Day 17: Hooper, CO to Santa Fe, NM

Stops:

Great Sands Dunes NP, CO

Antonito, CO

Ok, so no UFO sightings last night, but we did get a cloudless night and a night sky full of constellations.  Based on our previous ranger talk, we spotted the Big and Little Dippers and the North Star.

We slept up top in Moby with all the screen windows open, but woke up freezing with 32 degree temps. Brrrrr....but it was a desert climate which meant large temperature swings, so we headed out early to Great Sand Dunes NP. These are the tallest dunes in North America.

We spotted wildlife everywhere we go and this was no exception. A deer today as we entered the park.  We headed straight to the Dunes parking lot and picked up our cardboard sleds and started climbing the dunes.

Climbing in sand is no easy task.  Sometimes the sand was hard, providing some support, and other times you would just sink in, especially when trying to climb to the ridge line.  The park book tells you to stick to the ridge lines as it is easier to climb.  I'm not so sure I agree with that assessment.  It was just as hard to climb the side of a dune vs. the ridge line, but the views where worth it. Even more interesting are the patterns made in the sand by the wind.

The winds help form the sand dunes, but the Medano Creek helps keep the sand dunes in place.  We were shown a picture from the late 1800's and then one from from 2011 and the dunes pretty much look the same.

The dunes contain 1% of magnetite which gives it that dark or almost black appearance in places.  If you were to take a magnet and move it over the surface of the sand, you could attract some of the magnetite.

We did try sledding with our cardboard sleds but they didn't work well.

Finally, after a little playing in the Medano Creek, we left for Santa Fe.  On the way there, we stopped at a roadside attraction at Antonito, CO. called Cano's Castle. This guy is a little eccentric, so we decided not to leave our van and jut took this picture, plus the neighborhood was kind of sketchy.  The house is certainly interesting. It looks like he made it our of a lot of scrap metal and windows.  I have no idea how structurally sound the house is, but it is still standing.

We headed for Santa Fe, NM, to celebrate our engagement anniversary.  We actually got a hotel room and cleaned up before heading to Ten Thousand Waves Japanese Spa.  About 4 years ago, I had proposed there to B.

What a great celebration.  We soaked in the community tub, meditated in the meditation room, and sweated in the sauna.  I love this place, and recommend it.  In fact, B and I are talking about going to another spa later on in our trip.  We were going to sleep well tonight...

Day 16: Montrose,CO to Hooper, CO.

Stops:

Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, CO

Black Canyon NP contains one of the mot dramatic, narrow, and jagged canyons I have ever seen.  It is actually more deeper than it is wider going down at least a half a mile.  The Empire State Building can fit inside the canyon.  The heights are so dizzying that when leaning over the edge to look to the bottom where the Gunnison river flows, you want to almost fall in.  It's got a strange attraction like that.  I'm glad there is railing there to hold onto at the lookout points. 

The walls of the canyon are made of schist and gneiss with dikes of pinkish pegmatite.

Here, life finds a way to survive.  Take, for example, this caterpillar.  It looks there is an ant riding its back, but upon closer inspection, the caterpillar is dead and the ant is actually carrying the caterpillar underneath it and because its long legs, it looks like the caterpillar is moving fast.

We completed the 7 mile drive and headed back out.  Our next stop was to get to Hooper, Co. Or as close to Great Sand Dunes NP as possible. Not knowing where we were going to stay, we came across a roadside attraction known as the UFO Watchtower.  

The lady that built it, basically started off as a farmer for several years raising cattle, but it became so unprofitable, she ended up selling the cattle after 4 years. She wanted to keep the land and over the years there had been several sightings of "things" seen in the sky.  She had the idea to build a UFO watchtower.  She showed several interesting pictures taken from the watchtower or nearby area and claimed to have witnessed 26 of the 70 sightings in person.

She had several psychics come to the property and all of them have said there are two vortexes at the location, one spinning clockwise and one spinning counterclockwise, with two giant beings overlooking the vortexes acting as gatekeepers.

It is said if you leave something personal behind, you can collect the good energy from the vortexes, or in other words, good karma.  We decided it was time to part with green piggie, mostly because it kinda looked like an alien.

We were in luck, she had campsites available and she let us park Moby right by the watchtower. Maybe we'll spot a UFO tonight?

Day 15: Cortez,CO to Montrose, CO.

Stops:

Mesa Verde NP

Ouray, CO.

Quick and useful tip: You are required to purchase tour tickets to see Balcony House and Cliff Palace. Tickets are $3 each per person. You don't need tickets for Spruce Tree House.  The best place to get tickets are at the Colorado Welcome Center in Cortez. There are no lines there.  

We arrived at the park entrance and start climbing in elevation until we reached the end of the road which went to the top of the Mesa. We arrived 30 min early from the start of our tour and happened to park right in front of the ranger for the tour about to leave. Ranger PT, which stood for Party Time in the summer and Part Time in the winter. Ranger PT is very good at convincing people. He convinced us to join his tour instead of the tour we signed up for.  We bought it, solely based on the vibe he was giving off. Ranger PT's tour was not like other ranger tours. He doesn't just spit out fun facts, he makes you answer questions, think about things, and let you draw your own conclusions. This is because not much is really known about the ancient Puebloans that lived there so one has too draw conclusions based on the small facts that they do know.  For example, the ancient Puebloans moved from the top of mesas to just under the cliffs. Why?  Is it for defense/protection, better gathering of energy producing materials, is it something else?

Cliff Palace is the largest dwelling in the park. While you and I have to climb ladders and steps, the original inhabitants got in and out of the cliff dwellings using footholds and handholds carved into the rock.  Starting with the right foot is important as if you start off wrong, you may need to go back and start over again. Most of the dwellings are circa 1200 AD.  

On our way out of the park, we stopped by two roadside attractions.  The first one was a place called Folk Art. The couple that lives here start off carving wood sculptures and signs with a chainsaw. When we arrived the husband was working on a moose sculpture with his chainsaw.

The next spot was just down the road at a trading post which had wooden tee pees and giant arrows.

We headed along Hwy 550, which had the most scenic and classic mountain drive you can imagine.  It was windy and went through passes, often following a small stream.  We finally reached the small town of Ouray where we stopped at the local brewery for dinner and drinks. We finally ended our night sleeping at Wal-Mart in Montrose, CO.

Day 14: Page, AZ to Cortez, CO

Stops:

Lake Powell, AZ

Rainbow Bridge National Monument, UT

Monument Valley, AZ

Cortez,CO

Lake Powell is a man made lake created by the Glen Canyon Dam that took 17 years to fill.  The Rainbow Bridge National monument is contained within the Glen Canyon recreation area and before the lake was filled, it would take 3 days to hike to it. With the lake, it is a few hours boat ride or 50 water miles.  We decided on taking the only available boat tour on the lake.  We felt like the youngest couple there as the tour was mostly full if senior citizens, but we really wanted to see the Rainbow Bridge National Monument.  After all, it is the largest natural bridge on earth.  

There were two, very nice rangers there that explained how the bridge formed and pointed out a dinosaur track nearby. It is like the dinosaur is a Dilophosaurus, predecessor to the T Rex.

Ready to finally leave the 100+ degrees temperature, it was time to head to Colorado.  On the way we stopped at Kayenta, AZ to see the WWII Navajo Code Talkers exhibit which happens to be inside a Burger King restaurant.  Apparently the owner's father was a code talker.  Very nice exhibit, worth visiting and spending 15 min at.

Finally, we stopped by Monument Valley to catch a sunset before calling it a night and crossing into Cortez, CO.