Hello Loyal Bloggers,
We knew we would be impressed by the American West, but our minds have already been blown. The last week has produced a fair amount of awe from us both on a daily basis.
First up was Colorado. The drive from Santa Fe to our final destination of Ouray was spectacular. From what we've seen thus far, the drive contains some of the most beautiful places in the country. From route 84 in New Mexico, north of Espanola , to route 160 in Colorado is choice. We were planning on checking out the ancient cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde NP, but once we got to Durango, the Rockies just sucked us in like a black hole. The mountains looked perfect, and we figured what was a cross country trip without a night or two in the Colorado Rockies? From Durango, a great western town in and of itself, we went north on the amazing San Juan Parkway through the Victorian mining/cowboy towns of Silverton and Ouray. At Red Mountain Pass we were at 11,075 feet above sea level. We ended up camping in Ouray for two nights. The town calls itself the "Gem of the Rockies", the "Jeeping Capital of the World", and the "Switzerland of America", among other things. Although a lot of titles, Ouray lives up to the hype. Of course the first inclement weather we've seen in a week started again our first night. Wind and rain were on and off our entire time in the mountains, but it could have been worse. The temperature would constantly fluctuate from 50 to 80 degrees. We were able to get a fairly strenuous 8 mile hike in around the thunderstorms through aspen forests and several waterfalls. The most famous of the falls is Box Canon, a beautiful example of how moving water continuously changes the landscape.
From Ouray the San Juan Parkway continued to amaze up through Ridgway and over to Telluride. What seems to be the ultimate Colorado town, Telluride is a place we both felt we could live without thinking twice. The town is at the foot of the ski resort, and is situated in the most beautiful canyon one could imagine, with cascade after cascade flowing down from the "spring" snow melt. While we were there the state down hill mountain biking championships were taking place and so we took the free gondola up to the top and watched for a while. We're definitely marking Telluride down as a place we have to go back to. In fact, we want to go back to the entire area. We never got to do Mesa Verde and that looks awesome. There is also Gunnison and Gunnison NP which we missed. On top of that there is Crested Butte. Pat's cousin Honora and her husband Alex lived in Crested Butte for years and Pat is now kicking himself for not visiting while they were there. We have to give a huge recommendation to anyone reading this to check out the whole of SW CO. It's awesome.
From Telluride we had another great drive to Moab, Utah. The scenery changed quickly and dramatically several times, going from alpine to rolling pastureland to canyonland within 150 miles. Moab was at first glance disappointing after coming from the aesthetically perfect Colorado mountain towns. We had a completely different impression after four days. It is an adventurer's paradise. It was originally made famous for mountain biking, but has since become a center of rock climbing, off- roading, white water rafting, and a number of other outdoor activities. It also has two amazing national parks within 30 miles of downtown. It's surrounded completely by bright red rocks which at times look like they're on fire. It was quite a shock coming from the Rockies, but it quickly became almost as beautiful in its own right. If Moab had some decent skiing in the winter, it could be the best extreme sports town in the nation (we're sure there are more than a few Moabans that would say it is anyway). They don't have skiing though. In fact, it's in the high desert. They get snow, but not piles of it.
Our first full day we hit Arches NP which was fantastic. Besides the beautiful natural arches, the myriad colors of dirt were flabbergasting. It seems as though all the colors of the rainbow are accounted for and more, from blue, purple, green, and turquoise to red, yellow, brown, and black. Look at the pictures, it is amazing. We realize we're saying amazing, beautiful, and gorgeous a lot in this blog, but it cannot be helped. We hiked about 6.5 miles throughout the park, and that was an accomplishment considering the heat. The climax of the day was hiking out to Delicate Arch, a truly awe inspiring natural rock formation that is on the Utah license plate.
The next day we made our way to the remote Needles section of Canyonlands NP. We took a strenuous 11 mile hike to the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers. The view from 1,000 feet above the confluence was worth the trek, but getting there and back was just as satisfying. We had the whole trail to ourselves, luckily tiptoeing around heavy thunderstorms (keeping the area unusually cloudy and cool). The route brought us up and down ancient canyons which felt more like walking on Mars or some other foreign planet rather than Earth.
The last of our action-packed Moab days was spent rafting the Westwater Canyon section of the Colorado River. Unfortunately we couldn't get any pictures but it was a lot of fun. At two different times people were thrown from the boat, and Pat was also tossed, but luckily, into the boat. We both took a dip into the river anyway, and at 67 degrees it was quite refreshing. Besides the rapids the view along that stretch is incredible. It makes a human feel extremely small and insignificant. Following the same theme, we spent that afternoon in the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands NP. The view from the end of the road is ridiculous, revealing canyons within canyons within canyons. Apparently the panorama shows a couple billion years of the Earth's history. Some Aussie guy was explaining that everything we could see is relatively brand new rock. We can't really wrap our heads around that. We somehow missed the 40 mph winds and hail that swept through Moab too. We were very lucky with the weather in general considering the freak storms they had for this time of year. It stormed in Canyonlands, we were in Arches. It stormed in Arches, we were in Canyonlands. It couldn't have worked out better, and for that we just have to thank the taking-a-year-off-to-travel gods. Thanks.
Next up is Southwest Utah and Northwest Arizona. The Grand Canyon! After how impressive the canyons described above were, we're not sure we're ready for the Grand Canyon. It's exciting stuff. Also in the area is Zion NP and Bryce Canyon NP, both supposedly gorgeous in their own right.
Until then, much love and appreciation,
S&P
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