We just returned from a short fall vacation in Colorado and Utah. Between flights and driving half our days were primarily travel days, but we enjoyed four days in the National Parks, immersing ourselves in the geology and scenery. The weather was fantastic, with daytime highs around 20 C and clear blue skies.
October 12 we spent the day at Colorado National Monument; this was mostly a driving day, as there were only a few short walks. We did walk a few km along the canyon rim trail which starts just behind the visitors’ center. The redness of the canyon walls seems otherworldly to us. Weathering and erosion create many unique effects in this area: windows, arches, honeycombing, deep canyons and "monuments".
We visited 4 earthcache locations where we primarily learned about the layering in the canyon walls, differential erosion and the extent of the Colorado Plateau. Thank you John Otto – your vision and character were essential to having this area designated as a National Monument. And while we think Lawrence Grassi has you beat on the trail building front, we do appreciate your efforts to put in trails to make several locations within the boundaries more accessible to people like us.
