April 5, 2024

Captain's Log, Day 90

This week we drove over to Colorado to hike the Travel through Time trail. It was a 1.6 mile hike with stops along the trail pointing out various dinosaur bones petrified within stone. We did expect to see a lot more but some of the bones have been removed to the university for examination. Buddy was able to come along so it was good exercise for all of us. We got our 5000 steps in.

rib dinosaur bones in rock

 Our second challenge was heading to Chicken Corner. It is a Jeep trail heading up and over the mountain. Some of the trail weaved along at the edge of the mountainside taking you into the lower rim. We encountered a yellow Jeep from Washington and they followed us onto the trail. Always nice to have someone along but more often we are on our own. The trail dead ended about 12 miles in so we turned around and headed back the way we came. There were a lot of UTV's on the trail which can go much faster than a Jeep because of the suspension they have.  

individual spire about 50 feet tall

 We did see a small herd of long horn sheep on our way off the rim. They are so difficult to see as they blend into their surroundings. Once we got to the top of the mountain and over the ledge we stopped and talked to the couple from Washington. As we did that their Jeep overheated and threw out a lot of antifreeze. We waited a bit and filled the radiator with water and made our way down the mountain to Moab, Utah. No other problems with their Jeep. 

If you blow up you can see some long horn sheep

Our third outing this week took us on to Mill Road, a dirt road leading to Tusher Tunnel. However, at it happens most of the time, where we set out for is not where we end up. As Ted always said, " An adventure is what you get when you are expecting something else".  Well that was the case today. We took several road and ended up at the Needles. It is part of a Safari trail that is rated too difficult for my Jeep. We took it as far as we could but had to turn around. It ended for us at a series of 3+ foot drops that I would have bottomed out on. 

 

Much of the trail was deep sand which makes for a smooth ride. When on the rock ledges, the Jeep club has painted white marks indicating where you should drive. It sure helps negotiate those areas. We spend about 4 hours on the trails and never did get to the tunnel. Going to have to go back. 

 Yesterday we drove to Wilson Arch about 25 miles south of Moab. It is a bit of a climb to the top but the view is awesome. The clime is about 150 + feet to stand under the arch. 

 We also stopped by the Newspaper Rock on the way into Canyonlands National Park.

Petroglyph panel approximately 2,000 years old.

Today it is windy 25 to 44 miles with gusts up to 50. You really need to hang on to the door when you go out as it will be ripped from your hands. We cannot see the snow capped mountains in the distance because of the dust. At times you can't see the campers on the other side of the road because of the dust. Tomorrow will be a repeat of today with the high winds. 

 

PS: not sure if the two videos will show up, having trouble with blog.