Fruita, Colorado (96 degrees, blue skies, very, very hot)
"A river seems a magic thing.
A magic, moving, living part
of the earth itself."
Laura Glipin
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| John viewing the Colorado National Monument |
Our guide book says the best way to see Colorado National Monument is to take a paddle trip down the Colorado River which run in front of this beautiful park. The next day after arriving in Fruita Colorado we went to a local raft company (Rim Rock Adventures) and arranged a drop off eight miles from their take out. It was the best $20 we have spent for such a service.
The river was running very fast and cold and seemed to boil as we traveled quickly down it. We were a little bit nervous about going down such a large and fast moving river. However, the brightly colored cliff walls rising 2000 feet above us quickly overcame our fears and they drifted away.
It was a perfect day for a paddle. We left early because the weather has been very hot in the afternoon. We never saw another kayak or raft on our route. It was so serene and delightful.
It ended far too quickly. We plan to take a drive up to the park and seeing the great rock sculptures up close. We are staying at John M Robb State Park in Fruita Colorado and it is close to the National Monument. It's a lovely campground. We had 30 amp service ($26/night) which barely kept up with the hot weather. However, there are 50 amp full service sites (a few). The sites are irrigated and very well landscaped. We had a nice level site with a concrete slab and shaded picnic table. It's located on the Colorado River and lots of folks were launching rafts for multi day camping trips. Our only complaint was we had previously obtained a Colorado State Park pass for the jeep. However, they also made us buy one for the motorhome. Sheesh!
The Colorado National Monument is easy to view along the 23 mile Rim Rock Drive. There are numerous overlooks with descriptive names like Coke Ovens, Independence Monument, Balanced Rock View, and Distant View. Follow along with us as we travel into the park.
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| Independence Monument |
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| On the 4th of July someone climbs this and plants an American Flag on top |
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| Artist Point |
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| Coke Ovens |
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| The wind sculpts many of these cliffs as evidenced in this photo. Note the curve of the long rock wall |
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| Fallen Rock must have made quite a crash |
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| Note all the different rock layers |
There are numerous trails here, but it was just too hot to manage one. However, the loop drive offered breathtaking views throughout.
The next day we decided to take a road trip up to the Grand Mesa, the worlds largest flat top mesa rising from 5000 to 11,237 feet. .It was a delightful and refreshingly 30 degrees cooler up there. We used myscenicdrives.com website to help us plan this adventure. Click
here to see the complete details of the drive.
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| I copied this photo of the Grand Mesa from Trip Adviser. It was difficult to find a place to get this view. |
From a distance the mesa appears to be very barren but this was not the case at all. There are over 300 lakes up there with beautiful forests and lots of wildflowers blooming. We packed a lunch and enjoyed a nice lakeside picnic along the way. It was a perfect day.
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| Mesa Lakes Recreation Area |
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| Looks like snow but it was some type of wildflower |
The drive out to Lands End Observatory was interesting and the views were great. Some of the road was paved but mostly it was gravel. It ends at the now abandoned observatory built by the CCC.
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| Road out to Lands End |
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| View below obscured due to recent fires in California |
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| Lands End Observatory |
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| Wildflowers |
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| We were up almost with the clouds at this point |
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| Friendly Forest Service Visitor Center |
It was a long road trip but a fun one. We spent our last day touring the vineyards and fruit farms in Palisades. Of course, I had to stop to taste test a few wines. This was an enjoyable area to visit with lots to see and do. My only recommendation is to go earlier in the spring to avoid the high temperatures.
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| Vineyards and fruit farms |
Our next stop is Flaming Gorge on the border of Utah and Wyoming. We heading into Outlaw Country where Butch Cassidy hid out with the Wildbunch.
Custer's last stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn is also definitely worth the stop. We spent a few days exploring the area and found the National Monument gave a very balanced view of the cavalry and the Sioux and Cheyenne. Custer and 262 other soldiers lost their lives in this ill conceived battle. It's very sobering to see the graves where each of the soldiers died. A tombstone marks where each soldier died across a now peaceful battlefield. I won't go into all the history of this battle but encourage you to stop and experience it for yourself. 
It was great to see Dub and Rae and we had fun sharing stories of Alaska and Canada. They had gone there long ago when it was even more of an adventure. We shared lots of laughs and some great food. We also were able to arrange a dinner together with two couples we had traveled with this summer. It was great fun.
We went to two mass ascensions able to at the Balloon Fiesta and what a joy it was to see all the beautiful hot air balloons. This is our fourth time attending and we just couldn't resist taking way too many photos. Here are just a few.
