Pecos National Monument added to our knowledge of ancient cultures – especially with their fabulous pottery display.A gorgeous day to experience the plateau and structures.So many layers of historyFacsinating kivas. We also toured the civil war site as part of the monument and noted how the scenery was not exactly the same as today with all the farms having cleared the land.We appreciated the re-purposing of the existing building.A close up photo of the original building.El Morro means the headland and this is the landmark travelers aimed towards in their desert crossings.It became a place to leave your mark – to tell part of your story.Most were very anxious to reach this water supply – we enjoyed the reflection and serenity.Settlers, conquistadors, friars – so many passed this way and had remarkable stories to tell.We thought this looked like a bottle of wine!We walked to the top of the rock – this overlooks a box canyon with amazing goelogy.It was windy but we appreciated the sculpting effects like this amazing character pine.Contemplating all that have enjoyed this scene.CCC workers carved these stairs into the rock. We thought we had been transported to Greek Isles.Ruins on the top that have been stabilized and preserved.Near by El Malpais we found this great BLM campground which we stayed for a few nights.The lava flows are what makes it the badlands!Imagine walking over miles of this uneven surface.We took the Rims Narrow Trail to the arch overlook – gorgeous vistas for the entire walk.We are thinking bear print – we saw several of these but no bear. Lots of animal tracks.On the south side of the park are these unmarked ruins.We camped at Apache Creek, Gila National Forest – we had this entire campground to ourselves. In the morning we saw 4 javalinas walking up the hill.We stopped at Catwalk for this hike into the canyon. It was originally water lines to a mine. The CCC turned that into a walkway and it has been maintained ever since. Part up the canyon is still closed due to a fire/flash flood.What better spot to have lunch? Gila Wilderness.Thank you Aldo Leopold for loving this area so much, that you spent your life working to preserve areas as wilderness for all those that came after you. We really appreciate it and have so enjoyed this opportunity to explore so many wilderness areas as well as other public lands.
On the road again in the flat lands!Peace Chief Black Kettle survived Sand Creek Massacre but did not survive this massacre. We spent the night nearby in the Black Kettle Grasslands.Imagine those that escaped by hiding in these grasses. We enjoyed seeing it at sunset.Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in Texas was our next stop – we spent our first night here as it was quite windy.This bull snake was enjoying some sunshine. We had not seen them flatten their heads like this.At the Alibates Flint Quarry National Monument, we took a guided hike up to see these ancient quarries of the beautiful stones.At the visitor center, we watched Ed Dey, flint knapper, shape one of these stones into a small masterpiece. He also regaled us with some stories.This was the beautiful arrowhead he created that we were given as a souvenir. Nice! We really appreciated it.Our second night we spent higher on the bluffs – as you can see there was no wind!And enjoyed this gorgeous sunset – they are all nice but we like the lake view as well.Heading into New Mexico with a bit more wind at our back.A night at Ute Lake State Park in New Mexico as we head towards Santa Fe for the weekend.
A National Historic Site, we had a ranger overview talk before our walk to the overlook of the massacre site.It is the last day of October – the massacre was the end of November – it surely wasn’t 87 degrees that day!We parked at Nee Noshee SWA for the late afternoon and evening, South of Eads, CO.This is the beautiful wildlife area – we saw a few ducks, raptors, and coots.Bent’s Old Fort NHS with a resident steer greeting us.Beautiful animal. I guess he gets to pull the wagon occasionally.This was a big fur trading area – mostly buffalo skins but here is a river boat made out of one as well as some beaver pelts.A nice piece of history that is recreated here on the Arkansas River.We headed South to Comanche National Grasslands for a few nightsPanoramic views to enjoy on our ‘back patio”. We are surprised at all the canyons in the grasslands.Peaceful sunset with Moon and planets. The Milky Way was awesome!Picket Wire Canyonlands hike first had this dust bowl ruin.On old chapel ruin and cemetery of another settlement.But dinosaurs are why we have chosen this trail – this is a thigh bone a tad larger than mine!And footprints a tad larger than ours!This is a panorama of Theropod dinosaur tracks. Well worth a 12 mile RT hike.Largest Tracksite in North AmericaWe stopped for lunch at Carrizo canyon.And did a short hike to these amazing petroglyphs of elk.We camped at Vogel canyon and enjoyed sunset on Balance Rock.This was the view from the Travato!We hiked to some more petroglyphs. This is a calendar that marks the solstice.And some amazing drawings. We were disturbed by recent graffiti and had many discussions of why someone would deface these treasures.We enjoyed our picnic lunch by this arch as we were in no hurry to get back to camp.
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?
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.
Pipestone National Monument is all about the perfect stone to make pipes. This Indian face looks out over the quarries where the best veins of the stone lie.I appreciated the Colorado connection – imagine Freemont’s time and traveling this country in 1838. We spent the night in South Dakota at an Indian Casino – how times have changed!We spent the day at Lewis and Clark Lake, a dammed up area along the Missouri. We took a tour of the dam, watched a movie in the visitor center, and had found this spot to camp for the night!Spirit Mound Historical Site was one of the first land areas along the Missouri that Lewis and Clark came ashore to explore.This is a description of what L & C experienced.And we did see the buffalo at this monument for the signing of a Sioux treaty.Looking across the Missouri River from South Dakota to Nebraska.The cliffs along the shore – very picturesque!The country side near the Niobrara National Scenic River.Believe it or not – we have put 9,000 miles on our van as we head across the plains of Colorado!We spent another wonderful evening with our friends in Ft Collins. G helped H level the van with a lift and we were shocked how much off level we had been!Our nephew is trying to patent a game the has invented – we got to watch and learn the rules.Such a joy to spend time with this delightful girl…and her happy, fun loving brothers. So glad we had some more time together!Our camping spot on Vail Pass with a morning hike to Shrine Pass.
Desert following a nice dinner at The Chocolate Moose in International FallsRanger led pontoon all day boat trip to experience the waters of Voyager National Park.A lot of islands but this is not really a canoe/kayak type of park as the distances are greater and water is not calm.We spotted over 23 bald eagles on our voyage – the ranger knew where many of the nests were as well as the juveniles that were getting ready to be on their own.What a joy to watch them take off and soar!Kettle Falls Lodge was the historical destination for lunch.We chose to picnic by the dam/falls and enjoy this view.This international border marking was under the boardwalk so needed to be pointed out by the ranger.This beautiful private beach in Chippewa National Forest on Cass Lake was our home for three nights.Nice to relax and take some time off driving. Life doesn’t get much better than this!Sunset #1Sunset #2Sunset #3The artistic shot!This is Rividoux CCC Camp – a volunteer/camp host gave us an amazing tour. He really brought that era to life and we could envision the men in the camp between their park work.The Cass Lake State Park visitor Center was built by the CCC.Amazing stone fireplace – notice how the rock placement is so symmetrical.This is the Supervisor Office in the city of Cass Lake – also built by the CCC.We could not leave Minnesota without visiting Paul Bunyon! Where is Babe? I think he left her back in Michigan!
