11/11/22: Day 8: Short Drive with Long Scenic Detours
From Moab to Monticello, over every kind of road: Paved, narrow paved, gravel, and rutted dirt. Scenic views, though.
Took pix of the moon rising last night, and this morning I see the moon before it sets from our motel in Moab.
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Another frosty morning wherein I test that the washer solution melts the ice from the window.
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We pulled over on our way south to glance at a natural bridge. Wilson Arch, I looked it up later.
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Summary of Day 8: Went to Needles Overlook, and to Anticline Overlook, and then ended in Monticello.An exhausting and scenic side trip.
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At the entrance to the road to those overlooks stands a memorial of steel and stone dedicated to the uranium miners from the Lisbon Valley.
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We were heading up well paved and just wide enough for two cars CR-133, when Google offered a side road for only six minutes longer to our destination. I was feeling adventurous. This picture shows the GPS history of that little loop.No cell signal, and clearly GPS was touch and go for a while.
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We seem to be heading for that monolith up ahead.
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Now Google tells us to turn around the triangle. Um, okay. It looks like private property. I get out to take pictures, and Karen loops around the grass triangle.
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Modern cliff dwellers! The fronts are modern buildings, but they clearly are built under the overhanging rock, and into the cliff itself.
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Karen smiles for the camera, and I get back in the car. Google tells us to take a right, and a right.
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I later looked up what this hidden community of Cliff Dwellers was about. The Rockland Ranch. Pretty much invisible unless we took this particular dirt road.
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The road out is getting a bit rough, compared to the road in. Ruts, rocks, and wash-outs.
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As the going gets tough, Karen says, You get driving.
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Before I get in the car, I take a shot of the grasses.
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Steeper hills and deeper ruts. I worry about beaching our little city sedan on this road clearly rated for 4WD.
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Finally we see "Shortcut Rd 2" that appears to head directy back to pavement. This is better.
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Karen grips the dash board as I drive, so I have to snap the occasional picture. I just point and shoot, without looking at the camera.
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Ah! Pavement! Back toward the Needles Overlook. The promised 6 minute detour took about half an hour.
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Dan takes pictures from the Colorado River sign.
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How big does a hole in the rock have to be to call it an arch?
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Dan does a shadow selfie on the canyon rim.
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On our previous trip in 2017, I was barely able to walk around, two years after having mono. This trip, I can hike and climb, but Karen has foot issues. So while Karen prefers to stay on paved surfaces, I wander around the rougher trails and discover little places to shelter from the storm.
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Layers across Canyonlands.
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Karen spots me from an overlook.
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Overlooking the Needles Overlook.
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I appreciate the architecture of the railings and shelters of the overlook.
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Things are greener on the side toward the white mountains.
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The view from Six Shooter Overlook, shooting into the sun.
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The dark side of a "needle" far below, lit by the red cliffs over which I look.
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Just evokes a car trip, in my eye.
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We review the map before moving on to Anticline
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Needless picture of Needles sign. But proof we made it up there.
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Only 18 miles round trip from the junction to Anticline Overlook. All washboarded gravel. The car kept wanting to dive left and right; driving was a matter of outsmarting the road the entire time.
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We took a minor side road to Minor Overlook.Same gravel, though. Not like the earlier trail of fear.
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Sign at Anticline
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Karen took a picture of Dan as he climbed up to the cliff edge at the Anticline Overlook.
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Dan's view of the overlook.
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Panorama from above the overlook.
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I like wood.
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So many views to choose. Near and far.
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We like-a the red rocks.
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Karen shot me down there, so I shot her up there
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The reason for the name Anticline: After the sediment layered into stone, the stone got folded. Here, the layers are sideways. You can see these leaves of rock standing on end, right up against rocks that are not so inclined.
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I don't overlook the architecture of overlooks, either.
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Karen took a picture of Dan walking out beyond the railing, on the cantilevered part of the overlook. But it is hard to tell from this angle.
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Just so many different views up here.
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The trails up here are marked with rocks.
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Our car likes the mountains. Karen asked me to show our happy car.
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Always remember where I set my glasses when I take them off to peer through the viewfinder of my camera.
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A view from an overlook on our way back down the long gravel road.
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A panorama from the red rock canyon toward the sun to the white mountains on the other side. With Karen waiting for me in the car on the long gravel road.
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Back down to the paved road, and heading back to the highway, it seems that you can see the cliff dwellers, if you know what to look for.
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Arrived at the Inn at the Canyons
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We settle into our room and have a snack. I like being able to lie on my bed and watch the windmills.
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Looking out of our window, we see antelope grazing just across the parking lot, unconcerned about the megawatts being farmed in the next field.
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I take a picture of the sun settling behind the hills, through the multi-layer window of our room.
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Map thru Day 8, showing the full trip, and zooming in on the last few days through Arches to Monticello
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Last shot of the day: Selfie in a touch activated heated mirror, while brushing my teeth. What a weird world,
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