.

Polly

Yes , slow progress on a bike or in a canoe lends itself to lots of wild life watching , Golden eagles, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, mule deer, turkey vultures, coopers hawks, beavers , trout hanging in the eddies behind rocks and my very favorite the canon wren. They are a small bird and very hard to spot. They call in the early morning, clear notes down the scale te-you, te-you, te-you , tew, tew , tew slowly going from a major cord to a minor one, an enchanting breakfast treat to hear any day on the river.

I plan these trips with lots of time to do nothing . Like Henry David Thoreau I love to sit and watch the day. It might seem that I am occupied with a lot of doing but I am blessed with time off just to be. It is one of the biggest reasons I go off on these trips, No phone to answer, an agenda that has no time limits and a time to stop and just be wherever I am and take the greatest joy in it. Even with the drums on my cozy cave .

I continue to read about the Chesapeake Bay area and if I finally ever give up on the work I do here you will find me as a neighbor. What a joy it would be to explore the wetlands with you. Will gladly do the paddling.

Love to all

And my best to your continued recovery,

Matthew