Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway

 

As I write this blog entry, it is Wednesday evening, we are in Alma, Arkansas, just outside of Fort Smith, and plan to meet up with Marcia's cousin Jim tomorrow for breakfast...he lives in Fort Smith.  After that, we are headed to Pine Bluff to visit one of my fellow Library workers, and then on to Florida.

This entry, however, deals with the Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway, a route we took earlier in the week while still in Moab.   The Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway is a 44.5 mile route which follows the Colorado River along a canyon.  We entered the Byway just north of Moab as it starts where Highway 191 crosses the Colorado River.  Most people don't take the time to travel the Byway...what a mistake that is.  It ends at the Ghost Town of Cisco, close to I-70.  We made the mistake to follow our GPS to the east at Cisco, which takes you on a very rough 8 miles until it reaches I-70.  Taking a left headed west takes you 2 miles on a smooth road, and easy access to I-70.  Either way, once on I-70 it is only an hours ride to Grand Junction, or 20 minute ride back to Highway 191.

There's about a dozen BLM Campgrounds along the Byway, most of them along the first five miles.  There's no water, no electricity, some have outhouses, and there is little to no Cell Service along the entire route.

      

 

 

The hardest thing about the drive is keeping your eye on the roadway...it is truly a stunning view.

 

 There are many areas along the river that rafters/boaters float west along the current.

 

      

 

The canyon widens and narrows back up.  At its widest point, I did get a little cell phone service, but it was spotty (both Verizon and T-Mobile)  The only way I would camp in the area is if I had a Starlink connection!

 

Eventually you cross the Colorado, and a few miles down the road the colorado turns to the southeast, and the road turns to the northeast.  The last couple of miles is just Utah desert, and then you come to the Ghost Town of Cisco...where there is one "store" (if you can call it that) which is open that sells beer and soft drinks...not sure what else, we did not stop.

 

We turned to the east and found a nice Rest Area/Welcome Center in Fruita.  Marcia had a prescription which needed filling, and although we ordered it Thursday morning, it was not ready until Monday.  So we found another scenic route to take while in Fruita...one that I had my eye one since the 1980's....  That will be our next posting.

 

 

Bday Party, SLC, and Today -- Island in the Sky, Canyonlands NP

 

Grand View at Island of the Sky, Canyonlands NP.  But before we got here...

 

...Granddaughter Addie had her third birthday party on Saturday.  About 20 adults, perhaps a few more, and ten kids, along with two babies, enjoyed a morning in the park behind my son's house.  People there, besides the parents,  included my daughter Stephanie, Grandma (known as GG to Addie) and her husband Brian, GG's sister Cindy, who lives in Sacramento, a couple of my kid's cousins, Anna's (son's wife and mother of Addie) mother and her sister, and a bunch of friends of Michael and Anna with all of their kids.  Above Addie is kicking her new soccer ball into the new net, both of which "we" gave her (at the request of Michael who said..."She is wanting to kick things now".  Good time by all....

 

So we left Monday for Salt Lake City (SLC), and arrived at "GG's" older sister Debbie's house on Tuesday.  We stayed for two nights, and we visited a Dog Park twice, I helped her with a few things, and enjoyed my visit with a former Sister-in-Law that I have known for 42 or 43 years...however we had lost touch with each other for the much of these past 20 years (my fault, divorce does silly things to you sometimes...)  This year we visited Debbie three times as we went through SLC, and camped in front of her house with our Camper Van.  Above are her two Golden Retrievers...Tucker on the left (5 years old) and Rookie on the right (9 years old).  These two dogs are so loving, and well trained.  I think over the years Debbie has owned five Goldens.

Thursday we left SLC around 1 pm, and drove to a rest area about 35 miles from Moab.  First thing to do in Moab was to go to the Maverik Gas Station on the south side of town to empty our grey and black tanks, get gas, buy some bottled water and get two coffees.  That done, and after a couple of phone calls, we headed to Island in the Sky, the northern portion of Canyonlands National Park. It is a pretty 45 miles drive which, with all the stops to get pictures and such, took us most of the rest of the day. 

