Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014

On Monday of Labor Day weekend, we toured Dead Horse SP that is near Moab.  It overlooks the Canyonlands of Utah.  This is not as deep as the Grand Canyon and not as wide.  Stories are that it got is name from the fact that back in the 1800's, cowboys had herded wild horses onto one of the mesa's and put up brush to keep them in, but by the time they returned, the horses had died from lack of water.  Here are a few pictures from the overlooks in the park

View of Canyonlands from Dead Horse SP

Colorado River through Canyonlands

Potassium Chloride evaporation pools in base of canyon, that is the blue you see, they put a dye in it to speed the evaporation process.

Monitor and Merrimac on way to Dead Horse SP

We took a drive on a Scenic By-Way in Utah, route 279 that took us back into the canyons to the company that was doing the potassium chloride evaporation and it was interesting.  We did not get to see the work in progress, but the ride back into the canyon gave us the following pictures from within it.

Jug Handle Arch, plus on left, to me it looks like the end of a loaf of bread

Zoom of load of bread, no I wasn't hungry then either.

We moved on from Moab, Utah to just outside Cortez, Colorado after the Labor Day weekend was over and spent yesterday going through Mesa Verde National Park to see the cliff dwellings.  The pictures are below with some captions.

Spruce Tree House

Keyhole shaped doors in cliff dwellings

3 Amigos resting after walking or should I say climbing the trail to Spruce Tree House and back, not an easy one either!

Oak Tree House

Fire Temple, they don't believe they actually lived here, the fire pits are too big for cooking.  They were probably used for ceremonial purposes for large gatherings.

Cliff Palace

Sleeping Ute Mountains in the far distance, starting on the right side, they say this is the head and the tallest portion is the arms folded on his chest the rest is the rest of the body.

Today we took a ride to Durango Colorado and did some shopping and toured the city on the free trolley.
Closing this post for now, we are leaving tomorrow morning for the Grand Canyon.  It's going to be a long drive again tomorrow for the guys, about 280 miles, but we know they can do it, but I'm sure they will be tired this time tomorrow!