Monday, November 3, 2014

We drove out to Hovenweep National Monument.  It was 45 miles from Cortez, the only city of any size in the area, so I am sure they have some pretty spectacular night skies there.  In the Visitor's Center, they had a nice Celestron CPC 1100, but I missed yet another opportunity for some astronomical viewing.  The ranger said they would be getting it out next Saturday (after we planned to leave Cortez).  I rationalized I didn't miss much since there would be a nearly full moon in the sky by then. 

It was one of the few times I can remember when Sam was allowed to hike the trail with us.  With the overcast skies and a pretty good breeze, it was too cold to complete the entire Square Tower Trail, but we walked out to Square Tower and got to see everything even if some of it was on the other side of the canyon.

Hovenweep Castle is part of the Square Tower Group.

To the Utes & Paiutes, "Hovenweep" means "Deserted Valley."

The towers of Hovenweep were built by ancestral Puebloans, a sedentary farming culture that occupied the Four Corners area from about A.D. 500 to A.D. 1300.

Most of the structures at Hovenweep were built between A.D. 1200 and 1300.

Continuing on our loop, we stopped at Lowery Pueblo in the Canyons of the Ancients.  This area is a bit different in that it is administered by the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management rather than the National Park Service.  The pueblo was surrounded by farmland.  I spotted a deer crossing the road followed by a couple more.  We found we had only seen the last few of a large herd that was foraging in the undergrowth.  Joani estimated maybe 30 animals total.  

Lowrey Pueblo

We were allowed to enter some of the main structure which was now protected from the weather by a large steel canopy.  It was impossible to capture the extent of the pueblo without seeing the canopy so we enjoyed the site with a limited picture count.

We drove on gravel roads that very much reminded us of the farmland in Iowa (except for all of the irrigation equipment).  There was another smaller herd of mule deer that just stared at us when we stopped.  I'm sure they were wondering just what we were doing.  I suppose very few people take any notice of them in their day to day wanderings.

The contrast in the land struck me.  Here was rich soil while only a few miles away there was nothing but rocks and sand and occasionally, rather large mountains in the background.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

When you only spend a week in a place, it seems to go by in a flash, especially when that place is as beautiful as Canyonlands.  We were also excited to see our next spot, Mesa Verde, so that made it a little easier to say goodbye.  Joani found us a place in Cortez, Colorado, just 61.8 miles down the road (70,797.9 miles total).  This was our first foray into Colorado - we colored in another state on our travel map even though we will only see a tiny part of the state this trip.

Sundance RV Park was right on the main street in town and was one of the cleanest parks we have visited.  We stopped in the Cortez Visitor's Center (located in the park across the street from the campground) and collected information on all of the sites in the area to see, starting tomorrow, of course.

Cortez was the largest town we have been in since Provo (almost two months ago).  We were in Walmart withdrawal, so it was not much of a surprise when we left the store scratching our heads over how we could have spent so much money when we really didn't need anything. 

Friday, October 31, 2014

Another trip to the Needles District (southern area of Canyonlands National Park) was on our agenda, this time to catch the sunrise.  We arrived in the dark and set up at Pothole Point with thirty minutes to spare.  Fortunately, there was very little wind to accompany the biting cold.  From our position, we had a 360-degree view of the horizon.  It was difficult to say which direction yielded our favorite views - we liked them all.

What a magical morning!  It felt like we had the park to ourselves.

We drove to Pot Hole Point, found the tree surrounded by sandstone, and managed to climb up on the rise - all in the dark.

The peak in the picture below was named North Six-shooter Point.  It's in a lot of our pictures and when we were closer it did kind of remind us of an old revolver pointing straight up.  There was a South Sixshooter point as well, but it was hidden in this picture. 

Ok, it was cold, but the sights made it worth the discomfort.

It was 7:30 am and the Needles were barely visible, but the sky was alive!

Below, at the very right edge of the picture, was the end of the mesa where the Canyonlands Island in the Sky Grand View Point Overlook was located.   

The sun played peek-a-boo, poking through the clouds and...

...finally made an appearance on the Needles.

The colors around us were changing continuously...

...as a result of the sun filtering through the clouds, here and there.

One minute a streak of sandstone would be raspberry red...

...and the next, it would be peachy salmon.

The clouds were trying to steal the show.

This freaked me out a bit, it was so, so cool!  I had never heard of anti-crepuscular rays (David even knew what they were called).

Our back was to the sun, yet we could see the rays, they seemed to be converging to one point (an illusion). (Seen in the previous picture above and at the far left of this picture)

A tall desert good morning selfie!

It was time to say goodbye to our perch atop the sandstone at Pothole Point and explore more of the Needles section of the park.  Thawing out in the car played no part in the timing of our departure!

We decided to venture down Cave Spring Road.

"Fall" followed us with all its glory!

First, we explored the gravel road out to Horse Canyon, but the hikes to prominent features were too long, 7.5 to 10 miles and Sam was with us (he was our excuse to skip the long hikes).  We backtracked to Cave Spring Road and continued to the Cave Spring trailhead.

The Cave Spring Trail was a billed as a 0.6-mile round-trip, but I suspect it was more.  It meandered past a "cowboy camp" in a sandstone alcove, (interesting).

The trail took us past a spring (with very little water) tucked away under a massive sandstone overhang.

Who'd guess that you could find Southern Maidenhair Fern in the desert!

Cave Spring offered a few Petroglyphs, but no information was given estimating their age.

The trail quickly ascends...

...with the help of two ladders.

After climbing a gently sloped expanse of sandstone slick rock...

...you have a spectacular view in all directions.

Make sure that you climb all the way to the top of the bright red layer...

...or you will miss some of these vistas.

The sun continued to play peek-a-boo through the clouds.

The climb back down was quite easy, just follow the cairns.

I imagine, in the heat of the summer, these sandstone overhangs would offer a welcome respite from the heat.

It was only 11:30 am, but it felt like we had done a full day of exploring (we started our day at 5 am.)

This unusual formation is on Hwy 191, right at the intersection of Hwy 211 (the road that takes you into Canyonlands).  It is known as "Church Rock" and it is as colorful as its history!