In the kingdom of sand...

We crossed the bridge (click here to refresh the memory - Crossing the bridge...), returned to the trailhead and soon found ourselves on Highway 163, heading towards Monument Valley. Everything around us looked quite unusual. The colors faded and the sky took on a grayish hue. The haze had hidden many details and we couldn't see very far.

 

Crossing the bridge...

The Dead Horse Lookout was our first stop on this trip (click here to see - Late evening in Canyonland...) but not the only one on our plans. The next morning we continued towards Natural Bridges National Park. We've been to Utah before, but this park escaped our attention, so we decided to fix this and take a look. We started on the trail that runs along the edge of the canyon and just look at this view!

 

Late evening in Canyonland...

We were going to check out some places and made our first stop at Dead Horse Lookout (not technically part of Canyonlands National Park, but the two are very close and I've always considered this lookout to be the entry point into Canyonlands).

 

McConkie Ranch Petroglyphs. Memorial Day 2019 trip, part 8

Yeah, it was a long day and we saw a lot (click here to see the last adventure we had - Flaming Gorge Dam. Memorial Day 2019 trip, part 7) but we were still far from calling it a day and the future was a bit hazy for us.

 

Flaming Gorge Dam. Memorial Day 2019 trip, part 7

We hated to leave the ancient Sheep Creek Geological Area (Sheep Creek Geological Area. Memorial Day 2019 trip, part 6), but we had more wanders to see, more places to go. So we forced ourselves to get into the car and drove back. We passed Red Canyon road and continued forward. We wanted to see one of the "lakes" we saw while hiking Canyon Rim trail.

 

Sheep Creek Geological Area. Memorial Day 2019 trip, part 6

It was difficult to leave the viewpoint overlooking the Flaming Gorge (Red Canyon and Flaming Gorge. Memorial Day 2019 trip, part 5) but we managed, turned left and took a side road.

 

Red Canyon and Flaming Gorge. Memorial Day 2019 trip, part 5

Exploring the Dinosaur National Park and hiking to see the rivers meet at the end was the perfect end of the first day of the trip - Where the rivers meet each other. Memorial Day 2019 trip, part 4.

 

Where the rivers meet each other. Memorial Day 2019 trip, part 4.

We enjoyed being in Craig (including museum - Craig. Museum of Cowboy & Gunfighters. Memorial Day 2019 trip, part 3) and our short stop in Maybell but we still have a few miles to cover and some places to discover.

 

Yampa and Green rivers

It was around 5PM when we completed the tour in the dinosaur quarry. The sky finally cleared and we decided to reach one more destination before the darkness covered the Earth and forced us to find a hotel...

 

Muted Flaming Gorge

 As I mentioned before, the sky above Dinosaur was gray and gloomy and we decided to try to go across the mountains in hope for a miracle - maybe we could find some sun on the other side of the mountain ridge... To do so, we crossed the Utah border and headed to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.

 

Meet the dinosaur...

We liked Grand Junction and loved the Colorado National Monument we visited the day before. Both places were just amazing and we were glad we left the beaten path and stopped on a side to see something we missed before. And we planned to do the same the next day.

 

What can I tell you about Winter? It is made from silver and copper...

To read the previous part click here - Gray mantle of fog...

We left Canyonlands and drove a couple of dozen miles to Arches. Another place where the weather and centuries created a nature masterpiece. Time carved the figures and arches from the dark red rocks and today thousands of people are coming here to see it. This time we were there in a very interesting moment... Unimaginable time when the red and white created something different. Magical and mystical, attractive and magnificent...

But before we got there we had some peculiar experiences because of the weather. The road dove to the fog and surfaced back all the time. Mostly we had some sense of direction, but often just hoped the road brings us there and we don't get lost...

 

Gray mantle of fog...

To read the previous part click here - A 1000 miles is not a detour for the mad dog... 

As I told you before, we left the Dead Horse viewpoint and dove into the thick fog. The windy road ran between the cliffs and on an open space. Sometimes we barely could see the road and sometimes we had a nice and good view of where we were going. No one can even forget the road like this... no one...

 

A 1000 miles is not a detour for the mad dog...

Now no one can remember who was the first to see the pictures of Bryce Canyon hoodos covered with white snow. But once you see this beauty all you can think about is to go there and see it yourself... So we planned the trip for the end of February (2010) and were waiting for the day to come. We were really nervous the week before because of the forecast. Weather in February is unpredictable all the time but this time Mother Nature has outdone itself - the light snow every day and heavy snowfall over the weekend. But we decided to go just weren't sure about our destination. The car was booked and Friday around 8PM we started on I-70...

We expected the hardest part would be driving to Gleenwood Springs, going up and down on the mountain highway. And we were right. During five and a half hours (compare to regular four!) we saw a lot of snow, ice and wind. And it was dark... Finally we got there, filled the tank with gas and changed the driver. While waiting at the gas station we looked around and were mesmerized by an amazing picture of the night and snow covering everything...

 

Canyonland National Park, April 2015

One of the best places to visit any time of the year. We visited the Canyonland in April 2015. It was unusually cold (just above 35 degrees) and rainy for two days. But... I guess it only made the views better and the clouds were amazing there...