Day 109 Durango, CO-Moab, UT

Day 109 Durango, CO-Moab, UT
11.17.16
Thanks Laurel for the gifts and great breakfast suggestion.  Morning greeted us with a brief snow flurry.  We warmed up with a delicious breakfast at Doughworks.  A short tour through Durango before we headed west. We passed by Mesa Verde Natl Park as the snow flurries would have made it difficult to see anything, but we will be back another time to see it. While the road was bare and wet, the van accumulated some ice on it.  But by the time we got to Cortez, CO, the skies were turning blue.  And in a few miles, we were in another state - Utah and on our way to Canyonlands Natl Park - The Needles section.   The park is about 34 miles off of US 191 but the drive in to the park provided spectacular views of its own. We saw a few climbers scaling the cracks of these magnificent rock walls.  Along the way, Newspaper Rock revealed its petroglyphs of horses, deer, buffalo and other etchings by historic peoples from B.C. to A.D. 1300.  The drive takes you through tight canyons of red rock and cottonwood trees and then opens up to a huge valley. Once in the park, the views continue to become awe inspiring. It is really something that everyone should experience.   We only spent a few hours in the park as this was more of a scouting mission for a future visit when we can spend more time exploring the park and hiking its trails.  As we drove out of the park and headed north, the sun was setting causing highlights and shadows across the landscape.  I love this time of the day.  We found a campsite just north of Moab on the Colorado River (Goose Island). As it was dark when we arrived, we couldn't see the river or the cliffs around us but that will be tomorrow's surprise.