On Friday, September 15, we joined several other couples from the RV tour on a rafting trip down the Colorado River.  It was not nearly as exciting as it sounds.  The snow melt is nearly gone at this time of year, so the white water is nearly nonexistent.  The dramatic rain storm the day before had added water volume, but it was not white water.  This was brown water, as in mud.  I suppose this is typical Colorado River water, since John Wesley Powell said of this river that it was "too thick to drink and too thin to plow."  It was a time when several of us on the tour got to know each other better as the raft very slowly floated down a short section of the river.  The raft helmsman did deliver a short lecture on the rock formations and history of the area, including movies made here.  He, like others, recommended the movie museum up the road which documents the very many movies made in the Moab area.

On Saturday we drove to Arches National Park, since this would be our last chance to see the main attraction here.  We missed the bus tour on our first day due to my having a doctor's appointment for my knee.   When we drove up to the rising-altitude entrance to the park, we first were reminded of our trip in 2011.  I had forgotten how far you have to climb to get to this park.  Then we were amazed by the enormity of the rocks in this park.  The rocks are not all that different from what we had seen before in this trip, but the sheer size of them is staggering.  As you drive along, you are dwarfed by the overwhelming perspective of your shrinking self next to these towering walls that loom over you.  The next surprise was the very long line of cars and even motorhomes waiting to get into the park entrance.  This was not the case back in 2011.  Once again, this shows how many foreigners are entering our national parks.  We met people from various countries who fly into a nearby airport and rent a small motorhome to use in touring our national parks.  After we got in, we drove through most of the attractions and took photos, even though this was not the time of day for good light.  Like other tourists, we shoot photos while we can whatever the light may be.  You need to live here to have the right opportunities for good photography.  The road to The Delicate Arch was closed due to being flooded from the rains.  The difference between these rock formations and others we have seen on this trip is how close you can get to them driving a car and the number of arches or natural bridges all in a relatively small area.   Other areas may have similar formations but are scattered far and wide, requiring a long drive and hike to see them up close.  In Arches National Park, it is all up close and in your face as you drive by.

This site is called The Garden of Eden.  Go figure.

The Double Arch.  Note how small the people are.

Betty at the Double Arch

Elephant Rock

Mule deer along Devils Garden trail

Flashback from the 60's at Devils Garden parking lot

After leaving Arches National Park, we drove to Red Cliff Lodge and Museum on Rt 128.  This is the road that the light trucks drove when performing the light show while we were on the "dinner cruise" on Wednesday.  The early owner of the ranch was a friend of John Wayne and encouraged him to have movies shot in this area.  The "lodge" (actually a collection of cabins) was built to house the actors, director, etc since nowhere else existed nearby to stay.  John Ford liked it nearly as much as he liked Monument Valley.  The current owner has added the museum and restaurant.  The museum documents the many movies made here and shows a video of the history of movie making in the Moab area.  The action hero actors love the area due to the dangerous pastimes afforded vistors, things like renting Jeeps, Hummers, ATVs, etc to use cruising along cliffs with thousand-foot drop-offs.  The early movies were Westerns; the more recent movies emphasize the dramatic (and very dangerous) topography here, with cars racing on the edge of mountains, helicopters racing after people on mountain roads, climbers dangling off thousand-foot cliffs by the fingers of one hand, etc.

Inside the Cowboy Museum, Moab, UT

One of the dummies used in the final scene of Thelma and Louise

Blooming cactus out side Red Cliff Museum

On Sunday we left Moab for Mesa Verde KOA in Cortez, CO.  It was a relatively short drive, but the winds again became a chore to drive through once we got near Rt 491 in southeast Utah headed toward Colorado.  The desert became farmland along this route, but the weather increasingly foretold rain, which materialized as we approached Cortez.  It turns out that Cortez is a more upscale town than we had passed through, with several nice stores and a generally clean and neat appearance.  Since the drive was rather short (arrived at 2 pm), and the storm passed through quickly, we decided to drive into Mesa Verde National Park to check out the hike to Cliff Palace, which others on our tour had said would be too hard for us to undertake.  The ranger at the visitors center said it was the easiest attraction in the park.  Then we drove to the overlook where it begins and took photos of the stairway leading in, the pathway from that point to the cliff dwellings, etc to show to the others.  Some believed us and others would not.  The drive to that part of the park was an adventure in itself.  At the visitors center one can look into the distance to see the prominence of a very large mesa looming over all surrounding land.  It turns out that that is the majority of the park and where all cliff dwellings are located.  To get there you drive 25 miles along switchback roads along sheer cliffs over and over in a tiresome pattern.  That is where Cliff Palace and other major cliff dwelling locations are located.  About halfway along the route is where Far View Lodge and Lounge are located.  We ate at the lounge Sunday night.  Another long mountain road launches out from Far View that leads to yet more cliff dwellings like Long House which we would visit after Cliff Palace.   To see a beautiful video of this tour, click here:  Cliff Palace Tour

