Around the Moab area, September 26, 2020

 

We started the day with a drive down Kane Creek Boulevard, a road that runs from in town down along the Colorado River. Our first stop was at Matheson Wetlands Preserve, a tract of land set aside to protect the unusual wetlands here. The  scene is striking and beautiful: Wooded marsh areas in the desert with red cliffs behind. 

Further along the road, the cliffs rise up on both sides of the river. and we realized there were quite a few ORVs on the road. There was good reason for that: it turns out that the c

anyons in this area are prime real estate for off road activities. While we moved up the dirt road in 1st and 2nd gear, jeeps and ORVs buzzed by us leaving us to literally eat their dust. We could hear motorbikers and see bicyclists on the trails in the canyon. The scenery was spectacular. At one point the road transitioned to switchbacks to climb a cliff, and the edge of the road dropped away precipitously. 

Further along the road, we noted climbers hugging the rock faces of the canyon. When the road became too rough for our little Elantra (and us), we turned around and retraced our route.

We headed back to Moab and decided to take the road on the other side of the river, built originally to service the potash mines in the area. It passes by sheer rock walls popular with climbers, dinosaur footprints and Indian petroglyphs. We stopped at the trail to the dinosaur tracks and took the steep 1/4 mile trail up to them. The only problem came when the trail went straight up the sheer face of the rock hill. No way Jose. We headed back to the trailhead. It turned out that we could see the tracks embedded in the rock from the parking lot.

We decided to grab some subs and head for Arches for sunset, and returned to what I think was the coolest feature of Arches, the fins. 

Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Hy7S4HYHhPrwuSBt5

Special day, special place September 29, 2020

What more could we ask for? Perfect dry weather, pure blue skies, the magic of the steep, dark beauty of Black Canyon of the Gunnison, good health, each other's company, and for the topper, it was our 47th wedding anniversary.

A couple of weeks ago we visited the north rim of Gunnison. Today we hit the south rim. The park contains 12 miles of the 48-mile long Gunnison River. The national park itself contains the deepest and most dramatic section of the canyon, but the canyon continues upstream into Curecanti National Recreation Area which we will visit tomorrow. The canyon's name owes itself to the fact that parts of the gorge only receive 33 minutes of sunlight a day. Some canyons of the American west are longer and some are deeper, but none combines the depth, sheerness, narrowness, and darkness, of the Black Canyon. When we arrived, I swore to myself that I would stifle the urge to capture more pictures of this place. We've visited a few other times and we have lots. But at the end of every trail, there it was, the incredible grandeur of the canyon. I didn't keep my promise.

We stopped at every little trail that leads to the canyon rim, and stopped for lunch at one overlook

parking area, and pulled out our lawn chairs to lounge in front of the car on the road. Our only risk for the day in covid times was in using the vault toilet here. I've become expert at using a tissue to open the door, not touching any surface in the toilet, using tp to open the door on the way out, and applying a liberal amount of hand sanitizer after.

The views from each vantage point are fabulous, and the overlooks get you right next to the edge of the canyon. When you're at the railing, you can usually look straight down the sheer rock wall on top of which you're standing. 

We ended our visit here with a drive down to East Portal, a former town located down on the Gunnison River at the bottom of the canyon created by people who built the power plant there. A more peaceful spot doesn't exist. We sat for a while in the complete quiet of the place just enjoying the perfect moment. The sky was so blue that the jagged tops of the mountains around us looked like cutouts against it. 

It was a very happy anniversary for us.

Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/CbdPofSUbVDH4ggRA

The Million Dollar Highway September 30, 2020

The Million Dollar Highway is the stretch of Route 550 in Colorado between Ouray and Silverton. The name came from a planning meeting in the 1920s where, while discussing rebuilding the highway between Ouray and Silverton, someone at the meeting remarked that the project would cost a million dollars -- an incredible sum for such a short span of road construction at the time. Once construction was complete, the name stuck, and the Million Dollar Highway was born.

Though the entire stretch has been called the Million Dollar Highway, it is really the twelve miles (19 km) south of Ouray through the Uncompahgre Gorge to the summit of Red Mountain Pass which gains the highway its name. This stretch through the gorge is challenging and potentially hazardous to drive; it is characterized by steep cliffs, narrow lanes, and a lack of guardrails; the ascent of Red Mountain Pass is marked with a number of hairpin curves used to gain elevation, and again, narrow lanes for traffic—many cut directly into the sides of mountains. During this ascent, the remains of the Idarado Mine are visible. Traveling north from Silverton to Ouray

The edge of the road is where the slope drops off

allows you to hug the inside of curves; traveling south from Ouray to Silverton perches you on the steep outside edge of the highway. We went both ways. It was a fun and stunning ride.

From Montrose we headed south to Ouray and stopped at Box Canyon to view the falls there. The property is owned and run by the town of Ouray. The falls walk takes you along the side of a cliff to a box canyon through which there is a waterfall. The town built a walkway to make the walk easy for all. 

