Wandering Around: Colorado National Monument

Colorado National Monument, Oct. 19-29, 2014

Sylvan Lake Park was getting too cold to stay, so we headed on down I-70 about 2 hours to Colorado National Monument. We had visited here as a family (I think) many years ago, but couldn't stay long as it was summer and we were all on vacation. Naturally, we felt we needed to cram in as much as we could in the 2 months. And Levi and I biked here maybe 8 years ago, but only stayed a couple of days. Again, not enough time to get to know the place. Now, however, we're not on vacation; rather, this is our life, so we can relax and spend as much time as we want in one place. As we pulled into Saddlehorn campground, we found a spot with a view and settled in. (Unfortunately, the photos of the campsite were taken on my phone, and were lost to a micro-SD card failure). For the next week or so, we walked along the rim in the morning, hiked the valley, and bicycled the rim road. Weather was just fine: high 70, low 40.

Walking along the rim:

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Below: Hiking the valley (6 miles--surprisingly taxing...the sun, we think). Also, the trail began at the top, dropping down steeply to the valley, which meant that several hours later, we had to climb back up to the truck.

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Beautiful colours and patterns in the rocks

Dead Horse Point State Park, Oct. 29-31, 2014

We left Colorado National Monument after about a week, heading for...well, generally southwest, but no definite plan. We kind of thought we'd head for Goosenecks of the San Juan State Park, which we'd heard a lot about, so off we drove, in that general direction. However, on the way through Moab, we saw a turnoff for Dead Horse Point State Park, a campground at the end of a one-way road that stops at Dead Horse Point--a colorful name with a sad story behind it. Legend has it that in the early 1900s cowboys herded wild mustangs out onto this 30-yard wide neck of land with 2000 foot drops on all sides. They then fenced off the narrow neck behind the horses. Once the horses were thus corralled, the cowboys chose the horses they wanted, and left the rest trapped. The horses eventually died of thirst--in sight of the Colorado River, 2000 ft. below.

On a whim, we called Dead Horse Point Park, and, yes, there was just one site left, right out on the Point--someone had just cancelled. We sped for half an hour to get there before it was taken. Arrived just in time, but alas, found the site too small for our trailer. Drat! A few miles back inland, though, we found a quiet site at Horse Thief BLM Campground $7.50 per night.

Our site at Horse Thief BLM campground

Leah is training binoculars on that thread of a dirt road in the upper middle of the photo. That's the Shafer Trail, a jeep road that switchbacks down that distant cliff, following the Colorado River into Moab. We drove that road in the van a couple of years ago. One of the most spectacular roads we've ever driven.

The next day, we drove out to the Point, and walked around for 3 hours watching the light change. From many of the viewpoints, we could see the Shafer Trail. We met an older German guy who said he'd driven that road in a Buick Super (the model with the 3 portholes on the side)! That would be about 1960! The road would have been a lot rougher back then.

I wouldn't want to be stranded out here in the heat of summer, like those poor horses. What were those cowboys thinking?!

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Shafer Trail visible in center.

...more of the Shafer Trail running horizontally, lower left of photo.

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You can just see a small section of the Colorado river, upper left.

A kind lady took our picture at Dead Horse Point

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Last sunlight of the day...

Moab and Ken's Lake, Oct. 30- Nov. 4, 2014

Horse Thief was a lovely campground, but aside from Dead Horse Point and some hiking, there wasn't much to do. We found ourselves wanting a bit of civilization: restaurants, showers, propane, dump site, thrift Stores, etc. Time to head for Moab.

Delicious breakfast at Eklectica Cafe:

Good breakfast of Huevos Rancheros, as well as tables that doubled as display cases for local craftspeople, including jewelry makers. Leah bought a turquoise neckless!

Excellent Huevos. The green chili was delicious! Sorry for the shadow thrown by the lens when the flash went off. Note the jewelry under the glass that forms the table.

Our site at Ken's Lake, a BLM campground 8 miles outside Moab--$7.50 per night with Senior Access Pass:

Nice site in the open, few neighbours, quiet, surrounded by cliffs and mountains, close enough to town.

We met the campground host, who has lived for 13 years on-site in an airstream with a wood stove in it. When he needs to move, the chimney collapses, and he can seal the hole in the roof. He mentioned off-hand that this year the campground had "a mountain lion problem". Intrigued, we asked what he meant. He said he'd recently found fresh deer kill with lots of lion tracks at a nearby waterfall frequented by hikers. Usually, you'd never see any sign of lions this close to a populated area, but this lion was different. The host was concerned enough that he invited a ranger out to investigate, and she advised that lions like this watch an area--like the waterfall--and look for patterns of behaviour in their prey. This allows them to set up a more effective ambush. She advised the host not go up to the falls alone, especially at dawn or dusk. We were forewarned...so we hiked up there mid-morning:

Our trailer is in a tiny cluster of RVs middle right of photo, up against the tan boulder on extreme right

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Part way up to the falls; campground barely visible directly right of Leah. Ken's Lake just beyond.

Rushing water downstream of waterfall. Thankfully, no sign of lion kill.

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Leah was happy about that.

Full size of waterfall. A big deal so near Moab, which only gets 5-10 inches of rain per year. This was only a trickle a couple of years ago.

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On the way back to camp. A splash of Fall colour just left of middle.

One of the reasons we saw a waterfall and a rushing river in such a dry place was that we'd been pounded by heavy rain and 50 mph winds for 2 days. Our trailer was situated side-on to the wind, so we were definitely rockin' and rollin' all night long.

After the storm, a double rainbow:

After the hike, we decided to follow an interesting looking road, the La Sal Loop road. It started down in the valley where we were camped, but ascended to a nearby mountain top, before twisting back down to Moab. A nice afternoon drive: