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Need a socially distant vacation? We’re road tripping through Colorado in a campervan

Need a socially distant vacation? We’re road tripping through Colorado in a campervan

by | Aug 2, 2020 | Blog

Our campervan has a stove, sink and mini fridge. Chris LeBlanc photo


We picked up Ivan the Terrible, a rental van from Native Campervans in Denver, and set out last week for a socially distant road trip through Colorado.
We specifically chose destinations where we wouldn’t encounter large crowds. We’ve been camping in forests and orchards, hiking and exploring. So far, we’ve visited the less developed north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, gone rafting (with just a single guide and no other guests) on the Arkansas River, hiked through one of the world’s largest aspen groves, and soaked in a hot springs.
We’ve learned a lot about van life, too, and we love it (even if we don’t have long blonde hair, perfectly formed bodies and floral print sundresses).

Rafting with a private guide lessens the risk of a rafting adventure. Pam LeBlanc photo


Here are a few thoughts and notes:
1. Campervans are a great way to go while traveling during a pandemic. We’ve been cooking our own meals and sleeping in our Dodge Ram Promaster 1500, customized with a bed, mini fridge, stove and sink, but no toilet or shower. We rented from Native Campervans in Denver. Its name is Ivan the Terrible, and aside from an issue with the key cylinder, it’s not at all terrible. (Ivan’s windshield did crack in a freak hailstorm a few days ago. Yes, this is Colorado.)
2. Dispersed camping is the way to go. For Texans not used to vast swathes of public land, this means you can pull off forest roads and set up camp almost anywhere. (There are rules, but you get the idea.)
3. Be prepared to poop in the woods. (Personally, I much prefer this over roadside bathrooms, for the view and the Covid exposure.) Just walk away from popular camping areas and please, cover your work.
4. Be flexible about where you plan to park your campervan overnight. Lots of folks are camping their way through Colorado right now. If you’re looking for a spot in the national forest, don’t spend all day looking for the next best spot. Take it! One night we weren’t in an area that allowed dispersed camping, so we had to park in a campground. The first four that we checked were already full, but we finally lucked out with the last slot at a not-too-scenic highway-side park.

We spent two nights in an apple orchard in Paonia. Pam LeBlanc photo

I swung on the most amazing rope swing at Big B’s orchard. Chris LeBlanc photo

5. Camp in an orchard! We spent two nights at Big B’s orchard near Paonia. Besides parking our rig between rows of apple trees (and a few hundred feet from the peach trees), we got to drink fresh hard cider from the orchard store, listen to live music at night (from a social distance), and swing on the best dang rope swing I’ve ever seen.

The north rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison sees far less visitation than the south rim. We only saw a handful of other cars. Pam LeBlanc photo


6. Go to less visited areas. We opted for the north rim of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, which sees far fewer visitors than the south rim. The gorge is incredible. We peered 2,200 feet nearly straight down from Chasm View trail. I nearly wet my pants.
Today, we’re heading over McClure Pass on our way to Redstone, where we hear the barbecue’s great. We’re from Texas, so we’ll be the judge of that.

The hiking in the West Elk Wilderness area is superb. Pam LeBlanc photo

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An online cheese and beer tasting: Can it get any better when you’re stuck at home?

An online cheese and beer tasting: Can it get any better when you’re stuck at home?

by | Jul 21, 2020 | Blog

I taste tested three cheeses from Beehive Cheese Company in Utah. Pam LeBlanc photo


I love cheese. And beer’s pretty good, too.
So when a box of artisan wedges from Beehive Cheese Company arrived, I was stoked. And the shipment of craft beers from Roosters Brewing Company that followed made me swoon.
Both were supplies for an online course I took recently titled “The Birds and the Bees,” featuring Utah-made products.
Two things before we begin. One of my favorite sayings is, “A day without cheese is like a day without sunshine.” Also, I’m always eager to hone up on my knowledge about “The Birds and the Bees.”
On the designated evening, I brought out the cheese and the beer, fired up my computer, and tuned in to a Zoom conference call. Jacquie King, head brewer at Roosters Brewing in Ogden, and Katie Schall, a marketing representative for nearby Beehive, led us through a taste test of three cheeses, each paired with two beers.
Before we dove in, she gave us some suggestions. When you eat cheese, smell it, crack it open and look at the curd structure first. Nibble it, chewing slowly as it gets more and more buttery in your mouth.
As for the beer, pour it, let bubbles form as it opens up, then sniff it, sip it, and sip it again with a little cheese in your mouth.
“I think it elevates the beer and the cheese, and brings out the taste of the Utah desert,” King says.
I’ll agree with that.

