Heading South on the Colorado River in Utah

Fruita, Colorado to Bedrock, Colorado
Colorado National Monument
Fruita, Colorado
Utah Scenic Byway 128 - Upper Colorado River 
Colorado Riverway Recreation Area
Fisher Towers Recreation Site
Big Bend Camp Site
Moab, Utah
Arches National Park
Manti-La Sal National Forest

Bedrock, Colorado

On Saturday October 16, 2010, my dog Sawyer and I were camped in the Saddlehorn camp site in the Colorado National Monument http://bit.ly/caLrKz. There was a beatiful view from our camp site.



View from the Saddlehorn Camp site

We took a nice walk to the scenic overlook and had great views down to the Colorado River Valley.



View from the Scenic Overlook at the
Saddlehorn Camp Site



Colorado River Valley, Fruita Colorado
and  Book Cliffs in the distance



We then drove out of the park, a steep descent with several tunnels and stunning views to Fruita,Colorado, crossing the Colorado River once again and heading back West on Interstate 70. We quickly crossed into Utah and then took the Scenic Byway 128 - Upper Colorado River from the town of Cisco, practically a ghost town, south http://bit.ly/9cVKRJ. This is a roller coaster of a road that winds its way down from a high plateau to the Colorado River valley. It becomes obvious when you are nearing the river as the stands of golden yellow cottonwoods begin to appear on either side of the river. As you once again cross the Colorado river at the historic Dewey Bridge you enter the Colorado Riverway Recreation Area http://bit.ly/92afCG. This has really developed over the past ten years. There used to be one camp site at Big Bend http://bit.ly/bS87Eh only 7.5 miles from Moab, Utah, but now there are many sites for camping and picnics, as well as beautiful guest ranches and a winery: The Red Cliffs Lodge http://bit.ly/cwIspE with the nearby Castle Creek Winery http://bit.ly/9frPYR;  The Sorrel River Ranch & Spa  http://bit.ly/83yjb;





Sorrel River Ranch & Spa

We then took a detour for an amazing hike in the Bureau of Land Mangement's (BLM) Fisher Towers Recreation Site http://bit.ly/cjkXld.

Fisher Towers

It was getting rather hot and even though I had water for Sawyer, he already has a thicker coat to live at altitude and so he became overheated and we did not complete the entire hike. It was really nice to be on BLM land, as some folks saw me hiking with Sawyer on a leash and told me that the rules were not the same as a national park and that he could run freely which he certainly enjoyed, exploring in the rocks and gullies. At our rest stop we saw a group of climbers on the towers and had an incredible view down to Castle Rock. 

We then headed back to Highway 128 and to the Big Bend Camp Site to let Sawyer cool off with a swim in the Colorado River. There were still folks out river rafting and further up river we also saw a stand up paddler. After stopping to get some food for dinner we headed into Arches National Park http://bit.ly/Cx9vV intending to camp there for the night. There was quite a long line of cars to get to the entrance and when I finally paid my fee I noticed a sign with "CAMPGROUND FULL".  I asked the park ranger and was told that it was a fall break for the Utah schools and that the park only did camping by reservation anyway. I asked him about going back up Highway 128 and camping there and he said that he would doubt if I would find a spot, and also the road was going to be closed in the morning for a half marathon. As I knew that the road back to Colorado went through a national forest, I asked him if he knew anything about that area and he assured me that I would find somewhere there. So I decided to drive to the campground at the Devil's Garden Trailhead. We had camped there as a family years ago and really enjoyed the hike to the Double O Arch and I knew I would like to see the scenery again. It was a spectacular drive passing by Balanced Rock, the one that was in the first Indiana Jones movie.



Balanced Rock, Arches National Park

We had a great view from an overlook to the Petrified Dunes,

and also to the Windows Section.

One can only marvel at these incredible rock formations in eastern Utah, that are repeated in Canyon Lands National Park just to the south and east of Moab and down to Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon in Arizona. This is just the beginning of the vast and unusual scenery that the West has to offer.

It was starting to get late so after turning around at the end of the road where there were so many cars parked, that I was glad that I had decided not to hike here, we headed back to Moab. This has really changed over the years too with tons of hotels and restaurants - it used to be a fairly sleepy town when my husband let outdoor education trips there starting in 1980. 

We headed south on Highway 19, that goes all the way to Arizona, to La Sal Junction, where we turned left on Highway 46 that heads 30 miles to the Colorado border up and through the Manti La Sal National Forest http://bit.ly/bg8FqQ. We ascended a winding forest road with spectacular colors in the river gullies. Then we came down from the high road to Colorado and the tiny town of Paradox on Highway 90 with a spectacular view of the Dolores River valley from the top. Of course we had not see any camp sites and the town did not even have a hotel or a Bed and Breakfast, just farms and a gas station that was not open to ask anyone. Next we came to Bedrock a town established in the late 1800s where the Post Office and the General Store were built on top of solid rock which had given the town its name. Just past the General Store with its one gas pump that was of course closed, as the sun was setting we crossed the Dolores River. Just before the river I saw a sign for a boat ramp for rafting access. There was a small road alongside the river on the eastern side of the bridge but it was marked private so I turned around, crossed back over the bridge and turned down the road on the other side of the river. We passed several abandoned trailers and a couple of houses with rusted vehicles and no lights, so I am not sure if anyone actually lives in Bedrock. The boat ramp was a picnic area with covered tables, a boat ramp to the river, a sign telling us that the river is only open to rafting for a short time in June, and two spectacular red rock buttes on either side of the river. It was certainly a beautiful place to camp but a bit deserted and scary to be myself with just my over friendly dog for a companion. But the next town was a long drive and for all I knew there could be nothing there as well.  So we settled down for the night - it probably did nothing to calm my nerves to be reading the "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo" and I was up to the serail killer part. However we survived with no incidents and left at sunrise the next morning with a spectacular view of the alpenglow on the western butte.