Here are some of our favorite photos from the trip (each photo is a thumbnail linked to a higher quality picture.):
1) Home, Nederland, Colorado, May 22 - This is the first trip we brought our new Zero S electric motorcycle along. Having it allowed us to park the RV wherever we were camping and ride the motorcycle to scenic overlooks and trailheads. We used it a few times but it's limited range with both of us aboard was a little disappointing.
2) BLM land, Burch Canyon Road, Blanding, Utah, May 23 - We arrived at Natural Bridges National Monument early in the evening but found the small campground already booked-up. Fortunately, there is BLM land right next door and we were able to find a great (free!) campsite just a couple of miles from the Monument. We did a little walk around to enjoy the scenery before settling in for the night. Unfortunately, a really late arriving van pulled in after dark and parked about 10' away from us but thankfully didn't disturb us during the night.
3) Sipapu Bridge, Natural Bridges National Monument, Blanding, Utah, May 24 - We started our visit to Natural Bridges National Monument by driving the loop road through the park to the first of the three bridges. We made the hike down into White Canyon to see Sipapu Bridge and this was our first glimpse at how prolific the wildflowers were in this area. All the snow in eastern Utah during the winter meant healthy plants in the spring so the wildflowers were exploding and the creeks were flowing with snow melt.
4) Kachina Bridge, Natural Bridges National Monument, Blanding, Utah, May 24 - After our morning out-and-back hike to see Sipapu Bridge we spent the rest of the day doing a much longer loop through the park. We started at the Kachina Bridge parking area. We dropped down into Armstrong Canyon and then hiked south through the canyon all the way around to Owachomo Bridge. However, the first stop was Kachina Bridge which was in a lovely cathedral of stone and the walls echoed with the cheerful noise of birdsong in the tall trees growing where the stream pools against the sandstone walls.
5) Armstrong Canyon, Natural Bridges National Monument, Blanding, Utah, May 24 - All throughout the Four Corners region the orange Globemallow flowers were prolific and vibrant.
6) Owachomo Bridge, Natural Bridges National Monument, Blanding, Utah, May 24 - We climbed up out of Armstrong Canyon at Owachomo Bridge. This arch is the smallest of the three bridges in the Monument but is the most delicate looking since the bridge is so thin. We stopped in the shadow of the arch and ate a snack while enjoying the view across the canyon.
7) Mesa Trail, Natural Bridges National Monument, Blanding, Utah, May 24 - To return to our camper we took the Mesa Trail that runs through the middle of the park and connects all three of the bridge parking areas. Up here "on top" the wildflowers were even more diverse and the cactus flowers were the stars of the show with gorgeous red, pink and yellow buds.
8) Moki Dugway, Valley Of The Gods, Mexican Hat, Utah, May 24 - After our day in Natural Bridges we headed south on scenic Utah Route 261 to the Moki Dugway - a series of steep switchbacks that drop down off the high mesa and down into Valley Of The Gods. We stopped at the first overlook and had our lunch while looking out at the vast landscape below.
9) Antelope House Overlook, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Navajo Nation, Chinle, Arizona, May 25 - After spending a night in Bluff, NM we drove south into the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona and set up camp in the campground of Canyon de Chelly National Monument. This National Monument is in the National Park Service but is run by the Navajo Nation Parks & Receation. There is a small visitor center and a campground just to the west of the canyon. All along the rims of the north and south canyons there are a series of overlooks. We took the Zero out and rode the length of the north canyon, which is called Canyon Del Muerto. Halfway along the length of Canyon Del Muerto is the Antelope House overlook and it is one of the most spectacular with steep walls pocketed with small caves that shelter cliff dwellings. From the rim you can also see the isolated farms of Navajo families who live down in the canyon.
10) Mummy Cave Overlook, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Navajo Nation, Chinle, Arizona, May 25 - Mummy Cave, out at the eastern end of Canyon Del Muerto, gives a closer view of cliff dwellings that are in the eastern end of the canyon. There are hundreds of dwellings scattered all throughout Canyon de Chelly so the overlooks along the rim only provide views of a small subset.
11) Spider Rocks Overlook, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Navajo Nation, Chinle, Arizona, May 25 - After stopping at the camper to have lunch, nap and recharge the Zero, we headed out in the evening to see the overlooks along the rim of the southern canyon, which is officially Canyon De Chelly. At the far end of Canyon De Chelly is the striking Spider Rock. It was lit by the setting sun while the rest of the canyon was already in sunset shadow. Wow!
