Each year, my friend Nick and I spend a week out west camping, hiking and motoring around. In years past, we’ve been to the Yellowstone, Glacier and Olympic Peninsula areas. This year, we flew into Vegas and did a loop through Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. We keep a little journal along the way to document cool places, great beers and interesting sights. I’ll post the journal in daily format, along with a few photos of neat places.

Saturday, August 4

Arrived on the late Northwest flight last night and drove to a cheap hotel a bit north of the city (we both hate Vegas only flew in there because of the low rates). Departed around 9 a.m. and hit the Wal-Mart in Nellis, NV for camping supplies. Drove through Zion National Park.

Zion National Park

There was a fire ban in the park, so we decided to keep driving. Stopped alongside the road in a little town for firewood. The guy had all sorts of animals, including some goats that we petted. This later turned out to be a bad idea, seeing that goats really stink and we couldn’t wash our hands.

“You can crawl over the fence and pet him if you want.”

Drove Hwy 89 to Hwy 14 and off that road to a place called Hollow Flats. It’s National Forest, so camping is free and fairly secluded (we also hate campgrounds). Was also around 7,000 feet, so the temps were cool (mid 70s).

First night campsite

Our Beers of the Day were:

Moab Brewery Scorpion Pale Ale (this was probably our favorite the entire trip)

Wasatch Apricot

Wasatch Evolution Amber Ale (not very good)