Colorado National Monument

     Yes, I read a lot.  The stop here in Grand Junction was inspired by a book called, "The Serpents Trail," by Sue Henry.  Maxie, a 63 year old widow, goes to Grand Junction to help a friend.  While she was in town she visits the Colorado National Monument.  I have heard of Arches and Canyonlands, but not about this beautiful area just outside Grand Junction.  The description in the book made me want to see it and here we are!
    It is another hot and sunny day.  Fortunately there are no forest fires in this area yet, so no smoke in the air to block our views.  The monument rises 2000 feet above the floor of the valley.  The road took us up into the red rock canyons very quickly.  Just us and the hawks and ravens soaring above the valley floor.  It was very quiet with few visitors.  The twenty mile Rim Rock Drive has many overlooks and short hikes. It winds along the edges of many canyons.  We have learned that the more steep, narrow and winding a road is, the more cyclists we find challenging themselves against the terrain.  It certainly makes driving the roads in a car a challenge as well.
   The Colorado monument is on the geologic feature called the Colorado Plateau.  Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Arches and Canyonlands are also on this huge plateau which covers parts of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. About 90% of the area is drained by the Colorado River.  Mesa Verde and Hovenweep were also on this plateau.   It is such a beautiful area.
   The rock features in this park are awesome and similar to those we saw at Arches National Park.  The main part of the park is the area called Monument Canyon which has many red sandstone towers.  There are  lots of trails running along the bottom of the canyons where there must be water part of the year as it is pretty green there with some pinon pines and wild flowers.  It was hot, though, and windy which just draws the fluid right out of you, so I can't imagine how much water I would have to carry in order to make such a hike.
    We just enjoyed taking the walks out to the overlooks and then jumping back into an air conditioned car and drinking quarts of water.  We had a picnic lunch at the Visitor Center accompanied by a hearty little chipmunk who ran over to the water fountain to catch all the drips after folks took a drink.  I think he must survive on picnic crumbs as well.
   Back in our hot, hot campground we wallowed in the pool until dinnertime and then sat out on the green grass as the sun went down.  A beautiful day thanks to my fictional friends Maxie and her dog, Stretch.