Day 8 - Sunday, July 26

Elk Creek, Colorado to Moab, Utah

We get up and pack up really early and without breakfast hit the road. It’s Sunday morning and I-70 isn’t very busy  just yet. Before we know it we’re in Grand Junction - the last big town in Western Colorado. 50’s style dinner offers excellent breakfast and with most of the day still ahead of us we decide to explore nearby Colorado National Monument.

With The Garden of the Gods and Glenwood Canyon “behind our belt” it seems it won’t be easy to ‘wow’ us again but, as we soon find out, in Colorado wonders never seize. Colorado National Monument offers the most spectacular drive yet and we can’t get enough of it. We stop everywhere and take a lot pictures. It’s all big and full of ragged beauty. Mariola and I are going for a hike on a breathtaking trail that overlooks stunning rock formation named: Sentinel Spire, Pipe Organ and Window Rock. We’re lucky to be back in the car before dark clouds roll over the Monument Canyon. A memorable and funny scene happens just in front of us at one of the viewing stops. A Southern looking family of four  is driving right behind us for good part of the hour. They don’t bother to leave their big ass pickup truck, only taking pictures from the confinement of their air-conditioned cabin. The two teenaged boys seem completely bored and hardly peel their eyes from the PSPs held in their fat hands. However at this viewing platform the father decides it’s time for a family picture. They hand over their little point-and-shoot camera to a man standing  nearby and pose with big fake smiles on their faces. The moment the shutter of their camera is pressed a lightning strikes directly behind them. Straight from the dark skies above into the deep canyon below. Thunder explodes with a deafening roar and the whole family jumps up screaming like little children. We erupt in laughter - the timing of the whole scene is just perfect! “That’s quite a powerful flash you have there on your little camera!” I shout to the father who is by now, after the initial shock, as amused as the rest of us by the whole ordeal.

On our way out of the Park we engage in a friendly chat with a Park Ranger. As we explain where our plans are taking us from here she suggests an alternative route to get  us there. “Take road 128 from Cisco” she says. “You won’t regret it”. We agree that a word from a local is worth more than any advice found in a tourist guide and hope her advice will definitely be a better option than a route chosen by our  GPS, so instead of taking the main highway to Moab we keep a sharp eye on a sign that reads “Hwy 128”. This journey is about taking a road less traveled.

Looking at a map it seems that the borders between Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico are just some straight lines that come together at Four Corners. But as we cross Colorado - Utah border we see that it’s more than just a state line. The landscape becomes flatter and more rugged. Even though we are on the same Interstate I-70 there is less of everything: fewer gas stations, less fast food stops, fewer rest areas. That ‘you’re now in a Southwest desert’ feeling descends on us and the empty barren landscape changes our mood fast. We are … ecstatic and full of new enthusiasm! Yes, Colorado was magnificent, with the sky high mountains and beautiful roads but the desert is the reason we wanted to come back to this part of North America. And now we’re finally here…

Cisco turns out to be nothing but a nuclear era ghost town with bunch of randomly laid out trailers and no functioning store or gas station. Yes, that’s the typical moonscape of American desert that I remember from Arizona and eastern California. We find 128 and now we’re truly alone.

