Day
9 – September 18, 2018 – Mountains and Arches
Spotted Wolf Canyon, UT along I70 |
North Window and South Window, Arches National Park |
Skyline Arch |
Balanced Rock |
The fins |
But we’re not done. We then
meandered toward Colorado via the Colorado River Valley along the
east side of Arches where we continued to encounter steep red-rock
cliffs on both sides of us, all with many different formations on or
alongside them. It is a long drive, but well worth the scenic beauty.
We’re in Grand Junction for the evening, still marveling at the
vast array of natural occurrences, in this case, all within a day’s
drive from each other!
Day
10 – September 19, 2018 – Canyons and Mountains
Monument Canyon |
Coke Ovens |
Right next to Grand Junction is the little known gem, The Colorado National Monument. The canyon rim rises 2,000 feet above the Grand Valley of the Colorado River at a height of over 6,700 feet. It is like a mini-Grand Canyon with its bold and brilliantly colored plateau and sheer canyon walls, the towering naturally sculptured rock all within 32 square miles of rugged up-and-down terrain. The road takes us first zig-zagging our way up to the rim with an absolutely stunning view of the valley and Grand Junction below with another cliff far beyond that. We then circled the rim for about 20+ miles, finally zig-zagging our way back down. In all the red rock grows pinyon pines and Utah junipers. The junipers fascinate me as the roots tenaciously find their way to nourishing soil in the cracks of the rocks, while the fibrous looking trunks twist and turn across the stones. Again, nature’s artistry at work!
Utah juniper |
But that didn’t end our day. We
drove east along Interstate 70 for about 130 miles in the canyon of
the Colorado River. It too was an absolutely gorgeous drive with
towering mountains hemming us in on both sides, through tunnels in
the mountains, turning right, then left, then right, then left making
our way up and then down the rugged terrain. This had to have been an
expensive freeway to construct! We left the interstate for the back
country to the little town of Kremmling along the upper Colorado
River, half way between Steamboat Springs and Vail. Getting here was
quite the adventure as we again meandered up and down mountains and
viewed many beautiful valleys in this very sparsely populated area.
Then, at an intersection of a tiny little village, we ventured onto a
24-mile long dirt road. Being somewhat apprehensive about taking
that short cut, the crude little sign on the road assured us that
yes, it indeed is a dirt road, but our car will be ok!!!! Actually,
it was a great dirt road through more of the beautiful mountains.
We arrived in Kremmling mid-afternoon,
so we had an opportunity to just relax – who knew that such
stimulating and exhilarating scenery and nerve-wracking roads could
be so tiring!! A relaxing dinner at a local brewery completed
another wonderful day of dry canyons to high, jagged, lush mountains.
Simply amazing – How Blessed we are.
Day
11, September 20, 2018 – More Mountains to the Prairie
Leaving Kremmling, MT this morning, we
continued to follow up the Colorado River all the way through the
west valley of the Rocky Mountain National Park. While this area is
considerably more populated, it is still very beautiful, especially
with the brilliantly colored yellow aspen leaves showing their fall
motif and the morning sun glistening on the mountain tops. One of
the benefits of coming here in the fall is to enjoy the fall colors
against the backdrop of the deep green spruce trees and the mountains
themselves. Driving through the ravines and canyons, we were
literally in the clouds at several points. Father reflected it’s
like heaven reaching down and meeting earth!
Once in the park, we were favored with
the sight of a few female elk grazing along the roadside, ambivalent
to all the attention they were given by us spectators!
Unfortunately, that was the only wildlife we saw in the park today.
However, the vistas while driving through the park were simply
unbelievable. After numerous switch backs up the mountain, we
stopped at 10,100 feet to gaze and gasp at the valley below and
surrounding mountains. Not only is it a LONG way down, but the
terrain is something to behold.
But there are many more switchbacks as we climb above the tree line to the mountain tundra, at one point over 12,000 feet. We’re mighty short of breath up here about now! But, again, the views are spectacular. We stopped at the Alpine Visitor’s Center for a 360 degree view of the area. There is only a six-week growing period up this high, but the thin layer of soil does produce a plethora of low-growing flowers during that time. Because of the temperatures this time of year – the low 40s this morning with a very, very brisk wind – the elk that are generally found here grazing during the summer have moved to lower elevations and the Big Horn Sheep too have found warmer shelter elsewhere. There are still a couple glaciers in the rugged mountain tops as we head downward on the east side of the Park. Once again we admire nature’s incredible handiwork!
