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20030604

June 04, 2003

Start:   Alpen Rose CG, Durango CO
End:     Canyonlands CG, Moab UT
Miles:   170
Hi Temp: 88
Lo Temp: 50

We were on the road before 8:00am today, wanting to travel to Moab as early in the day as possible. Recently, the temperatures in Moab were well into the 90's.  We went west from Durango on US160, northwest on US666 (which some people around here want re-numbered due to the symbology), and north on US191. The travel itself was uneventful.

Naturally, the weather outsmarted us again.  It was cool in Durango and stayed cool until just before Moab; there, you go down several hills losing height and gaining degrees.  We were lucky in that we got a very well-shaded site in the CG.

After setting up and eating lunch in the trailer, we headed for the visitors center and began collecting brochures.  Then we headed out of town to Deadhorse Point State Park, about 30 miles out.  The unique feature of this park is that you travel out to a point overlooking the Colorado River, two thousand feet below. En route to this overlook on the point is a "neck" of mesa top only 40 yards wide.  Two thousand feet down on one side and two thousand feet down on the other.  It's a great incentive for staying on the road.

We took pictures and conversed at length with a British couple from Manchester, then returned nearly to town. There, we went southwest on a road along the north side of the Colorado.  There are two sites of early native pictographs on the rock of the canyon, about 15 feet up (that much has eroded since they were created). We took pictures, but I haven't looked to see their quality (it's hard shooting with a lot of shadow such as is found in a canyon).  Further down the road we found Jughandle Arch, a natural arch up the side of the canyon.

We decided not to push hard since we were neither dressed nor equipped for desert hikes. Instead, we'll do Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park (two locations) in the mornings and return to the trailer or town for the afternoons when it gets warmer.

One thing we noticed is that we're often thirsty and we're drinking a lot of water.  Just now, Dolores found the reason; the Moab humidity right now is 5% (87 degrees, 0.0 inches of rainfall for the month). The Colorado is flowing well and is full to the banks with snowmelt; that will decrease soon.

There are all sorts of trail hikers and bikers here, and lots of 4x4 drivers.  People are crawling all over the back country trails. They're not in great shape; I guess that's a requirement for these folks who are looking for a challenge.

Moab the town must survive on tourism - I don't see any real industry. There are many restaurants and motels and campgrounds.  Also, there are two microbreweries and two wineries. 

Utah liquor laws are wierd.  All beer over 3.2%, wine, and booze must be purchased at the state liquor store.  You can get the same at restaurants with meals. You can also join a private club and booze away.  Grocery stores handle the usual Budweiser and equivalents only.  Moab is unique in that you can also buy for take-out from the two micros and the two wineries. Since we bought wine in Santa Fe, we're not immediately affected.

We had pork chops and potatoes with salad in the little house under the big tree.  Then I began these notes and other little chores while Dolores did dishes.  It will be a quiet night in this part of Moab.


 

20030605       Link to open page of photos for this date. 

June 05, 2003

Start:   Canyonlands CG, Moab UT
End:     Canyonlands CG, Moab UT
Miles:   0
Hi Temp: 84.6
Lo Temp: 64.2

We were up and out early and took breakfast across US-191 in a coffee shop that has a booming business.  Then we headed out to Arches National Park, a few miles north of town.  We used the Golden Age card, picked up literature from the ranger, and proceeded out the main access road into the park proper.

We took pictures of everything that didn't move quickly. One hundred twenty of them.  Some are great shots of arches, some are good shots of rock formations larger than anything we've seen before, some are decent shots of the overall views, and two shots are rather mediocre pictures of two lizards.

We saw many more lizards, and one or two chipmunks, and a few birds. Overall, though, the wildlife activity here was much lower than places we're used to. That figures - this is a real harsh environment.

Even though we came early (about 8:15) and stayed only about four hours, we were hot and dry at the end of that period. The temperature was only in the mid-70's and there was a nice breeze most of the time, but that sun was hot when it touched us. The low humidity (up to 9% today) just sucks the moisture out of us. We've drunk more water since we arrived here than any other time.

So we came back to the trailer for lunch and loafed for a spell. Then we decided we couldn't waste the rest of a nice day, so we went out to track down more petroglyphs on rocks.

A map is provided at the community center showing the locations of all the old petroglyphs; we used it to find all those we didn't get yesterday. There were four more major sites. The third one was way up a gravel road that rose up a branch canyon from the Colorado River.  Several jeeps passed by, doing their 4x4 thing.

This place is gaga for jeeps and other four-wheel-drive things.  They can be rented here if you don't have one of your own.  There are miles and miles of trails for them. Competitions are held here annually to see who can traverse some strange course fastest. The T-shirt shops are full of 4x4-oriented stock, like "Life is too short to go four-wheeling with ugly men". 

We came back and rested for a bit, then went to dinner at the Sunset Grill.  The Sunset Grill is the former home of Charlie Steen, the prospector and miner who made the largest uranium strike (near Moab).  It's 200 feet up a cliff, reached by a narrow, winding, bumpy, road. He lived there with his family for some time, and did many good things for the town.  Eventually, the family moved to Colorado.

