Travel

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Today we’re finishing up HinTN’s long-lost, then re-sent submissions from an amazing trip to Utah. So far, it’s been wonder after wonder, and I know you’ll just love today’s offering!

But…this brief resurrection of On The Road is now over, and so OTR will return when the new site launches.  When it does, please use the new form that will be available on the new site to make submissions. As soon as I have one, I’ll begin the new On The Road.  One issue with the new form and site is that the old OTR content will not be edited to look like the new OTR stuff, so layout, etc. will be very different. It looks good and works well, clean and simple – I can’t wait for the first submission and post!

That plus my moving is why I’m fine with having a hiatus – there will be a clean break between old and new content and layout, etc. and I don’t have a lot of time for the next couple of weeks. I’m still mid-craziness, though things are getting better by the day.

 

Continuing the series from HinTN.

 

 

The only one from Dead Horse Point State Park.

Dead Horse Point – Colorado River View from Ryans Bench

Dead Horse Point State Park is a small slice of the hugeness that is Islands in the Sky, but it is especially beautiful in its overlooking of the Colorado River. This photograph is from the location of a bench placed in honor of a young man who loved these lands, worked at the park, and died much too young.

 

 

And then there’s Arches NP. Wow, just WOW!

The first of five from Arches National Park.

Arches – North and South Arch

This is more or less what I thought Arches was going to be about, but I was delighted to discover how much more there is to this small park.

Arches – Sand Dune Arch

Sand Dune Arch was located in an enclosed space reached by passing through a narrow defile. Sand collected in the space, creating a beach you could sink your bare feet into satisfyingly cool sand and kids could play underneath and on top of the arch itself.

 

Arches – Broken Arch Across the Desert

Emerging from the beach at Sand Dune, the trek across the desert to Broken Arch beckoned with this vista.

 

 

Arches – Arches in the Making Part 2

One of the most interesting aspects of being in Arches, indeed in all these parks, was the immediacy of the vastness of geologic time. Both water and wind work ever so slowly and inexorably on the seemingly immutable land. These “arches in the making” were exemplars of this work.

 

Arches – Landscape Arch and its Replacement

It was a brisk one hour round trip out to Landscape Arch, which in geologic time is probably not much longer for this world. Luckily, it has a replacement close to hand. If you look closely you can see how it’s growing wider.

Also too, Moab was a delightful town.

 

Wow, just wow. Utah has amazing geology and I’m so thankful you could share some of it with us. In the late ‘oughts, I did a couple of solo roadtrips from Colorado into Utah. Out West, I just love to drive and see, just see everything. So I went to Arches and did a couple of brief, hour hikes and took some (not so good!) photos and saw enough of Canyonlands to know I wanted to go and really explore and spend some time. Since then, I’ve learned of lots of interesting remains in Canyonlands, things left over from explorers, outlaws, hermits, Native tribes, etc. You could spend a lifetime exploring its entirety just on the geology, flora, and fauna, but with archaeology added, it really should be on folks’ “don’t-miss” list.

 

Have a great day, Halloween, and related holidays. I hope the Great Pumpkin is kind to you and yours.

It’s comforting that my mother died on All Soul’s Day/Dia de los Muertos. I’ve been a light collector/fan of Day of the Dead artwork, sculptures, and figurines for over 20 years now, but this year everything is packed; pre-Christmas, decorating isn’t a priority right now!

 

On that note, OTR shall return with the new site, take care, all!

On The Road: Finishing UpPost + Comments (20)

Good morning, everybody and Happy Friday!

Today we continue with some fantastic submissions from HinTN that I’d lost but have been re-sent. We’ll continue Monday, and that may be it until the new site. I very much wanted to run these as the last ones before my hiatus so I’m so glad HinTN reached out and re-sent them to me – I felt horrible being unable to retrieve them, and am thankful for gracious people.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

 

These are from Canyonlands NP.