12) Spider Rocks Overlook, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Navajo Nation, Chinle, Arizona, May 25 - An artsy shot of the Zero with the setting sun behind. While the range was less than we were expecting we did enjoy getting to zip around on the motorcycle to see things rather than driving the big camper.
13) Bear Trail, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Navajo Nation, Chinle, Arizona, May 26 - The Navajo restrict access into the canyon to guided tours. You can do guided horse rides, Jeep rides or hiking trips to go down into the canyon. We chose to do a hiking trip with Antelope House Tours and were met at the campground by Bryan Teller who drove us out to the top of Bear Trail which on the north rim of Canyon Del Muerto. From there we hiked down into the canyon near the Ledge House cliff dwelling.
14) Bear Trail, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Navajo Nation, Chinle, Arizona, May 26 - The views of the canyon as we descended were beautiful!
15) Bear Trail, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Navajo Nation, Chinle, Arizona, May 26 - Once down in the canyon we hiked east along Tsaile Creek to Ledge House. Along the way we stopped to see one of the Navajo farms and stopped at a rock formation that Bryan called Cat's Head rock. Ledge House was our turn-around and we backtracked out the same trail we'd hiked on the way in.
16) Hubbell's Trading Post, Ganado, Arizona, May 27 - The next day we continued south from Chinle before turning east to cross into New Mexico. In the town of Ganado, Arizona is Hubbell's Trading Post. Opened in 1878 this trading post is still operating as a goods supplier to the Navajo communities in this area and is now a National Historic Site. While we were visiting there was a free Ranger Program, part of a monthly series, where a local Navajo weaver is going through all the steps to weave a Navajo blanket. The previous month the program was so sheer the Trading Post's sheep. The program the day we were visiting was to wash and prepare the raw wool. Future programs would go through the process of carding the wool, spinning it into yarn, collecting natural plants, dying the wool, building a blanket frame and finally to weave a rug. Watching the washing wasn't the most exciting step but it was interesting to hear the weaver's stories and to see one small step in a fascinating process.
17) Hubbells Trading Post, Ganado, Arizona, May 27 - Inside the Trading Post there are locally made goods for sale, in addition to the food and supplies that are sold to the locals. The rugs were beautiful but, as expected, a bit outside our price range.
18) Church Rock Loop, Red Rock Park, Gallup, New Mexico, May 27 - We had reserved a camping site at Red Rock Park in Gallup in order to recharge the camper batteries and drain/fill with the camper's various tanks. While the campground wasn't anything to mention right next door was the Church Rock Loop Trail which we hiked in the afternoon soon after we arrived. This modest trail went up a small wash before climbing up onto the rim and making a loop along the base of Church Rock. It was quite scenic for a trail in a city park and we enjoyed getting to stretch our legs.
19) Wijiji Trail, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, Pueblo Pintado, New Mexico, May 28 - Our next stop was the Chaco Culture National Historic Park, aka Chaco Canyon. The drive in was brutal in the camper. We came in from the south which meant 30 miles of terrible washboard road. Once we got to the campground we rested for a little while to let our nerves calm down after three hours of rattling and then headed out to hike the nearby Wijiji Trail. This isn't the most exciting trail, just an old road but it leads to the Wijiji Pueblo which is the ruins of a small Ancestral Puebloan Great House. On the rock wall behind the ruins are some petroglyphs.
20) Wijiji Trail, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, Pueblo Pintado, New Mexico, May 28 - The most impressive thing about visiting Chaco Canyon is seeing the scale and technical expertise of the buildings there. These Ancestral Puebloan structures show how architecturally sophisticated this culture was, far more so than the smaller cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde and Canyon de Chelly. As you can see from this photo these 800 to 1000 year old walls (some of which are five stories tall at the largest of the Great Houses) are as strong and beautiful as those built for villages in England or Ireland during this same time period.
21) Pueblo Alto Trail, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, Pueblo Pintado, New Mexico, May 29 - For our second hike in Chaco Canyon we headed to the Pueblo Alto Trail. This trail is noteworthy because of how many Great Houses it passes: Pueblo del Arroyo, Kin Kletso, New Alto and Pueblo Alto, as well as overlooking Chatro Ketl and Pueblo Bonito. The trail started by climbing up through a steep, narrow crack in the cliff wall. Then once up on the rim of the canyon it followed an old Ancestral Puebloan road to the Pueblo Alto and New Alto Great Houses. The trail then circled back to the rim to overlook Chatro Ketl and Pueblo Bonito before closing the loop to decent back through the crack.
