Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction, CO

Independence Monument

Earlier this week we took a day trip over to Fruita/Grand Junction, Co to visit Colorado National Monument (NM) and its Rim Rock Drive. This park came highly recommended. We actually prefer this to Canyonlands National Park.

Colorado NM is a plateau-and-canyon area full of red rock geology. The cliffs are about 2,000 ft above the valley. We recommend coming in on the east entrance (Grand Junction) and travel Rim Rock Drive to the west entrance. The pull offs are more convenient. Be aware there are two tunnels on the west entrance. If you're traveling in a RV, you'll want to enter and exit via the east entrance.

There is hiking and some easier trails with at least one trail - the nature trail - being handicapped accessible.  They've got a really nice, small visitor center staffed by volunteers. Didn't check out the campground. For those of you in the east, think of it as a western Blue Ridge/Skyline Drive.

Pictures below.  David

View from the back of the visitor center

Wedding Canyon

Wedding Canyon

Wedding Canyon

View from the nature trail

Nature trail alcove

Nature trail alcove

Otto Trail

Otto Trail

Bighorn Sheep along Rim Rock Drive

 

Arches National Park (NP)

Devil's Garden - Landscape Arch

An overheard comment sums up this NP:  Oh, look...another arch.

A heavily visited NP, Arches is using timed-entry reservations through October 31st (available via recreation.gov).  We're told spring & fall are the busiest times of the year.  Add in the solar eclipse, and it gets really busy.  Timed-entry reservations aren't required before 7 AM or after 4 PM.  We tried 4 PM one afternoon and the line-up backs out into the highway. We found that even with time-entry reservations, the wait to get to the entrance fee station could easily extend past 30 minutes.

Parking was OK, but it really depended on when you came in.  Mornings & midday found the parking at the popular areas limited. Late afternoons seem to have better parking.  People-wise, it's not all that crowded and people seem to be in good moods.   

With all that said, we found that two days would give the typical person a good taste of the park with ample time to do some longer hikes.  Here's some pictures to give you a feel for what we saw. I apologize that I can't remember all the arches names. There's just so many of them!

View from the visitor center

Windows Section - Double Arch

Windows Section - one the Window Arches

Windows Section - Turret Arch

Windows Section - Window Arches

Delicate Arch

Devil's Garden

Devil's Garden - Tunnel Arch

Devil's Garden - Pine Tree Arch

Devil's Garden - La Sal Mountains

Devil's Garden

Devil's Garden - View along the Primitive Trail

October - Canyonlands Natl Park

View from Canyonlands "Island in the Sky" Visitor Center

Late getting this one out.  I got use to once a month posting while in Jackson Hole.  Sorry!

We left Jackson, WY in the rain - as usual.  Took two days to travel down to Hill AFB (Ogden/Salt Lake City, UT) where we stayed for a week.  Stocked up - more or less - and took in a few sights in the area. Left Hill AFB Oct 10th and traveled down to Thompson Springs, UT.  Google maps knows where Thompson Springs is located. Garmin does not. Whatever Ford is using for its navigation service does not know where Thompson Springs is located.  Even after the DishTV app located us (to update local TV channels), DishTV knew we were out in the boonies and suggested we call to update local TV channels. (We stayed with the Salt Lake City locals as they give Moab, UT weather.)

In case you're trying to locate us, we're on the north of Arches Natl Park just off I-70.  We're 40 minutes from Moab, UT. We're staying in Ballard Motel & RV Park.

Now for the good stuff.  Arches National Park (NP) has timed-entry for access through Oct 31st.  We have four days reserved via recreation.gov.   We decided to go to Canyonlands NP first on Oct 11th, and then go into Arches NP after 4:00 PM just to check out the visitor center and get a taste of the park.

Pictures below are of Canyonlands NP and include pictures from the Needles area as well as Island In the Sky. David

PS No, we did not plan this for the solar eclipse.  Yes, we experienced it.  No, I did not get any pictures of it.

Island in the Sky

Island in the Sky

Island in the Sky

Horseshoe Arch - The Needles area

Slickrock Trail - The Needles

The Needles

The Needles

All Most Shutdown Sunday

String Lake Loop Trail, GTNP

September went by just as fast as August.  Lucky for us the feds decided to stay open.  Being a retired federal bureaucrat,  I can't believe I was so naive to plan the first week of October staying at a military base's famcamp plus make entry reservations for a national park.  I guess I've been out of it for too long!  I shouldn't get mad at congress, though.  It's not like they had 365 days since October 1, 2022 to get this done.  Oh, wait...they did!

Our summer at the fish hatchery has ended, both as volunteers and weather-wise. The mountains received some dusting of snow at higher elevations last weekend.  Probably receive more this weekend.  Rainy Sunday through Tuesday planned for this area of the country. We leave tomorrow (Monday) if all goes well.  We'll start with a short trip down to Thayne, WY and spend Monday night. Then a week is planned at Hill AFB (Salt Lake City & Ogden, UT).  From there it's off to Thompson Springs, UT for about three weeks to visit Arches & Canyonlands National Parks (and any local state parks or monuments plus Moab, UT).  We'll be out in the middle of nowhere there.  We're thinking we'll take trip or two to Grand Junction, CO while at Thompson Springs. Grand Junction came highly recommended by some hatchery visitors this year.

As always, moving the trailer after setting for so long brings trepidation. While we do exercise the hydraulics, slides and leveling systems each month, it's just that RVs break while moving.  It's not like they don't break while setting, but it's just more frequent while traveling.  While many folks can take it in stride, I'm finding that after 13 years of full-time RVing I'm still trying to accept the fact that these things are nothing more than rolling, fiberglass dumpsters that many times don't even roll.  Consequently, as we start this season of travel I've decided to try a new mantra:

We'll see how many minutes this new "me" last!  Maybe to Thayne?  I know, carry a family-size bag of double-stuffed oreo cookies and try not to eat them all at once.

As we've told many people, we stayed about three weeks longer this year than usual.  Typically, we've just completed the fall maintenance rodeo in Indiana and are traveling to Virginia for doc and friends visits. We tried to take advantage of of the longer stay, and we were rewarded with autumn colors plus a little new snow at the higher elevations. Pics are below and Donna & I hope you enjoy them.

Thanks for dropping by and checking in on us.  More later, David

Sleeping Indian (Sheep Mountain)

East Gro Ventre Butte (west side of hatchery across US 89)

local visitors to the hatchery's fishing pond

Emma Matilda Lake, GTNP

Emma Matilda Lake, GTNP
 

Christian Pond Trail, GTNP

Jenny Lake West Side Trail, GTNP

Spring Lake Trail, GTNP