West Slope Is the Best Slope is something people say who live on the Western Slope of Colorado, which I now know (because I’ve asked Tracy a million times) means west of the Continental Divide—and not east of it, which is called the Front Range. We were on the Western Slope at Colorado National Monument […]
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The Drama of Colorado National Monument
We’re at the very western edge of Colorado, at another amazing national monument. Feels like we’re seeing one after another of these places while they’re still protected. From Our Campsite Tracy scored a spot at Saddlehorn Campground, which is in the monument and therefore tricky for two reasons. You have to pass through roughly blasted […]
Campground Surprises at Dino
Unexpected small joys (and one small rattlesnake) at Dinosaur National Monument.
Bone Jam and Ram Jam at Dinosaur National Monument
The bone jam I’m taking about is from the Jurassic period, when this specific area in Utah was wet (attracting dinosaurs), then dry (killing dinosaurs), then wet again, at which point a river flowed through, washing a whole lotta bones into this small canyon, where they got caught in the mud, then covered by sediment. […]
Trying to Stay Amazed in Utah
I saw this graffiti on a bench above Angel Peak badlands in New Mexico, and I’m trying, random person with a magic marker defacing public property, I’m trying. Islands in the Sky at Canyonlands I struggle with sensory burnout when we see so much so often. I’m not complaining, but I am staying back at […]
Arches, Moab, People
A day spent in Arches National Park, Utah
Seeing Green in Canyonlands Nat. Park
Canyonlands is a big national park in southern Utah that we’re tackling in sections; we’re camped near the south section now and we’ll move to the north section tomorrow. It’s got a lot of interesting rock formations, petroglyphs and pictograms, but—big deal to us now—a lot of green. It’s been since we were waylaid in […]
Life in the Valley of the Gods
Valley of the Gods was part of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah when Obama designated it; Bears Ears was the first national monument created by request of and with input from Indigenous tribes. The protected land size was reduced under Trump, restored under Biden, then reduced under Trump again, and, thanks to lobbying from […]
Chaco Culture
You hear about this place. But there’s no preparing for it. It’s certainly not just another stop on a tour of Puebloans’ ancestral villages. I could tell you random facts that struck me, such as that the smallest room in one of the “main houses” was found by archaeologists to have more turquoise than any […]
What National Monuments Preserve
That’s what I was going to call this post, seeing as how yet more national monuments are on the current administration’s chopping block, as well (of course) as the jobs of park rangers across the country at national parks and national historic parks. I knew when we started this “summer of parks” in the West […]