22) Pueblo Alto Trail, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, Pueblo Pintado, New Mexico, May 29 - There were many cool things to see on the Pueblo Alto Trail and one of the first was a bull snake we encountered who was sunning on the rocks on of the trail.
23) Pueblo Alto Trail, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, Pueblo Pintado, New Mexico, May 29 - The whole canyon rim was covered with a wide variety of colorful wildflowers but the most eye-catching of them were the Prickly Pear cactus blossoms which were so bright they would pop out against the dry landscape. Gorgeous!
24) Pueblo Alto Trail, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, Pueblo Pintado, New Mexico, May 29 - My favorite sight was seeing a male Collared Lizard up close. The patterns on it's back were dazzling and the red band on it's throat was equally splendid.
25) South Mesa Trail, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, Pueblo Pintado, New Mexico, May 30 - Our final hike in Chaco was the South Mesa Trail which we started from the Casa Rinconada trailhead. This hike was on the southern rim of the canyon and involved a climb up from the Casa Rinconada Community ruins out to the Tsin Kletzin Great House, then cicling around to the west to look into South Gap before dropping down into the valley and returning to the trailhead. The landscape on top of South Mesa was drier but still covered with wildflowers, especially bushes covered with very fragrant white/yellow flowers which grew right along the edge of the rim. The Tsin Kletzin site was unexcavated but the mound covering most of the site provided a nice panorama including looking north across Chaco Canyon to the north rim. The hike ended with Casa Rinconada - the Great Kiva which is an impressive site. Not as amazing a hike as the Pueblo Alto hike but it was still a good way to see more of Chaco Canyon.
26) Una Vida, Chaco Culture National Historic Park, Pueblo Pintado, New Mexico, May 30 - As we were leaving the park we stopped by the visitor center and made the very short walk to the Una Vida Great House ruins. High up on the cliff behind Una Vida were some very prominent petroglyphs - probably the best we saw on the whole trip.
27) Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, New Mexico, May 31 - The next stop on our tour of Ancestral Puebloan sites was the mis-named Aztec Ruins National Monument. We knew it was a small site so we planned to just do a quick "drive by". However, when we went in we saw that there would be a Ranger program in their re-constructed Great Kiva so we ended up staying longer than we'd originally planned. That gave us time to watch a film about the site, see all the exhibits in the small museum and walk through the ruins. The Ranger was entertaining and gave a good talk about the kiva so the longer visit was worth it.
28) Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, New Mexico, May 31 - The Great House at Aztec Ruins was in much better shape than the ones we'd seen at Chaco Canyon and being able to go inside an original, multi-floor dwelling gave a much better idea of what the rooms were like than just seeing the crumbling walls we'd been seeing for the past week. This view, looking through a series of perfectly aligned doorways, was particularly interesting.
29) Escalante Trail, Canyons Of The Ancients National Monument, Dolores, Colorado, June 1 - We'd read about Canyons of the Ancients National Monument before starting the trip but didn't know what to expect. We also knew the visitor center was closed for repairs so our expectactions were low. However, it turned out to be a fantastic place to visit. We started with a quick stop at the Visitor Center building where we found a Ranger working outside the closed building who gave us some suggestions on what to do during our visit. The area around the visitor center was dotted with berry bushes that were covered in beautiful white flowers.
30) Escalante Trail, Canyons Of The Ancients National Monument, Dolores, June 1 - We also made the short walk up Escalante Trail to the top of the hill above the Visitor Center. This provided a 360 degree panorama over McPhee Reservoir to the northeast and of Sleeping Ute Mountain to the south. There were the ruins of two small villages, Escalante Pueblo and Dominguez Pueblo, along the trail as well as signs identifying many of the plants in the area. Not bad for a 1/2 mile paved walk.
31) Lowry Pueblo, Canyons Of The Ancients National Monument, Dolores, June 1 - Our first stop in Canyons Of The Ancients after the visitor center was Lowry Pueblo. This site has a partially reconstructed Great House and a large Kiva. It wsan't anything particularly different from what we'd been seeing but not many people visit this area so it was nice to have the place to ourselves.
