Our First Utah Parks- Arches and Canyonlands

We left Black Canyon of the Gunnison N.P. and turned west heading for Utah. Our next park was Arches N.P. outside of Moab, UT. Jane was driving and Capt. Larry was studying the map.

Canyon wall along the Colorado

We had decided on our course, but at the last minute, Capt. Larry noticed that there was an alternate route that would take us to Moab.

Beautiful formations carved by the Colorado

This route was off the beaten path, followed the Colorado River banks, and just might prove to be a little more interesting.

Colorado River in foreground

We exited the interstate and changed drivers, because it was immediately obvious that this was not going to be a road that Jane drove on, and off we went.

Unique rock formations

About 10 miles into the route, we were astounded with the canyons that we were passing through. So much beauty. This area turned out to be a large recreational area as there were lots of kayakers and rubber rafters going down the Colorado from various points, and lots of campers along the route.

Let's climb to the top!

It was a fascinating route, and we were so glad we came this way. We finally got to Moab, found a motel, checked in, and settled down for a relaxing evening.

The next morning we went into Arches N.P. 

We start the Utah parks with Arches

This is one of the park system’s more popular parks, and we read about parking lots completely filling up at the more popular stops.

Jane and the Balanced Rocki

We arrived at the park very early because we couldn’t figure out the right time zone changes.

Some rock fins in Arches

But to avoid the rush we decided to drive to the popular sites first, then hit the less popular overlooks and pullouts on the way out of the park.

Wonderful formations!

We first stopped at Balanced Rock, a major attraction of the park. Of all the features in the park, Jane was most impressed with this attraction.

Really unique rocks

Next we went to the park’s premier feature, the Delicate Arch near the Wolfe Ranch, and decided to hike the 1.2 mile loop to view it.

The famous Delicate Arch

It was a fairly strenuous uphill hike, and at the altitude we were at we quickly became winded from the effort.

Balanced Rock again

After leaving Delicate Arch, we wound our way through the park eventually ending up at Devil’s Garden.

The Firey Furnace

The hike to this feature was even longer, so we opted to skip it and make our way back to the visitor’s center.

Sand Dune Arch

Along the way back to the visitor’s center we viewed several of the park’s outstanding features including Sand Dune Arch, the Fiery Furnace, Salt Valley Overlook, Panorama Viewpoint, the Petrified Dues, the Organ at Courthouse Towers Viewpoint, and the Three Gossips.

After we left Arches N.P, we headed out to view nearby Canyonlands N.P. which was located only 25 miles away.

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However, it seemed like it would take forever to get there as the park entrance was 19 miles from the main turnoff and the driving was once again over a winding road that made for slow going.

Getting the stamp

After collecting the stamp at the visitor’s center, we drove to some overlooks to get views of the canyon highlights.

The canyon at Canyonlands

Our park map showed a few features that we thought we would like see, but after driving to them we were disappointed to find that we would have to hike a long distance to view them, so we opted to find a picnic area to have lunch.

A canyon overlook

These canyons were carved by the Green and Colorado Rivers, and we were told that the confluence of the two streams produced some of the best whitewater rafting along the entire length of the Colorado.

The "Maze' and the Green River

After we finished our lunch we headed out for Green River, UT where we would spend the night before heading to our next park the next morning, Capitol Reef N.P. As we drove to Green River we were so happy that we took our alternate route to Moab.

Another view of the canyons

We had been treated to much more inspiring scenery that we would have missed had we not altered our route.

Interesting formations by erosion

We arrived in Green River, checked into a motel, and caught up on writing some postcards before heading out to a nearby park for a dinner of grilled chicken shish kabobs. Life is good!

We Finish Our Colorado Parks

After leaving Great Sand Dunes, we wound our way over to Durango, CO where we spent the night. The winding roads and tight turns on the switchbacks the through Rocky Mountain N.P., down to Great Sand Dunes N.P. and on to Durango had left Jane feeling sick, achy, and nauseated.

Chimney Rock

The train rolls by as we were grilling

As a result, we didn’t do much exploring in Durango, and chose instead to rest up in our room and grill a delicious pork roast at the motel’s picnic area. While we were grilling our meal, the Durango to Silverton steam locomotive rolled by our picnic area. This train makes a 50+ mile loop on a daily basis and provides the tourists with an exceptional view of the surrounding mountains and streams.

