Today we left the KOA in Vernal UT and drove to Capitol Reef National Park.  Between there and here (we are staying at a Best Western in the Park for tonight and tomorrow night) we again got into big sky country but different from Montana.  Instead of vast open flat spaces, we saw flat, arid countryside dotted with mounds, mesas, buttes and what appeared to be mountains - or all of the above - (the variety of shapes is awesome) in varying colors from dirty white to tan to brown to reddish purple to charcoal gray; and then suddenly we would get a glimpse of green--trees, corn, grass or alfalfa--that were either near a river or on land that's being irrigated.  The variety of shapes is awesome.  At times we saw rocks precariously perched on the tops of the shapes or on hillsides.  Just before entering the Park, the ground turned to a reddish tan sand that was sprouted with dry grasses or sagebrush.  

We passed a coal burning electric generation plant on the Price River (which at that particular point was little more than a trickle) as well as oil rigs and areas of coal mining. 

Tomorrow we will spend the day in Capitol Reef.

Inside Capitol Reef NP

Inside Capitol Reef NP

Inside Capitol Reef NP

8/27/12

Today was spent at Dinosaur National Monument.  We arrived at the Visitor Center around 11 a.m. and were promptly taken by tram to the Quarry Exhibit Hall where the back wall is a mass of petrified dinosaur bones (the Hall was built around a dig site).  After going through the Hall and reading the information provided, we took a self-guided tour along Cub Creek Road primarily in search of petroglyphs that date back 1,000 years.  It was much too hot to hike around or we would have seen more. 

Section of back wall of Quarry Hall

Section of Quarry Hall back wall

Flute Player petroglyph

Lizard petroglyph

8/26/12

Today was our day for seeing wildlife as well as the beautiful Flaming Gorge and Red Canyon.  We started out in Flaming Gorge, named by a one-armed soldier who mapped the area.   We went well into Sheeps Creek Canyon; besides the beautiful rock formations and the rambling, babbling creek we saw there, we were also treated to a gray fox running across the road in front of us.  We proceeded on to Flaming Gorge Dam (which is on the Green River and created a 91 mile long lake) where we viewed a film about it's creation and the electrical power it provides the area.  As we drove higher and higher we were able to look down on the Lake and see how it curved in around the canyons and bays it created

Entering Flaming Gorge

Sheeps Creek Canyon

We got to Red Canyon and were promptly greeted by a group of Big Horn sheep--lambs and ewes.  The Park Service person told us that the rams rarely come into the Park staying primarily on the cliffs.  After or Visitor Center visit, we went in search of a shady picnic table to have our lunch.  The one we found was by a small lake in which we saw a moose cow standing on the far side in the lake eating aquatic plans that she pulled from the bottom of the lake.  We also had a chipmunk come near hoping for a few crumbs to be left behind from our lunch.

Flaming Gorge Lake

Big Horn Sheep lambs

Our lunchtime visitor

Moose cow across the lake