The view is outstanding, both into downtown Moab and out toward the Colorado River gorge going downstream.  This entire narrow valley is an old fault line that opened up much more recently than the river ate a gorge into the sandstone; the gorge is pretty much the same on both sides of the valley.

The food was good as well. Dolores had shrimp cocktail, then roast beef.  I had smoked salmon, then a yellowfin tuna with pineapple salsa.  Good service, good food.

Then back here to cope with 120 photos and to put these notes together.  We'll do part of Canyonlands National Park tomorrow morning and do laundry in the afternoon. Hopefully, the group with the "Tracks to Adventure" caravan will go away.

 

20030606         Link to open page of pictures for this date.  

June 06, 2003

Start:   Canyonlands CG, Moab UT
End:     Canyonlands CG, Moab UT
Miles:   0
Hi Temp: 83
Lo Temp: 57

We ate breakfast in the little house, then went out to the "Island In The Sky" part of Canyonlands National Park.

Contrary to forecast, there was no breeze. The little gnats came out and were pesky.

The mesa on which we traveled in this park looks greener due to clumps of grass that populate the flat spots. When we got close to the edge, we could see down a long way.

This section of the park is formed by being between the Green and Colorado rivers to the point they join. However, you can't see the confluence from the overlooks easily walked to.  The lack of breeze and the sun pounding down discouraged long hikes.

We did take one hike out to an arch called Mesa Arch.  This one is right on the edge of the cliff. You can look thru it to tremendous views (including another arch) below. We did the short hikes until we ran out of them and decided to leave.

Dolores bought a souvenir pin at the Visitor's Center on the way out.

Then we started the LaSal Mountain Loop drive at the junction of UT128 and US191.  First, 16 miles up the Scenic Byway along the Colorado River going east on 128.  Then we turned south on the Loop road and did the remaining 44 miles.  It goes up a long valley to the foot of the mountains, then angles up and to the right, over a pass, up some more, over another pass, up yet more, over another pass, and then along the side, and finally down.  I have no idea what the altitude was at the last pass. 

The tour book says to give this drive four hours.  We took about three, since we didn't stop too many times (Dolores's flowers). We did go slow for about ten minutes working thru an area of cattle on the road (this is open range territory). One calf was nursing from its mom in our lane so we went around her.

We returned to the little house under the big cottonwood in the nice campground. Dolores relaxed inside while I sat at the picnic table with a book and a beer. I greased the back jacks on the trailer because they've been hard to turn lately.  Then we fixed an early dinner.

I got the email and we dealt with the 83 photos we took today.

Now we're going to the rodeo.  More after that........

Catching up on the rodeo (our first, please pardon errors) ....

The Canyonlands PRCA Rodeo was in its second nite. We arrived and parked our truck next to many other trucks. We found seats next to a family with kids and grandmother close to the door in case we wanted to leave early.  We bought a program on the way in so we'd know what was happening.

It started promptly at 8:00pm with a Grand Entry - teenaged girls on horses carrying the banner of one of the sponsors entered the arena, went all the way around and exited. Then they came back in one at a time and took positions near the center of the arena.  The Grand Marshall (the Grand County Sheriff) rode in as well. Two pickup trucks entered, circled and left, one carrying Smokey the Bear and the other carrying Miss Grand County.

A teenaged girl rode in carrying the US flag and circled the arena while a lady sang the Star Spangled Banner in an excellent voice.  The field departed and the events began.

First was Bareback Riding (of horses). The cage opens, and a horse carrying a rider with a strap on which to hold emerges, bucking and jumping in random directions.  The rider gets slammed all around but tries to stay on the horse.  If he stays eight seconds, his score counts; if he falls before eight seconds, it's "no score". His score is computed by taking into account his total time on the horse, style, and the degree of difficulty the horse gave him.  Two riders tied in this event.

Next was Tie Down Calf Riding. Here, a calf races out of a chute and the rider must catch up with it, rope it, hop off the horse and throw the calf on its side. Then he has to remove a piece of cord from his mouth, grab two legs of the calf and take "two turns and a half-hitch" around the legs to immobilize the calf.  When he holds up his hands, his time is counted. The judge watch the calf for some period (ten seconds?) to make sure the knots hold the calf; if it does, the time is official. Several calves escaped being roped by darting to the side or varying speed. The winner completed the list above in 7.06 seconds, which I thought was fantastic. Turns out the record is under six seconds.

Next was Saddle Bronc Riding.  This is just like Bareback Riding but with a saddle on the horse. Same concept of scoring. Nothing very exciting happened this time.

Then came the Clown Act. There's always a guy dressed as a clown near the center of the ring.  He provides humor during slack periods (such as when a cowboy is being dragged off the field) but also participates in keeping animals from harming fallen riders.  So he's not just a clown.  The act started with the clown riding in on a mule with antlers strapped to its head.  He claimed he was riding a mule deer. He went on with patter and making the mule do tricks. It wasn't all bad.