32) Painted Hand Pueblo, Canyons Of The Ancients National Monument, Dolores, June 1 - Our next stop was at Painted Hand Pueblo. If we thought Lowry Pueblo was quiet then this trail felt positively desolate. The trailhead is on a small dirt road off a similiarly small paved road all of which is miles and miles from anywhere. The trail runs along the edge of a rim before dropping down and undercutting the rim to get to a few small ruins which is highlighted by a tower build on top of a big boulder. Underneath the tower are some faint hand-print petroglyphs on the side of the boulder.
33) Painted Hand Pueblo, Canyons Of The Ancients National Monument, Dolores, June 1 - Another highlight of this trail were all of the Mariposa Lillies that were in bloom. There were hundreds of them and their pure white color was constrasted against the dry red/orange dirt.
34) Square Tower Trail, Hovenweep National Monument, Aneth, Utah, June 1 - For the final stop of this day we crossed the border back into Utah to visit Hovenweep National Monument. We got a spot in the park's campsite and then did a hike from there. First we walked over to the Visitor Center and then on the way back we did the Square Tower Trail which loops around Little Ruin canyon. The rim of this canyon is covered with ruins - there are probably a dozen different buildings along this trail. The most impressive is the Hovenweep Castle which is not only built on the very rim of the canyon but the only entrance is on a narrow shelf sticking out over the edge.
35) Sand Creek Trail, Canyons Of The Ancients National Monument, Cortez, Colorado, June 1 - The next day we returned to Colorado and to Canyons Of The Ancients, this time to hike the Sand Creek Trail. This turned out to be our favorite hike of the entire trip. We started at the southern trailhead and hiked north. Sand Creek Canyon is a double canyon with a narrow gorge inside of a much wider canyon. The trail runs along the upper rim of the inner gorge but there are numerous cliff dwellings built along the walls of the upper canyon. We got early start and the weather was amazing - cool temps, bright blue sky with just a few fluffy white clouds and just the lightest of breezes. The wildflowers were the best we'd seen yet on this trip. They were just spectacular.
36) Sand Creek Trail, Canyons Of The Ancients National Monument, Cortez, Colorado, June 2 - We hiked north on the Sand Creek Trail, stopping to see some of the cliff dwellings along the way, to the point were it starts a steep climb up out of the canyon.
37) Sand Creek Trail, Canyons Of The Ancients National Monument, Cortez, Colorado, June 2 - At that point we stopped to eat a snack and noticed fresh paw prints in the sandy trail. It had rained there the previous evening so we could tell the kitty had come through during the night or earlier this morning. Maybe a young mountain lion or, more probably, a bobcat. We turned back at this point because the morning's fluffy clouds had turned into heavier cloud cover and the breeze was starting to pick up. The rain held off and we took the time to check out a couple of side spur trails on the way back that we'd skipped as we hiked north.
38) South Rim Trail, Johnson Canyon, Ute Mountain Reservation, Towaoc, Colorado, June 3 - Another thing we'd read about when researching this area were tours offered by the Ute Mountain Reservation. We had enjoyed doing a guided tour in Canyon de Chelly so we decided to try the full day guided tour of Johnson Canyon in the Ute Rservation. Our guide, Wolf, had been guiding trips for over forty years and was excellent. Even better, we paid extra to ride in the guide's truck rather than just following in our own vehicle. (As it turned out our camper would never have made the drive so this worked out in multiple ways). The drive to Johnson Canyon took about 40 minutes and being able to talk with the Wolf during that time gave us an opportunity to learn about him, the modern Ute people, the history of the Reservation and the Ute view of the Ancestral Puebloans. The tour consisted of two hikes, one on the south rim of Johnson Canyon and a second on the north rim. The landscape was spectacular and the ruins were amazing. We were also able to, respectfully, go into the ruins which was a special experience.
39) Eagle's Nest, North Rim Trail, Johnson Canyon, Ute Mountain Reservation, Towaoc, Colorado, June 3 - The highlight of the canyon was visiting the Eagle's Next cliff dwelling. This ruin was high up on the cliff, only accessible via a tall ladder that climbs up onto a narrow ledge. The view out over the canyon from the Eagle's Nest was stunning. However, the most amazing moment of the north rim hike was when Wolf lead us into a collapsed kiva and un-covered an 800 year old sacred pot that was hidden inside one of the ruins. Well worth the price and one of our favorite experiences of this trip.
