Confluence of the green and Yampa Rivers
After a stop in Price, Utah, to visit the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry and the Museum of Eastern Utah, we settled into the campground at Dinosaur National Monument. An outstanding side trip we took was up Nine Mile Canyon, which is lined with petroglyphs. The campsite is on the Green River, which helps cool off the nights. If they don't cool, a dip in the river helps. Dinosaurs, as shown at the exhibit at the Visitor Center, are only a small part of the attraction at this monument. The true attractions center on the Green and Yampa Rivers and the canyons they have carved in the mountains. The Canyon of Lodore (which we did not get to) and Split Mountain are the major canyons
The first day we set up and then went to the Visitor Center for orientation. The next day we went to the trail to the overlook of where the Green and Yampa Rivers converge. The wooded trail does not prepare you for the overlook into the steep canyons. The rafters below look like ants. From there, we drove the dirt road to the "park" (a meadow in the valley) near the river's convergence. On the road, we encountered a herd of young rams. There were about 10 mountain sheep in the herd, and they did not want to give up their forage, so they got out of the road so we could drive by, but they did not go very far. We got within 50 feet of them. After spending a half hour watching the sheep, we continued to the park, where we picniced in the primitive campground. The picture above shows the convergence of the two rivers. On our way to the fork, wading in the river, I lost my wallet. I did not realize this until we were back to the town of Dinosaur, CO, but it would have been impossible to find it anyway. Maybe some archaeologist, millions of years from now, ...
The hilight of this trip, though, was the raft trip down the Green River. The bus took us up the river, with another stop at a petroglyph site. We saw all sorts of raptors, particularly turkey vultures, on the ride. We set into the river for a 7 mile, 6 hour trip. There were several class II and III rapids along the way. The guides(Hatch Expeditions) were experienced and made the trip exciting but safe. A rafting tradition is the lunch the guides prepare (assemble) along the route. The canyon is relatively wide but high. You can see where the river decided to take its course right through the mountain. After leaving the Vernal area, the Green River takes a flat and winding course towards Green River, UT. The river is relatively unexciting here. But from Green River to past Moab, where the Green meets the Colorado, it is quite exciting again. And the Colorado and Green Rivers divide Canyonlands National Park into its three sections. Canyonlands was part of the nect leg of our trip.
From Dead Horse Point at Dawn
Rather than stay in the very primitive campgrounds at Canyonlands or the lower elevation (hotter) campgrounds at Arches National Park, we had reserved campsites at Dead Horse State Park. The elevation is higher and the campground is more "civilized". However, water has to be trucked up from the river, so it is scarce. This did not stop some Europeans from bathing in the drinking fountain. Dead Horse point has, to me, a pair of viewpoints that are singularly more spectacular than any of the viewpoints in the national parks. The area got its name from a group of cowboys who gathered wild horses on the plateau. They would chase the horses south along the plateau towards its end, where there were 1000 foot cliffs. They would fence off the point so the horses could not escape. The cowboys would then gather the horses they wanted and let the rest go. Well, one time, they forgot to take doen the fence. The horses died of thirst with water in sight, though out of reach.
There are three sections to Canyonlands. The Dead Horse area is near the Island in the Sky District. The reason for the name is obvious. Whichever direction you take (other than the road out) leads you to sheer cliffs. One one side you can see the Colorado River. On the other side you can make out the Green River. If you hike far enough past the end of the plateau, you can look down on where the rivers meet. The second section is the Needles District.The views from this area are generally down. It is so named because of the many spires of rock sticking up out of the ground. They are caused by erosion. We took the van into this area on a dirt road, but did not go nearly as far as you can go in a 4WD. The road winds up and down and in and out of the spires. You get a feeling for how puny we are and how easy it is to get away from evryone else very rapidly in this area. The final area, which we did not get into, is the Maze District. It is full of twisty little passages, where it is easy to get lost. Compared to the other sections of the park, this area is truely remote and desolate. It consists largely of mazes of abandoned river courses.
We spent a day in Arches National Park, where we managed to see most of the famous arches and the rows of hoodoos, which are arches waiting to happen. The first trail to arches along the highway had several people on it, but also had a few deer. They gave up the hunt for food when people took to the trails. The trail to Delicate Arch was rolling and rough and hot, even in the morning. Balanced Rock is also interesting. How can it stand there without falling? The Windows Arches were too crowded. But what do you expect in the middle of the day. While Arches is noce, it would probably be nicest either in the spring when wildflowers are out or in the winter, when the snow would contrast with the red rock.
We spent part of a day in Moab. The artsy town (also known as a center for mountain biking) was fun. The highlight was a combination trail ride/chuck wagon dinner. Most chuck wagon dinners provide good, solid food and maybe some entertainment, but they also provide an opportunity to visit with other travellers and to talk with locals who know the area well. The unusual part of this excursion was the trail ride. On most trail rides, you have a narrow path to follow so yyou are single file. You are also restricted in speed by the terrain to at best a lope. While part of this ride conformed to that pattern, the last part was over a mesa. You were not allowed to gallop your horse back to the corral, you were ENCOURAGED to do so. All you had to do was stay with the guide.We were dusty, tired and dry when we got back to the corral. The juice and iced tea were appreciated after such an exhilirating ride.
The truly high point of this trip was the morning Maggie dragged us out of bed in the dark so we could watch the sunrise from Dead Horse Point. We were not alone. By sunrise, there were about 25 people and 15 cameras. When the sun crests the Lasal Mountains and bounces of the Colorado to the east, you know you are in for a treat. But when it starts lighting up the rocks at the bend in the river, you can't believe all of the colors. And, as the sun rises, the shadows add to the effect. If you could only see one thing in Utah, This sight would be at the top of my list (but seeing only one thing in Utah is a stupid concept). We had a harbinger of the effect on an earlier morning when we happened over to the state park visitor center at daybreak.