Next was the funniest event - Mutton Bustin'.  A sheep is placed in the cage and pinned. Then a child (either sex, about four or five years old) wearing a safety helmet is put onto the sheep. No straps, the kid just hangs onto the sheep wool. They open the gate and the sheep races off in some random direction.  The kid tries to hang on but falls off some seconds later. The length of time on the sheep determines the winner. One youngster held onto the sheep so well that, as he slid off the left side of the sheep, he pulled the sheep over onto himself and the whole works rolled around for a while until the sheep could escape.  The little girl of the family next to us came back crying and mommy had to take her out for comforting. When they came back, the girl showed everybody a bruise on her lower left ribs and yelled, "My sheep stepped on me!" It was just the funniest thing to see a sheep come ripping out of the cage, running like mad on its short legs, with a kid bent over its neck holding on for dear life as long as he/she could.

Then came Steer Wrestling. The horse rider chases the steer as it runs out of the cage, jumps onto the steer and wrestles it to the ground by its horns. At least, that's the idea.  There weren't many participants in this event, and no one was successful.

The drill team did a performance after that. The teenaged girls with banners rode in patterns around the arena, weaving in and out, creating two intersecting circles, and so forth. They were quite good to our unqualified eyes.

The Team Roping event came next. Two riders chase after a steer; one ropes its head and slows it, the other ropes its rear legs and the tow of them drag the steer to the ground.  The first pair of riders were successful and did it very quickly; all the others had some sort of mishap and were unsuccessful.

The Dance Contest for kids was next; totally free-form dancing for some number of seconds (15?). There were some unique moves in this one.  One kid did the whole period flopping around on his stomach like a fresh-caught walleye.  A girl did some standing moves, then a back-flip to a standing position.  These two tied.

Girls Barrel Racing was the next event.  Looking at the arena from the entry position, there are barrels placed at each side halfway down, and another at the far end of the arena. The rider guides her horse around all of the barrels, one at a time; first one side, then the other, then the far end, then racing out. Lasers time the entry and exit of the horse; five seconds is added if a barrel is knocked over (several were). These girls could really ride their quarter-horses.  Times were in the region of 16 or 17 seconds.

The final event was Bull Riding. This one is dangerous stuff. A big bull is jammed into the cage and the rider gets on it and positions himself until he's satisfied.  The cage is opened and the bull comes bouncing and jumping and bucking out into the arena. Sooner or later, the rider falls off. Then the clown and a bunch of people in the arena distract the bull from the fallen rider and try to herd it to the exit. When that bull comes around and heads off in a new direction, everyone in that area levitates and/or runs up the bars on the side railings to stay away from the angry animal. At least two riders were injured; both walked off, one after a few seconds and the other after about a minute; it looked like he had the wind totally knocked out of him.

We realized as the events went on that this is a minor-league rodeo where people are starting out, or for those who don't compete regularly, etc. This isn't the big-league rodeo competition where top people earn a hundred thousand a year. Still, it was enough rodeo to show us the concept and scoring of the events.  It also gave us some understanding of the audience; it was very much a family show. There were lots of families with a herd of kids.  Another large group was the young men oozing testosterone while watching the riders and the young women watching the young men. 

The night's events ended about 10:10pm.  We put our pickup into the middle of the herd and snuck out of the lot onto the highway to the little house. Then we talked about it and laughed, then settled in.

Tomorrow, we've decided, is a "chores" day.

20030607       Link to open a page of pictures for this date.  

June 07, 2003
Saturday

Start:   Canyonlands CG, Moab UT
End:     Canyonlands CG, Moab UT
Miles:   0
Hi Temp:
Lo Temp:

Today was chores day.  We rose late and did breakfast in the trailer.

I took the trash to the dumpster.  Then we gathered the laundry and towels and stripped the bed and took the whole works to the laundry room.  This CG has a good one; there are lots of machines and a large folding area.

After starting the machines, we called our friends the Conley's, but they weren't home.  We had noticed lots of rain at home and were going to ask how bad it actually is.  Then we called son Bill and chatted for a while; it turns out there have been two sunny days in the last month, according to him.  After that, we called daughter Susan, but she was on her way out the door and we agreed to call later in the day.

Dolores read a book while the machines did their stuff.  I headed out to the hardware store to buy fasteners to attach Dolores's leather strap (purchased in Durango) to the truck. There was a mob in the True-Value and it took a long time to get out of there.

I returned and helped fold, then carry the laundry back to the trailer.  We stored it where it belongs.  Then we swept the rug and scrubbed the linoleum floors. When we had that all done, we awarded ourselves lunch out - at the Moab Brewery. 

Dolores had a local Riesling (a little too sweet) and hamburger, and I had their "Deadhorse Ale" with fish & chips. Very nice. I bought a six-pack of Deadhorse to take along.

Back at the trailer, I mounted Dolores's strap; she tested it and pronounced it satisfactory.

We sat around for a while and read.

The doors and windows are all open to the little breeze. The fan is blowing air into the trailer. It's quiet.  It's nap time.

After loafing the rest of the afternoon, we'll take showers and go to 7:00pm Mass. Then we'll go out to dinner at some small place.  I'm going to send these notes and do the e-mail now so I don't have to do it after we get home.

Tomorrow, we move back into Colorado by going to Delta.  There, we'll meet the people we first met in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, then again in Manassas.