Kawuneeche Valley, Western Rocky Mountain National Park |
But, alas, one must return to civilization; and Estes Park is a great place to stroll, shop and enjoy a most delicious ice cream cone! As we are now mindful of making our way back home, we traveled on Highway 34 along the gorgeous narrow ravine of the Big Thompson River, again the rugged mountains hemming us in on both sides. As we say good bye to the mountains, we cross the mile-high rather treeless plateau, north to Cheyenne, Wyoming, then eastward on the prairie along Interstate 80. This evening we stopped at the famous western town of Ogallala, Nebraska. We’re staying at the – get this – Lonesome Dove Lodge (those of you who are fans of western movies know what I mean!) and had a delicious meal at the original western town Front Street Steakhouse and Crystal Palace Saloon!! A fitting way to say adios to the Wild West as we meander eastward and downhill to home, don’t you think?!
Days
12 & 13 – September 21 and 22, 2018 – Homeward Bound
What is there to say about driving
across Nebraska’s prairie on their busy Interstate 80?? Well,
there’s acres and acres of corn and grazing land; a few fair-sized
cities along the way and the Archway across the highway at Kearney
which pays tribute to the freedom of mobility of Americans, recreates
the wagon train experience of crossing the prairie, the buffalo
stampedes and other iconic westward movements in our country’s
history. That’s about it.
Once we leave Omaha and cross into
Iowa, we follow the Missouri River up about 20 miles to the beautiful
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge. Here we learn that the Refuge is a
part of a larger network of refuges devoted to preserving and
restoring increasingly scarce habitat for migrating birds. The ranger
told us that over a million snow geese landed on DeSoto Lake last
fall as they migrated south. How exciting that would have been to
see!! Over 1,200 acres welcomes a wide variety of migratory bird
species, and beckons hundreds of eagles to spend the winter there.
With less than one percent of the original prairie landscape of our
country left, they are also working to restore it, especially
providing the plants necessary to attract monarch butterflies as they
too migrate through here. Unfortunately for us, our timing wasn’t
right and we saw no birds!
However, there is a piece of intriguing
history here of the great Missouri River; and that is of the
steamboat Bertrand, loaded with over $300,000 worth of supplies to be
taken up the “Big Muddy”, as the Missouri was affectionately
known, to gold miners and settlers in the Montana territory.
Unfortunately, it sank on its maiden voyage April 8, 1865, and was
quickly covered with mud. Much of the remarkably well preserved
cargo, including dishes, glassware and serving platters, some
champagne, some pantry staples, some items of clothing, ammunition,
mining supplies, etc., were finally unearthed in the late 1960s, much
of which is on display at the Visitors’ Center here. It’s
fascinating to browse through what life was like over 150 years ago!
Our stay this evening in Sioux City is
uneventful –- one more nice quiet evening before getting back to
the busy-ness of “real life” tomorrow!
Saturday morning – As we
wander home through northwestern Iowa and Minnesota, there are many
signs of the tremendous amounts of rain they have had recently.
Rivers have flowed over their banks into the ditches and low-lying
corn fields, and some side roads that cross the rivers have been
washed out. While the weather is a bit cool today, overall we’ve
had remarkable weather – no rain, generally quite cool in the
mornings but very comfortable during the days except for two days of
hot sunshine! Of course, the high elevations and the fact that it is
mid-September affects those temperatures as well.
Overall, we have all agreed this has
been an amazing adventure. As Father Robert reflected, “It’s
unbelievable. Things I’d never see anywhere else. You have to be
there to really grasp the Wow factor. A once-in-a-lifetime
experience. Out of this world!” While Bob and I have been to most
of these places before, it’s been like a thrilling first-time
venture, always seeing and experiencing something afresh. We are
Blessed to meander through a small beautiful portion of our
country with Father Robert. And we are so Blessed by his friendship. As they say in Kenya,
“God is good all the time. All the time, God is good!” Asanta
Sana