40) 11th Street Station, Durango, Colorado, June 3 - Before we left on this trip we learned that our musician friend, and fellow Nederland resident, Eric Richard Stone was going to be playing a gig in Durango, Colorado with his band StoneHall while we were going to be in the area. So, after our excellent tour in Ute Reservation we made the one hour drive from Cortez to Durango and surprised Eric by showing up for his performance. As it turns out we were in for a surprise as well because our friends Dave and Jessica, also from Nederland, were camping in the area and they also popped in to surprise Eric. We ended up sharing a table, swapping camping stories and listened to some great music. A fine end to a fine day.
41) Point Lookout Trail, Mesa Verde National Park, Mancos, Colorado, June 4 - After so many days of back-to-back hiking we woke up tired and struggling for motivation but after finding a coffee shop where we could buy some caffeine we managed to find the energy to do another hike, albeit a short one. We drove into nearby Mesa Verde National Park and headed for the campground where the Point Lookout trail climbs up a towering knife-edge ridge called, naturally Point Lookout. The trail has over two dozen switchbacks as it climbs the western face of the ridge and then levels off on top to go all the way to the north end where there is a near 360 degree panorama looking across Mancos valley to the San Juan and La Plata Mountains. We stood on the edge of a 600 foot high ledge and basked in the expansive view. It was a short (but steep!) hike that normally wouldn't count for a day's achievement but given our lack of motivation in the morning we thought it was an decent accomplishment for the day.
42) David Sipes Folk Art, Mancos, Colorado, June 4 - After our morning hike we grabbed a free shower at the campground store and then had lunch at a scenic overlook in Mesa Verde National Park. Then we drove a few miles east to check out David Sipes' Folk Art studio which is easy to spot because of the fenceline of sculptures alongside US-160. The sheer quantity of artwork is impressive - there are thousands of pieces scattered throughout a handful of sheds, barns, cabins and houses. We enjoyed wandering around the property looking at all the different figures.
43) Chacoan Great House Pueblo, Chimney Rock National Monument, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, June 6 - For our final stop of this trip we headed east across southern Colorado to Pagosa Springs. We took a down day to check out Pagosa Springs and then to relax in the camper. The next day we visited our final Ancestral Puebloan site - Chimney Rock National Monument. We had signed up for an early morning Ranger Program at Chimney Rock and it turned out to be a private tour since no one else showed up. We committed to the program a few weeks before we started on this trip and even then we guessed we'd have overloaded on Ancestral Puebloan culture by the time we got to Chimney Rock so signed up for a geology talk instead of a cultural one. This was perfect! The tour was done by a volunteer and he was both enthusiastic and knowledgeable. We spent two hours walking around Chimney Rock talking about the geology of the area, the architecture and astronomy of Ancestral Pueblos and the things that make this site's Great House unique within the greater Chaco culture.
44) Chacoan Great House Pueblo, Chimney Rock National Monument, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, June 6 - We ended the tour by climbing to the top of the Chimney Rock Great House and looking across at the actual rock structures that are Chimney Rock. There was a Peregrine Falcon nest up at the top of the rocks so we finished up by watching a falcon circle over the top of the monument.
45) Coyote Hill Loop #314 Trail, Pagosa Ranger District, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, June 6 - Despite spending the morning on the (very good) tour at Chimeny Rock we actually only walked about a mile. So after having a picnic lunch near the Chimney Rock visitor center we drove to a trail system that is northwest of Pagosa Springs to do one of the hikes there. We chose the Coyote Hill Loop trail and it was a great pick. This trail is at a higher elevation than we've been previously on this trip and the alpine wildflowers were in full bloom. There were purple, pink, yellow and white flowers carpeting the hillsides and the marshy low points were filled with big patches of purple irises.
46) Coyote Hill Loop #314 Trail, Pagosa Ranger District, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, June 6 - The San Juan mountains and Pagosa Peak were prominent features on the horizon. We had sunshine and warm temperatures but dark clouds were forming as we hiked and rain was forecast for the evening so we were lucky to have such perfect hiking weather. A fine way to finish off our two weeks of hiking while on the road!
47) Coyote Hill Loop #314 Trail, Pagosa Ranger District, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, June 6 - For a final picture to finish off this trip report, here is one highlighting another of the incredible wildflowers we saw all throughout this trip. There was a hillside along the #314 Trail that was completely covered perfect yellow Arrowleaf Balsamroot flowers. A ray of of sunshine in plant form.
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