Day -12 Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Day 11 - Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park

Day 9 and Day 10 - Salt Lake City, Utah

Mormon Temple

Salt Lake Cityscape

LDS Conference Center Rooftop Garden

   We went to Salt Lake City, Utah to attend a radio/TV broadcast performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Orchestra. This performance focused on the wonders of creation. It was emotionally moving and spiritually uplifting.

   While in Salt Lake we also toured the LDS Conference Center (a granite building that seats 21,000) Rooftop Garden. The gardens simulate the two main geographical regions of Utah - prairie and mountains.  As you can tell from the photos, they are not manicured, but left to grow naturally.

    At a kiosk in Temple Square, we met a two-person Mormon missionary team. One girl was from India, the other from Richmond, Virginia.  They were very sincere and seemed to be very happy to talk to us.

   We ate at Sage's Cafe, another organic vegetarian restaurant.  I really enjoyed my first grilled nut burger made with cashew and almond flours and ground chickpeas.  Greg chose Chicken Tacos. When he discovered his chicken was really seitan, a wheat-based protein, he said that even though his meal was delicious, he was going to "hedge his bets" and only eat two of his three tacos.  We asked for a doggie bag (yes, you can get such a bag at a vegetarian place) so that I could eat his third taco later.

   

Day 7 and Day 8 - Jensen, Utah

      When we arrived in the town of Jensen, Utah, known as dinosaur land, my first concern was where we were going to sleep.  We soon saw the sign for The Jensen Inn Bed and Breakfast where we had reservations.  One option for bedding at this B & B was twin cots in a traditional plains Indian tipi which was sitting in the side yard of a nice farmhouse inn. We were kindly given blankets, a light, instructions on how to open and shut the ti-pi door, and an invitation to breakfast.  At bedtime when I first looked up at the spiral ceiling, I got dizzy. Soon I closed my eyes and a calmness came over me and I slept the night through.

Photos from the Dinosaur Quarry

High desert landscape near Jensen, Utah

Green River - An oasis in the desert

   

Get Out of the Contraption

   In Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness, Edward Abbey wrote about the high desert area of Utah, "...you can't see anything from a car; you've got to get out of the contraption and walk..." If you follow Abbey's advice, if you stop, get out and explore the harsh land near Jensen, Utah you will make some amazing discoveries.  

   One discovery is the cooling, peaceful oasis that the fast flowing Green River has created. Another is the stark beauty of an ever changing, contrasting landscape. But the most fascinating discovery is the dinosaur bones in the quarry at Dinosaur National Monument. 

   To get to the quarry, you have to leave your car in the parking lot and take an open-air tram. Inside the quarry are over 1500  pre-historic bones still embedded in the rock in which they were discovered over a 100 years ago. It is truly worth getting out of the car to see!  

Day 6 - Grand Junction, Colorado

Colorado National Monument 

.........a scenic 23-mile canyon-rim drive.........

Some people see praying hands, do you?

Day 5 - Salida, Colorado

Wooden bicycle in our motel lobby                  Salida, Colorado

   Last night we visited the Salida Hot Springs Aquatic Center for a soak in mineral pool.  (We'll spare you the picture of us in our bathing suits.)  Minerals in the health-giving water include Silica, Aluminum Iron Oxide, Sulphate, Calcium, Bicarbonate, Potassium, Chloride, and Sodium.  Sounds scientific but it was very relaxing and therapeutic for what ails you.

Hwy 50 between Gunnison and Montrose, Colorado


<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Where are the Butlers?

   In 1889 Rudyard Kipling, the great English writer and poet, traveled through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River on the Denver and Rio Grande Railway. Of this trip he wrote, "We entered a gorge remote from the sun...where a rock-splintered river roared and howled ten feet below the track....There was a glory and a wonder and a mystery about that wild ride that I felt keenly." The Denver and Rio Grande Railway no longer runs through the Black Canyon (some of its track is now part of a trail down into the canyon) but the glory, wonder, and mystery Kipling felt can yet be experienced at the Black Canyon.

   The glory of the canyon becomes apparent as you cautiously approach the Chasm Overlook for your first look straight down at the river, or contemplate the geological beauty of the sheer cliff called the Painted Wall (over 2300 feet from top to bottom, the steepest cliff in Colorado), or watch the sun go down at Sunset Point. At each of these and other overlooks along the rim you cannot keep from being fearful, or feeling small. The Black Canyon is so overwhelmingly glorious that anyone who visits it leaves humbled.  

   The wonder of the canyon can best be seen by going into the gorge. During the summer you can hike down 232 steps then walk about a mile along the river to take a pontoon boat trip. On this tour we saw a beautiful waterfall, dark and rapid river water (from 200 to 300 feet deep in places), some eerie rock formations, green hillsides, trees growing at odd angles, nests of eagles, but mostly steep cliff walls. The Black Canyon assaults your perceptions and leaves you questioning what you saw. 

   The canyon is truly a place of mystery where puzzling things yet occur. In fact, we left the canyon thinking about something puzzling. There were thirty-two people on the boat. According to the park ranger who narrated the tour, there were supposed to be thirty-four. Before we left the dock, the ranger asked, "Has anyone seen or does anyone know the Butlers?" The Butlers never showed up and we left the canyon with this mystery unresolved - Where are the Butlers?  

   

Black Canyon of the Gunnison River

Waterfall in Black Canyon

Former Denver and Rio Grande Railroad bed which is now trail to steps

Leaving Black Canyon, step # 86 of 232

Painted Wall of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

       After leaving the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, we ate at a restaurant in Montrose, Colorado with an odd name - The Camp Robber. The name comes from the Canadian Grey Jay which is a bane to hikers and people on a picnic because its swoops and steals food from a table or out of someone's hand. Odd name but great award-winning food!