We tried two beers with each cheese.


Pairing 1:
Beehive’s Promontory cheese, a creamy, slightly sweet cheddar that tastes vaguely like buttered toast, won my vote for best cheese of the night. It’s made with cows’ milk – half Holstein and half jersey – and aged 6 months, and named after Promontory Point, where the golden spike was pounded in when the Transcontinental Railroad was finished. It had those amazing little crystals that give it a slight crunch with every nibble.
We tasted it with two beers …
High Desert Hazy – I’m not usually a fan of super hoppy beer, but I loved this session IPA. Smooth, not edgy, and juicy. This was my favorite of the night.
Rooster Tail Hazy – I tasted hints of blueberry and strawberry in this one, even though there’s not blueberry or strawberry actually in it. Whatever.

Pairing 2:
For round two, we unwrapped Beehive’s Big John’s Cajun, another cheddar, but this one features a rind rubbed with Cajun spice. Since my husband’s Cajun, I figured I’d like it. And I did, but the spice overpowered the beautiful cheese a bit. I’ll stick with Promontory.
We tasted it with two beers …
Bees Knees honey wheat – I’ve always loved wheat beer, and this golden-colored ale had a crisp, balanced flavor with a zap of honey at the end. It muted the heat of the Cajun cheese nicely and even made me notice some subtle herb flavors.
Patio Pilsner – This dry-hopped pale blonde has a strong malt flavor. I’m not a big pilsner fan, so this one got lower marks from me.

I’ve been taking a lot of fun online classes with Utah distilleries, creameries and breweries.


Pairing 3:
The third time around, we went all out, sampling Beehive’s Barely Buzzed cheddar. The cheesemakers apparently got a wild hair one day and rubbed the rind of a baby wheel of cheddar with espresso and lavender. It tastes like toast sprinkled with flower petals, and works best as a dessert.
We tasted it with two beers …
Rude Ram Red – Going along with the dessert theme, this one tasted like an adult chocolate malt, with notes of caramel and a swirl of hops.
Ninerbock Doppelbock – More dessert in a glass, this time with toffee and caramel flavors, and not a lot of bitterness. (It’d be good in barbecue sauce.)

About Pam

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What to do while stuck at home? Taste test whiskey, of course

What to do while stuck at home? Taste test whiskey, of course

by | Jul 8, 2020 | Blog

I sampled these four Utah whiskeys during a virtual tasting recently. Pam LeBlanc photo


Since the pandemic, I’ve been holed up in my house, writing most days and sneaking out to swim in the lake, and, well, sampling a lot of booze.
I’m not just tossing the strong drink back to numb the pain of the pandemic, though. I’m trying to educating myself about what I’m sipping.
A few weeks ago, I focused on whiskey. Jim Santangelo, a sommelier and instructor at the Wine Academy of Utah, also knows a lot about liquor, so I signed up for his online “Whiskey and History” session. The kind folks from Utah shipped me four bottles to try, and Santangelo led a Zoom session during which we tasted them and discussed the history of alcohol in Utah. (To sign up for your own tasting, go to www.wineacademyofutah.com.)
Like some of the other folks in our class, I had assumed that Salt Lake City, with its strong Mormon roots, didn’t have a long romance with alcohol. As it turns out, it does.
At first, the city was mainly a pass-through town on the way to Cheyenne and Reno. It grew quickly in the 1850s and ‘60s, though, as the railroad and mining industries in the area boomed. All those workers needed a little booze to keep them going, and many Mormons consumed alcohol “for medicinal purposes.” Dozens of distilleries, wineries and breweries – 80 percent of them owned by Mormons, according to Santangelo – popped up in the area. Even Brigham Young began making and bottling his own version of liquor, called Valley Tan Whiskey.
But in the early 1900s, Utah saw a wave of temperance. Prohibition started in 1919 and lasted until 1933. After that, Utah never really jumped back into the booze business. Mine work slowed, the golden spike connected railroads from the east and west, and the mass of workers needing a drink faded.
“Utah and Salt Lake City kind of lost their taste for alcohol,” Santangelo said. “It wasn’t until 2007 that they got their first distillery, and that was High West.”
I love High West, for the record. I’ve visited the distillery, in Park City, twice – once on snow skis and once on a bicycle.
Today, 18 distilleries operate around the state. “What I love is they’re using regionally local grains and ground water from the Wasatch snowmelt,” Santangelo says.
We tasted four of them.

1. First on our list? Hugh Moon, a clear (yes, like water) whiskey made by Dented Brick Distillery and named for the first distiller of record in Utah, the one and only Hugh Moon. Dented Brick Distillery operates at the exact site of that old distillery, and the Hugh Moon is made with the original recipe for rye whiskey made there a century ago. It’s made with 100 percent rye grain and distilled in steel containers. Since by definition whiskey must spend time in a wooden cask – and the rules don’t say for how long – it’s poured into one and rolled across the distillery floor. It’s unaged. “The taste of history,” Santangelo says, noting the slight biscuit cookie aromatic. “No darkening from the wood.” To me, it tastes a tad chemically and harsh, but I like it better when I splash a little water in it.
2. Next up? Robbers Roost, a light whiskey by Water Pocket Distillery, named after a geologic formation at Capitol Reef National Park where Butch Cassidy reportedly once hung out. The color looks more whiskey-like, a light caramel tint from spending two years in aged barrels purchased by the distillery from Seagrams. “Just a kiss of that wood” imparts a warmth to this whiskey, and I detect a hint of vanilla and even coconut. It smells luscious, like toffee – much sweeter on the palate than the clear stuff. I like it. A lot.
3. Now comes Sugar House bourbon, made with locally grown corn and aged in charred barrels made of new American oak. It’s darker than the last one, and tastes a tad like crème brulee, with a touch of cinnamon and spice. It’s even better – and quite butterscotchy – when I stir in some water. It surprises me how much just a splash changes the taste of whiskey. This one’s really good, but I still prefer the Robbers Roost.
4. We wrap up with my old friend High West, but I’ve never sampled their double rye (“twice the rye, twice the flavor”), which is aged in oak barrels and tastes like someone swirled a cinnamon stick in it. “It makes a heck of a cocktail,” Santangelo says. It makes a heck of an everything, actually. I like it poured over a giant cube of ice, at the end of a rough day.

About Pam

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Big Bend National Park closed again

Big Bend National Park closed again

by | Jul 2, 2020 | Blog

Visitors look out over Big Bend National Park while hiking the South Rim in fall 2018. Pam LeBlanc photo


Big Bend National Park and the Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River closed to the public this morning, after someone in the park’s residential community tested positive for COVID-19
Only park employees, residents and other authorized personnel will be allowed into the park. Through traffic is prohibited; Terlingua Ranch Road within the park’s boundaries is also closed.
The park is acting according to a COVID-19 operations plan developed alongside public health professionals, according to a press release.
“We are working closely with our state and local partners during this closure,” Big Bend National Park Superintendent Bob Krumenaker said in the press release. “Healthy NPS employees will continue to work behind the scenes, improving the condition of the park, with strict adherence to social distancing and safety protocols to assure their safety. We look forward to reopening the park, when the timing is right, as safely as possible.”
For the latest park status go to the Big Bend COVID-19 Updates Page.

Chris LeBlanc takes in the view from Mesa de Anguilla at Big Bend National Park. Pam LeBlanc photo

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Skinny dipping, porcupines and a crunched canoe: Four glorious days on the Devils River

Skinny dipping, porcupines and a crunched canoe: Four glorious days on the Devils River

by | Jun 28, 2020 | Blog

The water on the Devils River is as clear as gin. Chris LeBlanc photo

I paid a toll to Satan last week, when I paddled the clearest, most pristine river in Texas, the Devils.
It was worth the price.
On day three of the four-day trip down the prettiest ribbon of turquoise water I’ve ever seen, my husband and I pinned our aluminum canoe against a boulder at Indian Creek Rapid. The Devil tipped our boat on its side, and we watched in horror as it filled with water. We fought for 10 minutes to free it, and when it finally busted loose with a sickening crunch, the Devil had had its way.
In the end, we gathered all our gear and chased our half-sunk boat down. She’s twisted out of alignment and doesn’t steer quite right, but we’re working to bend her back into shape. And despite the carnage, I loved the trip.

