17 June: Highway 12 & 24
We decided at the last minute to take the scenic road between
Bryce
Canyon and
Arches
National
Park.
Instead of
a four
and a
half hour
journey we
were
looking at
a seven
and a half
hour
journey,
but along
a road
with lots
of
beautiful
scenery
and
interesting
stop off
possibilities.
We started
off by
driving
back
through
the Red
Canyon and
past Bryce
Canyon.
Our
first
stop
of
the day
was at
Escalante
Petrified
Forest for
a short
2km hike
up a
ridge
where one
can see
petrified
wood. There
is a
staggering
5.5
million
tons of
fossilised
wood
exposed in
the park,
dating
back about
150
million
years. We
saw about
three
spots
along the
trial
where chunks
of
petrified
tree
trunks
were
laying on
the
ground.
The trunk
cross-sections
are pretty
with
varying
shades of
reds,
yellows,
browns,
oranges
and whites
from the
outside
rings to
the
centre.
The
fossilised
trunks
would
make
beautiful
platters
for tables
if sliced
up and
polished...
We continued our route through amazing scenery and across
the
Hogback -
an
impressive ridge
with steep
drop-offs
on both
sides.
It
began
to
rain
quite
as
we
headed
into
mountainous
terrain.
North
of
Bolder
we
drove
through a
pass at
2900
metres,
where it
was
actually
snowing!
On highway
24 we
stopped
off at
Capitol
Reef
National
Park where
we saw an
old Mormon
Fruita
schoolhouse
and some
old
Indian p
etroglyphs
on a cliff
face. The
petroglyphs
were
carved
into
the
rock
and
depicted
strange
human like
figures
with
strange
headdresses,
thought
maybe to
be prayers
for more
wildlife (deer
and sheep)
in the
area.
We arrived at a campsite just before Arches National Park at
6:30pm.
The pool
was too
cold to
swim in,
so the
girls had
a play on
the
swings
before
dinner.
The State
of Utah
has
restricted
alcohol
sales
due
to the
high
percentage
of
resident
Mormons,
so we were
unfortunately
not able
to fulfil
our desire
to buy a
bottle of
wine
to
accompany
our
meal...
 |
 |
 |
| The girls
posing
with
a
petrified
tree
trunk |
Some scenery
on
highway
12 |
The RV on
highway
12 |
18 June: Arches National Park
We drove through the spectacular scenery in Arches National Park
to the
north-eastern
point, Devils
Garden. We
set off on
the Devil
Garden
Trail to
see a
number of
the parks
arches.
The most
impressive
had to be
Landscape
Arch which
is one of
the
world's
longest
arches
at a
staggering
93m long!
Double O
arch is
also
spectacular,
like a
figure of
eight on
the
skyline as
well as
Partition Arch
with its
two arches
side by
side. The
trail was
lovely
and
challenging
as it
climbed
over
sandstone
slabs and
narrow
ledges.
We
finished
the walk
with a bit
of rain,
running
the last
few
hundred
metres to
take cover
in the
campervan
for
lunch!
In
the
afternoon
it
brightened
up and we
set off
for a
second
walk to
see
Delicate
Arch. On
the way we
saw a
pioneer
cabin
dating
back to
the
late
1800's. It
was tiny,
about 15
m2; hard
to believe
that a
whole
family
(the Wolfe
family)
could have
lived in
it for 10
years!
Next
on
the
trail
was
an
Indian
petroglyph
site with
horned rams and
humans on
horseback.
The
remainder
of the
trail
was
marked
by
stone
cairns over
slickrock
and led
over some
picturesque
rocky
ledges. We
were taken
aback by
the beauty
of
the Delicate
Arch when
it came
into view:
a huge
free
standing
rock arch
situated
by miracle
on the
edge of a
cliff.
We
spent
quite some
time
admiring
the
graceful
arch and
surrounding scenery,
before
returning
to
the
campervan.
