Along The Way

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Llama

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2015 trip so far: elk, mule, mule deer, llama, prairie dog, donkey, bison, coyote, pronghorn

*Birds we’ve seen on our 2015 trip so far: California condor, Brewer’s blackbird, American kestrel, spotted towhee, magpie, wild turkey, mountain bluebird, bald eagle, Canada goose

*National Parks/Monuments visited on 2015 trip so far: 6

 

It was time to make the final push to our summer home…Yellowstone National Park (www.nps.gov/yell).  Abby had her place in front of me keeping a sharp eye on the road ahead.  We passed through some magnificent canyons and incredible views along the way.  What an amazing country we live in!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      The day before we left FL one of the links on my brand new watch had come out, and we kept hoping to find a jewelry store along the way to fix it.  Unfortunately the stores in Moab were no help, and as we traveled down the road, I’d look online to see if there might be something along the way.  As we were approaching Springville, UT, I called Duke’s Jewelers (www.dukesjewelers.com/), and they said no problem.  The woman behind the counter was extremely friendly, and owner Richard Holmes couldn’t have been more helpful.  While he took my watch in the back, she told us that Richard had learned the craft at the knees of his father and grandfather.  The store was established in 1948 and has been in the family ever since.  (For more info and history, read this article that was in the Utah Business Magazine (UtahBusiness) earlier this year.) Richard returned in a couple of minutes with my watch repaired, said he had checked all the rest of the links just to be sure they were ok, and would accept no payment!  Russ hasn’t worn his watch since we hit the road and had brought it in with him to have the battery removed (something we could not do).  Richard gladly did it, and when Russ insisted on paying him something, he said “oh, $5 is fine”.  What incredible customer service and a wonderfully nice man.  If you have any jewelry needs or repairs and happen to be passing through Springville, UT, stop at Duke’s because they will treat you right!

 

We started heading north again passing the Great Salt Lake which could be seen not far off the highway.  Since we had taken a southerly route this year to get to Yellowstone, we’d be entering the park through the West entrance instead of the North giving us some different views.  Not long after entering the park, we encountered
our first bison of the season taking their leisurely stroll on the roadway alongside the Madison River.  This had been a mild winter for the area, and there was not much snow to be seen in the distance, but the views were still beautiful as we made our way along the river and passed by Gibbon Falls.

In some of the shadier areas of the park some remaining snow could be seen along the roadside but nothing like last year.  We were making our way north and had the “joy” of going through the construction zone between Norris and Mammoth.  Beginning last year
     they have been working on improving the pullouts and widening the roads creating up to 30 min. delays.  This project will be ongoing for a couple more years and makes for some slow, bumpy rides especially in a big RV!

 

Once out of the construction, we continued north going past Golden Gate so named because of the color of the rocks caused by yellow and orange lichens.  When the light hits just right, it truly looks golden.  Glen Creek cuts through the canyon, and the bridge attached to the side of the rocks above the creek has been rebuilt 3 times since the original wooden one was built in 1885.

 

Almost directly north of Golden Gate you pass through the Hoodoos (they look quite different than the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon!)  These massive boulders are pieces that have fallen over the years from a travertine landslide from Terrace Mountain.  There’s also a one way drive behind a section of the rocks that is a small portion of the old stagecoach road.

 

We finally arrived at Mammoth Campground and settled into the same site we’ve had the last couple of years, the best one in our opinion with a spectacular view down the valley.  It’s located in the lower loop which had been closed all winter and would be opening the next day.  So for now we enjoyed
   the peace and quiet and the company of the elk and bison who came to welcome us back.  As we got things set up, we also spotted a rabbit hopping across the site in front of us and a coyote running through the sage out in the field.  Hopefully one wasn’t going to be dinner for the other!

Not only did the critters show up to welcome us, but so did our friends Chip and Jill who are back to co-host this year.  They had arrived a few days earlier, staying in their same site as last year in the upper loop, and we were just heading up to see them when we spotted them coming down the road.

Canyons To Arches

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Mountain Bluebird

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2015 trip so far: elk, mule, mule deer, llama, prairie dog, donkey

*Birds we’ve seen on our 2015 trip so far: California condor, Brewer’s blackbird, American kestrel, spotted towhee, magpie, wild turkey, mountain bluebird

*National Parks/Monuments visited on 2015 trip so far: 3

 

It was time to travel back west and north into Utah, still enjoying some beautiful and fascinating scenery along the way like Church Rock pictured here.  This 3-tiered sandstone rock column stands about 200 ft. tall.  There’s a myth that a religious cult hollowed out a 16’ x 24’ opening in the rock to use it for their church (thus its name), but it was actually dynamited by the owner back in the 1940s to store feed for his cattle.

