Arches National Park – Day 2

We returned to Arches today for two hikes.  The first was a three mile roundtrip hike to Delicate Arch which is the arch depicted on Utah license plates.  The trail is mostly over rock and along cliffs.  You don’t see the arch until you come around the last corner.  What an awesome site.  Last Saturday we saw it from the other side at a viewpoint across the canyon.  Here’s the picture from that day.  The arch is just to the left of the middle.

Here’s the view we had today.  Much better!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some perspective, that’s Kevin underneath the arch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think this is my favorite picture of us since we’ve been out here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been fascinated by the swirly patterns I’ve seen in many rocks in Utah.  Here’s an example.

There are petroglyphs in Arches National Park, but they are not as old as the ones we saw at Mesa Verde.  Archeologists know this because there are horses in these, and the Native Americans didn’t begin using horses until about 300 to 400 years later.

Our second hike of the day was a 2 mile, 3 hour ranger led hike through an area called the Fiery Furnace.  It is made up of fins which are large rocks with lots of valleys and crevices between them.  Here’s what it looks like from the overlook.

And here’s a picture from down below.

There are some arches hidden between these fins.  This one is skull arch.

This one is called Surprise Arch.  After climbing through a narrow crevice, you look up and surprise, there it is.

The hike was really fun.  We were told it would be moderately strenuous.  They were telling the truth.  We climbed up and down lots of rocks. 

We also went through a couple of very narrow crevices where we had to actually put both feet and both hands on the walls and spider walk through because there was not enough room to walk between them at the bottom.  Here’s one of those areas.

 

 

And here’s one more view from the bottom.  See the people near the bottom center.  It’s really surprising how many plants and trees are growing down there.  Just a little bit of sand, and there’s a plant trying to survive.

Another fantastic day!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Natural Bridges National Monument

Another day enjoying nature’s beauty.  Today we ventured to Natural Bridges National Monument.  It’s in a remote location, but it was worth the drive.

On the way we stopped at Hole N” The Rock, an attraction listed in Roadside America.  It’s a 5,000 square foot home carved out of this huge rock, and was really an interesting place.  It was the home of Albert and Gladys Christensen.  It took Albert 20 years to carve out the home using dynamite and hand tools.  They did not allow pictures inside, but you can see some on the website.  The outside is almost as interesting as the inside.  The grounds have a very eclectic array of sculptures and antique items.  Here are just two of the sculptures.  The golfer is made entirely out of golf irons.  The bull is made out of metal tools.

 

 

Natural Bridges Natural Monument has three natural bridges.  Now you may be wondering what is the difference between a natural arch and a natural bridge.  Let me tell you.  Natural bridges are formed by the erosive action of moving water which makes them far rarer than arches.  Arches are formed by other erosional forces, mainly frost action and seeping moisture.

Each bridge had a trail leading down into the canyon for close-up viewing.  We hiked down to each one for a total of about 3 miles.  It sure seemed like much more as the elevation change was between 200 and 600 feet per hike.

The Sipapu Bridge is the highest (220 feet) and has the greatest span (268 feet).  Water still flows below it, but there is not much erosion happening because its abutments stand far from the stream.  Here are pictures from the top and the nearly bottom.

Can you see Kevin on the bottom left in the green shirt.  I quit about three-quarters of the way down.  I was not going to climb down the wooden ladders.

The second bridge is Kachina Bridge.  It is the youngest of the bridges and flood waters are still enlarging its span.  There was a little water at the bottom, but there was plenty of evidence of flood waters washing away trees and sandstone.  Here are top and bottom views.

That’s me sitting on the rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the view from the bottom looking up.  The trailhead is at the top.  It’s a 1.5 mile roundtrip hike.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third bridge is called Owachomo Bridge.  It is the oldest and does not have any water flowing beneath it anymore.  The width at the top is only 9 feet.  Frost and seeping water may bring this bridge down sometime soon.  Here are views from the top and bottom.

