Day 59 : August 24 COLORADO (RVs)
The day started out showery but quite pleasant for the drive through the Lizard Head Pass which at 10,222 feet was dwarfed by the surrounding mountains which peaked at up to 14,000 feet .
A visit to the Anasazi Heritage Centre was a very wise choice. This centre focuses on the ruins found in the area of the Escalante Pueblo people and has a wonderful collection of artifacts as well as screening very interesting informative documentaries about the history of the original inhabitants and their way of life. A short walk leads visitors to some of the ruins which have been stabilized in an endeavour to prevent further deterioration. Any further plans for sight-seeing were changed when an electrical storm hit the area whilst we were at the top of a 8,500 foot mountain in the Mesa Verde National Park – it was quite spectacular but also dangerous as lightning was striking areas close by, necessitating a hasty retreat. An early stopover was decided at Cortez, where a complete rainbow gave hope of better weather tomorrow!
Day 59 : August 24 UTAH (Tractors)
24th August, 2009 saw us ready to leave our ‘car park’ abode at 8am. Before our departure we were pleased to once again see Geoff arrive, this time laden with his company T shirts for the group.
Geoff – CALDWELL CONCRETE COMPANY - we wish you and your family well in the future and thank you for your generosity and interesting information.
Once back on highway 89, we continued through Mt Pleasant, Ephraim and Manti on to highway 24 then off road for approximately 12miles leading us to highway 62. This took us through Otter Creek on to the very scenic highway 22. Highway 22 then lead us through a winding path between mountains, then desert terrain punctuated by irrigated lucerne paddocks and green grazing land full of very contented looking cows.
We arrived at Bryce Canyon at around 5pm to a huge RV park nestled in the pines where we all settled in and began preparing for the sightseeing that awaits us here.
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| Escalante Pueblo Ruins |
Display at Anasazi Heritage Ctr |
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| Sleeping Ute Mountain from Heritage Centre |
Rainbow after a stormy afternoon |
Day 60 : August 25 COLORADO – UTAH – ARIZONA (RVs)
This was the day we travelled through three States in the RVs on our leisurely trip to the Grand Canyon.
After attending to a few calls around Cortez, we headed south to a winery run by Guy Drew. Guy grows grapes in what looks like most inhospitable territory, but with plentiful water available by irrigation from the nearby river, he has remarkable success. His wines are all very palatable and his gardens are really very pretty. The house has been built from straw and has a wonderful Mexican feel to it and is beautifully appointed.
Many other properties in the area grow grape vines on the ridges of rocky outcrops. The only other crops seen were irrigated Lucerne which is baled for stock feed. The border into Utah was crossed at lunch time and the countryside became quite desert like with only a few oil rigs and rocky outcrops to break the skyline. Then as we approached Bluff, the rocks changed colour to salmon pink and looked very fragile, with many breakaways obvious.
The trip through the Monument Valley was absolutely breathtaking – so many rock formations in this Navajo country. No wonder so many movies have been made in this area – you expect to see an Indian jump out from almost every rock! We crossed the San Juan River and proceeded to where the Mexican Hat formation was clearly seen. A stop at a Navajo stall gave us an opportunity to see some genuine Indian craftsmanship and a very nice young lady named Marlena was happy to sell us some jewellery.
We crossed the border into Arizona late afternoon and continued to the overnight stop at Kayenta.
Day 60 : August 25 UTAH (Tractors)
This day saw the whole group take advantage of the shuttle service provided in Bryce Canyon by going to many beautiful lookouts. Neville and Peter were our hikers doing a hike of the rim – approximately 1.5 hours. We regrouped at 3pm ready to head out of the canyon and on towards Cedar City. Much to our amazement, whilst we had all enjoyed our time in Bryce Canyon, our departure took us through Red Canyon and it would have to be said that this too was spectacular.
Our chosen route was Highway 12 – followed by highways 89 and 14 - with a summit of 7777ft above sea level and a touch of unsealed road just to keep us happy. On this route we entered Dixie National Forest. As we travelled along this scenic path, climbing steadily to 9800ft we watched yet another large thunder storm form in the distance. Around 40 miles from Cedar City at Scout Canyon, some9960 ft above sea level, we set up a bush camp and enjoyed an evening around a camp fire.
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| Guy Drew Winery and Straw House |
Lovely gardens at Winery. |
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| Lucerne Crop under reticulation, Utah |
Crossing San Juan River, Utah |
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| The Mexican Hat, Utah |
Marlena sells Navajo jewellery. |
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| A famous view in Monument Valley. Arizona |
Monument Valley Rocky outcrop |
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