At Colorado National Monument, every view’s a postcard on Rim Rock Drive.
A second foray into this park took us to the unique patio stones of Cold Shivers Point. The stone slabs are so wide and flat that we wanted to run across to the canyon’s edge like kids, but glancing down at our feet we noticed that all the stones had been carved with names and dates going back to the 1930s. Some etchings are just initials inside a heart, and others are names joined by a plus sign. This gorgeous viewpoint is something of a lover’s lane, an ideal place to proclaim everlasting love before one of nature’s most majes- tic chasms of red rock. Back down in the small town of Fruita, we discovered a lively farmer’s market that was filled with the bountiful har- vest of late summer. Apples have never tasted so crisp and sweet as the tiny ones we found there, and the melons were so flavorful we couldn’t help but laugh as the juice ran freely down our chins. Children played happily with the docile al- pacas that were fenced off at one end of the market where a family was offering their soft wool for sale. A band played to one side, giving the market a festive air. On the far side of Grand Junction, we spent a day in Palisade where a small wine industry thrives. We followed the wine route that wanders through the farmlands around the outskirts of town, stopping at several vintners’ estates to have a taste. We particularly enjoyed the port wine at Graystone Winery. It had a rich, deep fruity flavor. Traveling 90 miles south to Ridgway, we left the farm- lands and arrived in the heart of Colorado’s famous mountains where the jagged peaks and broad views we’d been waiting to see now filled us with awe. The San Juan Mountain Range between Ridgway, Telluride and Ouray offers some of the most stunning scenery imaginable, and during the third week of September the whole area is on fire with the spectacular yellows, oranges and reds of fall foliage. Golden aspen blan- keted the valleys, standing out dramatically against the dark evergreens, and the whole quilt of brilliant colors spread out against the raw gray mountain peaks and rich blue sky. The views are stunning from every vantage point, but some of the best drives at this time of year are along the dirt roads that run between the towns that aren’t fit for large RVs.
The park’s centerpiece is the enchanting Rim Rock Drive, a thin ribbon of road that twists and turns along the edges of the canyon’s sheer walls, offering ever-changing jaw-dropping views. When we pulled up to the park entrance, the ranger said casually, “The drive through this park takes about 45 minutes.” Four hours later, we hadn’t even made it halfway! The true magic of the park lies in the many easy hikes that take visitors off the main road. The Canyon Rim and Win- dow Rock hiking trails are effortless ambles across wide, flat, playground-sized rock slabs, and we found we could wander as close to the cliffs’ edges as we dared. Looking across the canyon, the Book Cliffs provided an inspiring view of pinnacles, towers and castles of rock that jut up from the valley floor. The erosive effects of water and wind have created these formations by weathering away the surrounding turf, leaving only the most impervious portions of rock behind. As we walked along the edges of the cliffs, marveling at the trees that tempt fate by hanging off the rim, we kept hearing voices coming up from the canyon floor. An hour later we saw tiny figures on Independence Monument, a towering spire in the middle of the canyon that has an impossibly small spot at the top to stand. We learned later that John Otto, the man responsible for persuading President Taft to set aside this land as a national monument in 1911, was the first to scale the pin- nacle. Today, rock climbers follow his route up the vertical walls and celebrate the Fourth of July by planting a huge American flag on top.
10 COAST TO COAST fall 2013
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