This was called the Turret Arch.
These formations were called the "Fiery Furnace" which is supposed to be really beautiful at sunset.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Arches National Park
Sunday, Sept. 26 - This morning we grabbed a breakfast sandwich and a bag of ice at McDonalds, then headed to Arches National Park, just a couple miles out of town. We stopped at the Visitors Center first, then headed up the hill. There was an amazing amount of traffic here in this park today, and it was supposed to hit 89 degrees. We took lots of pictures, and made one hike in the Windows section to get a close-up look at those arches. There are supposed to be 2000 arches in the park, but we probably only saw 10 or 12. There are lots of hikes in the park, and some secondary roads to arches that we did not take. The beginning of the drive is full of rock formations, then they get a little more scattered, with valleys in between. The campground is at the end of the drive, and it was full. We did drive through it to see if we could have fit in, and there were a few spots that were big enough, but many were too small for our rig. Here's some of the rock formations.
This next one was called "Three Gossips."
The one above was called "Balanced Rock." The top rock is estimated to weigh 3500 tons. We walked completely around this and couldn't imagine what made it stay up there. There were many other balanced rocks in the park, like the one below.
This was called the Turret Arch.
This is the hike we took. These are the North and South Windows. We started out on the main trail, but when we went behind these arches, we ended up on a primitive trail. We were pretty warm by the time we got back to the parking lot.
Here's Joe on the climb to Turret Arch, and then when he gets to the top of the path.
These formations were called the "Fiery Furnace" which is supposed to be really beautiful at sunset.
It was a pretty impressive drive, but we thought the scenic highway coming into Moab yesterday was even more impressive. We stopped on our way back through town and made reservations to take a boat ride tomorrow night on the Colorado River, so that should be entertaining. In addition to the t-shirt that Joe needs that says "authorized person," he thinks he also needs a cap that says "service," since there are always lots of "service roads," that he is not allowed on. Maybe he just needs a badge.
This was called the Turret Arch.
These formations were called the "Fiery Furnace" which is supposed to be really beautiful at sunset.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
From Colorado to Moab, Utah
Saturday, Sept. 25 - We left our nice little campground in Colorado this morning and headed back into Utah, to Moab. We picked up I-70 at Loma and got off on some little scenic road that connected with Hwy 128. We kept leapfrogging with a group of bicyclists, and I finally told Joe we needed to speed up a little so they didn't pass us again (they actually only passed us when we were pulled off, but they certainly were in our rear-view mirror for a long time). This highway parallels the Colorado River all the way into Moab, and it is like driving at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. There were hoodoos, red, sheer cliff walls, a ranch (Sorrel River Ranch and Restaurant) with a beautiful green pasture against the backdrop of the red cliffs, a winery and grape arbor, and just beautiful scenery. I'm just going to post a few of the 69 pictures we took, which include me washing a "Brenda" rock, and the two of us with this beautiful background. Joe and Cathy -- put this highway on your list of "must" drives. This was awesome.
From Flaming Gorge to Loma, Colorado
Friday, Sept. 24 - We left Flaming Gorge this morning and headed out through the Ashley National Forest to Colorado. I saw 4 antelope run by the RV this morning, and Joe had to stop for another one crossing the road as we left the campground. On our way to our fuel/soda stop at Manila, I saw 6 deer (Joe saw 10, but we were driving separately). And we saw 2 turkeys along the same area we had seen them yesterday, probably the same ones, but we couldn't see the third one.
We had a hard pull coming out of the National Gorge, we seemed to go straight uphill for the first 13 miles, topping out at 7734 elevation. After we got through there, we continued uphill through Uintah Pass, with a summit of 8428. On that road, we came through a grove of trees, we assumed aspen, that was just glowing with color. This picture is just past the curve where we came into the grove, so it doesn't show the full impact, but it was one of those "wow" spots.
This is another scenic route, and there were some beautiful views coming down off the mountaintops.
