Following the mighty Colorado River.........

When last we spoke, we were enjoying Utah..... it is a harsh, ruggedly beautiful landscape with colors that glow.    One evening, we took a drive up St Hwy 24, from Moab north along the Colorado River.      If you only had a couple of hours in this area,  this is the one short drive  that would easily substitute for all the National Parks and scenic drives.    There are canyons, petroglyphs, rapids, hiking trails, distant vistas and a the Red Cliff Lodge to dine, sleep  and begin various adventures.   Many westerns were filmed in this locale and they even have a movie museum in the rustic setting.  

 A leopard (or is it tiger ) lizard cooperated  for a brief minute near the walkway.

 The view from the Lodge.   You can even stay in a teepee.

 Further down the road is Castle Rock and Fisher Towers.    In the fall we'll do the hike along the base.

 The next morning we were out early to walk the Grand View Trail in Canyonlands NP.   Unfortunately, I had the wrong setting on my camera and the pictures came out very light.   I tried to fix them and I think you can get the idea of what we saw.   The trail is about 2 miles, across slickrock and up and down many steps .   It follows a severe drop-off into the canyon.   I just can't imagine taking rambunctious children to these trails....there are no fences, no warning signs and trail markings consist of cairns along the way.

 And then, it just ends.....no signs to tell you that, just a cliff to fall over.    Paul is  standing about 3 feet from the edge.  

We put down our hiking poles, our hats, our camera and backpack full of water and had a much deserved snack.   And then we walked back to the air conditioned car.   

 Awhile back, we took a jeep trail from Moab thru the back country with intentions of ending up at Canyonlands....but we met with a closed road.    The road is now open so we pointed the nose of the jeep down and deep into the canyon.    You can see the road we followed in the next 2 pictures.

 In some places, the road is very narrow with sheer drop offs.

Always, far below us was the mighty Colorado that carved out these monuments.  

And then on Thursday, we packed up and headed East.    For about 5 hours, we crossed Colorado and the stunning landscape from Glenwood Springs to Golden, never fails to leave us in awe.    I've written about Glenwood Canyon many many times ....  Again, we followed the Colorado River, sometimes placid, sometimes not,

 and the rafters were abundant.    The Colorado River is one of America's finest river and holds a prominent place in the development of our country.    Reading about John Wesley Powell's exploration of the River leaves me amazed to think of the feat that he accomplished......and with only ONE arm. !!

 Vail has several beautiful golf courses in the valley.  

From Eisenhower Tunnel at over 11,000 ft, the highway descends to 6000 ft on a winding, occasionally steep I-70.   There are warnings all the way down for the truckers and  the RV drivers.   We're very familiar with the road but it has taken it's toll on those who don't heed the warnings.

 And so, we are currently back in Cherry Creek State Park.....I had my art class at the Botanic Gardens and look forward to the next one in two weeks.      Today, we'll meet up with Mike and crew and head up onto some Jeep trails west of Denver................ Stay tuned.