Awesome Zion National Park

Leaving Cedar City we travelled south to the Kolob Canyon in Zion National Park where even the highway was red.

Red is the colour to best describe Utah!

Then through Hurricane and Virgin to the main entrance into Zion.

Here we took the shuttle bus out to the Temple of Sinawana and walked along the river trail in the canyon.

       The steep walls of the canyon were like a vertical garden with plants and grasses growing where the water seeped out of the soft sandstone.

To avoid the expensive and very steep drive up through the Mt. Carmel tunnel we took the road south into Arizona.  

  In Fredonia we found two familiar telephone boxes!

At our overnight stop in Kanab Dot was puzzled to see this painted buffalo outside the Visitor Centre.

Then we discovered that    many Western movies were filmed in and around the town-that John Wayne guy went everywhere!

   The drive back into Utah was spectacular as the cliffs got steeper, the rocks got redder, the sky got bluer and the temperature hotter!

Just around the corner in the Kodachrome State park we found cliffs that are multicoloured.

And hundreds of monolithic spires!

   Our base for the next few days was at the Broken Arrow RV park in Escalante.

   The facilities looked like an old western movie set!

The Mormon pioneers travelled along this route in search of the Colorado River and more fertile lands.

At Dance Hall rock they stopped to rest and held dances in the shade of this giant red rock.

This is the 'hole' that the pioneers blasted in the rock and through which they lowered the wagons down to the river below.

The water is lake Powell formed when the Glen Canyon dam was built across the Colorado River.

Visitors travelling to the 'hole' are asked to sign their names and say how they arrived.

We came by motorcycle and that morning two other visitors had arrived by boat and one by aeroplane( cheat)!

 On the return journey we took  the 50mile motorcycle only trail that climbed up the staircase for over 1500ft onto a bench.

From up here we had a fantastic view back down to the plateau.

However we also had to get back down again at the other end of the trail!!!!

Even though we had carried fuel and refilled the tanks Dots Yamaha ran out of fuel.

Luckily we were just 500meters from the highway and Jim could get to the garage and return to rescue her!

  We found out later that at one of the many marinas on Lake Powell it is possible to hire a luxury houseboat.

     At around $10,000 for a week it is an expensive way to visit the hole in the rock!

Within the park is this old school at Fruita.

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Must have been very few children living here.

There are orchards full of fruit trees and the signs read 'U pick'.

 So Jim did just that and we got a bag of apples and pears!

These petroglyphs at Fremont were carved into the sandstone cliffs by the natives and some people think they depict spacemen!

Leaving the park we continued eastward past this white chimney rock at Caianeville.

The garage at Hanksville had its offices in a cave in the hillside!

   We relocated to the lovely shady campsite at Natural Bridges National Monument.

Here water has worn away the canyons and left four bridges more like arches.

  The nine mile scenic drive has parking places where you can hike down into the canyons to get a closer look at the arches.

But in 28deg heat we opted to look from a distance!

From the campsite it was a lovely ride south across the Cedar Mesa to Muley Point overlook.

A little cooler with a few clouds and rain forecast it was a perfect day for a ride-but not to see the famous view!

Just visible in the far distance are the buttes of Monument Valley!

The gravel  road down drops 1000ft in 3 miles and trailers, long vehicles and motor homes are not allowed.

  It was good fun on our dirt bikes!

 Into the plain the San Juan river has carved gorges another 1000ft deep.

These Goosenecks were just a small portion of the many deep curved gorges.

 But we had come below the cliffs to ride the trail into the side canyon.

What a glorious track it was winding beside huge rock formations, across the creeks and through fields of wildflowers. 

At last we arrived at the dead end where this sign advised of a protected wilderness area.

  The GPS indicated that the highway was 3kms to the east-however the 1000ft cliff wall presented a problem so we had no choice but to ride back the way we had come along the foot of the cliffs.

With rain in the air we rode on the highway to Bluff to refuel.

Then it was time to ride back along the Comb Ridge trail-an old 1880 Mormon wagon road and the other end of the Hole in The Rock trail!

 Now we would pass rocks with names! 

Mexican Hat rock.

Jacobs Chair.

We were now in the Navajo Tribal lands.

  We drove the bus along the bumpy dirt road through Monument Valley-slowly!!

Dot could not stop taking photos and any moment we expected to see cowboys come riding through!

Of course John Wayne made a film here!

Another good idea- portable toilets with GPS!

    Judging by the number of towns who claim that Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, Bud Masterson all visited to play poker or catch the bad guys they must have used a corporate jet to get about!

     Four states in one day and the Mesa Verde villages.

Jim as standing on the plaque that marks the meeting place of Utah, Colorado Arizona and New Mexico.

Managed by the Indian tribes we had to pay to visit but spent some time talking with the local artists who make lovely pottery and jewellery.

 Back in Colorado again this time there would be no snow!

Mesa Verde National Park is a World Heritage Site and we really enjoyed our visit to these wonderful cliff villages.

  Here in these canyons is the biggest collection of cliff dwellings.

   Sadly not much is really known about the people who lived here as they left no written records and moved away around 1400AD.

This is Cliff Palace, one of the biggest complexes and thought to have been used as a community centre for storage and ceremonies.

Access to the rooms was via wooden ladders and they grew crops up on the mesa above.

The only way to visit the ruins is on a guided tour with a Park Ranger.

Rebecca explained how they think the society was organised and was well informed and interesting.

To get up and down the villagers climbed the cliff walls and used ladders where possible.

Visitors have to do the same thing today!  

     A steam train through the golden aspens to Silverton.

We could not pass by without a visit to Durango where the old mining railway line to Silverton thrives on the millions of tourists who come to enjoy the ride through the mountains.

   We booked tickets for the next days train so Jim could look around the museum and engine sheds.

(Dot really wanted to look around the trendy shops and galleries.)

   The aspens were changing colour from green to gold and the view was spectacular as the special bus took us up  and over the mountain passes to Silverton.

The trains arrive at the terminus in town and stay long enough to allow the passengers to eat lunch in one of the many cafes or shop for souvenirs.

Now it was time to travel back on the train along the river.

On the steep gradients the engine poured out black smoke and the smell and grit reminded us of our youth when steam trains were the usual means of transport.

Onboard we were able to relax and enjoy a great view of the autumn colours as the train took over four hours to get back to Durango.

Down through Colorado into New Mexico we stopped to visit another World heritage Site.

The Aztec ruins were in use about the same time as the cliff dwellings and there is evidence that the people traded goods.

   However this complex had more structure and planning and the large Kiva in the central plaza has been rebuilt.

Kivas are used for ceremonies and it is a very atmospheric place with sunlight streaming through the side openings.

  All around this area are old Pueblos or villages. where members of the native tribes live.

As most of the old villages were abandoned before the Spanish reached the area we could not understand why they used the word 'pueblo'.

It was time now to head to Albequerque for the International Balloon Fiesta!