 

 

There are SO MANY canyon areas, rock formations, and general landscape shots, that here are just a few.

  

As you can see...the effects of the California and Oregon fires have put smoke into the pictures too.

   

The rocks that have a reddish color are on the south side of "Island", the lighter tan colors on the north side.

If only the smoke was not part of the picture.  I guess you have to wait for a good rain storm, with a good wind, to blow all the crap out of the air to get the real "GOOD" shots. 

   

A few more views from the "Grand View" area.

 

Indy always keep an eye on me when I walk to an overlook to get pictures.  So very happy when daddy gets back.

 Panoramic view of the Green River overlook. 

I did not know there was a mini "Half Dome" like the original in Yosemite NP 

 

This area reminded us of a smaller Monument Valley...

We visited this area of Canyonlands National Park back in 2014.  We visited the southern area between then and now...and I am glad we revisited this area today.  There were no crowds, but the temps were hot...up to 98 degrees in some areas.   Tomorrow we will be in Arches National Park, which we have driven through about six or seven times already...just can't get enough of them Arches!  And Indy even got to visit a Dog Park in Moab, although there were no other dogs there...too hot!

 

To the Coolness of Colorado

 

Our stay in Green River was HOT!  Without shade, the motorhome struggled to keep the inside to a reasonable cool feeling, and sitting out in the shade did not make it any better.  Let alone, our little Indy Girl was not happy about the patch of grass we camped next to...not happy one bit.  Perhaps another park nearby might have more shade...but it was only for two nights, and the nights cooled down around 1 am.  YUCK!

After getting gas at $4.85...(amazing how the nothing town of Salina Utah was down to $4.18!), we headed east on I-70 for 25 miles, then south on to US-191 towards Moab.

Quickly off in the distance you can see the northwest tip of Arches National Park.

The closer you get to Moab, the prettier it gets.  The only complaint that I have, and I have had it for years, is the ...

... Power Lines and Power Stations that interfere with the view.  If you look close above, there are power lines along the entire bottom of the pictures...you can certainly see them at the bottom left of the picture.

And this picture here has a train, and the power lines in front of this gorgeous mountain.

Here is the entrance to the park.  Been to Arches around a dozen times in my lifetime, it is a very eye-catching, interesting, scenic park.  Although we considered going again this time, we did not want to add the 3-4 hours more to our drive into Colorado, and it was just too HOT to stay at a park in Moab.  Marcia has been to Arches 3 different times...so we did not feel it was worth it again.   The first time I took Marcia there it was totally a surprise to her.  We had been married for less than a half of a year, did not have our first motorhome yet.  Came to visit my daughter in Salt Lake City, and on the way home I choose the road through Moab.  As we left the park, being there for a mere 3 hours, Marcia calls my mom...the conversation went something like this.

"Hey ma, you know what your son just did to me?"

[I gulp]  Mom says, "I can't imagine..."

"He just took me through Arches National Park!  It is so gorgeous!"  [I wipe my brow]

The views in and around Moab are breathtaking...I guess that is why the town is growing in population...up by 35% since 1990.

We did drive by one arch, Wilson Arch, which can be seen in the middle of the picture above, and more easily in the picture below.

Beyond that are even different rock formations.  We did not get a picture of the Hole in Wall, one of the 'many' Hole in the Wall landmarks in Utah, one of which is certainly Butch Cassidy's Hole in the Wall.

We arrived at our destination around 1:30 pm, Target Tree Campground, a San Juan National Forest campground.  It is about 20 miles east of Cortez, at 7,600 feet.  Yes, we have shade.  It is currently (5:00 pm Tuesday) at 79 degrees, and it will be down in the mid to lower 50's tonight.  That is pretty much the forecast for yesterday, today, tomorrow...etc.   More about the park in tomorrows blog.