Dinosaurs

Things are heating up! 

The temperatures were heating up and wild fires burning in the west as we arrived in Vernal, Utah. Since we were driving by Dinosaur National Monument, we thought we should stop and check it out.  

Dinosaur National Monument

Dinosaur National Monument includes one of Earth's richest known dinosaur fossil beds. These remains from the Jurassic period150 million years ago. During a drought, many dinosaurs died near a river's edge. When the rain returned, floodwaters carried the jumbled bones of over 500 dinosaurs, representing ten species, here. Ancient river sediments, now called Morrison sandstone,

entombed the dinosaur bones and cast them in stone. After faults pushed up the earth, erosion eventually exposed the fossils.

We took the short ride on the shuttle to the Quarry from the visitor's center. The bones looked unreal with a couple for us to touch.

The campground host told us that most people just visit the quarry and leave. She suggested that we take the drive to the end of the road. We picked up and auto guide as we entered the Monument and made several interesting stops.

 

There were hikes to petroglyphs.

 

Elephant Toes Butte from eroded Nugget Sandstone.

Fremont people carved petroglyphs into the cliffs. The six foot long lizard is considered to be 1000 years old.

Then there was Josephine Morris's cabin.

Josephine Morris is a legend that lived her life on her own terms. She chose to too settle here in 1914 and built several cabins on her homestead after marrying five times and finally chose the single life. She was accused of cattle rustling twice (never convicted) and an alleged associate of Butch Cassidy. In 1964, while feeding her horse, it nudged her and she slipped on some ice. She suffered a broken

hip. Alone, she dragged herself into her house where a friend found her several days later. She had no phone to call for help. On her trip to the hospital she knew she would never again see the home she built. She died that spring at 89 years old.

We hiked into the two box canyons Josie used for corrals and could imagine her life. There were  small and medium sized bobcat prints in the sand. The canyon was protected from the sun making a much cooler walk.

Turtle rock is the same type of sandstone which forms the arches in Arches National Park.

The Green River runs through the valley beneath the sandstone cliff with two very nice primitive campgrounds long the banks of the river.

 

One evening while we were walking, a bug stung me in the eye. Boy, did it sting, giving me blurry vision in that eye for a few days. No driving for Debbie for those days. Darn....

Colorado National Monument

Back in Colorado again.

The drive to Tom Robb State Park in Fruita, Colorado was short and near the entrance to the Colorado Monument. That gave us time to take a peaceful evening walk in the Monument. We hadn't seen it from this perspective before.

Now, we head to Ridgway State Park.

 

 

 

 

 

More Utah

A windy story

Spring has been stirring up some wind and storms this April. We switched directions from Capitol Reef since we would have no hookups, the temps were going to be in the 20s with limited sun for our solar panel. Also, we would have to drive a couple of miles on the Grand Staircase's winding road with very steep drop-offs on each side. The thought of towing our trailer over it without wind left me leery. Driving over it with wind gusts in the 40-50s wasn't going to happen as far as I was concerned. Fortunately, Mike felt the same way. We headed west to Panguitch, think sandwich with a "P", just outside of Bryce National Park.

Once in Panguitch, we drove to Bryce Canyon just to enjoy views from the truck due to snow and high winds with  gusts at the highest point of 77.8 mph.

 

 It had been 9 years since our last visit and hike and didn't disappoint.

 

Natural Arch

 We wanted to be able to get out and do a little hiking in the area. We saw a geocache was a short hike on the Cassidy Trail once we returned to Red Canyon. The views were nice with much less wind.
While geocaching in town the next day, we kept running into a son and dad out doing the same at several locations.

I have never seen a sign tell you what is not the name of the highway.

 

Provo, Utah

 

Another change in plans were made as the weather forecast was calling for heavy winds on the day we had planned to drive north from Panguitch. There is no reason to drive in blustery winds. We headed out a day early for an easy 200 mile drive to a campground near Utah Lake.

 

The Provo River Trail runs from Utah Lake across town into Provo Canyon. The croaking frogs and birds enjoying the sunshine were a big change in the sounds we were used to hearing in the desert.  We were ready for the cool spring air.

 

Our rides usually involve a snack. We found a crepery along the trail that brewed a mean coffee to go along with the great crepe.

 

After our snack, the clouds were starting to roll in. Fortunately, we made it back to Utah Lake just before the heavy winds hit.

What a beautiful morning or so it seemed.  The snow storm seemed to be clearing until we entered Provo Canyon. The snowfall became heavier with blowing winds blocking the view of the waterfalls and almost everything else causing us to turn around before reaching Sundance.

We mad a stop in Spanish Fork at the Krishna's Lotus Temple that was recommended on Roadside America. Religions have always been interesting to me. In college, I took a course on religions so maybe I could understand a little better.

 

 

 

 

 

We had to take off our shoes before walking up into the temple.

