Today we head for Dinosaur National Monument, the Utah side, home of the Quarry Exhibit Hall. We pass through miles of sage brush plain and make a steep switchback climb up a lush green valley then across Douglas Pass. This north west corner of Colorado and even more so the neighboring Utah is cool terrain. Enormous geologic uplift has tilted and deformed layer upon layer of sedimentary rock exposing bands of color cut through by ridges of sandstone. Maybe not exactly beautiful but certainly amazing.
This end of the monument is all about dino bones. Some 149 million years ago, a raging river carried and buried bones of at least 10 species of dinosaurs in this one valley. It is the site of a huge dig that began in 1908. Like at most digs, lots of bones have been removed and sent to various museums. The cool thing here, the on-site exhibit is a section of the dig.
A vertical wall of earth with 1500 dinosaur bones all excavated to expose them but left in place, exactly as they were deposited millions of years ago. One section of the wall still contains a nearly complete skeleton of a Camarasaurus, one of those long necked, long tailed planteaters. It is cool to try to spot all the pieces like a giant puzzle. Plus, we get to touch actual dino bones. Very cool. Check it out.
We make a quick stop to check out pictographs and petroglyphs but save exploration of the rest of the monument for another, cooler time. There is lots more to see besides dino bones.
We are spending the night in Green River campground here on the Monument. Most of the sites are among majestic cottonwoods along the river bank. Late in the day clouds are building. We can see sheets of rain reaching for the ground on nearby mountains along with flashes of lightning. Occasionally a light sprinkle makes it to the ground here. It is amazing to watch. It reminds me of watching storms develop and approach in Nebraska when I was a kid. I still love it. Just about dark a mule deer browses its way past our site between us and the river. This is a dark sky park but it’s a bright half-moon and a there are still a few scattered clouds. It is a beautiful night but too much light to find the Milky Way. Another time.
We have a bit of excitement on the way home. A band of big horn sheep appears in the roadway just at the exit of one of the rock tunnels on Rim rock Drive. They cross and seemingly fly up a nearly vertical cut to the flatland above the road. What a great way to end the day.
Monument with Wedding Canyon trail we make a 5-mile loop into the central canyon to the foot of Independence Monument. It is a bit of a climb passing red rock, pinion pine and juniper. Flycatchers and black throated sparrows flit and chip around us. An amazingly acrobatic swift evades repeated swoops of a pursuing hawk high above the cliff tops. Near the half way mark, oncoming hikers let us know that there are big horn sheep in the valley just ahead. 
Wonderful. Around the next turn we find first a band of ewes and young then spot an older male with impressive horns. Across the trail a regal looking old fellow sits quietly along with a ewe and two young. They all watch cautiously but continue to munch and mill around the area. We move on leaving them to find their site to bed down for the heat of the day. Beyond Independence Monument we spot a ewe and one lamb. Great walk. It’s 90 by the time we leave the trail around 10:30. We are glad we got an early start.
A mostly well-maintained gravel road crosses through mixed forest and open meadows. Wildflowers are spectacular with predominant colors changing area by area based on moisture, shade, wind and I don’t know what else. Wild life viewing continues to be disappointing. We see cattle, they have grazed livestock here for decades, and very tame chipmunks at the observation point. Below us from the point we look out across a wide arid valley sided by basalt capped cliffs and eroded slopes painted muted rust and tan. Smooth mounds are scattered on the valley floor, oddly placed and shaped. All this the product of eons of erosion as the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers come together here. Now, man has made our own mark as the city of Grand Junction and local agriculture with its associated irrigation have created a sprawling green-grey oasis. I wonder what it looked like when only the ribbons of green of the two rivers traced along the valley floor? 
Heading back from the point we hike the Raber Cow Cabins trail thigh high through the flowering meadows and among cabins dating from early ranching days. I could look at this view every morning.
we walk the banks of Mesa Lake. It is lovely, mostly shaded and cool. We had been warned about mosquitoes and we find them on this trail. Even with plenty of repellant they find us if we dally too long or disturb the brush. Fishing is a big thing up here and we see quite a few rainbow trout in the clear lake.
Snodgrass Mountain, head out pretty early for the drive to put us on the trail by 8:30 or so. The area is amazing with entire hillsides painted mostly shades of yellow but dotted with purple, blue, red, white and orange. Snow capped peaks ring the valley along with the namesake crested butte. Wow! We hike about 4 miles through meadows and treed terrain. What a great time of year to be here.
The pictures don’t do it justice. Two marmots cavort on the rock pile providing lunchtime entertainment. We won’t be finishing the loop drive. We meet a Crested Butte bound driver who reports that some earlier driver overestimated his skills and is stuck in remaining snow pack. They have blocked the road and no one is getting through. So, home we go.
There are switchbacks and hairpin curves and quite a bit of traffic but the drive is lovely and pretty easy. We are in the Sawatch Range and the pass is at 12,119 ft elevation, the highest paved crossing of the continental divide in the US. We hike up another couple hundred feet to an amazing view on a trail that winds through a wildflower covered alpine meadow. It is beautiful in every direction. Trails go on from here but we hang for a bit then head back down then to camp for a quiet evening. The host says there was a bear in camp last week. I’ll believe it when I see it!
Then, we are on to Monarch pass via US50 to check out the view from 11,312 feet and with a gondola ride up to the top, 12,000ft. The gondola ride is a bit exciting as the cars bounce in the wind. It is clear and we see Pikes Peak and The San Juan Mountains, about 80 miles. We hang and enjoy the views for a bit then are on our way. The rest of the day is filled with some shopping to restock and prep to move tomorrow. On to Crested Butte and a quiet National Forest Campground, Lottis Creek.
, a walk through wild space with hopes of seeing deer maybe elk and maybe even bear. It is rugged and beautiful as we move along first an old two track road then dry stream beds. Granite monoliths rise high above us with pinon pine and juniper in the valleys between them. We do notice there is not much shade and that the trail is often soft sand underfoot. Neither is what we were expecting. We manage to get off trail following the path of what must have been a trail ride. We wind up trailblazing up and down three ridges and their associated troughs. It’s getting hot and we are a bit tired and exasperated at the difficulty finding the trail. One more climb and tada, we are back on the trail and heading for high ground where we find fantastic long mountain views out over the valley to surrounding 14000s. We are feeling the heat and elevation so cut the hike a bit short and head back. So far one cottontail and a couple chipmunks. Good thing the views were nice.