Days 65-67 August 2-4

Time has run out on our summer trip as we head across the southwest on our way home.  The temperatures continue to rise the further we travel southward.  We spent one night in Amarillo, TX where we shared a fantastic meal at the Big Texan.  When we stopped for the night in Conway, Arkansas the thermometer reading was 117 degrees.  I am ready to head back to the snow, but unfortunately it is time to get back to work.
As the sun sets on our unbelievable summer trip, we can't help but think back about the amazing adventure this has been. We visited 15 National Parks on our 10,714 mile journey across 22 states. Our national park system is a treasure that has provided us with countless memories.

Next summer's trip: Alaska!

Days 63 & 64-July 31 & August 1

It is hard to believe but we have actually arrived at our final National Park of our summer trip.  Mesa Verde National Park is located at high enough elevation that it is cool enough for us to stay in the park.  In other words, I can sleep without air conditioning.  While we have learned many new and exciting things at all of the parks we have visited this summer, up until now they were more about scenery than anything else.  Mesa Verde is all about the ancient people who survived in this harsh land, than the beauty that can be found here.  After pouring over the maps that we picked up at the gate, Jess and I decided that we wanted to take at least one of the ranger led tours into a cliff dwelling.  We headed for the visitor center to sign up for one of the tours offered for the next day.  When we arrived we discovered that we could still go on the 7:00 twilight tour of Cliff Palace.  Great, that way the next day could be spent touring the other areas of the park.  We had a few hours until our tour so we drove down to Chapin Mesa where we enjoyed the exhibits at the museum, then took the trail to Spruce Tree House for our first look at a cliff dwelling.  Historians don't know exactly why the Ancestral Puebloans decided to build these villages in niches along the canyon walls.  It had to have been a very difficult life with the clans entire focus being centered on survival.  Our tour of Cliff Palace was fascinating.   We were able to climb down to the site and walk through the area where as many as 100 people lived.  Although these Native Americans inhabited the area around Mesa Verde for over 750 years, they only lived in the cliff dwellings for the last 100 years before leaving the area to move south into New Mexico and Arizona.
On Sunday we toured the remains of Far View.  This is an ancient farming community on the mesa.  The Puebloan people lived here before moving down into the cliff dwellings.  There have been nearly fifty villages identified in the area.
Our next undertaking was the 3 mile hike to see the Petroglyphs on the wall of the canyon beyond Spruce Tree house.  It was an adventurous hike up and down the cliff side.   After a ride through the Mesa Top Loop to see some pithouses and views of other dwellings along the canyon wall we called it a day and headed back to camp.  On every trip in and out of camp we were greeted by several mule deer and their fawns.

Spruce Tree House

Cliff Palace

A kiva, believed to be a ceramonial room.



A kiva at Far View House.



Pipe Shrine House

Petroglyphs

Pithouse built in AD 600.

Oak Tree House

This has been an amazing summer but it is now time to hit the road as we get back to the real world.

Days 61 & 62-July 29 & 30

Our first stop of the day is the visitor center at the entrance to Arches National Park.  We pick up a map and make a battle plan for our day.  Many of the amazing formations at Arches can be seen from the scenic drive through the park.  That is great, but we also want to see some of the arches that require some pretty strenuous hiking to see.  Unfortunately we have become spoiled by the cooler temperatures that we experienced prior to arriving in Utah.  Getting a good look at Balanced Rock is no problem and we were definitely up for the hike out to Turret Arch, the Windows and Double Arch.  By 2:30 we had also managed to see Sand Stone Arch, Broken Arch and Tapestry Arch, but the temperature was hovering around 100 degrees so we decided to call it a day. 
After supper and a few competitive cribbage games (I am starting to win my fair share) we do something we have not done all summer.  I set my phone alarm for 5:00 a.m. so that we could try to beat the heat while hiking to two arches that I don't want to miss. 
The sunrise was beautiful as it came over the horizon shining through the eyes of the windows.  Our first hike was the three miles to Delicate Arch.  This hike crosses an area of steep rock with no shade so it was a must to do before the heat of the day.  Seeing Delicate Arch as it stands alone on a bed of stone was well worth the hike.  The trailhead to Delicate Arch leaves from the homestead of John Wesley Wolfe who settled in the area in the late 1800's.   The home he built in 1906 when his family joined him is still standing.  It was quite modern for its day because it boasted a wooden floor.  I can not imagine trying to exist in the total isolation these people survived in.
My next quest was to see Landscape Arch.  This hike is only about 1.6 miles with a short side trip to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch.  Landscape Arch is much larger than the others.  It actually spans an area large enough to cover the length of a football field.  Part of the arch fell off a few years ago so visitors can no longer walk under it.  Time and the elements are taking their toll on this arch and someday it will no longer be here to enjoy.
After completing our mission for the morning we headed back to camp.  Jess took his nap while I worked on the blog, then it was time for an afternoon trip to Canyonlands National Park.  We expected this to be basically a drive through with a few picture taking stops.  Not so.  We hiked up to see an area called Upheaval Dome where there is a huge crater that geologists differ on their ideas of how it was formed.  Some actually believe that a meteor may have been the cause. The canyon views here are nothing short of incredible.  We were on a land formation called Island in the Sky.  It is a mesa bordered on one side by the canyon formed by the Green River and on the other side by the canyon formed by the Colorado River.  The vastness of the region is hard to grasp.  It rained off and on while we were in the park and we were thrilled by the sight of a rainbow as it formed over the canyon wall.
Our time is running short so we will not be able to visit other sections of this awesome park.

Rock formations in Arches NP.

The Three Gossips. Must have been named by a man.

Sheep Rock

One of the many hoodoos in the park.

Balanced Rock

Turret Arch

North and South Windows.

Double Arch

Roll Tide!

Broken Arch

Tapestry Arch

Sunrise as it peeks through the Windows.

Delicate Arch



Petroglyphs close to Wolfe Ranch.



The Wolfe homestead.

Landscape Arch

Our first view at Canyonlands NP.

Canyon framed by Mesa Arch.

The Green River.





Part of the Colorado River canyon.

Our rainbow.