Canyonlands – Green River Overlook

Canyonlands NP and Dead Horse Point SP share the same space near Moab, UT Dead Horse Point is tiny; Canyonlands NP is huge. It has three contiguous but very distinct areas, all of which overlook from various elevations the confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers. We only got to visit Island in the Sky, which shares space with Dead Horse Point State Park. The view south over the Green River is amazing because the drop from the overlook to that tableland is about 1,000 feet. Then wherever the water ran the land is just carved away into the drainage for the Green River.

 

 

Canyonlands – View through Mesa Arch

This photo looks east through the Mesa Arch, over the Colorado River to the Lasale Mountains.

 

Canyonlands – Jeep Trip Hammer Formation

We took a jeep trip at Canyonlands, too, and along the way we saw more of Thor’s Hammers.

 

On The Road: Another DayPost + Comments (28)

Good morning, everybody!

 

This is a brief return of OTR. These are pictures I’d hoped to run a few weeks back, so I’m glad to finally be able to run them. I will continue tomorrow and Monday, and we’ll see how  things stand then.

The move is going well, but slowly. It’s a complicated situation but the end is in sight and normal life should re-commence in a couple of weeks.

Without further ado, enjoy the pictures and the day!

 

These are a continuation from HinTN, long-overdue thanks to yours truly losing them and then access to my old email. The delay is 100% my lame-ass fault.

 

These are from Capitol Reef  National Park.

Capitol Reef – Approach from Boulder Mountain

 

As you drive from Bryce to Capitol Reef NP you cross Boulder Mountain, which affords a first look at the area around Capitol Reef.  It is primarily a long geologic feature called the Waterpocket Fold, a huge sandstone formation that runs north and south to the west of the Henry Mountains.

 

Capitol Reef – Arch in the Making

 

The park is so big that we took a four hour jeep ride just to try and get a sense of the land.  Of course we saw a nascent arch.  They are everywhere in this area when you start looking.

 

 

Capitol Reef – Petroglyphs

 

The park includes a very hospitable river bottom with lush grasses and fruit

 

 

I just love seeing petroglyphs, it’s an amazing way to touch mankind from ages past. Looking at them you can almost see a bare arm scratching on the walls during a smoky, boring night or rainy day.

 

Have a great day, everyone. We’ll return to Utah tomorrow!

On The Road: A Brief Return!Post + Comments (15)

Folks,

Today is the last regular post for a few weeks as I have to focus on packing and moving and unpacking and a bunch of related things. Our offer was accepted and things are moving fast!

I had hoped the new site would be live and the new submission function would be functional and so we’d have a bunch of content lined up, but that’s not the case and I don’t have the time to deal with email submissions right now, so please accept my apologies.  I’ll try to post something here and there, but I don’t expect I’ll be back to a regular schedule until next month, unless the new site comes on before then.

 

Today’s picture is the view, a 5-10 minute walk from my soon-to-be front door. I’m so very excited to be so close to the river as I spent age 7-30 minus college near this same river but miles downstream. I spent countless hours along and in it, exploring, learning, fishing, partying, and in general, playing with Nature. I’m glad I’ll have such access again – being able to walk to the river from home is such a nice thing, it becomes a companion, a refuge from home and the stressors of life that you can almost stumble to, instead of having to drive somewhere and deal with all that hassle.

Looks like I can eat 1-3 fish per month (depending on species) from this part of the river, which is so much better than where I used to live downstream – fish are verboten for those who care and it always breaks my heart to see so many immigrant laborers fishing to feed their families in the late afternoons and evenings. I get it, and I love to eat fish, so I fish to eat, not just for sport, but it saddens me seeing them feed their families a significant part of their weekly protein from not-so-good waters. The fish that far downstream have heavy metals and nasty chemicals in them, but fresh, “free” protein is undeniable as is the joy of some good time outside catching dinner.

 

 

Have a great rest of the week, everybody!

On The Road: On HiatusPost + Comments (23)