The scene is like from many road movies that epitomize American freedom and sense of adventure: empty two-lane road that’s flat and straight all the way to the horizon with nothing on both sides but low growing brush bush, rocks and dirt. So far, as promised by the Park Ranger, the road is “at first nothing special” (although for me this is special!). It’s mid afternoon but relentless desert sun seems to be still overhead. There is no shade in sight and, if we were to end up with some car trouble (or any other trouble for that matter), this is the last place you want it to happen. But our spirits are high. Mariola and Matt are cracking jokes about how uninhabited Utah is and are coming up with funny theories on how population count is kept here. I’m glad that they pay no attention to anything but their own amusement for my concerns about complete remoteness of this road are growing. Then I notice a red Ford Mustang in my rear-view mirror. This is the first car I see in over an hour and it appeared out of nowhere. What worries me even more is the speed with which it pulled behind us. If you’re in such hurry why don’t you pass me??? If we were to have our first unpleasant encounter - or even worse, to be mugged - this is the perfect place for a highway robbery. I keep one eye constantly on the rear-view mirror but show no sign of concern to my passengers. Finally we come to a fork in the road and I stop. Mustang stops right behind us. I try to see who’s inside. Just a driver. We turn right, he goes left… The whole suspense is lifted and, like from a pierced balloon, the pressure is instantly released from me.
The fork in the road is where we come across a bridge over Colorado river and now we’re driving right next to it. The surroundings change fast now. Desert landscape is replaced by red cliffs that, as we progress, grow taller and appear closer to the river and the road. That continues for a while until we are in an unbelievably beautiful canyon that’s all to ourselves. Yesterday we proclaimed that Glenwood Canyon was the most spectacular drive so far and just a few hours ago, in Colorado National Monument, we were firmly convinced that the nature’s beauty can’t get any better. Now we’re forced to re-evaluate…

Mariola asks me to stop the car by the river because these sights have to be contemplated for a while. We don’t know where we’ll be sleeping tonight and we don’t really know how long it will take us to get to Moab (and there is only so many hours of daylight left) but it all doesn’t matter at the moment. The time stands still, like it once did for me when I hiked below Grand Canyon’s rim, and we have to absorb it. Obi barks at something and in a second something barks back at him. He seems puzzled so he does it again. “Woof!” powerful echo of the canyon replies. Now he’s really annoyed and the barker in him is unleashed.  We are on the ground cracking up! That unexpected outburst of laughter feels soooo good…
We hear a thunder in the distance. But … the sky is clear and there is not a single cloud out there! What the heck? The roar increases in volume but it still comes and goes. Finally I figure it out: this is the sound of motorcycles (unmistakably Harley engines) and as they turn within the canyon the sound seems to be coming in and out. Eventually two bikers pull over next to our truck and kill their engines. It’s quiet again. A typically big biker comes down to the river next to where we are but doesn’t engage in a conversation. I start first. As we chat about the scenery that’s around us, about where we come from and where we’re going the facades of a tough guys fall and now, quite excitedly, we find out that we’re all from Canada (the men are from Yukon and BC). We talk about the same storm we saw earlier today from different places and we laugh about perfect timing of the lightning providing background to unexpected family taking pictures. After a while bikers get going. We should do that too - in these canyonlands night falls fast and we’re nowhere near civilization. 

We continue on 128 and now, comparing sights with the map, we identify incredible rock formations like Fisher Towers. I’d swear I’d seen these before, even though I’ve never been here… It’s getting late in a day and sun has sunk below the cliffs by now. According to our GPS we can’t be far from Moab but from what we see around we might as well be on Mars! Other than tarmac of the road there is no signs civilization or human settlements. Suddenly and out of the blue Mariola announces “Oh, vineyards to our right!”I first think she is joking. We’re in the middle of a rugged desert, for crying at loud! But she insists we turn around and check it out. A short dirt road takes us to a sign that reads “Red Cliffs Lodge and Castle Creek Winery”.

The settings of this place look breathtaking. We find it hard to believe but, not only they have rooms available, they also accept pets! We decide to stay for two nights regardless of the price - this place is spectacular! Our room’s backyard backs onto banks of Colorado river, with red cliffs all around. I take a dip in the swimming pool under the moonlight and chat with a guy about his hot air balloon trip over the Canyonlands. What else is awaiting us here???

 

Day 9 - Monday, July 27

Red Cliffs Lodge, Moab, Utah

While checking in last night we booked horseback riding excursion for Matt and myself for this morning, so after a quick breakfast we head towards the corral. All wranglers are girls but in full cowboy (cowgirl?) gear. The hats, the jeans, the boots, the whole nine western yards! We get a short briefing on how to handle our horses, take plenty of water and sunscreen, and head out to the back country. Matthew gets Cash, a younger horse with a beautiful blond mane. I’m riding Drifter - an easy going horse whose not only temperament but also the name matches its rider! They do not get along very well. Whenever we line up Cash is trying to push Drifter off the trail and when I’m ahead, he’s trying to bite Drifter’s ass. We learn that order can only be reclaimed by Matt riding ahead of me. One of the guides rides next to me and she explains a lot about the scenery. Many of classic western movies of the 50’s were filmed in this area so that explains why I felt yesterday like I’ve seen some of it before. I did.