 

We were headed for Moab, UT, and hopefully a campsite at Goose Island Campground (BLM-GooseIsland).  Run by the Bureau of Land Management, it’s located on the Colorado River, has 19 sites, and is conveniently located for reaching Canyonlands National Park (29 miles away) and Arches

  National Park (4 miles away) and this campground offers spectacular views of the park’s red rock cliffs.  We arrived about 10:30 AM, and though half the campground was closed for weed abatement spraying, we were lucky enough to snag the last open site that just happened to be big enough for our rig and car!

 

Though we didn’t have a riverfront site, we still had great views of the surrounding cliffs plus front row seats to watch the Rod Run.  Every year since 1992, Moab has hosted the April Action Car Show which brings hundreds of hot rods, muscle cars, and other classic cars to town (though any kind of car is

   accepted).  The event averages about 400 cars per year, and the Rod Run starts off the festivities with a group of some of the cars make the scenic drive up Hwy. 128 right past the campground (this is just a sampling).

That evening we also got to witness a bit of the Sound & Light Show put on by one of the local tour companies.  After a dinner and once it's dark, folks are loaded onto a boat and head up river on the Colorado with a guide.  Out on Hwy. 128 a truck begins illuminating the canyon walls with 40,000 watts of light which not
only highlights various aspects of the canyon walls but also creates interesting shadows to enhance the guides stories and history of the area.  Evidently there’s music onboard to help with the narration, but we couldn’t hear it in the campground.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get any decent pictures but you get the idea.

 

Of course our main purpose here was to once again visit the national parks.  We decided to start with Canyonlands and are we glad we did.  Just look at the line waiting to get into Arches!   Canyonlands National Park (www.nps.gov/cany/) was established in 1964 and preserves the canyons, mesas, and
   buttes created by the Colorado and Green Rivers within a 527 sq. mi. area.  We once again visited the Island in the Sky section, one of three distinct sections and the most easily accessible. There are no roads within the park that link the three sections or that cross the Colorado or Green Rivers.  After a
brief stop at the Visitor Center, we headed out to Grand View Point Overlook (elevation 6,080 ft.).  Russ has commented before that if you had never been to the Grand Canyon, and someone brought you to Canyonlands and told you it was the Grand Canyon, there’d be no reason you wouldn’t believe him.

 

Since we’d visited the park a couple of times before and we could see a storm forming in the distance, we only visited a few spots including Green River Overlook.  On a previous visit Russ had made an interesting
     discovery.  The overlook’s fence is composed of logs and layers of stones. On one of the cap stones Russ had noticed what looked like leaves spray painted on top, and he had asked a nearby ranger
     about them. The ranger said he had never noticed them before, but they were indeed plant fossils…very cool!

 

        We also stopped at Orange Cliffs and Buck Canyon Overlooks, both with varying views of the canyons (though the twisted tree at Orange Cliffs caught my eye more so than the canyon!)  There were no hikes
   this time around especially with the impending storm.  We simply enjoyed the magnificent scenery and marveled at what Mother Nature has created.  Canyonlands is truly a remarkable place with lots of history and geology.

 

The rain did come and later that afternoon there were some beautiful waterfalls coming from the red rock cliffs surrounding the campground.
 

     A couple of days later we visited Arches National Park (www.nps.gov/arch) and there were no long lines …timing is everything!  After a quick stop at the visitor center, we began the climb to the heart of the park along several switchbacks which offer a great view of Moab Canyon.

 

Arches was originally named a national monument in 1929 and became a national park in 1971.  Within its 119 sq. mi. are over 2,000 stone arches of varying size (the greatest density of natural arches in the world) as well as hundreds of pinnacles, fins, balanced rocks, and so much
  more.  This red rock wonderland appears sort of like what our perception was as we grew up of what Mars would look like.  Many of the formations have been given names like the Three Gossips (at left) which as you can see is
     appropriately named as is Balanced Rock which stands about 128 ft. high with the top rock about the size of 3 school buses and weighing 3,500 tons.  There’s a loop trail around its base of about 3/10 mile and is the only “hike” taken this day.

 

In the Windows section of the park, we briefly stopped to view the North and South Windows and Turret Arch (didn’t get all 3 in a picture), and on the other side of the parking lot we checked out the Double Arch.  It actually has three major openings that began as one
     pothole arch, eventually eroding into what we see today, and they are still continuing to slowly enlarge.  At present the largest opening is about 148 ft. with a height of 112 ft.

 

   Of course no trip to Arches would be complete without a stop at Delicate Arch, the most famous of the arches and the state symbol displayed on Utah license plates.  This free-standing sandstone formation stands 45 ft. high and 33 ft. wide, and no, my photo isn’t crooked, it actually slants downhill.

 

Over the centuries many arches and formations have been destroyed through erosion and weather but many new ones have formed as well.  Nature continues to slowly alter this magnificent landscape creating an almost other
      worldly look and feel.  The beauty and starkness of this park is astounding and continues to be one of the top destinations in America.