We left Moab, Utah, this morning and the GPS insisted on taking us west to meet up with the I-70. But we wanted to go east on Highway 128 to get the lovely view of the tall red cliffs along the Colorado River.
We're guessing that most motor home drivers wouldn't choose this route, where those lovely red cliffs are so close to the edge of that very narrow highway.
But this route is definitely more scenic. It took us past the Fischer Towers, and we even saw some kayakers floating down the very low waters of the Colorado River.
Did we mention those red rock walls so close to the highway? Sometimes they lean towards the road in such a way that a very tall motor home has to cross the center line going around a blind curve just to avoid hitting the wall!
This is also a open range grazing area for livestock. After noticing the wild bull warning signs in Nevada, we are glad to say that the Utah cows look more docile. Utah's cow signs look more like escapees from the local dairy, rather than Nevada's cow signs that look like they came directly from a Mexican bull fight.
After we crossed the Colorado River, the rocks turned from red to white . . .
and we were suddenly out of the mountains entirely. Our landscape turned to stark white and flat. Quite a contrast in just a few miles.
Highway 128 led us to I-70, with an interesting sign, "Watch for eagles on interstate." No eagles spotted today, as we passed the next sign into colorful Colorado.
It's a 100-mile drive to our next campground, Monument RV in Fruita, Colorado. From there It's jut two miles to the entrance of Colorado National Monument.
It's the hottest part of the day, but we decided to drive to the park's visitor center to get a map and plan our strategy for seeing this large national monument. Even though it is 95 degrees, we decided to hike the one-mile Canyon Rim Trail, with great views straight down into Wedding Canyon.
It was hot, but we decided to add another half-mile to take the spur trail over to Window Rock. We got this picture of Mark standing on Window Rock . . .
even though there is a fence that prohibits that. Mark pointed out that he didn't CROSS the fence--he went AROUND the fence to stand on Window Rock. He's such a stickler for following all the rules.
The walls of the canyon lead to steep drop offs into the canyon.
After our hot hike, we were ready to leave the park for the day. But a traveler at the visitor center said they had just seen a mountain sheep about a half-mile deeper into the park. So we drove the winding road until we found the same sheep.
That drive deeper into the park took us to the trailhead of the Otto Trail. That will be another one-mile hike to see the best views of some of the largest rock formations in Wedding Canyon. The canyon got its name from the fact that John Otto married his bride in this canyon. After their wedding, they lived at the bottom of the canyon because he insisted that he needed to be close to his livestock. The marriage lasted only a few weeks, when she found out how remote her new home was. It seems like they should have discussed their living arrangements before the wedding. The picture below was taken at the end of the Otto Trail. This is the Pipe Organ in front, and Praying Hands behind it.
A little further on the trail is "Independence Monument" where the wedding actually took place.
A sign nearby explains that every 4th of July since 1911, Mr. Otto made the difficult trek up this steep formation to plant an American flag on top. The red lines on the sign outline the path he took. That same path is used by present-day climbers to get to the top of Independence Monument.
After making two hikes in the afternoon heat, it's time to get out of the sun. As we drove back, the mountain goat was in the same place--obviously accustomed to the traffic and visitors rolling down their windows to take pictures.
We drove the steep and winding road out of the park, that includes some tunnels that aren't very tall. We sure couldn't drive the motor home through these tunnels!
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