The whole trip is nearly four hours but even though we are riding in full desert sun, we don’t get exhausted. Thanks to a lot of fluid we drink, good protection from the sun and very dry climate, the ride is very enjoyable and we don’t want it to end. However all good things must come to an end and we’re back at the Lodge after 12 pm. We have a great lunch at the Cowboy Grill and go down to the Lodge basement where  the Movie History Museum is located. We learn about all the celebrities that stayed in the area while filming such past and contemporary blockbusters as Rio Grande, Wagon Master, Back to the Future, Thelma and Louise, City Slickers and even Austin Powers. We both take pictures with life size cutout of John Wayne and head for the wine tasting tour at the adjacent Castle Creek Winery. We sample most of the wines and find them all excellent. With two bottles in our hands we head back to our room.

Well, yesterday we didn’t quite make it to Moab, so we figure that after a short ‘siesta’ we should head over there and check it out. Moab indeed isn’t far away and we are pleasantly surprised by how hip this little town is. A center of a universe for mountain bikes, Moab is also a prime destination for other outdoor enthusiasts. 4x4 offroaders, wild water rafters, dirt bike fans - they all find something to do in the area. But we came here mainly to see the Arches. So we drive up to the Arches Nation Park with plans to see and explore as much as possible. Turns out we can’t go off onto any trails since pets are permitted only on… paved parking lots! So only Mariola and I go for a short hike up to Delicate Arch viewing point but, since it’s a super hot day and we don’t want to leave Matthew and Obi in the car for too long, we don‘t venture any further. We vow to come back here in a day or two, just the two of us, and plan the visit later in a day, when it’s not so hot and the setting sun make the arches even more spectacular.

Back at the Lodge we enjoy nice dip in the pool and pop one of the bottles of wine with some cheese and crackers. It’s stargazing time!

 

Day 10 - Tuesday, July 28

Camping by Colorado River across from Arches National Park

Well, the two days at the Red Cliffs Lodge were amazing but we want to do some camping here as well. We pick a campground we noticed earlier while driving down to Moab. Our tent is pitched before noon but we do not dare to go inside - it’s scorching hot anywhere except the little area that’s protected by a tree shade.  The inside of the tent must be feel like a hot oven. We kind of hang out till there is a bit more shade in the afternoon keeping Obi cooled by wrapping him up in wet bandanas. Then something unexpected happens. I recall that the wrangler from our horseback riding trip said something about these campgrounds getting “a little bit windy towards the evening” but we surely didn’t picture anything like this. The big cliffs across the Colorado river supposed to give us protection from the wind and plenty of shade in the afternoon. The later eventually does happen but with it come gusts of wind that pick up tons of sand and dirt from which there is no escape. This stuff gets into everything! The tent and inside of the truck fills up with sand, it’s in our eyes, ears and hair. That’s no fun and Mariola decides it’s time to split. She and Matt drive to Moab while Obi and I stick around making sure that our tent stays on the ground. For next couple of hours I constantly readjust the fly, tie extra ropes to nearby bush and try to clean the inside of the tent. I’m pretty tired by the time they are back but the sandstorm dies down too so I can finally relax. They bring some cold beer which is soooo good for my dried throat. Because it’s so dry fires are prohibited and we can’t have one at our campsite. We still enjoy the evening in our camping chairs munching chips and sipping cold beer.