After Ouray, we headed south for Silverton. We had never really seen a Colorado fall. At this elevation (Red Mountain Pass is 11,000+ feet), the aspens were at peak. While we have been around the country in fall, and have never seen such glorious color as is in New England in autumn, fall in the Rockies is pretty special. The golden trees set among groves of spruce and pines, highlighted by sunny, blue, blue skies and lit by full sun are a sight to behold. 

On the way back, we stopped in Ouray again to see if we might be able to take a peek at the restoration of the historic Beaumont Hotel. No such luck. Covid regulations allow for guests only in the hotel.

We have noticed that a lot of people here wear masks on the trails. Half of those wearing masks wear them under their nose, or loose around their face. Many wear neck gaiters, which, as I understand it, are the equivalent of wearing nothing at all.

More photos are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/buFAy72LLP8EwcYh7 By, the way, one of the photos (maybe two) looks like the the water is yellow. It was! We're not sure what caused it, but it wasn't the reflection of the trees in the water!

Edit: We now know what causes the water to turn yellow.  https://www.telluridenews.com/the_watch/news/article_7084178e-0765-11e8-ad17-b75e13bd7439.html

Canyonlands Needles area

Canyonlands is actually made up of three distinct areas: Island in the Sky, Needles and The Maze. Island in the Sky is the area we visited the other day where you're up on the mesa looking down at the canyons. The Needles forms the southeast corner of Canyonlands and was named for the sandstone spires that dominate the area. The needles themselves are accessible only by strenuous hikes. 

The drive from Moab takes you 40 miles or so south and then 34 miles into the park. That last 34 miles are fabulous. It passes by Newspaper Rock, a rock wall where Native Americans have been engraving and drawing  for over 2000 years. Further up the road toward the park, sandstone cliffs rise on both sides of the narrow road. It's a spectacular ride.

Our first stop in the park was at a short hike to a 1000 year-old Native American storage building tucked under a rock overhang. Amazing that it was completely intact. 

We also took a hike on the slickrock to some panoramic views of the park. We were overwhelmed by the vastness of the landscape, and it was a hike we both greatly enjoyed, even though the wind was blowing pretty hard. 

We took another trail up on the slickrock that provided distant views of the Needles and some neat rock formations.

Great day!

Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/73yGh7g77vxbBGrX6  The video is of some of the road into/out of the park.

Scenic Drive day

 

Along Rte 128

We took Thursday to make the scenic drive into and around the La Sal Mountains near Moab. That connects with Route 128, a wonderful road we found many years ago on a trip here. It is a back road from I70 to Arches. Many choose to drive from I70 to Utah 191, but though this takes longer, it's knock-your-socks-off gorgeous.

The La Sal mountain road is all paved and takes you from desert to mountains to forests to open range (we did meet some cows on the road) to red rock country. In one area, we passed mountains whose sides looked like they had been watercolor painted. It was just the mountainside vegetation that was changing to fall colors. It was a captivating effect, and difficult to capture in photos. The road passed through an aspen forest, and some of the trees were changing, but most were still summer green.

We were surprised by the number of large trucks driving this narrow, winding road, and noted a number of resorts here. We noted that the highway department was stockpiling sand in one area for the coming winter. We stopped at one point at an overlook and joined about 20 ATVers who apparently were rallying there.

Mid-afternoon, we pulled to the side of the road, took out our lawn chairs, sat by the side of the road, and had lunch. This was a nice kick-back day.

Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/apEk8LHwNxuAwmzT7

Canyonlands

 

We drove the 30 or so miles south to Canyonlands National Park yesterday. It's startling to go from all those huge spires and rock features to mostly flat mesas where canyons rule. Arches is a place where you're almost always looking up. Canyonlands is a place where you're always looking down. 

Sheep and cattle ranchers settled this area in the 1800s. There is a primitive 4WD road that descends the canyon and loops around that was used originally by the Native Americans, then used by the

Shafer Canyon road

sheep ranchers, and now is used by off roaders to explore the canyons. (Sheep sometimes fell off the steep road and perished.) Cool to look at, but I wouldn't drive it.

We hiked about 8 miles today and the pictures, again, tell the story. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PwhjdshMfqaGKUDz6

 

Arches and Fins

We spent most of today walking trails at Arches National Park. The sheer enormity of the rock walls here, the utter quiet when you walk the trails away from the crowds, the beauty and uniqueness of each wall, arch and fin, make this a special place. This is our fourth visit here since 1992. Lots has changed here since then.

Moab has gone from a nowheresville little town with killer scenery, to a major natural destination with a 4 lane freeway running into it. But the arches , fins, walls and spires are all, blessedly the same.

The photos tell the story: https://photos.app.goo.gl/z9HWgusBS9W6zB6M8