Mesa Verde KOA RV Park

Huge green mesa looming over all surrounding land

Far View Lounge where we ate supper

On Monday morning we had to get up at 5 am to get ready to leave at 6:45 am to drive to Far View for leaving on a bus by 8 am.  We already knew it would not take that long, but we are on a tour and must follow the herd.  We arrived before 7:30 am and waited in the restaurant sipping coffee.  We loaded onto the bus that would eventually go to the Cliff Palace around 8 am and headed off for a few stops to hear lectures about things we had already heard about, but a little new information was received.  We saw exhibits of kivas, pithouses, pueblo foundations, etc.  We learned about the many uses of yucca plants and Utah juniper bark.  At about 10:20 am we arrived at the Cliff Palace lookout to get in line for the 10:30 am tour.  I had mounted my GoPro camera onto my hat to record for others what this tour involves.  After declining the metal starcase, one enters a narrow passage between large rocks walking on stone steps carved by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) in the 1930's.  After that it is one 8-foot ladder to the pathway into the dwellings. It turns out that the most complicated part of the hike is at the very end when one leaves for the exit route, which involves narrow passageways and sharp turns to embedded ladders.  No overweight people need apply.  It is tedious but not hard.  Parents herding small unruly children would have trouble.  The Cliff Palace is impressive to look at, but unlike many other such exhibits, you do not actually enter the dwellings to any significant degree.  You only look inside through windows or down into open kivas.

Pithouse and anteroom

Pithouse

Metal stairway leading to Cliff  Palace

View down to Cliff Palace

View inside window of only viewable dwelling

Once the tour was over, we joined another couple for lunch, then continued on to the Long House.  This required another long tedious drive on a second road from Far View.  We finally got to an outpost that was the remains of a typical exhibit.  It looked like a flea market but was what remained after a fire consumed much of the original.  Pretty dismal looking.  The ranger there led us with a group to the Long House dwellings.  It included a long hike on a paved road.  Shuttle buses used to take you there but now they make you walk.  The walk on this road is the most tiring part of the tour.  Once you are at the Long House trail head, you hike a trail much like the others, winding up and down on carved stone steps, etc.  The Long House allowed entry to some dwellings and was actually more interesting than the Cliff Palace.  The most strenuous exhibit in the park is the Balcony House, which we skipped.  Maybe next time.  I shot these photos with my DSLR rather than take the GoPro, so no video is available for this journey.

Stairway down to start of trail to Long House

Continuing down

... And the trail continues to wind its way

Until you reach the Long House dwellings

See ladders leading up to dwellings

View at top of last ladder

View from inside one dwelling

View from inside another dwelling

Natural source of water inside one dwelling

Some dwellings connected by tunnels

View from far side of Long House dwellings

Then it's time to return back to the trail head  

Today, Tuesday, while others are driving mountain roads up to Telluride to see the scenery, we are relaxing.  We need the rest.  Enough of mountain roads, no matter how scenic.  Betty is scheduled for a pedicure in Cortez this afternoon.  I am updating this blog and working on photos.  

The overall impression of Mesa Verde that one takes away is how far everything is to reach.  Tour buses are everywhere teetering along these mountain roads, but if you are not from a mountainous area, it is very tiring to drive these roads.  Yesterday afternoon the dashboard display in our Jeep said to have the transmission serviced due to being overworked on those roads.  After turning off the motor and letting it rest, the display cleared, but an engine symbol appeared.  The manual said that this symbol may go away after a few engine cycles (it did the next day).  This all occurred due to downshifting to save the brakes as we swirled down the mountain roads like water down a drain.  Then you have to climb like mad to continue on that same road only to decline once again long and deep.  This must wear out cars in short order.  I feel like I am worn out already just driving it.