Canyonlands

The vacation tour of Canyonlands was wonderful. We saw tons of rocks, but the variety and beauty kept us from being bored.

First stop was the 4 Corners Monument. I'm told that it's about 2 miles off from the actual meeting of the 4 corners, but I think they chose the only level area to put the plaque on. Anywhere else would require a lot of dirt moving to make a place for people to gather.

Then it was on up to Monticello UT where we stayed. It was about 50 miles from the parks, but over $100 cheaper/night than in Moab itself.

First day--we chose the busiest park on one of the busiest days. The day before Memorial Day in Arches. It was packed with RVs, tour buses and lots of people in regular cars. But it's big enough that except in some of the parking areas you hardly knew you weren't alone. That's when we decided that the Park Service has a different definition of gradual incline and easy walk than we do. At Balanced Rock we saw a hawk circling and think we spotted a nest up on a nearby rock.

Monday was the Needles section of Canyonlands. You go down a couple thousand feet from the main highway to get to it. There was still plenty of climbing around and up rocks to see the vistas. Canyonlands is actually 2 parts that are accessible by car, but they don't meet. Too many canyons between the sections. The Needles road ends at a drop off. You can walk down 5 miles to the River, but we didn't.

Instead we drove out to the Needles Overlook. The rising storm to the south made it incredibly windy. It's also the only place in the Park to have a sturdy fence between you and the drop off into the canyons. Despite the wind and the height, it was worth it.

The next day we 'slept in'. I think it was 7AM when we got up! Drove up to Moab with a stop at the Hole 'n the Rock--a 5000 sq. ft. house blasted out of the solid rock. There is even a chimney drilled some 60' straight down into the house.

After stopping for the tour, we went on to the Moab Library where I donated a book and then a visit to the very nice museum that covered colonization of the area. We learned that uranium was mined and made many people rich. After the mines closed, though tourism became the drawing card.

Our afternoon was spent in a jet boat on the Colorado River. The trip took us 32 miles downriver to the edge of Canyonlands with various stops along the way and then a--much faster--return trip with only a couple of stops. We did pause to watch the 4-wheelers navigate a treacherous stretch of road near the river, but despite the guide's comments, noone fell into the river from the road.

Wednesday was our last day in Canyonlands. We (I say we, but Ken did all the driving) drove through Moab and out 20+ miles to the Island in the Sky portion. While we went down into Needles, we drove up to Island in the Sky. And from there had many panoramic views of the canyons. Even though you are WAY up on the cliffs, there are no fences, so you can go right out to the very edge of the rims. I bravely went sort of close, but Ken got even closer. The best was the arch. Another 'gentle' hike of half a mile brought us to the arch, which you couldn't even see from the road. Then you could climb up above it and look out over miles of beauty.

Thursday was spent traveling from Monticello to Chama through southern CO. Pretty country, but we didn't stop for any sightseeing.

On Friday we rode the Cumbres Toltec up to Osier, CO, ate lunch, and then rode the train back down the mountain in a rain/snow/sleet storm that ended by the time we got back to Chama.

After the book fair on Saturday, we came on back home on Sunday. Three very happy cats greeted us. Sammi spent the rest of the evening scolding and still occasionally comes up with a complaint that she forgot to mention.