We stood at the rim of the canyon and looked down, trying to find the river at the bottom of the canyon. In the broad daylight the steep cliffs, and craggy spires are a deep black with crisscrossed white lines. These cliffs are made mostly of Precambrian gneiss and schist and the lighter colored dikes […]
Travel
The Million Dollar Highway
In the morning after a delicious breakfast at Jean Pierre’s French bakery in Durango, we head north through the San Juan Mountains, along what is called the Million Dollar Highway. As we drove through the mountains, gaining elevation, the air became clearer, the vegetation lush and green and the peaks higher. The highest pass, Red […]
An Afternoon at Mesa Verde
Our car chugs up the long and winding road and we open the windows to let in the cooler air. We had just been to the visitor center and bought our tour tickets to Cliff Place, one of the the cliff dwellings which can be visited with a ranger. I had forgotten what it looked […]
Sunrise to Sunset: Arches National Park
We stepped out of the car during the morning blue hour and the Three Gossips greeted us. It was quiet and the morning air barely stirred. We got back late from Dead Horse Point after staying to enjoy the sunset, and we were up very early the next morning in order to be at Arches […]
Dead Horse Point at Sunset
Personally, I think being at Dead Horse Point at sunset is the best time to be there. When we visited last year, it was in the early afternoon and the light was glaring. I was looking forward to standing at the edge of the canyon in a softer light. We weren’t the only people there, […]
Postcard from Colorado National Monument
The area around Grand Junction is green due to the many orchards (mostly peaches), and while driving up to the Rim Rock Drive, the scenery changes from green to beige to red. Then, at the first turnout there is the first wonderful view of the edge of the desert. When planning this road trip, my […]