At the Grand Canyon

We're on the North Rim. The wi-fi here is primitive (it seems only one computer can access it at a time and even then it's a trial . . .) so we will post when we can. We've got campsites for tonight (Wed), tomorrow, and Friday (all different sites, but at least we're not sleeping in the car) so it might be the weekend before we can post again.

Hey, Them’s Some Big Rocks

Hey did you know, there’s this nifty place called Monument Valley along the Arizona/Utah border? We’d heard of it, vaguely, but didn’t think much about it until the landscape started to get interesting and road signs popped up. It was only about 20 miles out of the way (one way) so we decided to go for it.

It was definitely worth the 11 mile bone jarring, unpaved ride through the area. Essentially, the formations are a soft sandstone capped by a harder rock that slows down the erosion of the sandstone.

Four Corners Decision

Hey, how can you get out here and not contort yourself so all your limbs are in different states? Plus, we have a nifty photo of Arizona taken from the Four Corners Monument in 1970 thanks to our neighbor Jill. The plan was to get to the monument, eat from the vendors we’d heard about, and then decide where to go.

There is nothing for miles around until the monument itself which is surrounded by artisans, souvenir stands, and three food vendors all offering variations on fry bread. Mainly, though, it was hot. Brutally, unrelentingly hot. After $12 to Navajo Nation (following the $3 per person entrance fee), we were somewhat fed. We took the obligatory photos then we laid our map of Utah on the hood of the car and were promptly blinded by the reflection of the sun. There is no break from the sun and heat there. No hint of shade. We made a hasty decision to head to Capitol Reef and use it as a base to see Arches as well, since they looked close together. Ten miles down the road, after the A/C had cleared our brains, we pulled over to re-assess. We didn’t want to risk missing the “big name” places on this trip. We know we’ll come back to this region but we didn’t want to rush through things. So we decided to head for Zion and Bryce. Problem was, as they say in Maine, you can’t get there from here. We would have to drive out of our way many miles, either to the north or the south. It seemed a bit shorter to go the southern route, so we were Arizona bound.

Decision Time

Not 100% sure where to go next. Today is shaping up to be about 10-15 degrees warmer than we’ve had so far (mid-to-upper 70s for highs) so we’ll want to stay in the A/C as much as we can (supposed to cool down tomorrow). This might mean we head for Monument Park before entering Utah.

Cliff Dwellings

While the cliff dwellings are the most spectacular and famous attractions here, they represent fewer than 600 of the more than 4,000 archaeological sites in the area.

The alcoves which serve as the “foundations” of the dwellings occur naturally throughout the region. Sandstone is extremely porous and as the water which it has absorbed freezes and thaws, chunks of the rock break away from the cliff faces, creating the alcoves. Here’s a very small scale version of an alcove we discovered en route to the Spruce Tree House.

Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde is billed as the only National Park dedicated to preserving the works of man. It was also named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978, underscoring its importance to the global community. So while it has the stunning vistas and jaw-dropping beauty we’ve come to expect from parks in this region of the country, much of what the park has to offer revolves around the ruins of the Ancestral Pueblo sites. (The term Anasazi has been used for many years to refer to this group but it has fallen out of favor as there are living descendents of the Pueblos still practicing many of their traditions today.)

We took tours of Cliff Palace (missing our 10 AM time due to the mishap previously outlined) and Balcony House. We also went on a self-guided walk to Spruce Tree House and drove the Mesa Top Loop Road. We feel that gave us a pretty good overview of what the Park had to offer.

In a nutshell, the Park traces the evolution of a people living in the region over the course of approximately 1200 years. They began as semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers, settled in the Mesa Verde area around 750 A.D. and starting digging shallow pit houses. Gradually these pit houses became deeper, and a new type of above ground construction developed, and over time these were grouped into gradually expanding villages. Around 1100 some of the people living in the area began constructing their homes and villages under alcoves in the area, resulting in the cliff dwellings. Between 1200 and 1300 A.D., they left for reasons which are not entirely known but likely involve a drought accompanied by a shortage of wood and other important resources.

Apologies to Stacy at Budget Emergency Roadside Assistance

En route to the site tours we’d bought timed tickets to, we hopped out of the car at the motor lodge, and Scott put the keys in the left front pocket of his jeans. The wi-fi in the lobby was great, it even had a power outlet if Scott was ok with sitting on an end table. With 20 minutes to spare before our 10 AM tour of Cliff Palace, Scott picked up the car keys from the table he was sitting on and we headed out the door. (Those of you who are good at naming the murderer before Agatha Christie does can see where this is headed.) Arriving at our car, we discovered that the keyless entry button no longer worked, and strangely, while the key fit into the lock, it wouldn’t turn. Fortunately, we’d left the back door window down just enough to fit an arm into, so we reached in and unlocked the door. Scott sat in the front seat and the car exploded in a wall of sound and light as the horn and hazards went off in tandem. He quickly inserted the key into the ignition, it fit, but, like the door, it wouldn’t turn. It was as if we were breaking into our own car. Scott began pushing buttons on the remote. Somewhere off in the distance, a car horn sounded in sympathy. Eventually, the fuss and bother settled down and we were left in silence to plot our next move. Nothing was working, so we called Budget. The woman answering the phone laughed at Scott and gave him the roadside assistance line. Stacy asked the usual “tech support” questions: are you using the right keys? (Of course, there’s the four-button remote, two black Chevy keys, and an ID tag.) Are you entering the correct car? (Yep, all our stuff’s in there.) Apparently, sometimes turning the steering wheel simultaneously with the ignition key can help. Amy ran out to try this while Scott kept Stacy on the line. He mentioned that there was no owner’s manual for us to check out. Apparently, it’s now common for rental car companies to put that in the trunk with the spare tire. Owner’s manual theft is a problem these days. Who knew? Amy’s attempt proved futile but Stacy said lots of times someone comes out and it starts right up, so she wanted us to do more turning and pressing and give her a ring back if it didn’t work. Being good doobies, we headed back to the parking lot. Getting into the car created explosion #2. Amy emptied the (stuffed) trunk, while Scott pressed buttons, turned steering wheels and attempted to crank the starter. A distant car horn sounded in sympathy. Eventually, Scott began to notice a correlation between his button pressing and the distant car horn. He wandered off to investigate while Amy frantically pawed through the owner’s manual. Strangely, our remote seemed to be working just fine on a different Chevy. Light bulbs went off (in Scott’s head this time) and Scott ran back into the motor lodge to return the keys for the white Chevy Malibu. And found our keys in his pocket. But hey, at least now we can figure out how the radio works!