Jimmy Harvey, left, and Chris LeBlanc, right, survey the damage after we crunched our canoe in Indian Creek Rapids. Pam LeBlanc photo


Chris LeBlanc paddles around a boulder. Pam LeBlanc photo


Something about paddling a West Texas river sets me free. I paddled the Devils three years ago, and the Pecos River two years ago. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but the Devils can’t be beat for spring-fed swimming holes and incredible pure Texas scenery.
We drove out on a Saturday, and stayed at a rental house operated by guide Gerald Bailey. We left his place at 6:30 a.m. the next morning, so we could to the put-in at Baker’s Crossing by 8:30.
We planned a leisurely trip. The Devils is all about lollygagging, not racking up miles as quickly as you can.

To run the river, you’ve got two options: Get a Devils River Access Permit from Texas Parks and Wildlife, which allows you to pitch a tent at any of the designated paddle camps between Baker’s Crossing and the Dan Hughes (lower) unit of the Devils River State Natural Area; or camp on islands as you go. Whatever you do, don’t trespass on private land along the way.
If you go all the way to Dan Hughes, it’s a 30-mile trip. (You can also paddle all the way to Rough Canyon Marina at Lake Amistad, but you’ll have to paddle through notoriously choppy lake water and reed mazes to get to the point at Mile 47 if you do.) We took out at Bailey’s place at Mile 22.
We loaded our canoes with coolers filled with steaks, sausage and thick pork chops, home-grown tomatoes, eggs, bagels and coffee. Our third amigo, Jimmy Harvey, took over as expedition chef, and we toasted the stars every night with beer, wine and whiskey.
A few words of caution. This river isn’t for novices. The rapids – especially Three Tier Rapids and Indian Creek Rapids – can mangle boats or snap legs, and if disaster hits, you’re a long way from rescue. We carried a Garmin InReach tracker so we could call for help in event of emergency.
Prepare to get in and out of your boat a lot, especially if the flow at Baker’s Crossing is below 100 cfs. (It was about 82 cfs when we went in late June.) We hit lots of bony sections where we ran aground and had to drag short distances. A composite canoe works better than aluminum, which tends to stick to the rough limestone rock like Velcro.

Jimmy Harvey and Chris LeBlanc portage a canoe around Dolan Falls. Pam LeBlanc photo

Pam LeBlanc relaxes in a hammock while camping on an island in the Devils River. Chris LeBlanc photo


The rapids build as the miles tick past. The first day, we glided over a few easy riffles. The second, we encountered bigger rapids around Sycamore Chutes. We got out to scout, and Jimmy pointed out a channel so skinny I wondered if our boat would fit. It did and we slid through, reeds slapping us in the face and Chris pushing off rocks with his paddle. We shot over a last big drop by Game Warden Rock, then forged into a headwind as the river flattened out again.
The scenery along the river reminds me of an old Western movie – cactus- and brush-covered hillsides, dotted with big, cracked boulders. A herd of feral hogs galloping across the river. Circling vultures. A pair of porcupines snoozing in a couple of trees. And, best of all, an endless procession of swimming holes – deep, clear pools of water that make me swoon. That kind of water’s best felt against your skin, so I peeled off my clothes and skinny dipped.
Jimmy cast his fly rod as we went, reeling in fish after fish and tossing it back. (Bass are catch and release only here, to protect the wild population.)
The biggest obstacle along the way comes at Dolan Falls, at Mile 16. You have to empty all the gear out of your boat and portage around the plunging water before loading up and pushing off again. We managed just fine, but choose your footing carefully.
We passed a few stray paddle kayakers on the river, but no other campers on multi-day trips. High season is usually April and May; June can be (and was) hot and dry. Check flow before you go, pack personal flotation devices and make sure you’re skilled enough to handle the river.

A porcupine naps in a tree along the Devils River. Pam LeBlanc photo

If you make the trip, you’ll understand what makes it so special, and why an organization called the Devils River Conservancy (www.devilsriverconservancy.org) works so hard to keep it clean. The non-profit organization was formed in 2011 to protect it from threats that include invasive species, recreational over-use, land fragmentation, over-pumping of groundwater and more.
Read about my 2018 trip down the Pecos River at http://specials.mystatesman.com/pecos-river/.
And read about my previous trip down the Devils River here https://tpwmagazine.com/archive/2017/nov/ed_3_devilsriver/index.phtml.

The Devils River serves up classic West Texas beauty. Pam LeBlanc photo

About Pam

I’m Pam LeBlanc. Follow my blog to keep up with the best in outdoor travel and adventure. Thanks for visiting my site.

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