2017southwest

1sw 2sw  Three of us met in Salte Lake City to begin our adventure: Gary Thompson, Bob Roon and me. 3sw  Bob (left) is a professor at the University of Minnesota living in Washington and Gary (right) is a friend from Saint Paul. Bruce joined us later. 4sw  Our first stop was Arches National Park where the desert scenery proved as spectacular as the arches themselves.
5sw  The Delicate Arch, which actually is quite massive, has become a symbol of Utah. 7sw 8sw  We hiked to an overlook at Dead Horse Point state park just as snow squalls moved through. 9sw  Canyonlands National Park was at least as spectacular. We found corkscrew trees throughout the trip.
11sw 12sw  The clouds part to show mountains in the distance. 13sw  The young Colorado cuts through the rock strata. 14sw
15sw  The formations at Natural Bridges National Monument are made by stream erosion, rather than wind and sand. 17sw  The other-wordly landscape at Goblin Valley State Park. 18sw  One of these figures resembles a duck. 19sw  Not all Utah towns have benefited from tourism.
21sw  Showing a little leg next to the road. 22sw  Our first glimpse of Bryce Canyon National Park was in a snow squall. 23sw  But the next day was spectacular! 24sw
25sw 27sw  A bristlecone pine. 28sw  We hiked through Snow Canyon state park just as the cactus were blooming. 29sw
30sw  Angels' Landing, a premier hike in Zion National Park. The trail threads over the ridge to the promontory beyond. 32sw  Chains provide some stability on this scramble but the drop-off still is disconcerting. 33sw  The "trail" over rocks on the knife edge. 34sw  My reward - the view from the top.
35sw 37sw  Our radiator cracked on a very remote back road. Bob took an optimistic viewpoit. 38sw  After swapping vehicles (long story), we explored a smaller slot canyon nearby. 39sw  We entered the Navaho reservation to explore Antelope Canyon. The site is used for multiple purposes.
40sw  From inside beautiful Antelope Canyon. 41sw 42sw 43sw  The "Happy shark" formation.
44sw  In an underground acoustic chamber, tourists beat their chests to hear the magnified reverberation. Bruce really gets into it and breaks up our Navaho guide and another visitor. 45sw  The traveling galoots. 46sw  Next stop on the reservation was Monument Valley, backdrop to many western movies. Local restaurants are lined with pictures of movie stars. 47sw  We explored a cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park. Borings from these balcony supports date the construction to the thirteenth century, when the area was heavily populated.
48sw  The Pueblo civilization suddenly collapsed in the late 1200's, probably because it outran supporting resources, such as vegetation and game. The people moved south and are the ancestors of the Hopi, Zuni, Taos and related communities. 49sw  Reaching the Balcony House cliff dwelling is a scramble. 50sw  Our last dinner at the end of a great trip!