Wonders of the American West
Day One – 29 May 2010
Denver-Moab
Weather: Denver 8 C. Vail 5 C. Moab – by comparison – it’s the surface of the sun.
I had to admit, there was something to be said for flying west. I went to bed early, but I got up early. I mean, what does one do at four in the morning in Denver?
I didn’t move until five and then got up and ironed some clothes, wrote some tour tale, surfed the net for free in the lobby and packed up my bag for the porter. For the first time on any tour, they didn’t want us to leave the luggage outside our room.
The breakfast at the hotel was basic but the eggs were made to order and quite nice. There was also a great fruit bar.
Back in the lobby, I met Gordon, and right away I knew he’d be a good tour director. Lots of energy! He directed us out to the bus and asked us to check for our luggage since people from the previous tour (the Yellowstone one) were going home and he didn’t want our luggage going to the airport.
I didn’t see my luggage there.
So, Gordon went to look for it while I watched a porter come out and go to the airport bus. He picked up a bag and tossed it in.
A purple duffel! Nooooooo!!
So, I scrambled over and let him know that it wass mine. It got moved over and I boarded the bus.
Wow. Pretty nice bus. This was my third Insight tour and I had to chuckle at the claim of more legroom as my previous two tours were in a seven person van and a mini-bus…which had none and next to none when it came to legroom. (Middle East tours don’t have the extra legroom guarantee.)
But this was more like it. I mean, there was so much legroom, my feet couldn’t reach the footrest when it was down.
There was also a great overhead with airplane type covers. They were not as large as an airplane overhead, but larger than the others I’ve seen on the European coaches. There was also a cup holder, but no tray table and no seat belts.
Anson, our driver, had a cooler at the back full of water for a dollar (honour system). The bathroom was at the back and Gordon called it his phone booth. Neither he nor the driver had a problem if we used it to make some calls. They preferred we wait and preferred that we make local instead of long distance calls, but he was not going to frown on anyone who wanted to use it.
It would get a number of local calls.
And I was sitting only a couple seats away and can report that there was no smell.
Gordon also saved the front right seat as a photographer’s seat. Anyone could use for a few minutes at a time. It was a really nice arrangement that people seem to honour. Not that we had a choice. Gordon was going to notice if someone spent an hour in that seat. He was sitting across from them.
We set off at eight and did a quick and dirty tour of Denver as we drove out. He pointed out the Mile High marker and asked if we wanted to get out to take a picture of the Capitol.
No one moved.
“Ah, you all want to see mountains!” he said.
Darn tootin’ right, Gordon.
So we drove west into a fog so thick we couldn’t see the mountains, but the revving engine let us know that it was doing a lot of climbing, and before long, white capped mountain peaks come into view and the fog magically disappeared in an instant.
There were not a lot of mountains. Not like going through the Rockies in BC, but it was amazing to see the mountains and hills change as you drive. From lush green and gray to less green and white then red.
We passed a sign that say we were at nine thousand feet.
Cool.
Before long we got to the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial tunnel. At 11,013 feet in altitude, it was the highest altitude I’d been to at that point and it didn’t take long before you could actually feel it a little.
Gordon told us the oxygen masks would drop any moment.
Did I say it was a great bus with a lot of extras? <snicker>
After the tunnel, we started going down hill. We had just passed over the Continental Divide, so all the snow on this side is feeding everything west of here. Including Gordon’s home city of Las Vegas. He said they got a lot of snow this year, and they’re hoping it’ll relieve a drought that has been going on for the last decade.
Gordon told us that we might see some wildlife like elk, but that the easiest way to spot wildlife was to look for people stopped on the side of the road. Though he had to be careful when he tells us to look. He did it once only to realize it was just a guy taking a whiz on the side of the road.
And he turned around only to see a bunch of tourists plastered to the windows in the bus with cameras raised.
As we drove, we see a lot of dead trees in spots and we’re told it’s the Pine Bark Beetle damage. The same thing they’re battling in parts of Canada.