Stamp it, baby!

The next morning with Jane feeling a little better, we drove the 50-odd miles to Mesa Verde and entered the park.

Mesa road to the ruins

This park was so unlike any other that we had visited as it was dedicated to preserving the ancient Puebloan peoples that inhabited this area and constructed dwellings and communities into the sides of large cliffs in the area.

Spruce Tree House

After going to the visitor’s center, collecting the stamp, viewing the exhibits, and watching a video about these Indians, we made our way to Spruce Tree House which was considered to be the best preserved of all of the communities in the park.

Viewing the ruins

To get there, we had to hike about ½ mile down a very steep pathway that would prove to challenging when we returned. Although it was far smaller than we thought it would be, we were told that it would shelter about 50-60 people which convinced us that these Indians were pretty small by most standards.

Trying to reach the top

After viewing the ruins and listening to the rangers describe the various structures, we started our climb back to the top. To collect ourselves and cool down, we visited the museum and viewed several exhibits until we felt refreshed.

We left the park and that was when the fun began.

Homes in Silverton

Capt. Larry had chosen a route to Montrose, CO, where we would spend the night and only be a few miles from our next park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison N.P. Jane was looking at the map (Capt. Larry has no clue as to why, because she can’t read it) as we approached the exit, and started to voice concerns about the mountainous road we intended to traverse.

A beautiful backdrop

Capt. Larry tried to assuage her fears and noted that only two routes to Montrose existed, and while both were over mountainous winding roads, his choice was considerably shorter.

Silverton church

The other route would require returning 60 miles to Durango before we began to head north. Jane was beside herself when we stopped at the exit, so against his better judgment, and to keep the Queen happy, he turned the car back towards Durango. About an hour and one-half later we arrived back at Durango and Jane was already feeling queasy.

Love the architechture

As we turned north to head for Montrose, we noticed an informational road sign telling motorists about a road closure north of Silverton, CO, between certain hours in the morning and another closure period in the afternoon.

City Hall

Because Jane can’t read a map, the importance of this message was lost to twisting, tortuous, winding road we suddenly found ourselves on. There was no berm whatsoever, and the road’s edge was met with a precipitous, sheer vertical cliff-like drop of 2,000-3,000 feet. And to make matters worse, the temperature dropped to 36° and it began to rain. Capt. Larry began to worry about icy conditions on this road as we approached the summit of around 12,000 feet, and Jane became very sick, very quickly.

Main Street in Silverton

On the bright side, we only had about 90 more miles to go, a distance that would now be considerably less had we taken the original route! We did our white-knuckle driving on this route until we reached Silverton. With only about 50 miles to go, we decided to press on and get this ordeal over with. Less than 1 mile outside of Silverton, we encountered another sign.

Heading into the red light district

This time we stopped to take the message in. The road north of Silverton in the Red Mountain area was closed Monday-Saturday from 0830-1230 and 1300-1830. It was a Friday at 1320. We drove a little further because we kept seeing oncoming traffic, but were stopped by a signalwoman who told us the road ahead was closed and we just missed it by 25 minutes.

Red light district watering hole

The oncoming traffic, we were told, was what was let through between 12:30 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. Capt. Larry was doing a slow boil and Jane was peculiarly silent. It was too late in the day to turn back and take the alternate route, and heading out on these roads at 6:30 p.m. and possibly driving in the dark with potentially icy conditions didn’t seem too feasible. The only option seemed to be to turn back and spend the night in Silverton. We returned to Silverton and stopped at the visitor’s center where we explained our situation to an employee named Warren, and asked what our options might be for staying the night. Warren made a smart-ass remark about the signs that warned of the closure, and everything he said after that did not register as Capt. Larry was seriously weighing whether or not it would be worth going to jail just to see this guy beaten to a pulp. When reason prevailed, we collected some pamphlets and found a motel with a vacancy (several other motorists were in the same predicament) and checked in. After a couple of drinks and a nap, we checked out the town which turned out to have been the setting for several western movies. The town was delightfully quaint and untouched. We stopped at a bar in the old red light district for an appetizer and a couple of locally brewed beers, then went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. What was originally a disaster of a day, turned out be a really interesting experience, with the exception that Jane still wasn’t very perky.

