Canyons

Since our last post we have been hanging out in the Grand Junction & Palisade area of CO and near Arches National Park in Utah. We spent the 22nd exploring the canyons and mountains between Palisade and Grand Mesa. We drove up the mountain to Grand Mesa, CO (b/c we heard about some cool hikes) but the further and higher we drove the colder and snowier it got. We decided what we really wanted to do was explore the canyons so we did an about face and headed back down the mountain.

We returned to the canyons and found two unmarked hikes; they were spectacular! The rock faces that line the stream are very sheer and we assumed that the rocks were quite stable. However, when we turned around to hike back to the truck, along the same path that we hiked in on, we were quite shocked when we came across and massive rock fall. The large boulders came crashing down and taking trees with them (only feet from where we took a water break!). This was an amazing hike. And the trailhead parking lot was our camp site for the night. In the morning we climbed up a mini mesa and did a marvelous sun salutation. It was awesome to feel a part of such a huge landscape.

The canyons are full of interesting vegetation and animals. Wildflowers are blooming, cacti are lurking amongst the brush and lizards scurry away from sunny rocks. The rock formations are brilliant - we feel like we are in a western movie. The canyons have been eroded over hundreds of thousands of years and now a dinky little stream is all that is left from the once mighty rivers that shaped it all.

On the 23^rd we explored the town of Grand Junction. We had a great time. It has a busy little downtown, not too unlike Stratford. Lots of cool independent shops and some great antique stores too. We are on the hunt for belt buckles for our life belts- but no luck yet. In the afternoon we drove Rim Rock Road through the Colorado National Monument.



Apparently Aurora is afraid of heights



Yesterday was another day of canyon exploration. We drove to Arches National Park in Utah. It was only about a 2 hour drive and we were there by 11 or so. My oh my, this is a BUSY park. It was a Tuesday and there was literally no where to park. We couldn’t do any of the big hikes b/c we simply could not park! What a bummer! But the drive was spectacular. The arches, fins and petrified sand doons were very impressive. The formations took 300 million years to form! Neat-o!

We spent the night last night in Big Bend park along the Colorado River again. We are in another massive and impressive canyon valley. Wish you all could be here with us!

Peas