Lake Powell and Natural Bridges NM

We left the town of Escalante, UT and headed in the general direction of Mesa Verde in Colorado where we had a reservation in the campground that began the day after. Looking on the map we saw Natural Bridges National Monument (not to be confused with Natural Bridge in Virginia :-). We had a night to kill so we headed that way hoping we could get into their campground (they don't take reservations).

Along the way we were driving through more canyonlands.



In the photo above you can see a mountain in the distance above the canyons. It is not so evident in the picture but to our eyes there was a strip of brilliant green just below the top. After all the desert colors it was really intriguing. As we drove along we learned the mountain is called Boulder Mountain. After a lot of climbing we reached the summit at over 9,000 feet and the green we saw from a distance was aspen trees just leafing out. From the top we could look out over the desert we had just come from.



We descended Boulder Mountain and found ourselves again in canyonlands, specifically Capitol Reef National Park. The highway crossed right through it.



We then were in more mundane scenery although still interesting. Instead of the deep red rocks there were more bland colors, even dull gray. In contrast to the rocks, in some areas farmers were using irrigation water from the rivers to produce bright green crops.



Our elevation kept dropping and we knew we were approaching Lake Powell or at least the Colorado River arm of the massive impoundment. This meant still more impressive red rock canyons.


Then we were at the upper reaches of the lake itself. The water level was very low near Hite where there is a bridge that crosses the Colorado.



We continued on and saw the now-famous Bears Ears in the distance as we approached Natural Bridges NM.


We arrived at Natural Bridges NM and the campground was full but the park is bordered by National Forest so we found a spot near the park entrance and camped there for the night.


We had our usual "Friday Eve" martinis surrounded by pinion pine and junipers. (Ann is holding both martini glasses :-) I thought the junipers were particularly appropriate since gin is made from juniper berries.

The next day went into the park and saw the bridges. The path to view the first bridge was along a ledge. Then we were off to Mesa Verde in Colorado.





Comments

  1. UnknownMay 28, 2018 at 7:23 AM

    Wow! These are absolutely beautiful shots! You've got a "good eye" (or two). Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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