I'm sure I had many questions while on the trip that were answered by the National Parks signs or rangers. But I still had a few lingering when I returned like:
What's the difference between an arch and a natural bridge?
What's the difference between a national monument and a national park?
How did lava rocks get to Capitol Reef?
What's the difference between a national park, a recreation area, and the Bureau of Land Management areas?
I'll leave you to study and google on your own, but I thought I'd ask. :)
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Catching Up
I just realized I failed to blog the last 4 days of our trip!!!
So, we did end up going back to Arches in the morning and hiked to Broken Arch and then re-visited Sand Dunes Arch. Both were pretty cool. It wasn't raining but was a little chilly. After our slow morning and a hike we drove to Capitol Reef. Unlike many other National Parks, a highway bisects Capitol Reef so you just drive right through it without paying (or showing your pass). So, on the way to the hotel we drove through the park and stopped at the Visitors Center and watched a video and got maps. The next day we enjoyed a hike to Hickman Bridge (a natural bridge) and took a scenic drive and then another hike along a dried river bed. That evening we watched the sun set against the rocks. A day and a half was plenty of time for us in Capitol Reef.
The next day we were off for a long drive to southwest Colorado. First we stopped at Hovenweep Nstional Monument to see some Ancient Pueblo people ruins. The park ranger at the visitors center was so proud of his monument. He made us all watch the park video (the best park video he's seen, very well made!), then gave us all a 5 minute orientation speech, and even talked up the gifts in the gift shop (you can't get these everywhere!). He was a little over the top but still fun to see someone so excited about his job and the monument. We did a quick tour around the monument to see a lot of ancient ruins that were definitely very cool. We were on a schedule though so we hiked quickly, took a bunch of pictures, and then were off.
Our next stop was to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. Little did we know that we would ascend to 8500 ft in the park. A huge portion of the park has been destroyed by wild fires (all of them caused by lightning) but it was still beautiful. We stayed at a hotel in the park, where wild horses roamed around and we had beautiful views of the mountain top. We made good time getting to the park so we were able to join two ranger-led tours through two of the ruins, Cliff Dwelling and Balcony House. Both tours involved climbing up ladders to get into the dwellings and back up to the mesa top. Balcony House also required crawling through tunnels. The dwellings were amazing and well preserved. After that we had a wonderful dinner in the park and headed off to bed. The next morning, we got up bright and early and toured the mesa top to see more ruins and then went on to another cliff dwelling before heading out of the park. It was definitely an amazing experience.
After Mesa Verde we stopped at Four Corners to stand in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado all at the same time. Though many people say the spot is not accurate, all of the states have agreed that's where it is so we'll go with it. It was a quick spot for a few photos and then on to Page, Arizona.
We gained an hour in Page which was nice and were able to relax in the hotel before heading out for a 5pm tour of the Antelope Slot Canyon. The sun was a little lower than I had hoped and my photos are mostly blurry due to lack of light, but it was still a fun hike through a narrow canyon on Navajo Tribal land.
The next morning we got up bright and early for a 1/2 day rafting/float trip down the Colorado river. We were met at the river company site by 2 bus loads of visitors, including a large tour group from Germany (of course). The trip started off driving through a 2-mile pitch black tunnel to the base of the Glen Canyon Dam. The Dam was built in the 50s to dam up the Colorado River and form Lake Powell. The U.S. government had to trade land from the Navajo Nation to house it's workers to build the dam. We rafted down the river (very flat) and enjoyed the canyon and the water. We had a stop 1/2 way to see some Petroglyphs and then landed at Lee's Ferry. It was such a perfect way to end our vacation.
After that we headed to Phoenix, went for a quick swim, and grabbed dinner before our flight the next morning.
It was a fantastic trip!!
So, we did end up going back to Arches in the morning and hiked to Broken Arch and then re-visited Sand Dunes Arch. Both were pretty cool. It wasn't raining but was a little chilly. After our slow morning and a hike we drove to Capitol Reef. Unlike many other National Parks, a highway bisects Capitol Reef so you just drive right through it without paying (or showing your pass). So, on the way to the hotel we drove through the park and stopped at the Visitors Center and watched a video and got maps. The next day we enjoyed a hike to Hickman Bridge (a natural bridge) and took a scenic drive and then another hike along a dried river bed. That evening we watched the sun set against the rocks. A day and a half was plenty of time for us in Capitol Reef.
The next day we were off for a long drive to southwest Colorado. First we stopped at Hovenweep Nstional Monument to see some Ancient Pueblo people ruins. The park ranger at the visitors center was so proud of his monument. He made us all watch the park video (the best park video he's seen, very well made!), then gave us all a 5 minute orientation speech, and even talked up the gifts in the gift shop (you can't get these everywhere!). He was a little over the top but still fun to see someone so excited about his job and the monument. We did a quick tour around the monument to see a lot of ancient ruins that were definitely very cool. We were on a schedule though so we hiked quickly, took a bunch of pictures, and then were off.
Our next stop was to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. Little did we know that we would ascend to 8500 ft in the park. A huge portion of the park has been destroyed by wild fires (all of them caused by lightning) but it was still beautiful. We stayed at a hotel in the park, where wild horses roamed around and we had beautiful views of the mountain top. We made good time getting to the park so we were able to join two ranger-led tours through two of the ruins, Cliff Dwelling and Balcony House. Both tours involved climbing up ladders to get into the dwellings and back up to the mesa top. Balcony House also required crawling through tunnels. The dwellings were amazing and well preserved. After that we had a wonderful dinner in the park and headed off to bed. The next morning, we got up bright and early and toured the mesa top to see more ruins and then went on to another cliff dwelling before heading out of the park. It was definitely an amazing experience.
After Mesa Verde we stopped at Four Corners to stand in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado all at the same time. Though many people say the spot is not accurate, all of the states have agreed that's where it is so we'll go with it. It was a quick spot for a few photos and then on to Page, Arizona.
We gained an hour in Page which was nice and were able to relax in the hotel before heading out for a 5pm tour of the Antelope Slot Canyon. The sun was a little lower than I had hoped and my photos are mostly blurry due to lack of light, but it was still a fun hike through a narrow canyon on Navajo Tribal land.
The next morning we got up bright and early for a 1/2 day rafting/float trip down the Colorado river. We were met at the river company site by 2 bus loads of visitors, including a large tour group from Germany (of course). The trip started off driving through a 2-mile pitch black tunnel to the base of the Glen Canyon Dam. The Dam was built in the 50s to dam up the Colorado River and form Lake Powell. The U.S. government had to trade land from the Navajo Nation to house it's workers to build the dam. We rafted down the river (very flat) and enjoyed the canyon and the water. We had a stop 1/2 way to see some Petroglyphs and then landed at Lee's Ferry. It was such a perfect way to end our vacation.
After that we headed to Phoenix, went for a quick swim, and grabbed dinner before our flight the next morning.
It was a fantastic trip!!
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