As we continue to drift south toward Texas, we have the choice of staying in familiar areas or finding new places. Coming from the Provo area, we decided to bypass Moab and continue on to the (much) lesser known town of Monticello, Utah. At an elevation of 7000 feet it is 3000 feet higher than Moab and about 12 degrees cooler, which was welcome in August.
We stayed at a small RV park, and when I mentioned to the owner that we'd be headed to Canyonlands National Park in the morning he asked if we knew about the "back way". We didn't, and he described a route that passes through some beautiful country and avoids construction on the main highway.
The back way took us up to 8500 feet, and gave us wonderful views of the valley below. We were the only people on this road, so had plenty of time to stop for birds and animals.
This coyote was curious enough to stop for a picture.
We saw several hawks along the way, including this Cooper's Hawk.
As we started to descend, we got better looks at the amazing terrain of the Canyonlands. Eventually we dropped down onto the plains, and towards our first scheduled stop, Newspaper Rock.
This State Archaeological Site is located in the base of a small canyon that has been used for centuries by area travelers. According to the interpretive panel it is not known if the figures on the rock represent storytelling, doodling, magic, ancient graffiti, or something else, but it was certainly interesting to see the variety of figures.
The main area was about 12' high and 40' long, but we did see figures either carved or drawn onto other areas of the rock as well.
Here are some of the figures. Can you decipher them??
Next: Slickrock Foot Trail
Mark
Nice looking coyote! Southern Utah area is amazing. Looking forward to visiting ourselves in a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteThe "back way" sounds like the way I would want to go too.
ReplyDeleteNice pictures and great post.