THURSDAY - Today's a travel day and there's really only one reasonable option for our 134-mile route to our next destination, which happens to be due north of us.
I-25 is 250-miles east of us and I-15 is 240-miles west of us, either one of these north/south Interstates would be a loooong detour for us heading north.
That leaves the very remote, but very scenic, 72-mile long Colorado Highway 139 as our best choice for today.
We exited the Colorado National Monument, dumped our waste tanks and filled our fresh water tank for FREE at the Colorado Welcome Center in Fruita, CO just before entering I-70 West for a short 4-mile drive to the exit for Colorado Highway 139.
COLORADO HIGHWAY 139
I told you the road was very scenic.
That's a Class A Motorhome in front of us, you'll see them in a lot of the photos on this road.
Each turn in the road brought something more beautiful that the last.
Yep! That motorhome towing the Jeep in still out in front of us.
Just 30-miles up CO-139 we began our 1500' climb to Douglass Pass (elev. 8268').
This climb should slow that motorhome down and that grey van just passed us a mile back.
At the next curve the motorhome pulled over to let the van pass, but not us?
We're halfway to the summit now, looking back at the road we just traveled.
But there's still a lot of climbing to do.
Now that we've made it to the summit...
...the only thing to do is make our way back down.
Once back on level ground we ran into a "cow jam", that's a traffic jam Western Colorado style.
If you really like cows you have to watch the following video!
Once passed the "cow jam" the roadway was wide open.
We're now nearing the end of CO-139 at the town of Rangely.
NOTE: I should mention that once we and the motorhome got to the bottom of the Douglass Pass there was a pullout where he and I both pulled over to let the six vehicles stacked up behind us pass and give our brakes a chance to cool down. After the cars all passed us I pulled up along side of him, rolled down our windows and had a brief conversation about how much "fun" it was driving that large motorhome towing a Jeep and us driving a pickup truck towing a 28' travel trailer was going up, over and then down the pass. His wife used a "different word" to describe her experience of Douglass Pass.
HERE'S THAT VIDEO I PROMISED YOU
We left the town of Rangely and traveled northwest on CO-64 until we reached the town of Dinosaur, CO. That's right, I said Dinosaur! Here's who greeted us as we entered town.
In Dinosaur, CO we turned left on Brontosaurus Boulevard (i.e. US-40) and traveled just 3-miles before crossing back into Utah and another 17.5-miles before turning off US-40 into the entrance for Dinosaur National Monument.
OUR ARRIVAL AT DINOSAUR NATIONAL MONUMENT
I know it's all about the dinosaurs here, but the scenery isn't too shabby either.
All tucked in at our riverside campsite in Green River Campground.
This photo shows just how close we are to the swift moving Green River.
Our campsite is conveniently across the street from the restrooms and trash bins.
Back at the Visitor Center we waited for the tram to take us to the Quarry Exhibit Hall.
The newest version (2011) of the Quarry Exhibit Hall.
Inside is a rock wall full of dinosaur fossils.
Way too many to count and this is just what's on the surface.
FRIDAY - This morning we awoke to a cacophony of farm sounds. It turns out that on the opposite bank of the Green River from our campsite, on the Chew Ranch, is where they feed and water their sheep. We learned over the course of our 4-day visit this is done
every morning around 6:30AM.
With the way sound easily travels over water, it sounds as if the bleat's and baaaaa's we're hearing are just outside our trailer windows, when they are actually at least 100-yards away on the other side of the river.
This is just a small portion of the sheep population across the river.
Just below the rocks is the river bank where they come to drink.
Who knew such loud noises could come from such a small animal...
...but they sure are cute little noisemakers.
SATURDAY - Once again we awoke to the farm animal sounds, but this time we needed to be up because we're going sightseeing today.
Sure, there are lots of dinosaur bones to be seen here in the Quarry Exhibit Hall, but there are also a lot of petroglyphs and pictographs to be seen on the canyon walls.
The National Park Service has made it easy to find these hidden gems by producing a $1 booklet called "Tour of the Tilted Rocks: Auto Guidebook for the Cub Creek Road". We purchased a copy while in the Visitor Center when we arrived.
There are 15 numbered stops noted in the booklet along the 24-mile round trip route. We of course stopped at every one of them and snapped a few photos to share.
TOUR OF THE TILTED ROCKS
① - The first stop is called Swelter Shelter.