 

 

 

 

After touring the temple and visiting the animals, we had a tasty Indian vegetarian lunch and visited with a lady that lived and worked at the temple. We didn't make it down to see the sacred cows. I thinks she was disappointed that we missed them.

 

 

The llamas are rented out as pack animals in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado by the Temple  as a source of income.

 

Heading northwest and hoping for sunny days.

 

 

Escalante, Utah

More red rocks

Taking a drive on the Scenic Highway 12 through the Red Canyon to Escalante for our week stay. 

Scenic Highway 12

We had to make several stops outside of Bryce National Park along the highway to oooh and aahhhhh. 

 

Driving can be a bit unnerving along the Hogbacks near Hell's Backbone. Mike insisted on driving the winding sections that have severe drop-offs on both sides without guardrails. He has control issues or doesn't trust my driving.....

Lower Calf Creek Falls

 Our 6 mile round trip hike to the lower falls in the Grand Staircase after hiking 2 miles on another trail was like being in a candy shop with so many trails to choose.

  This hike was just rolled along Calf Creek in the sunshine but not too hot. Much of the trail is through sand in a dry creek bed with markers identifying petroglyphs on the distant walls.

We passed by mineral-streaked cliffs of Navajo Sandstone and beaver dams with fish in the creek on our way to the pool and falls.

 

The cool breeze over the top of the 130 foot falls gave us a refreshing break from the sunshine as we sat under the trees for our snack next to the water fall. We were tempted to wade in the pool but just enjoyed the fresh air. I hate putting on hiking boots half way through a hike. They never feel quite right.

We had a nice surprise and stopped for a treat and lemonade at Kiva Koffee in the middle of the National Monument while driving back from our hike.

 

While enjoying our refreshments, a man joined us after overhearing us discuss our hike. Once he left, a local stopped to give us some tips about hikes we were planning to take. Then another group of locals added their thoughts. Everyone was very welcoming.

 We drove the Burr Trail outside of Boulder to hike the Deer Creek Trail that wanders along Deer Creek pastureland.

Stopping for a picnic before calling it a day, we returned to visit the Hole in the Rock Museum. Those were some hardy and maybe a little crazy,  Mormons. They had to be hardy to survive. The pictograms and story plates were interesting and awe inspiring. Click here if you would like to read the story.

 

Driving through small towns, often they don't seem to have much to offer. During a morning walk from the campground, we took sometime to find some great places like this organic grocery store and coffee shop, or in my case tea.

 

I like this fellow's classy pack.

 Part of the way though our visit, I was feeling under the weather. Realizing that if we needed an emergency room, we weren't sure where to go. We knew there was a clinic on the edge of town with an after hours number. But with no phone service even with roaming and the internet down, we would be out of luck if we needed 911 or even the clinic. A snow storm with high winds on the way with temps in the low 20s, we made a change in plans and headed west.

 

 



 

 

Kodachrome Basin

More red rocks



.

We set out for our 40 mile drive from Escalante to Kodachrome Basin with a plan to stop at Subway to pick up lunch. It was Sunday, the town is very small and many places close on Sundays. I asked the lady attending the gas station where the Subway was located, if Cannonville would have a place to get lunch. That would be a no, it is Sunday and it is a Mennonite town. She did suggest Boots, a restaurant 5 blocks down Main street and take a right. The workers in Boots seemed to be just waiting for us as we bellied up to the bar and whipped up a giant sandwich for us to share on the trails. We will remember to stock up at the grocery store on Monday 



Staying in southern Utah and seeing lots of red dirt was our plan because Arizona was getting pretty hot which brings out the pollen and rattlesnakes. North of this area was still getting hit with winter storms.



We didn't see anyone on the trails until we returned to the truck. This state park doesn't get a lot of visitors due to its proximity to the national parks nearby. 

 

 

I see a gnome. Of course, you start seeing all sorts of things after wandering around the desert for long enough.

 

 

This is the oldest and most healthy cryptobiotic crust I have ever seen. The crust is a community of organisms that live on desert soils. It provides critical nutrients to plants, absorbs and holds water and aids in preventing erosion. The lumpy black crust is in its mature state, but is nearly invisible in early stages and easily destroyed by walking on it.

 

I feel sad and frustrated when I see people ignoring the signs to stay on the trails, traipsing off across the desert destroying the crusts.  But then again, people don't know what they don't know.

 

Couldn't miss the Secret Passage.

Mike saw a duck here.

 

After taking the 6 mile Panorama Trail, we hit the shorter 1 1/2 mile Angel Palace Trail.

 

We saw a KOA as we were leaving Cannonville and thought we could buy a candy bar there since everything else was closed and a Payday sounded great. Surely, someone would be manning the store. Wrong again.

 

Time to head back to Escalante or as I call it, the land of much wind.