Today, I need to find something to do. I had planned to go to Chaco Canyon today, but had to postpone (again!) due to rain. My plan after Chaco Canyon was to visit Santa Fe, so that’s where I ultimately headed. Heading north, I pulled off the road for the one thing I had to skip my previous time in Albuquerque. A road on the outskirts of the city heads to a state historic site, Coronado State Monument. People seeking the beauty spots of ancestral pueblos pass it by, but for those who want history it holds something unique. The site sits on the banks of the Rio Grande north of Albuquerque. It is yet another historic site with a misleading name; early archeologists thought Coronado camped near here. What they actually found was one of ... read more

Weeks of driving and hikes in hot, dry air and direct sunlight caught up to me today. I spent it recuperating. Just as well, because another cold front came through this afternoon bringing rain in its wake. While rain clouds are the literal source of life to the Navajo and Hopi who live here, they can wreck havoc with travel (see Oct 6th). I stayed at the Thunderbird Lodge in Chinle, one of the better lodgings in the area. Having said that, it’s basically a better than average motel with beautifully landscaped grounds. Given the relative lack of hotel options in Chinle, it’s also expensive. The lodge is owned by Navajo, but the culture only shows through artworks in various places and the well stocked url=http://www.tbirdlodge.com/G... read more

Most of far southeast Utah is covered by a large mesa, Cedar Mesa. Early pioneers mistook the juniper trees that cover it for cedars. The mesa gets much less notice that the National Parks to the north and west, because on first glance it’s less scenic. For those willing to explore, it contains numerous memorable sights. I began my time here at Edge of the Cedars State Park. Like ‘Capitol Reef’, it’s confusingly named. The park actually contains the ruins of a small pueblo, plus an incredible history museum. Cedar Mesa contains one of the highest concentrations of ancient puebloan ruins in the southwest, enough to make the collection at Mesa Verde (see Oct 2nd) look small by comparison. The major sites, like mos... read more

I drove out of Moab the way I came in, heading northwest. Just beyond town limits, I crossed something I didn’t notice in the dark, the Colorado River. Since I’m upstream of Glen Canyon Dam (see Oct 10th), the river looks the way a desert river should, muddy brown from silt. Red cliffs appear on all sides. Moab was founded here because it’s the only safe crossing spot for hundreds of miles. Past the river, the road enters the pair of slip faults from yesterday. It eventually encounters a lonely road junction at the entrance to a canyon to the east. The only thing here is a big sign discussing Canyonlands National Park. The road goes to another of the park’s four districts, the Island in the Sky. It’s a huge mesa located on the plateau ... read more

I liked watching Raiders of the Lost Ark growing up. I thought I couldn’t have that experience of finding the remains of long lost civilization on this trip, because anywhere I can reach safely has been explored for a century or more. Although that is true, parts of Utah can at least give the feel of heading off on a voyage of discovery. Today visits some of them. The drive starts heading east through the Fremont Canyon. It passes completely through the Waterpocket Fold. The state built a paved highway through the canyon as the replacement for the tricky drive through Capitol Gorge (see yesterday). East of Fruita steep red walls close in, until the road is sandwiched next to the river, the only place it can fit. A parking lot appears on the left, marked ... read more