As if to be rewarded for staying put at this campground we witness the Canyons by Night light show that happens right in front of us. A river barge with tourist onboard beams fantastically colorful lights onto the canyon cliffs and a pickup truck behind us lights up the opposite side of the Canyon. With the lights and music, and with the moon rising above, it all seems otherworldly. Utah is so beautiful even if you have to put up with a little sandstorm…

 

Day 11 - Wednesday, July 29

Hiking in Arches National Park

I wake up before anyone else to witness another spectacular sunrise. If we want to do some hiking, then it needs to happen either really early or really late in the day. The noon and afternoon hours are just to hot.
Well, why can’t we do both, a morning and an evening hike? The same wrangler who told me about the campground’s winds also gave me directions to a nice hike outside of the National Park where dogs are ok.
We quickly pack up and drive a short distance to the trail head. It’s a trail along Negro Bill Canyon leading up to Morning Glory Arch. The hike is fantastic! Even though the trail is not very well marked and we get lost (or rather end up on another trail), our GPS leads us to the majestic double arch. On our way back there is still plenty of shade within the canyon walls to keep us cool. Obi’s endurance is worth a medal! Away from direct sun he’s bursting with energy running circles around us and frequently cooling himself in shallow pools of a creek next to which the trail runs. After four hours of pretty intense walk we’re back at the parking lot.

It’s early afternoon and we’re ready for lunch. We’re even more ready for a nice shower. We check into a motel just outside of Moab, and after a refreshing shower head to town for a lunch at a nice Italian restaurant.

Rejuvenated we are set for our evening hike. Matt and Obi stay in the motel room while Mariola and I drive up to the Arches National Park for a ’proper’ exploration. As expected, evening daylight paints arches and cliffs with amazing hues of red, orange and gold. Silhouettes of  majestic rocks offset against the evening sun come to life and make the whole area look like a land of fairytales. We almost expect something enchanting to happen and it …does! While leaving the Double Arch area we witness an unusual event - someone with a voice of an opera singer tests acoustic properties of a grotto below the aches and the outcome is just divine! The man’s voice is carried away, as if coming out from an inside of a cathedral, and people on nearby trails stop surprised, listen in awe and look up to the arches above trying to find an angel.

 

Day 12 - Thursday, July 30

Moab, Utah to Mesa Verde, Colorado

Today we leave Utah and head east, back to Colorado. Before we’re out of the hotel, I take a quick dip in a pool, then we stop for gas and some groceries. Before rest of the town awakes, we’re on an empty desert highway, once again. When we get to where rugged landscape meets green vegetation of La Sal National Forest, it’s still well before noon but it’s already very hot. Close to 40 C and that’s just the beginning of today’s journey. We roll up the windows and turn on AC - no point in wearing ourselves out since in a while we’ll have to climb on top of the Rockies, one more time. Some of the roads that I picked are not major and could turn out quite challenging. Already on Colorado side, we pass some settlements with strange names like Paradox, Disappointment Valley and even Stoner Ranch. I guess none of these towns has ended up being Eldorado, has it?

It seems like we’re just climbing and climbing. The road is truly spectacular and I’m glad there is practically no traffic. Every 20 minutes or so we pass a lone logging truck or a camper but that’s about all. Many twists and turns are simply breathtaking and we often slow down - sometime to admire the views, other times because we have to be very careful: this road has practically no shoulders and often there is  huge drop just feet away. The thrills of mountain driving!

Just before Telluride we drive through typical alpine meadows with snow covered peaks on both sides. Only then, when I see snow in the distance, it occurs to me to check the outside temperature. 11 C!
In less than 4 hours of driving we passed  few climate zones at different altitudes and replaced desert heat with cool mountain air. I guess we can turn the AC off and roll down the windows! We step outside at one of the rest areas but, dressed only in tank tops and shorts, we get chilled quickly and get back inside the car. Should we put the heater on?

On the other side of Telluride we start coming down from high mountains and temperature on our digital gauge starts coming back up quickly: 14, 18, 22, 25 … When we arrive in Cortez it’s in mid-30’s again.
We don’t spend much time in that midsize town where the main road is lined up with motels and fast food restaurants. The plan is to camp and the best place around here is Mesa Verde National Park.

The Park was created in 1906 to “preserve archaeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblos”. There are 4,500 archaeological sites, 600 of them are cliff dwellings. The dwellings were discovered in 1888 and excavations followed shortly after.