We met these guys on the drive back.  We let them have the right of way :)

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Colorado National Monument

We took a drive today back into Colorado to visit yet another beautiful national monument.

The Colorado National Monument is 32 square miles of canyons.  Let me show you some pictures.

Wedding Canyon

 

 

 

 

 

 

Window Rock

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monument Canyon

 

 

 

 

 

The spire in the picture above is called Independence Monument.  It is a favorite for rock climbers.  These guys must have been at it for some time.  There’s one guy almost to the top and another on the ledge on the right.

Ute Canyon

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we were at Rocky Mountain National Park, we saw a stream that was near the headwaters of the Colorado River.  That streams sure has grown.

And, finally here’s another dead tree picture.  For some reason, they appeal to me.

 

 

We discovered that the Moab area is a huge off-road area.  I’ve never seen so many Jeeps and ATVs.  I’ve also never seen so many creative ways to transport them.  A lot of people have toyhaulers.  We’ve seen trailers of all sizes, Jeeps in the bed of trucks, motorhomes towing Jeeps, motorhomes towing trailers with Jeeps on them.  But the scariest I saw was a large pick-up pulling a very long fifth wheel, pulling a trailer with ATVs on it.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Arches National Park

We arrived at OK RV Park in Moab, Utah yesterday afternoon after another incredibly scenic drive.  This is another Passport America park and we’re paying $15.50 per night.  I really like this park.  Rather than a gravel parking lot, which is what many campgrounds out here are, there are trees and even some grass!  We have a full hook-up, 50 amp, pull-through, level site with a fantastic view out the back window and free wi-fi and cable. 

This is the view out of our back window.

We spent the day today at Arches National Park, and were amazed by the beauty of the sculpted rock scenery.  We drove through the park and stopped to see the highlights.  Some were near the road, and others required some hiking.  According to the map, we hiked about 8 miles total, but it was worth every step.  See for yourself!  Most of the pictures have people in them so you see how massive these arches, spires, pinnacles and balanced rocks are.

This is called Balance Rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Double Arch

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                        The Windows

This one is called Landscape Arch.  It’s span is 290 feet and is the longest arch in the world.  In 1991 a rock slab 60 feet long and 11 feet wide and four feet thick feel from the underside of the arch. 

This dead tree was in the shade, and I like the contrast of the tree and rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                        This is called Park Avenue

                               These are called fins.

We’re headed back to Arches on Tuesday to participate in a three hour ranger led hike in the fiery furnace area.  Stay tuned for more pictures :)

As we were driving home, I was thinking about how very lucky I feel.  I’m so glad we made the choice to take the risk of thinking outside the box and bucking societal convention.  There is not a luxury car, big house or expensive “stuff” that can hold a candle to the incredible sites we have seen in the last few weeks.  This experience is truly priceless!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Mesa Verde National Park

On Wednesday we visited yet another fabulous National Park.  At Mesa Verde archeologists have found more than 4,800 archaeological sites including 600 cliff dwellings in the cliff alcoves above Montezuma Valley.  These dwellings, many of them being multi-storied, date back to 500 to 1300 A.D. and are remarkably preserved.

The most famous site is called Cliff Palace.  It is the largest cliff dwelling in North America, has over 150 rooms, and is estimated to have been home to about 100 people.  The only way to tour the site is by signing up for a ranger-led tour.  It was $3 a person, and well worth the cost.  The tour was very informative, and the dwelling was amazing.  Some sections are four stories high.  The cave section goes back 90 feet, and there are rooms all the way to the back.  It is believed many of these rooms were used for food storage.

We also toured Balcony House which was another dwelling accessible only by signing up for a ranger-led tour.  To get to this one, we had to climb a 32 ft. ladder.  To get out, we had to crawl through two rock tunnels on our  hands and knees and then climb more ladders.  I’m really glad we’re young enough to do these more strenuous types of tours.