Here we found something on the canyon walls we haven't seen before today.
Sure, we've seen petroglyphs before, lots of them.
But these are of a hybrid variety.
Petroglyph (scratched in) and Pictograph (painted on) together in the same piece of art.
See the red coloring inside of the scratched in art in this photo and the one before?
② - The second stop is a 3.2-mile hike that we're not prepared to do this morning,
so instead you get sunflower-like photos from what we found near the parking lot for the hike.
Maybe tomorrow Tricia will do this hike.
These flowers are always pointing toward the sun.
③ - Third stop is a view of Split Mountain. The name will be explained later.
④ - Fourth stop is where we learned how and why the rocks are "tilted" in the park.
⑤ - Fifth stop is where you'll find a boat ramp/picnic area/group campground.
River rafting is a popular outdoor activity on this section of the Green River.
This is Split Mountain with it's tilted rocks.
Upstream...
...and downstream from the boat ramp.
Not sure what all the geese are looking at, but it's not us.
⑥ - The sixth stop gives us a panoramic view of the Cub Creek Valley.
The Green River makes it possible to have an agricultural presence here.
It's hard to see but there are a hundred or more sheep in that field across the river.
⑦ - The seventh stop is where you'll find 149-million year old dinosaurs bones
embedded in the exposed colorful cliffs.
This area would experience extreme drought where the dinosurs would perish. When the water would return the carcasses would be preserved under the mud and sand.
⑧ - The eighth stop is called Placer Point, where in the 1930s dredging for gold from the
river bottom was practiced. It didn't last long because there wasn't enough gold to be profitable.
⑨ - The ninth stop is where the road passed through the Chew Ranch (est. in early 1900s).
⑩ - While still on the Chew Ranch you'll drive by Turtle Rock. See the turtle on top?
⑪ - The eleventh stop is where you'll find cottonwood trees not along a river bank.
The only reason they survive here is thanks to the spring-fed Cub Creek.
More of those titled rocks this tour is named after.
⑫ - The twelth stop is Elephant Toes Butte.
Also at this stop is where the road turns to gravel for the remainder of the route.
⑬ - The thirteenth stop is where we found more petroglyphs.
None of these were "colored in" likes the ones we saw earlier.
⑭ - The fourteenth stop has some of the more famous petroglyphs in the park.
The larger ones can be seen from the road, but you'll need to climb up close to get a good look.
Right in the center of the photo is a large lizard petroglyph. Do you see it?
How about now? This lizard is featured on all the signposts along this drive.
Let's go climbing and see what else there is to see.
Tricia's about half way up now and yes, I turned back and sat in the truck.
There are a bunch of smaller lizards surrounding the large famous one.
Due to it's size it's been estimated this etching took several months to complete.
The second most famous petroglyph is the flute player. Do you see him?
I guess this one didn't weather the rain and wind as well as the lizard.
It's no exaggeration when I tell you
there were a million of these crickets on this side of the National Monument.
Only thing left for Tricia to do is climb back down to the truck.
⑮ - The fifteenth and final stop has a Box Canyon Trail...
...and the Josie Bassett Morris Homestead (1914-1964).
She built this cabin in 1935. It wasn't her first cabin, but it was her last.
Josie passed away in 1964 at the ripe old age of 89, after suffering a broken hip.
This large fire place warmed the entire 4-room cabin.
The dirt floors were probably her only option, no lumber out here, only timber.
The fireplace had vents on each side to warm the adjacent rooms.
This room even has what appears to be a closet (or maybe pantry).
The cabin is currently under renovation using only private funding.
The windows in the front of the cabin...
...looked out over her garden.
Beyond that was pasture land for horses and cattle I presume.
Off to the side was a small chicken coop.
It's 12-miles back to the campground, we better get going, it's lunchtime!
SUNDAY - As I suspected Tricia woke up this morning and decided she would hike the 3.2-mile "Sound of Silence Trail" at Stop #2 of yesterday's tour.
By 8:00AM she was starting the trail and by 11:00AM she was back at the truck. She did 3.2-miles in 3-hours while stopping to take photos and reading the guide book. That's just about what I figured it would take.
In keeping with the whole theme behind this trail, The Sound of Silence, we've decided to present you with this "uncaptioned" slideshow to enjoy. It's just our way of maintaining silence.
SOUND OF SILENCE TRAIL
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