We will stay for 2 nights so there’ll be plenty of opportunities to explore and learn about the place and Anasazi civilization who called this massive mesa home. The Morefield Campground is not too far from the Park’s entrance so we take a short drive, pick our campsite and return to the registration office for some groceries. The whole campground is very nice - different from most of the others that we’ve seen. Even though it’s really large, the campsites are rather small but, thanks to high bushes that grow between most of them, there is a lot of privacy. It’s still early so we have a lot sites to choose from. The one we pick has very nice settings and is spacious enough for our large tent and the truck. As we walk around we see some wildlife: there is a family of deer strolling by just across the road and two blue jays fly constantly over our heads loudly objecting our intrusion into their territory. Just after we’re done with pitching the tent and setting up the rest of the camp, big dark cloud rolls overhead and an intense storm unleashes with gusty winds, heavy rain and thunders. Since we didn’t mange to move our bedroll inside the tent, we have to wait out the storm inside of the car. We watch other campers who weren’t lucky enough and arrived after the rain had started. While we stay warm and dry inside our SUV, they get soaked pitching their tent in pouring rain. Our timing for this whole trip turns out to be perfect, considering persistently good weather we’ve been having. And even on the few occasions when weather wasn’t great, we manage to arrive at our destinations before the nature played its tricks (pitching the tent before the sand storm in Utah notwithstanding…)
 

Day 13 - Friday, July 31

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

The morning greets us with clear blue skies and virtually no signs of last night’s rain - our tent and the surroundings are completely dry, caressed by warm sunrays and gentle breeze. We go out for a pancake breakfast and plan our day, slowly sipping cheap coffee served in paper cups.

There is so much to see in Mesa Verde that we know we’ll have to narrow our choices to only a few sites.  We decide to go to Spruce Tree House - the best preserved cliff dwelling that offers self-guided tours. To get up there is no small feat: the road from the campground - although well marked and paved - is steep and fast climbing, full of sharp curves on the edge of deep canyons. Some of the park’s lookout points are at elevations over 8500 feet!

From a 24-page booklet we learn about the history of Spruce Tree House and its inhabitants then, we visit Chapin Mesa Museum and learn some more about the whole civilization that lived here.

“Mesa Verdi was home to the Anasazi Indians for more than 1,000 years. The people that first built their houses here at the time of the Roman Empire farmed the mesas, plateaus, river bottoms, and canyons. They created a thriving, populous civilization that eventually raised towers and built hundred-room cities in the cliffs and caves of Mesa Verde. (…)
The name "Anasazi" has come to mean "ancient people," "ancient ones", although the word itself is Navajo, meaning "enemy ancestors." It is unfortunate that a non-Pueblo word has come to stand for a tradition that is certainly ancestral Pueblo. (…)
A prolonged drought from about A.D. 1276 to 1299, years of farming depleting the land and hunting diminishing the game caused Anasazi people to abandon their homes and migrate south. Today, the descendants of these people - the Hopi and other Pueblo dwellers - live in northern New Mexico and Arizona. Utes, Navajos and Apaches now occupy much of their domain.”

Once again we need to keep our sightseeing expedition short since no pets are allowed within the cliff dwelling trails or in the museum. Plenty of (high altitude) sun makes us quickly tired and thirsty anyway so we head back down to the campground’s store. 6-pack of Corona should take care of the thirst and we get some elk meat sausages for tonight’s campfire.

After a couple of relaxing hours at our campsite, Matthew and I set out for a hike on nearby Knife Edge Trail. We are rewarded by some spectacular views - after traversing wide meadows of high grasses, we come to a cliff that overlooks vast and expensive scenery to the North. On a clear day like today we see as far as plains surrounding Cortez to the left and massive San Juan mountain range to the right. With the trail following cliff’s ledge, we quickly find ourselves in some of the most rugged and isolated part of the park that’s available to hikers. We keep a sharp eye for any wildlife - there were some bear and mountain lion warnings at the trail’s head - but all we see is an elk. We have some elk meat waiting for us at the campsite and this hike has us work up some good appetite! 

There is no chance of rain tonight and we enjoy good beer and a meal cooked over the campfire. I strum my guitar quietly well into the night.