Canyonlands NP Needles district house in the cliff was a 10-mile round trip hike.This was a short hike near Combs Ridge south of Blanding, UT.A nice little tower on the ridge from our hike to Jail House Runis and Perfect Kiva.This is the Perfect Kiva which we hiked up to see closer.View from the Perfect Kiva looking back across the valley.It is a BLM site and had a nice booklet describing so many of the features and artifacts found there. Fascinating!Natural Bridges National Monument was the first National Park in Utah. It is quite spectacular.We took the trail to the Horsecollar ruins.It had a one log ladder to climb up – not so bad but going down I was glad to have a good companion.This is a gorgeous bridge on a gorgeous day.This is our “Million Dollar View” campsite that we had stayed at before. We were here five nights this time. The dark skies and stars were spectacular.House on Fire ruins – if visited when the sun is just right it appears to be in flames. who came up with that?Before Hovenweep NM we hiked around this canyon to see other cliff dwellings.Beautiful craftsmanship.Sunrise over Sleeping Giant from our campsite at Hoovenweep National Monument.Morning loop hike at the monument to see these treasures.The spirit raven was watching.The wood supports in these buildings are original.The sites on the rock ledges are such interesting selections of places to build.There is a house tucked under that large boulder.The cliff partially collapsed but the dwelling stayed attached to its foundation.We wore ourselves out with a bunch of shorter hikes and the day kept getting hotter and hotter.We sat and enjoyed this for a while – really detailed and intricate brick laying.Early morning at Lowry Pueblo in Canyon of the Ancients.It felt really special to be able to experience this lighting.Mr Fox even had to check out the photographer. That is Sleeping Ute Mountain in the background.
Heading towards Moab, we stopped at Fisher Towers for a lunch break hike.We stitched this panorama together to try to show the beauty of the amphitheater.Further on, we stopped along the Colorado River to enjoy the perspective of being on the water.We found this amazing campsite on BLM land between Arches NP and Canyonlands – Isle.There were others camping in the same valley but we felt like we had a great site with excellent views. We were here three nights.Candlestick rock from a hike to an overlook point with our lunch.Enjoying the Colorado River and all the canyons that were carved in the past.This is the Schaeffer Trail panorama. We did not take the Travato down!An early hike to Morning Glory natural bridge down Negro Bill Canyon.An afternoon drive along Potash Road on the west side of Moab to enjoy the scenery.And to discover the petroglyphs.We drove as far as Jug Arch.A final sunset before heading to the southern part of Canyonlands.Newspaper rock never fails to fascinate! It has been fun to experience this area in the fall colors.There was a full moon rise from our next campsite of three nights on in the Manitou National Forest.A hike in Canyonlands Needles district.Very fun slick rock shapes.A slight breeze to cool us but unseasonably warm this year.We feel so privileged to be able to spend a day doing this hike.A bit of aspens or cottonwoods in the canyon bottom.We would have loved to park over night here but it was private land – but nice we were able to spend a few minutes here.Another hike to Paul Bunyan’s Potty. Do you remember our picture with Paul in Minnesota?
A great month at the Residence Inn Marriott in Grand Junction. Leaving our new friends, spoiled with all the comforts of good breakfasts, social hours, pool/hot tub and convenient location.Thank you to Dean Moore’s crew and the crew at Transwest for getting our van in tip top shape. And thank to Marriott for the Plum Creek Palisade wine to celebrate!Enjoying the sunset at Rabbitt Valley after a long day of getting the Travato reloaded and ready for the road.We were able to do some hikes right from the camp site so had two great no drive days.This was the view we enjoyed from the camp site.This herd of pronghorns were shy of us but not the ATVers.Both hikes took us to the Colorado River to enjoy this type of view.It is a rough life to hang out here!
On the trail again – it was 48 degrees when we started and 64 when we finished. Perfect!Is that the trail down there? We were not expecting all the elevation gain – we ascended and descended three mesas – both ways!We are over half way to the arches – it is 7-miles in and 7-miles out! Most of this trail is in the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness section of McInnis Canyon.There are 7 arches – a very high concentration for one hike. They were breathtaking and not just because we had hiked 7-miles!Very fun to appreciate on such a gorgeous day.This got our vote as the most beautiful arch we have seen. Sorry Utah…We took too many photos but this upward looking panorama seems to capture the awe of being there.Walking past it gave a different viewpoint that was also interesting.This is the last arch we hiked to – there might have been one more but we stopped here to eat and enjoy before heading back.Fun to climb up for a closer view. Really amazing what nature can do, given enough time.
McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area for another day of hiking – Rabbit’s Ear Mesa Trail to overlook Colorado River, close to the Utah border (Exit 2 on I-70).It took an hour to hike to this spot, 700-feet elevation gain, but worth every step for the view!Clever stone arm chairs were created in this perfect overlook for us to appreciate.Looking towards Utah with the La Sal mountains on the horizon.Another day we headed to Devil’s Canyon trail under dark skies.The lighting was very interesting with the sun shining on the Book Cliffs across the valley.We got caught in the rain but it made all the rocks shine – even though it also made the trail a bit slick and muddy.
Independence Monument – we did a morning valley hike to see this pillar up close.There are naturalization ceremonies here and 4th of July flag raisings and rock climbers today! The library had an entertaining John Otto impersonator talk about how he built these trails and championed for this to be a National Monument. So glad we had people like him in the early 1900’s!Another day hike from the valley to Liberty Bell formation – named after the bell in Philadelphia.It is a steep hike but worth it to enjoy the solitude and views.Nice photo op!Another day we drove the full rim drive – this is looking back at the Liberty Bell across Ute canyon.There are so many canyons that would be fun to explore. We enjoyed all the little overlook hikes, a cooler day, and no need to hurry.These are the coke oven formations. There is a CCC water diversion tunnel built near here with some information on their time building the roads as well as a ranger cabin that is still standing. Such amazing stone work!Big horn sheep live here – we felt so lucky to see them!The back side of Independence Monument looking down on the trail we hiked.We enjoyed this view of Independence Monument while eating our picnic lunch.
A perfect fall day for a drive up the Mesa!The amount of aspen around Powderhorn Ski area was breathtaking.Quaking aspen in a light breeze, shimmery golden in the sun – actually quite a bit of orange on the leaves as well which was a bit unusual.This is real – just an amazing blue sky!A hike up Crag Crest to enjoy the view with our picnic lunch -notice a bit of snow on the trail….winter is coming.Amazing views were worth the three miles or so to the summit.Clouds were forming only over the peaks but added some interest to our views.It was great to hike amongst the colors, the views and the sunshine. A great day!
This area is where the wild mustangs range so we decided to spend some time looking for them.These were the only horses we saw but we did see piles of wild stallion dung marking their territory and hoof prints coming down to the creek.It was a beautiful hike even without the wild mustangs! We met up with friends from Denver in Palisades for lunch – and a bit more wine tasting!Bookcliffs winery had a vineyard tour before the WineFest in Palisades.We had the opportunity to compare and taste the different grapes – Tempranillo, Merlot, Sryah, Cab Sav! We learned the first day of frost is usually mid November and last is mid April so a long growing season – perfect for all the produce grown here.Then we went on the Palisade Rim hike above the vineyards looking across the Grand Valley.An interesting canyon behind the rim, away from the noise of the highway and railroad.And petroglyphs of elks!