There was a mine (we don't know what kind) right along part of this highway.
We came to the Steinaker Dam and Reservoir, which was very blue and we could see it from pretty high up as we came through the switchbacks coming down off this mountain.
Shortly after entering Colorado, we stopped for lunch along a site with petroglyphs.
The next mountain pass (Douglas Pass, elevation 8268) we had to go through had 10 switchbacks and 5% to 8% grades. It was a long pull and just after we crossed the summit, we came upon an accident. Apparently someone had gone off the cliff, and they were just bringing the car up. The cliff was really steep and probably more than a thousand feet drop. It had happened sometime earlier because there were no emergency vehicles still there, just the wreckers. Here's what the cliff looked like. Those little white places on the left are vehicles.
We picked out a campground just 6 miles north of I-70, a little west of Grand Junction, Colorado. We lucked out because there was only one space left, and that was due to a cancellation. But it was a really nice state campground, with lots of trees and grass, right on a small lake, Highline Lake.
We got off the round about 2:30 and had some nice down-time sitting outside enjoying the shade and watching other campers coming in. There was a bicycle brigade of 3- and 4-year olds, with training wheels still on the bikes, then a few older boys with "bigger bikes" that made several circles around the campground. It was pretty warm here -- we are at 4700 feet -- and I got my shorts out for the first time since leaving Arizona in May. The warmer it gets, the slower Joe drives, so I don't know when we'll ever get home!
We had a hard pull coming out of the National Gorge, we seemed to go straight uphill for the first 13 miles, topping out at 7734 elevation. After we got through there, we continued uphill through Uintah Pass, with a summit of 8428. On that road, we came through a grove of trees, we assumed aspen, that was just glowing with color. This picture is just past the curve where we came into the grove, so it doesn't show the full impact, but it was one of those "wow" spots.
This is another scenic route, and there were some beautiful views coming down off the mountaintops.
There was a mine (we don't know what kind) right along part of this highway.
We came to the Steinaker Dam and Reservoir, which was very blue and we could see it from pretty high up as we came through the switchbacks coming down off this mountain.
Shortly after entering Colorado, we stopped for lunch along a site with petroglyphs.
The next mountain pass (Douglas Pass, elevation 8268) we had to go through had 10 switchbacks and 5% to 8% grades. It was a long pull and just after we crossed the summit, we came upon an accident. Apparently someone had gone off the cliff, and they were just bringing the car up. The cliff was really steep and probably more than a thousand feet drop. It had happened sometime earlier because there were no emergency vehicles still there, just the wreckers. Here's what the cliff looked like. Those little white places on the left are vehicles.
We picked out a campground just 6 miles north of I-70, a little west of Grand Junction, Colorado. We lucked out because there was only one space left, and that was due to a cancellation. But it was a really nice state campground, with lots of trees and grass, right on a small lake, Highline Lake.
We got off the round about 2:30 and had some nice down-time sitting outside enjoying the shade and watching other campers coming in. There was a bicycle brigade of 3- and 4-year olds, with training wheels still on the bikes, then a few older boys with "bigger bikes" that made several circles around the campground. It was pretty warm here -- we are at 4700 feet -- and I got my shorts out for the first time since leaving Arizona in May. The warmer it gets, the slower Joe drives, so I don't know when we'll ever get home!
Flaming Gorge - Day 2
Thursday, Sept. 23 - I got up early this morning, and watched 26 antelope from my kitchen window go down to the river to get a drink. This is a pretty nice campsite.
I took some pictures of the sunrise for Joe, since he never gets up early enough to see that. You can even see some antelope in this picture.
As the sun started hitting the mountains across the river, I took some pictures of that too.
This campground has wind shelters at every space, and you can see them here with the moon setting.
Once I got Joe on the move, and fed, we explored this area today in the car. There was a little snow on the mountaintops that probably came down last night, since we had a little rain at the campground. We took a loop road through Sheep Creek Canyon and Geological Area, where a lot of the rock formations date back millions of years.
