I like my road trips to be loops or one-way excursions, and so in order to avoid a dreaded backtrack, I flew out with Erin a day early to Montrose CO, near Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP. The next day we drove to Denver, picked up Caroline, met Katy's family, had a memorable meal, and then split up with me, Katy, Caroline, Lyla, and Charlie heading west while Brad and Erin departed from the Denver airport.
Heading up to my travel day, I had been monitoring the South Rim Fire, a wildfire that had been burning in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park for a couple of weeks. When we arrived, the park was closed...
...however some areas around the park were still accessible to public roads, at least on paper, and one road paralleled the edge of the park.
Upon arrival in Montrose, Google maps directed me on the road to the park, which started out reasonably drivable, but deteriorated into a rutted single-track
We made it to the park's boundary and I got out, walked over to the fence line and "visited" the park. Not how I would have liked to have done it, but maybe someday I will return to see the deep dark, poison ivy-ridden, canyon carved by the Gunnison River.
After my visit, a friendly ranger came by to see what we were doing and led us out on the better road that had been closed. Note the red fire retardant sprayed on the hillside.
Just east of the Black Canyon is Curecanti NRA, formed by a series of dams on the Gunnison River
While this sign tells a story about Colorado River water providing critical uses, this article in the NYT tells another story about the water primarily going to feeding dairy cows and beef steers. Burgers and milkshakes are not exactly essential food supplies.
Curecanti contains the Blue Mesa Reservoir visible above the "C" in Colorado. This map foreshadows the future of our trip following the Colorado River from its source near Denver, through Grand Junction (where the Gunnison joins in) to Moab (near the junction of the Green River) and then our route goes up north through the Flaming Gorge to Rock Springs, Wyoming
Anyone recognize the pink cupola of this famous restaurant found in a Denver strip mall next to Adventure Dental and a Dollar Tree?
This is Casa Bonita, a Mexican restaurant built in the 1970s that was once an institution in Denver, but fell on hard times only to be rescued by the creators of the South Park TV show, who allegedly spent $40 million on a massive renovation. We watched the entertaining documentary about the reno with Katy, who as a member of the fan club, was able to score us a reservation for 7.
It was a great experience. You are allotted an hour to eat and then unlimited time afterwards to explore the attractions
They gave Cartman his own table in honor of his South Park episode where he kidnaps his way into a birthday party at Casa Bonita
The food was very, very good, including the all-you-can-eat sopapillas
This is a view into a reconstructed control room from 1973
and there is so, so much more. Check out the videos of the cliff divers, the shooting gallery, and the TV-watching cat
From Denver we drove on one of the most harrowing sections of interstate highway in the country, I-70 over the mountain passes, to Glenwood Springs. Its hot springs pool is enormous...
... and apparently the largest in world
Next stop was Colorado National Monument, a terrible name for a park that preserves a large mesa above Grand Junction. This map lists the 8 National Parks of the Colorado Plateau
There wasn't much shade on the mesa, but our hike into the Alcove provided some escape from the heat
We hit the jackpot on our choice of accommodations in Moab, Utah. It doesn't look like much on its website, but the Moab Springs Ranch was amazing. Originally the property was a ranch and it has its own spring, with trees and a meadow that are in great contrast to the dusty desert properties in the rest of Moab.
The townhomes were thoughtfully constructed according to the above design principles. My favorite: "Don't use crap!", which I would say most Airbnb's do not adhere to.
Our favorite spot was the picnic table at an overlook
for a great Western sunset
Arches is one of those famous parks that is seeing more and more visitors every year. They implemented a timed-ticket entry system, but it is suspended for the summer, because who would visit in 100-degree heat?
First lets learn about fins and arches
We hiked 3 days in the park, but each time we were out early, when the trails were shaded
On the Devil's Garden trail we found an unusual pictograph
This is Landscape Arch, captured in the correct landscape orientation. It's the longest span in the park and fifth longest in the world
Double Arch
This formation could be called the Devil's Fist
Our 2nd hike was through the Fiery Furnace. This maze of slot canyons requires a permit to enter, and they deliberately use very small arrows for direction
Part of the fun is getting lost and then doubling back to find those pesky arrows
I finally figured out that the GPS on my Garmin watch was amazingly accurate and could keep us within 10ft of the proper trail
A better naturalist than me could identify the makers these tracks
I own the book and jigsaw puzzle of the the Subpar Parks series, one-liner zingers posted by one-star reviewers for every National Park. The Delicate Arch "Looks nothing like the license plate!" and I would agree. I think it looks better.
