Welcome to Clyde Sisler's Hiking & Paddling Site

Dare to be different!

I'm a full time U.S. traveler wandering around searching for great paddling waters and hiking trails.   This web site contains 10 years of trip reports, photographs, logistics, free and cheap camping areas, and more.   I hope you find something of interest to you here.

04/02/10:

What's New?

What's Been Happening?

While enjoying the fall colors in New Hampshire I developed a cough that wouldn't go away. Thinking it might be an allergy I headed south. By the time I reached North Carolina the cough was worse. Thinking it might be east coast polution I said goodbye to plans on wintering in Florida and headed west. Got all the way to Yuma, AZ without much improvement. My doctor prescribed an inhaler, an antibiotic and a something else that knocked the cough right out.

I spent a quiet winter in southwest Arizona, mainly in an area between Quartzsite & Bouse. I did make a foray to Tucson that provided some amusement, if not excitement.

My doctor wanted me to have a stress test so off to my cardiologist I went. A stress test is cranking up a treadmill to as fast as I can go for as long as I can go. Meanwhile I'm hooked up to an IV that's pumping radio active stuff into me. After the stress test they take pictures to see how the arteries, veins, etc. are working.

Before the test they told me not to go to Mexico which is ten miles away. Tuscon is not in Mexico so a day or two later I headed that way. Half way to Tuscon is a Border Patrol checkpoint. I pulled up and the guy looked at his shoulder then at me, very strangely. Turns out they have geiger counters checking for radio active material and that was me. Took half an hour to do their paperwork and continue on my way.

There's another checkpoint halfway between Yuma and Quartzsite too and I got to do the whole thing over again. Seems the radio active stuff can stay in me up to 30 days.

Most of the winter I just wandered around in the desert hills. When I got tired of one area I moved on to the next. Started picking up interesting looking rocks and that helps pass the time. The problem with that turns out to be...what to do with them.

Got tired of the area in mid-March so moved up to Lake Mead outside of Las Vegas. High winds seemed more excessive than in previous years. They'd last 3 or 4 days, followed by a couple of days with light or no winds. Continued collecting rocks and continued to wonder what to do with them. I have a large dashboard in the van and that's where many of the smaller ones end up.

Hung out @ Lake Mead til mid-April then found the Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument on the topographical map. Sounded good to me so off I went.

There's access from Mesquite, NV but it looked complicated. I prefer not to get lost before I even start. I got to it from Yuma, UT via the Mt Trumbull Loop Road. The first 20 miles of the loop road was picturesque, then I turned off to Parashant. I went about 30 miles in but the little bit of scenery in that area didn't make up for the bad roads so I turned back. Thought about going in from the other end of Mt Trumbull Loop Road in Colorado City but that would be a lot of miles over rough, dusty roads with mostly barren, desolate desert for scenery.

What's Next?

Plan on hanging out in southern Utah a few weeks as usual until it gets too hot. Then probably up to Flaming Gorge for a few more weeks until the snows clear out of the mountains. Then, probably back into the Colorado Rockies for the summer...but who knows?