Geology Rocks! - Bryce Canyon Via Mars

I think the best way to start the story of our trek through the martian landscape known as Utah is with a map.

We started the day way up right-hand corner and ended the day way in the left-hand corner.  It was a long day (8+ hours of driving plus stops).  There were no radio stations for most of the trip.  We had to talk to each other - a lot.  We eventually started saying things that didn't really make sense.  "Geology Rocks!" was born, and it was incredibly fitting.

This no-man's-land was also one of the most unbelievable place I've ever seen.  In the craziest part of my imagination, I don't think I could have come up with what we saw.  Purple and green rocks, really?

We left our little piece of heaven in Castle Valley and headed out of the Colorado River canyon one last time before turning north toward 1-70.

We could have taken interstate for most of the trip to Bryce, and after snapping this beauty out the car window at 80 mph, I can believe it would have been a beautiful trip.

But we don't do easy, or straight, or well-traveled.  So, after just a few miles on I-70, we turned south on Hwy 24.  We drove past Goblin Valley State Park and found this fun little roadside stop.

Just look through the tube to spot the sight named on the sign below.  It was shortly after this stop that things went from American desert to something straight from Mars.  I discovered when researching information for this post that the Mars Desert Research Station was just over the hill from where this picture was taken.

Eventually, we made it to our first scheduled stop of the day - Capitol Reef National Park (map).  Hwy 24 crosses through the park, so we were able to keep on our planned route while making stops at scenic points including Navajo Dome

and Petroglyphs from the Fremont Tribe (600-1300 AD).

The scenery in between stops was pretty amazing too.

Upon leaving Capitol Reef, we turned south on Hwy 12 and started a steady climb through Dixie National Forest (the first of many trips in and out of this massive national forest).  On the way to the top, we found a little snow,

and an expansive view of the valley below.

We continued on Hwy 12 into the winding roads of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (another park we would skirt around for the rest of our trip).  This was one place where we said a few prayers for our safety and the reliability of our little Ford Fiesta.  No cell service, no people, and no help if something went wrong.

Thankfully, the Fiesta cruised along like a champ and we made it safely to Bryce Canyon National Park (map).  We were shocked when we pulled up to find the entrance fee here was more than twice the fee at Arches (thank goodness for the National Park Pass - free for military and a good idea for anyone doing a trip like this).  Needless to say, we were expecting something extra special.  Bryce Canyon was certainly unlike any of the other places we'd been so far, but we were much more impressed with both Arches and Canyonland.

So, we took a bunch of pictures and stopped at a few other lookout points.

Then, we continued on our way to Zion National Park.

Be sure to check out the travel tab for the rest of the pictures from today's cross-state adventure.

P52 - My Back Yard - 21/52

Our backyard: An over-grown garden, some new fence slats, a friend's muddy dog... what more do you need?

P52 - Light - 20/52

Chris and I took advantage of the beautiful Friday weather to bike about 15 miles of the San Antonio River trail.  One of our last stops of the evening was at Mission San Juan Capistrano.  We snuck up to the building to get a better look at the white facade glowing in the bright lights.

Geology Rocks! - Arches and Canyonlands

I'm going to warn you up front - there are entirely too many pictures in the photo album for this post. I just couldn't help myself.  You should go here and look through them all.

I left off last time with our departure from Mesa Verde and our drive north toward Moab, UT.  Over the course of the next 2.5 hours, we passed out of the mountains and lush green of irrigated wheat fields and into the multi-colored rockscape that would be the backdrop to the rest of our trip.

   
Near dark, we turned into the driveway of the Castle Valley Inn, our home for the next three nights.  It's not often that I recommend a hotel or B&B, but this place was amazing.  We would go back to Moab just to stay here again.  The drive up the Colorado River Canyon from Moab to Castle Valley is worth the trip even if you don't stay at the Inn.  If you do decide to stay, get a bungalow.  The view from our porch was spectacular.

We spent the next day exploring most of Arches National Park (map).  We started at the south end of the park at Park Avenue.

Then, we worked our way to the very north end of the park stopping for photo opportunities and short hikes.  Along the way, we stopped at Balanced Rock,

Turret Arch,

the Windows,

and the Fiery Furnace

before ending at the Devils Garden Trailhead.  There, we started a 2-mile hike to Double O Arch

with stops at Skylike Arch,

 Pine Tree Arch,

and Landscape Arch.

We also had great views of the surrounding valley from the ridge-top trail.