We arrived in Vail at ten for a bathroom break. It’s a ski town at 10,662 feet and it was built in the European style. It was beautiful with the Gore River flowing through it. Gordon tells us that Vail was not named for some Indian princess or famous explorer. Nope. It’s named after a highway engineer.
So, we got off and made a run for the bathrooms then walked down to a covered bridge over the Gore to take pictures.
On the other side there were streets leading to the ski slopes which were closed even though there was snow. It was elk migrating season and they couldn’t open as it would threaten the young elk.
I took some shots and then climbed a number of stairs to get back to the bus. I actually kinda ran up the stairs.
At that point, I could really feel the altitude.
We all got back to the bus on time and carried on. I collapsed into my seat and waited for an oxygen mask to drop.
A short time later we stopped at a spot where rafters were getting ready to tackle the river.
We saw a number of rafters later on including one containing a naked woman. We got mooned.
Sorry, no pic. I wasn’t fast enough.
The landscape became less green and more white/grey after Vail.
Gordon told us that the red soil we would see later was from an over abundance of iron while purple is manganese and yellow is copper and sulfur.
We started climbing again to what Gordon called an uplift. He said the Colorado Plateau takes up one-eighth of the Continental USA and that the uplift occurred in steps. Much of the erosion we would see was recent, taking place over tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years – not millions. Some areas erode so fast that the trails have to be constantly checked for rock falls.
We topped out on the Grand Mesa – the largest in the world – and saw what looked like a fog bank in the distance but it was really dust being stirred up by the wind.
We stopped in Grand Junction for lunch. Gordon told us that we were trying a new spot since the old spot was getting old. Apparently the woman who arranged the visit was excited that we’re going there. There was a Walmart superstore in a mall with a number of food spots around the parking area but we had a problem getting the bus around so he opted to go to the mall’s food court.
We visited the Happy Room and had some Chinese for lunch then checked out Target looking for more memory cards.
Yeah. Twenty-four gigs were *not* going to be enough for me.
Everyone showed up on time and we were off to Moab through the dust and strong winds. Gordon said the winds were a sign of changing weather. A cold front was coming through and the temps were expected to drop for a day or so.
As we drove through the dust, Gordon gave us the history of the Mormons in Utah and noted that non-Mormons tended to only live in three locations – Salt Lake City, Park City and Moab. The latter because it’s such a draw for tourists and mountain bikers.
We eventually turned off the interstate onto a rough bouncy road where we were likely to see more rocks than cars. But wow, did the scenery change in an instant. We followed the Colorado River into an area of steep wooded hills that morphed into red mesas and buttes.
Gordon explained the differences between mesa, buttes and monuments. The mesa is one where the horizontal is longer than the vertical. The butte is fairly equal in height and width while a monument has a greater vertical distance.
We got a couple of chances to take photos outside. The difference in temperature from Denver was notable. We went from about 45 F to 90 F.
And it was among these mesas where we found our hotel.
Sweet.
The Red Cliffs Lodge was on the edge of the Colorado River. It was one of the nicest places I’ve stayed in. It was a motel style with the rooms accessible from the outside only.
Inside, the bed was on one level with a desk and TV while there was a kitchenette with a couch on a lower level. The patio door led out to a patio and a view of the river and mesas. I could sit on my bed and watch the river flow by.
And mooning rafters.
The room had everything from iron and free internet to a microwave. Posters of Arches and Canyonlands were on the wall. The furniture was all “log” furniture. Even the towel holder was different.
Drinking water was available from a special faucet as the regular water just doesn’t taste that nice. I guess it was all that iron.
We had a western dinner on the patio of the main building. It was quite hot, but the patio had a cover on top to keep out the sun.
The cutlery was covered with dust from the wind.
Complimentary.
And a little extra iron.
The meal started with a salad and their best cook did up some steaks while we picked up cowboy beans (chili), corn on the cob, potatoes and chicken. The rolls were hot and delicious!! A great meal topped off with raspberry sherbet while we watched the light fade over the mesas in the east.
Absolutely stunning.
Gordon gave us our timings for the next day and gave us the time for sunrise so that we could get up and get some pics of the mesa to the west as the sun rose. My internal alarm was already set for six.
Go to Day Two
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