Cruising the West (Day 1)
The weekend before last, the family and I hit the highway for what amounted to a miniature version of a great American road trip. We left our home in Northern UT early Friday morning and headed South to parts yet un-seen. Day one found us driving through the Southern UT red rock and Arches country and we made the best of it.
As it turns out, by luck or dicine intervention, we happened to land smack dab in the middle of the very hard to hit 3 week desert bloom season. What followed was an amazing sight of beautiful rock formations, scenic landscapes and surprising floral beauty. For anyone resigned to thinking that deserts are barren, lifeless, moonscapes... I offer the following. Enjoy!
A little reminder... The desert is ALIVE!
Balancing rock... obviously!?
This view is of a place called "Garden of Eden".
Can you believe this flower? I didn't even know this shrub bloomed!
A place called the "Windows". We hiked up with our lunches...
and this was the view from our "table".
If this old tree could tell stories???
I loved this flower! I could hardly believe something so delicate was out there.
Utah's famous "Delicate Arch"
The hills were almost glowing with the green haze of grasses. A sight seldom seen in this arid landscape!
Aren't these beautiful? They were all over the roadside.
This was one of our final views before leaving the park.
And of course, how could I not get a picture of this??
As it turns out, by luck or dicine intervention, we happened to land smack dab in the middle of the very hard to hit 3 week desert bloom season. What followed was an amazing sight of beautiful rock formations, scenic landscapes and surprising floral beauty. For anyone resigned to thinking that deserts are barren, lifeless, moonscapes... I offer the following. Enjoy!
A little reminder... The desert is ALIVE!
Balancing rock... obviously!?
This view is of a place called "Garden of Eden".
Can you believe this flower? I didn't even know this shrub bloomed!
A place called the "Windows". We hiked up with our lunches...
and this was the view from our "table".
If this old tree could tell stories???
I loved this flower! I could hardly believe something so delicate was out there.
Utah's famous "Delicate Arch"
The hills were almost glowing with the green haze of grasses. A sight seldom seen in this arid landscape!
Aren't these beautiful? They were all over the roadside.
This was one of our final views before leaving the park.It was truely a magical day of adventuring and getting to enjoy each others company.
After leaving Arches, we continued South through Moab and toward Cortez CO, on the way I found this tourist stop. I've tried to remember where it was at for many many years. I went here as a child and have always remembered it. It's a home that a man carved, by hand mind you, into the side of the native sandstone cliff. It was once he and his wifes home where they ran a small diner. Today it's a little tourist stop with a tour through the home. I HAD to take the boys through it. Hopefully they'll remember it as much as I did!
And of course, how could I not get a picture of this??
Hope you enjoyed the photo tour. Day 2 will find us in Mesa Verde CO. Home of the Ancestral Pueblo Cliff dwellers. Very very cool. You'll like it I promise!
Till next time.
P~
Till next time.
P~
2 comments:
Oh, my favorite time of year down in the desert! When I lived in SLC I used to always take a big camping trip down that way as soon as classes were out for the summer. If you get a chance, Boulder/Escalante are worth the drive (hike Lower Calf Creek Falls). There's a great BLM campsite called Chimney Rock just outside of Moab, along the river - a very nice spot (no potable water though). And driving the road south from Boulder to Bullfrog Bay is definitely worth it, even if you just do it as an out and back day trip.
Have fun!
Beautiful pictures Paul! Seems like you really hit the right season ;-)
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