We kept looking for bighorn sheep, but never saw any on this look. We drove on toward the Flaming Gorge Dam and saw some beautiful views of the river. From the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, water flows via the Green River to the Colorado River and eventually ends up in Lake Powell. The dam is 502 feet high and contains 987,000 cubic yards of concredte. It was completed in 1964. We took a tour of the dam. This area including the dam and bridge look a lot like the Roosevelt Lake area.
You could buy fish food and feed the fish on the river side of the dam, which created a feeding frenzy. The fish hanging out here were pretty good sized, and they get fed several times a day from the tourists on these dam tours.
As we drove back toward camp, we took some side roads but never really scared up any wildlife. Some of the roads were already closed for the season, and others were for "authorized personnel only." I need to get Joe a t-shirt or baseball cap that says "Authorized Person" because he does NOT think any gates or roads should be unavailable to him. He thinks he should be authorized for everything.We did come upon 3 wild turkeys (hens) just beside the road, so Joe made a U-turn and we got a picture of them. them.
As we drove back down through the canyon, we could see the "flaming" part of the name. It was a very pretty drive, but you need to be on the water (which we weren't) to get the full effect of the colors of these cliffs.
As we drove into the road to our campground, we took another side road to another campground and found our new best friends, the antelope, grazing near the water.
We rested and read for a while at the RV, then Joe took me back to the little town of Manila (approx. 10 miles) for ice cream (yes, Dana, I got my ice cream tonight too). We drove through the little town and checked out the gift stores and gas stations. There was a deer grazing right in someone's yard, and we saw another deer beside the road on our way back; luckily, we saw it before it darted across the road. The full moon was rising on this trip so, of course, we have pictures.
I took some pictures of the sunrise for Joe, since he never gets up early enough to see that. You can even see some antelope in this picture.
As the sun started hitting the mountains across the river, I took some pictures of that too.
This campground has wind shelters at every space, and you can see them here with the moon setting.
Once I got Joe on the move, and fed, we explored this area today in the car. There was a little snow on the mountaintops that probably came down last night, since we had a little rain at the campground. We took a loop road through Sheep Creek Canyon and Geological Area, where a lot of the rock formations date back millions of years.
We kept looking for bighorn sheep, but never saw any on this look. We drove on toward the Flaming Gorge Dam and saw some beautiful views of the river. From the Flaming Gorge Reservoir, water flows via the Green River to the Colorado River and eventually ends up in Lake Powell. The dam is 502 feet high and contains 987,000 cubic yards of concredte. It was completed in 1964. We took a tour of the dam. This area including the dam and bridge look a lot like the Roosevelt Lake area.
You could buy fish food and feed the fish on the river side of the dam, which created a feeding frenzy. The fish hanging out here were pretty good sized, and they get fed several times a day from the tourists on these dam tours.
As we drove back toward camp, we took some side roads but never really scared up any wildlife. Some of the roads were already closed for the season, and others were for "authorized personnel only." I need to get Joe a t-shirt or baseball cap that says "Authorized Person" because he does NOT think any gates or roads should be unavailable to him. He thinks he should be authorized for everything.We did come upon 3 wild turkeys (hens) just beside the road, so Joe made a U-turn and we got a picture of them. them.
As we drove back down through the canyon, we could see the "flaming" part of the name. It was a very pretty drive, but you need to be on the water (which we weren't) to get the full effect of the colors of these cliffs.
As we drove into the road to our campground, we took another side road to another campground and found our new best friends, the antelope, grazing near the water.
We rested and read for a while at the RV, then Joe took me back to the little town of Manila (approx. 10 miles) for ice cream (yes, Dana, I got my ice cream tonight too). We drove through the little town and checked out the gift stores and gas stations. There was a deer grazing right in someone's yard, and we saw another deer beside the road on our way back; luckily, we saw it before it darted across the road. The full moon was rising on this trip so, of course, we have pictures.
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