Our last walk of the day was a short one, the Windows
Loop, to
the Turret
Arch and
North and
South
Windows. A
storm
had
passed
over
the
park
and
we
could
see
from
the
Windows a
layer
of
grail
over
the
rocks
in
the
area
of
the
Delicate
Arch! We
finished
the day
under the
rain,
running
back to
the
parking
lot for
the
second
time
that
day!
A big
hand
to
the
girls
who
had
scrambled
up
rocks
and
walked
over
13kms
today!
We left Arches and Utah, direction Mesa Verde National Park in
Colorado.
After a 2
and a half
hour
drive, we
arrived at
our
campsite
for the
night just
outside
the
National
Park. We
went for a
nice,
relaxing
dip in the
outside
spa and
heated
pool
before
dinner.
 |
 |
 |
| The girls at
Landscape
Arch |
The
petroglyphs near
Wolfes
Ranch |
The whole
family
standing
under
the
gigantesque
Delicate
Arch |
19 June: Mesa Verde National Park
We were up early this morning in order to drive to the park's
visitor's
centre for
opening
time, 8am.
The three
most
important
cliff
dwelling
sites must
be visited
with a
ranger and
tickets
are
sold
on a
first
come,
first
served
basis. We
bought
tickets
for
Cliff
Palace,
the
biggest
cliff
dwelling
in Mesa
Verde and
Balcony
House
which is a
smaller
cliff
dwelling
not
visible
from the
road,
with
adventurous access and
exit
routes.
The view of Cliff Palace was stunning as we walked down a narrow
cliff path
on the
sides
of an
impressive
canyon.
The ranger
shared
with us
lots of
information
about the
Ancestral
Puebloan
people,
the Indians
who lived
in these
dwellings.
Prior to
1200 AD
the
Indians
lived on
the
Mesa
Verde
plateau,
first in
pithouses,
then in
Pueblo
(small
villages
made of
single-story
stone and
mortar
houses).
At
the
beginning
of the
1200's
they
started
building
cliff
dwellings
in cliffs
ledges overlooking
the
canyon. At
Cliff
Palace
there are
approximately
150 rooms
and
it's
estimated
that up to
100 people
lived
here.
What's surprising
is that
the cliff
dwellings were
lived
in
for
less
than
100
years!
Around
1300, the
entire
Mesa Verde
area had
been
abandoned,
the
Indians
had all
left their
homes
and migrated
further
south.
At
Cliff
Palace
there are
over 20
kivas, underground
circular
ceremonial
structures;
one was
built per
family
group.
Next we visited Balcony House - not for the faint hearted or
those that
suffer
from
heights!
After a
safety
brief on
the wooden
ladders
and stone
stairs
we'd
ascend
during the
tour, we
walked
down
a
small
path
then
climbed
a 10
metre
wooden
ladder
against
the sheer
cliff face
to access
the
dwellings.
The food
storage
area
and
living
area
are
clearly
separated
here,
unlike at
Cliffs
Palace.
The
exit
route
was
cool,
through a
4 metre
narrow
tunnel
(about
70cm
high
and
50cm
wide)
then
up
stone
steps and
two
3-metre
ladders on
an open
cliff
face! It
was like
an assault
course! The girls enjoyed the adventure!
After lunch we drove around the Mesa Top Loop on the plateau to
take a
look at
some
pithouses
and Pueblo
and the
Sun
Temple. Then we
watched a
short film
about the
park in
the museum
before
visiting Spruce
Tree House
where we
could
climb down
into a
restored
kiva.
Gaelle had
completed
the Mesa
Verde
Junior
Ranger
booklet
today, so
she
was proud
to
be awarded
with a
Junior
Ranger
badge before
we left
the
park.
We had a 3 1/2 hour drive to Monument Valley before
arriving at
a Navajo
Indian
campground
in
Goulding, just
outside
the park.
We had a
sword fish
on the barbeque and were able to enjoy our meal
outside
for the
first time in a long time!
 |
 |
 |
| Cliff
Palace |
Rooms in
Balcony
House
with
a
kiva
just
visable in
the
foreground |
Climbing up
the
steep
ladder
and
stone
steps
at
Balcony
House |
BACK
| 
