Sunday, June 20, 2010

More Dinosaur National Monument

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Yesterday morning, on our way to Vernal, UT to do laundry and pick up a few groceries, we took a side trip past the campground to the end of Cub Creek Road. There are a couple short hiking trails and some petroglyphs at the end of a mile dirt road. Jim stayed in the car and read a magazine while I checked out the rock art. This is what he missed. They were supposedly done by the Freemont People (Native Americans) about a thousand years ago but no one knows what they mean.

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We hiked to Box Canyon and Hog Canyon, and the homesite of Josie Morris. She and her grandson built the place in 1914, and she stayed for over 50 years until a horse knocked her down and she broke a hip and died at age 90. It was a lovely and remote spot to live.

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This morning we drove 20 miles east to the Colorado side of the park to take the 34 mile Harpers Corner Road in the monument’s canyon country. We stopped at all the overlooks and hiked the one mile Harpers Corner trail at the end of the road. It was a very scenic drive, and we saw some wildlife all within about a mile section of the road. First it was 3 mule deer, then a couple ibex.

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Right after the ibex, this bunch was blocking the road and we had a hard time getting them to move.

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The Harpers Corner trail ended at an overlook of the Green and Yampa Rivers. More great views.

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A couple more views from the overlooks along the road. We were surprised that even on a Sunday we only saw about a dozen cars along the entire drive, and only a few people on the trail. Everyone is missing a beautiful park, but we aren’t complaining. We will be in the Grand Tetons soon and I’m sure we’ll find the crowds there.

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