Spruce Tree House is a dwelling accessible to all park visitors.  We walked down 1/2 mile into the canyon to see this one.

From there we hiked another 2.4 miles to see some petroglyphs.  This was my idea.  I didn’t realize we’d be hiking along the side of the cliff face.  It was quite strenuous, but the payoff was pretty cool.

 

And in case you want to see more, this cliff dwelling is called Square Tower House.

Right now we’re headed from Colorado to Moab, Utah to see Arches National Park and a few other sites.  What a beautiful drive!  The weather is still fantastic.  Highs today are expected to be in the 80s!

Thanks to those of you that commented on our air card problems.  We did finally get it resolved with them, and we again have internet service although this air card keeps going dormant causing us to have to frequently hit the refresh button.  We didn’t have that with the first air card.  Doesn’t it always seem to be something :)

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Four Corners Monument

On Monday we went to the Four Corners Monument which is the only place in the country where four states meet in one spot.  There are other places where you can see four states from a mountaintop, but this is the only place they actually meet.

We were under the impression that it was part of the National Park system, but it wasn’t.  It’s actually on Navajo land.  They charge $5 per person, but it was worth it to say we were there. 

 

 

 

The actual monument area is nicely done.  I heard they had redone it just this summer, and there were still bulldozers working on the outer area.  All around the monument are stalls with Native Americans selling stuff.  Most of it was the typical stuff you see everywhere, but there was one guy who had some beautiful jewelry with stones he polished himself and made into pendants.  I was tempted, but I wasn’t willing to pay what he was charging :)

From there we headed to Aztec Ruins National Monument in Aztec, New Mexico.  These ruins are actually from the Pueblo people who lived here in the 1100s, centuries before the Aztec empire prospered.  Anglo settlers mistakenly named the place Aztec based on stories they heard about Cortez’s conquest of Mexico.

When these ruins were excavated, it was discovered the largest of the houses had at least 500 rooms and rose to three stories.  There were a number of kivas found, which were round rooms believed to be used for ceremonies and as gathering places. 

The Great Kiva was rebuilt in 1934 and a roof was added to show the public what it must have looked like hundreds of years ago.  I’m always so amazed at the skill these ancient people had!

This is the largest yucca plant I have ever seen.  The Ancestral Pueblo people used the yucca fibers to make all kinds of things including baskets, sandals, rope, mats and blankets.  These people were amazingly innovative and creative.

 

Today we stayed home and took it easy.  We took care of some business and ran a few errands.  Cortez itself is not much of a tourist town.  We did find a micro brewery/restaurant called Main Street Brewery.  I’m not a beer drinker, but Kevin said the beer was good.  I had a chicken sandwich which was very tasty.  I loved their seasoned fries.

We’ve been really frustrated with our internet over the last 10 days.  In June we got a Verizon air card through the 3G store which was recommended by other fulltimers.  After 4 months, they informed us that our account was being sold to another company.  Since we’ve been with the new company, our air card won’t work.  They sent us a new one at our current location, and we have the same problem as the old one.  The people there don’t seem to know what they’re doing.  I liked this plan because there was no contract and it was $10 a month cheaper than through Verizon.  At this point, I’m ready to give up on them and get the air card directly from Verizon even if it means a 2 year contract and the $60 a month.  I called the 3G store and they told me they are distancing themselves from this new company.  How nice for them.  That doesn’t help us any, does it!

We’ve been using my cell phone tethered to the laptop.  Our cell phone provider is US Cellular, and they don’t have the coverage area that Verizon has.  It’s been working, but very slow.  We still have a year and a half on our cell phone contract. 

I know some people are using their new Droid phones for their internet.  We’ve been able to use Kevin’s computer with Windows 7 as a hot spot so we can both be on at the same time.  I don’t know how the new phones work.  I wish someone would just tell me exactly what would work best for us.  All this technology stuff can drive you out of your mind!!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!