Our final hike in Arches was out to the iconic Delicate Arch, which sits all alone and requires a 3-mile hike to see up close
We encountered a film crew and learned that they were following 3 members of the Japanese boy band, Travis Japan, who had just played a show in LA
And then later in the day at the Moab food trucks, we ran into them again!
This time Lyla had the nerve to ask them for a photo
Our own attempt at fame fizzled. A major motion picture in the Marvel franchise, tentatively called Zeus, was filming in Moab and we found the casting call for extras. Lyla and Caroline signed up for the "Townspeople" role but never received the call-back. If only I had my beard going, I could have landed the smart-looking Tech or gritty Snipper (sic)
Canyonlands National Park is 45 minutes from Moab and covers a vast area where the Green River connects with the Colorado. There are very few trails through the rugged landscape
We didn't linger in the stifling heat
Capitol Reef National Park is centered on a geologic divider of Utah called the Waterpocket Fold
After the natives were run off, Mormon pioneers established a settlement called Fruita, where they tended orchards. The Park Service allows visitors to pick fruit in season, but this year a frost in the spring wiped out the peach and apricot blossoms. Farming on the Colorado Plateau is never easy.
Caroline and Katy earned the Junior Ranger badge
Back on the road, this service station gift shop was carved into the sandstone
and even though I was driving due north at one point, I did not encounter any grid corrections. These lateral jogs in otherwise straight north-south roads are a requirement of our 2-dimensional mapping structure on top of a 3-dimensional world
I have come to appreciate the numerical logic of the American highway system. First there were the white-shielded US highways. North-south routes received odd numbers starting with US 1 running from Maine to Florida and then increasing in number from east to west ending with US 101 along the Pacific Coast. East-west routes received even numbers starting with US 2 running from Maine to Washington (after hopping over the Great Lakes) and then increasing north to south with US 98 running along the Florida panhandle. Don't get me started on the triple-digit US highways such as US 202 or US 301, which roam all over the map following no logic at all. The nearest US highway to my house is US 3, only 2.5 miles away, and where it ends in Boston's Kenmore Square it meets the eastern end of the longest US highway, US 20.
When the Interstate Highways were established, the even east-west and odd north-south nomenclature was retained, except the numbering started in the south and west, ensuring that the north and east received the highest numbers. Major country-crossing east-west routes end in 0 and north-south routes end in 5, and this time triple-digits provide information: an odd leading-digit means that the highway runs one-way into a city and even leading numbers indicate ring roads that bypass cities. 10 miles from my house lies the intersection of I-90 and I-95 - two heavyweights, and on my travels I watch the numbers go by. I noticed that after I-70 in Utah, the next cross-country Interstate to the south is I-40. There is no I-50 or I-60. This is because as you see in the photo, US 50 is a major thoroughfare through the midsection of the country and introducing an Interstate of the same number would be confusing.
US 60 in my mind is synonymous with Richmond Road in Williamsburg VA, and during college I would periodically ride my bike on it to pick up groceries at the Food Loin. US 60 was supposed to be a transcontinental route from VA to LA, but ran afoul of power brokers in Chicago who wanted US 60 to run from Chicago to LA. As a compromise US 60 was allowed to run from VA to Missouri and the Chicago-LA route was renamed US 66. Familiar to baby boomers as the conduit for iconic American road trips and to millennials for the bygone service stations of Pixar's Cars franchise, US 66 officially doesn't exist anymore. It was retired in 1979, partially due to the establishment of Interstates with similar numbers. But you can still get your kicks on any of the thousands of miles of US highways out there. Yes the traffic lights will be maddening, and yes your GPS will suggest faster ways, but I see US highways as threads through the fabric of our country. By weaving in and out of cities and towns and observing the roadsides, you see a little bit of everything, which is a refreshing diversion from our trending media consumption of too much of a few viewpoints.
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