Chapter 655

8/26-9/2 , 2023

Colorado & Utah 2023

too much is not enough

link to Colorado & Utah picture folder

Here we go again.  Do we HAVE to "see everything" once in a lifetime?  We had another whirlwind trip out west and it was wonderful although tiring. Landed in Denver then transfer flight to Montrose, Colorado. Hit a craft brewery here and at just about every stop. Lodging at a quaint  Old School Lodge.

Rent a car drive north to this Black Rock Canyon of the Gunnison National Forest. Spoke to Amish family & allowed to photograph. They moved from Pennsylvania to live in Colorado. He was driving a big black Ford pickup truck.

Then next day to Palisade for wine tasting at Colterris and Talon Wineries and hit a Peach Fest Farmers Market by chance.

Then drive from Montrose to Moab was our longest of the trip at 3 hours thorough the 20 mile Colorado National Monument. Some foolish teens balancing on the edges while their mother begs them to stop. Massive canyons - a little scary curves on edge of drop offs with no guard rails.  If you drive off the road you die.

We hit  Arches National Park about 4:30pm just to the visitor center. It was about 95 degrees and could hardly stand it to just walk from parking lot into the center. Lodging at Wingate by Wyndam at Moab, Utah for three nights.

The next day we went back by sunrise when it was cooler. Not a big fan of balancing rocks but it was beautiful in the morning sun.

Oh yeah, we got in free with my senior pass- used and saved hundreds of $ on this trip.

The classic arches shots while dramatic, seem boring to me. But when I walked throught the window to the other side for this shot it was like a whole new world opened up. It felt spiritual as in a nether world. It seemed like an indian spirit (and face) was there in the sunlight.

Only did a little bit of hiking trails with the high heat. So we mostly drove through the vast 23 mile long  Canyonlands National Park near by. Had started down the 4WD Shafer Trail dirt road in the canyon but opted to do a turnaround.

Drove up the steep cliff to the Sunset Grill for dinner overlooking Moab. The interesting thing about the place is that it was the family home of Charlie Steen who put Moab on the map in the 1950's as the Uranium Capital of the World. The restaurant was full of uranium memorbilia like geiger counters and mining photos. I believe his main claim was the Mi Vida Mine in the Lisbon Valley in the town of La Sal on the nearby La Sal Mountain range.  Some believe French scientist Madame Curie who discovered radium in Uranium visited this area on her trip to the US in 1899 (before her death of radiation poisoning).  I had noticed the hazdardous waste remediation site nearby next to the Colorado River and the Arches.

No one talks about this "yellow cake"  Uranium Mining Tailings Remediation Action ( UMTRA ) site right next to the Arches National Park in the back ground. The park access road is actually on UMTRA property. Charlie Steen's multi million dollar Moab Mill uranium processing site was right here in 1956. They just dumped the tailings in an unlined pit. But the US wanted the uranium to make atomic bombs. Changed hands a few times, then bankrupcy, then the Atomic Energy Commission, now the U.S. Department of Energy has remediated it for the last 20 years. Currently they are about 80% finished with a decade to go. They haul away 20,000 tons a week on railroad container cars to bury some 20 miles north of here. They have extraction and injection wells in an attempt to protect the air, ground water surface soils and the Colorado River.

Colleen was having a fit as I approached the security shack to ask questions, thought I was going to be arrested. The guard told me everything was verboden, could not even enter the route 249, which I did to take pictures -[ it's a State Scenic Highway for petes sake].

Colorado right next door has a prominent history involving uranium.

Took a drive up to Red Cliffs Lodge and their Western Movie Museum we venturned into the La Sal Mountains. On way back getting gas came upon "Scooter Trash" who had no particular home and had been a gypsy on his bike for 4 years. Heading to a wedding in California and wanted to do 4 more hours through the night to avoid the hot daytime riding temps. Gave him 20 bucks for gas.

On our drive from Moab to Durango, Colorado we stopped by the Mesa Verde National Park. I was not thrilled with the 40 mile hour long round trip drive across the mesa then to only find out we could not walk down to the ruins without the extra tour guide cost. It's OK, I don't favor guided tours anyway. But I did like this native sculpture outside the visitor center. It should be facing 180 degrees opposite so the sun hits his face. Had to give it a serious edit for the face to not be all black.

Lodging at the 1887  Strater Hotel was outstanding for two nights. Visited the impressive Durango Silverton Railroad museum. Thought the day long steam train trip would have been impressive along the cliffs but too long. Hiked the Skywalk up to Fort Lewis College where we talked with a student who happened to be a Hopi from Arizona. Had wanted to stay in his reservation when we visited there but it didn't work out. The apricot trees were dropping fruit all over the streets. A Rolls Royce tour had stopped at our hotel overnight. Plenty of mountain bike, Jeep, four wheeler tours, hang gliding etc all around. People are pretty healthy here.

Ride from Durango to Telluride was through the beautiful the San Juan mountains and National Forests.

We took the free gondola from the village up to the Station Mountain Village ski area and back down. It's beautiful but for the wealthy; the 50th Telluride Film Festival was going on creating a congestion.

Continued on to Ouray, one of the most beautiful spots in America. Lodging at Hot Springs Inn for just one night. Beautiful stream running right behind our balcony.

Colleen wanted to drive thorough the Highway to Hell or the Million Dollar Highway from Ouray to Silverton, and she did it. Had a sunny evening, but turned to a bit of rain before we had to get back before the scary dark. It's one of the most dangerous roads in the country with 40 accidents and 7 deaths per year on this stretch. The curves without guard rails and steep drop offs abound. Avalanches and rock slides and wildlife add to the hazzards. Hard to photograph because you can't stop due to rock slides and no shoulders. Was able to get this shot when I was able to stop and get out of the car.

Silverton like an old wild west mining town. Paved main street but side streets are dirt, like Ouray.

We saw only one motorcycle tipped over on the edge of pavement pinning the operator with 2 guys attempting to push the bike rightside up as we passed. Last year two nurses with their tour guide in a jeep plunged to their death from a side road off this highway.

We took the short walk in to Box Canyon before leaving for the Montrose Airport. These adventurers did a fine job illustrating it in their video.  Wasn't expecting much but it was really awe inspiring and majestic.

Would have loved to try just a little bit of the Via Ferrata, rock climbing with harness and cables in the area.

Stopped at the UTE Indian Museum in Montrose before boarding Southwest Airlines.

There's so much to say about the trip. People were wonderful. So many harsh dramatic colorful canyons- but after seeing the Grand Canyon, I personally don't need to see any more rock formations. In retrospect, 7 days at Ouray would have been the ticket.