The next day we started for Montrose at daylight to make sure we made the 8:30 a.m. cutoff. After some horrendously tight switchbacks, the road became reasonably straight and we cruised on into Montrose and had some breakfast.

Welcome to the surprise park

We continued on to the park which had a long approach road to reach the entrance. Driving this road, we were pretty sure that this would not be one of the more interesting parks. Boy, were we proven wrong. At the first overlook we were just blown away by the scale and beauty of the scenery.

Our first glimpse of the canyon

This park is all about the canyons that have been carved by the Gunnison River over a very long period of time. What makes it really interesting is that the rock that is being eroded away is very, very old (some of the oldest in the continent) schist (crystalline metamorphic rock with parallel or foliated constituent mineral grains) rock that is very, very hard.

Getting the stamp!

Against this rock, the river is able to erode about 1 inch of depth every 100 years and the canyons are about 2,000 feet deep.

The Gunnison carves the hard rock

We collected the stamp at the visitor’s center, viewed the exhibits and a video about the park, and then drove along the canyon rim, stopping at several overlooks to view the beauty of this place.

Absolutely beautiful

The only thing we didn’t do was drive down into the canyon to the river level, and that was because we had concerns about the winding, hairpin turns and 16% grade we would have to negotiate to get there. We left our last Colorado national park and headed for the next 5 parks in neighboring Utah.

The canyon

The river continues its work

We Visit Our First Colorado National Parks

After leaving Pfeifer, we were able to make our way all the way to Loveland, CO, just outside Rocky Mountain N.P., the first of four Colorado national parks we would visit.

Headin' up the mountain

After spending the night, we headed into the park the next morning and stopped by the visitor’s center to collect the park stamp for our book.

Alpine tundra lava cliffs

We viewed the exhibits and then started a steep climb up a road that would take us completely through the park. Normally this mountain road opens on Memorial Day, but this year, because of a late snow, it opened the day before we arrived.

A family of brown marmots

We were so relieved, but also nervous about what road conditions we would encounter. Jane started her normal hyperventilating as we ascended into the sub-alpine environment.

Not so bad next to the guardrail!

Above the tree line and into the alpine tundra, which is Capt. Larry’s favorite mountainous environment, Jane was a nervous wreck as we negotiated the ribbon of highway across the mountain ridges. And we were really high at over 12,000 feet.

View of the valley below

We stopped at several overlooks and points of interest, and found a family of brown marmots and a couple of pikas coming out of winter hibernation at altitude.

At the Alpine Visitor's Center

Jane was even less thrilled with our descent as hard braking in some of the switchbacks started to nauseate her. After we reached the bottom, we found a small park in Empire, CO and had some lunch.

That's a snowbank!

After a short run on the fairly level I-70 interstate, which delighted Jane, we were back on Jane’s favorite roads heading south to Salida, CO, where we would spend the night.

Collecting the stamp

The east-west divide

We passed through the ski resort areas of Breckenridge and Fairplay, which didn’t impress us in the least, and wove our way down to Salida after a couple more hours of tortuous mountain driving. Jane was so relieved when we finally stopped for the night.

The next morning we headed to our second Colorado national park, Great Sand Dunes. Going into this park, we spotted a huge sand dune and immediately thought we would be disappointed.

Park #2

Arriving at the visitor’s center we watched a video describing how the dunes were formed from eroded sediment from the San Juan Mountaines 65 miles to the west, which piled the sand up against the Sangre de Christo Mountains immediately to the east.

Now that's a sandpile!

These latter mountains also contribute to the sand pile via northeasterly storm winds and snowmelt runoff. The interplay of these natural forces lead to the formation of these dunes.

Mendota Creek

We left the visitor’s center and went out to the dunes to take some pictures.

Mendota Creek and the dune

We found the runoff from the Mendota Creek to be in full swing and a fairly rapid stream of water flowing by the base of the dune. People were wading through the creek and climbing the dune, a really taxing feat. We took some pictures and drove to another viewpoint near the main campground to view some of the escape dunes. We left the park and started a long, uninspiring drive to Durango, CO, which would position us for our next Colorado park, Mesa Verde.