The only stop we didn't make during our day at Arches was the hike to Delicate Arch.  We wanted to enjoy a night back at the Inn watching the sunset from our balcony, so we headed home from the park early with a plan to come back the next day to finish.  We picked up a few groceries for supper, then settled into our patio chairs to watch the sunset agains Patriot Mesa.

The next morning, we ventured out to Canyonlands National Park (map) at the recommendation of our Inn keepers.  As always, the recommendations of locals are always the best!

We made our way to the Grand View Point (good name, huh?)  There, we went on one short hike, of which I would recommend the first half.  The views from along the trail and from the numerous viewpoints were breathtaking, especially with the snow-capped mountains in the distance!  We took several breaks from our hike to sit at the edge of the canyon and just enjoy the view.

We managed to sneak in a stop at another arch, Mesa Arch, while in Canyonlands as well.

We headed back into Arches at about 4 pm.  We figured this would give us enough time to slowly make our way to the Delicate Arch trailhead with plenty of time left to make the 2-mile hike before sunset. We made a quick detour to stop at Double Arch, which we had missed the day before (oops!).

Then, hit the trail for Delicate Arch.  The landscape along the way was spectacular, and the storm brewing over the mountains in the distance just added to the scene.

We made it to our destination just before the sunset and staked our our spot in what was the perfect natural auditorium.  All we needed was popcorn!

We each took turns walking around the area.  Chris even rescued a terrified Chinese lady that had gotten stuck on the wrong side of the arch!  Such a good guy.

Once the sun had set, we took our time getting back to the car, and had a little photographic fun along the way.

 

The next morning, we took our time getting packed up, enjoyed a cup of coffee

and a stroll through the grounds of the Inn, and relished one last home-cooked breakfast before we hit the road for a LONG drive through Utah.

Geology Rocks! - Mesa Verde

It's vacation time in the Bahrij household again.  Three cheers from everyone here!  After much debate and discussion, Chris and I decided we needed to see the Grand Canyon, and while we were in the neighborhood, we decided to hit up several other National Parks throughout Colorado, Utah New Mexico and Arizona.  Our planned route would start and end in Durango, CO with stops at Arches, Bryce, Zion, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, and the Four Corners with plenty of flexibility for detours.

We landed in Durango really late on Friday night, found our way to the hotel in the dark, and promptly passed out.  The next morning, we set out to finish a childhood vacation to Mesa Verde National Park (map) cut short by the government shutdown in the early '90s.  The failure of that vacation has been a joke/source of disappointment in my immediate family for nearly 25 years.  Needless to say, I was excited!

We stopped by the visitor's center to purchase tickets to the Ranger-led walks through two of the cliff dwellings, Cliff Palace and Balcony House.  Then, we wound our way up to the top of the mesa, enjoying beautiful views of the valley below along the way.  We also caught a few glimpses of other cliff dwellings as we traveled to our first stop, Balcony House.

Balcony House was constructed by the Anasazi as early as 1190 AD and was inhabited for only about 100 years.  We were fortunate enough to have a guest Ranger as our tour guide.  He was born and raised in the Navajo community and was not only extremely well-versed in all aspects of Native American history, buy also spoke fluent Navajo.  How cool!

After a brief introduction to the site, we accessed the cliff dwelling by a rather tall wooden ladder.

The Balcony House was once made up of about 40 rooms, although not all are still visible today.  Rooms included family dwellings,

turkey pens,

and religious facilities known as kivas (the large round holes in the ground).

Our guide explained some of the challenges faced by the cliff dwellers as well as many of their religious and cultural customs.  The tour ended with shimmy through the very small opening in the cliff dwelling's wall (built this way for protection),

and a climb up another ladder to the top.

Our next tour was Cliff Palace, where our special guest Ranger from the Balcony House tour made another appearance.  Cliff Palace was much, much larger then Balcony house, with about 150 rooms anticipated to have been constructed at this site.

Cliff Palace is thought to have been a regional religious hub due to the large number of kivas found there.  Another unique feature of Cliff Palace is the beautifully painted plaster remaining on the inside of one of the buildings.

During our tour of Cliff Palace, the weather took and unexpected turn, changing from drizzle, to rain, to snow by the time we reached the top of the mesa after the tour!

Having not seen snow in quite some time, we had a little fun on the drive down the mesa back into the valley below.

As soon as we reached the valley floor, the snow turned to rain, and within a few miles of Mesa Verde, the rain let up all together.  We made a quick stop in a nearby town to stock up on road trip food and headed north toward Moab, UT.

More pictures of the trip are available in the travel tab.  Check back for additional pictures with each new "Geology Rocks!" post.  More on the name later...