Ah Amenities

Now that we’ve got you hooked on Black Canyon of the Gunnison, there’s one other thing we should mention: All water must be trucked in from a town 14 miles away. This means vault toilets and no showers. Not even enough running water to wet a washcloth and get a sponge bath.

So we were thrilled to arrive at Mesa Verde. The more we explored, the more it seemed like Grand Teton; there’s no reason to ever leave the park. Showers were included with the $24.05 nightly tenting charge, they had a store which sold food basics and ice for our cooler, a coin-op laundry, and free wi-fi in the lobby of the lodge in the middle of the park. One of us went 52 consecutive hours in the same pair of underwear and was eager for a shower Monday morning. The all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast was forgettable, but nonetheless a nice break from our typical morning meal of pop tarts and breakfast bars.

Four New (for us) Road Signs

The first, en route to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, was merely a black silhouette of a bighorn sheep against a yellow background with the words Next 3 Miles. The second sign, just south of Ouray along Route 550, read “Avalanche area, no stopping or standing next mile.” The third, less than a mile from the second was simply a Black sideways S “10 M.P.H.” (Route 550 is as major a road as it gets around here.) Finally, we saw a large elk sign, a la the bighorn, but with no words.

The Drive to Mesa Verde

The drive after Montrose, through Ouray and Silverton, has been way beyond anything we’ve ever seen before. Even better than yesterday. Mile after mile of outrageous views, incredible hairpin turns and sheer cliff drop offs. Simply stunning. Ouray in particular combined a charming Victorian village with surrounding red rock cliffs, snow capped mountains, and fast running creeks with Cottonwoods.

Scale

It’s very hard to take in, let alone describe, the feeling of this place. So, here we go:

Those are full grown trees on the top.

That little white area on the bottom? A raging river.

(Hint: click on the picture for a bigger view.)

BC o’ the G

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is stunning. One of our newer National Parks, it was established in 1999. Prior to that, it had been a National Monument (the difference, as explained by Ranger Esther Weeks, is that a Monument is established by a president, a Park by Congress.) The two rims are quite different from each other. The North Rim gets a lot more sun, so the snow melts more quickly. The South Rim stays snow covered longer, so has a lot more erosion from freezing and thawing, creating a sheer cliff face of 2,000 feet for the North Rim and a somewhat more gentle drop off with some vegetation on the South Rim. The area of the canyon was formed first by a lot of tectonic uplifting. The river, because of its very steep slope, is exceptionally powerful, and cuts through the hard rock. There was also considerable molten lava in the area, leading to some vertical rock formations similar in style to Devil’s Tower. Add that to the fact that river rock has been found on the top of the canyon, and it must really be a geologist’s playground. Another interesting feature is a tunnel built in the 1900’s to bring water from the Gunnison River to the valley on the other side of the mountains. Can’t imagine how they did it. It’s been proclaimed an historical engineering feat.

Smokin’ Jack’s BBQ Pit

If you’re ever in or near Poncha Springs, CO this is well worth grabbing a meal at. The view’s not bad, either.

Colorado is Just Freakin’ Gorgeous

After some fiddling with the GPS (which claimed the fastest route to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park was about a hundred miles longer than the route Google Maps suggested) we found ourselves driving through absolutely jaw-dropping scenery. It was a 300 mile ride to rival anything we’ve ever seen before, including Going to the Sun Road in Glacier N.P. Snow-capped mountains, gorgeous valleys complete with cattle, evergreens as far as the eye could see in spots, Aspens just beginning to leaf out in others. There just aren’t words. (Nor are there pictures, as our GPS was indicating a post 10 PM arrival at the campground. We were just making time.) The temperature gauge fluctuated wildly, up as high as 79 or 80 and down to the low 50s, as we traversed the mountains.

A Long Wait Yields a Sweet Ride

Everything about the trip out to CO went smoothly (in spite of our mild surprise that we didn’t have a non-stop flight after all, turns out we were just two of seven people who didn’t get off the plane in Chicago) until we arrived at the Budget rental car offices. There we were greeted by a lengthy line out the door (we were number 51) due to a national computer system outage (turns out that Alamo and one other rental company were similarly crippled) that forced employees to do everything manually. We were in line for close to an hour but the computers were up by the time we got to the front. The agent who helped us was very nice and even post-poned a clearly much-needed cigarette break to ensure that we got the most fuel-efficient car available. A customer had just returned a silver Chevy Cobalt Sport, our mobile home/office for the next 2.5 weeks. This thing is loaded: heated leather seats, sunroof, XM radio (reminds us of why we cancelled our cable TV . . . 175 channels and nuthin’ on), outdoor temperature gauge, two cigarette lighter power jacks, OnStar, and enough room in the trunk and back seat to accommodate all of our luggage. The info panel says that throughout the 7,382 miles it had been previously driven, it got 28 mpg. All it’s missing is the owner’s manual to tell us how to work everything. Not bad for $14 a day.