This message is from: pedfjo...@aol.com Is it 4 ?
Had a few min. today to continue ( finish in 2 more parts ) Lauras and my big adventure. The puppy litter is keeping me busy along with 20 Fjords so hit and miss here. Anyone interested in seeing new updated pics of the CORGI's, and / or the fall leaves on the mountian here, I have some nice pictures, so write. **************************************************************************** ********************** After a few days of hanging out here and more riding, Laura and I left for a journey over the mountian to Escalente and the Grand Staircase National Monument. My Fjord buddy Jeanie works there as a Park Ranger and she supervises several visitor centers at the monument. Jeanie has several Fjords and also Mustangs she uses to trail ride. In Sep. of 1976, Pres. Clinton proclaimed 1.7 MILLION acres of UT. as a National Monument, the first to be run by the BLM instead of the National Parks Service. This proclaimation preserved some of the most unique and remote area of the West. It actually takes up a large portion of the State of UT. when looking at a map. To get there, we headed up on Cedar Mountian across Hwy 14, which is a " Scenic Byway " to Hwy's 12 and 89 which run all the way towards and past Bryce Canyon. It is about a 3 hour drive over to Jeanies place and every min of it was beautiful. We saw very few cars at Bryce Canyon, again after Labor Day it is very nice to visit. Spotted a herd of Antelope as we drove through a portion of the Park. We arrived in Escalante where Jeanie and her husband ( also a * retired Park Ranger ) have a home right up against a part of the monument. There is a huge rock arch on the wall of rock behind their house. 200 or so hummingbirds stay there at their place and Jeanie gos through 40 lbs of sugar a WEEK in the summer feeding them, along with lots of seed for the other zillions of birds they have. Larry is a gardener big time and it all makes their little ranch a very special place to visit. They also have 5 border collies, cats, milk and fiber goats and chickens. We all took off into the GS Monument and stopped at Calf Creek Falls Campground for a look. HUGE towering dark red rock walls is the order of the day, along with fun water crossings and a senic overlook where you can see panels of petroglyphs and the " 100 Hands " pictograph sacred site of the Hopi from an overlook. We stopped at my favorite cafe, the Kiva Cafe where they only have around 12 tables wrapped around the window wall with its unreal views. I didnt even think about my flat land WI. friend having a problem, but as she got out of the JEEP, she about turned green, then white. The rock mountians that tower over and around you have giant swirls and alot of " motion " to them. They used to lay under an ocean ( they find whale bones there along with dinosaurs ) and she was not used to looking UP and had started to * SWOON, for lack of better words. Not sure that Laura enjoyed lunch as much as Jeanie and I did. Her color returned slightly when we got back in the car, but not much. Over part of the Monument towards the town of Boulder is an experience in itself. You get to drive the " Hogsback " where slowly you have the road and even shoulder drop off till you are sort of " perched " on the top of a narrow Hwy with drop offs on both sides of your car and NO FRICKEN GUARD RAILS. Planes fly lower than you drive. Jeff told me once that whenever you actually see a guard rail in UT. it means that alot of people have " gone over the edge " ( ha ha funny man ) which does not help my mood or nerves as I try to stay centered in my lane for a few miles. One tiny wind gust or little swerve would put you down so far that Search and Rescue wouldnt even bother to try and fetch the car or your remains. It is a test of nerves of steel and mine do not qualify. I just want to turn my wheel and go OFF, you know, sort of like wanting to jump off a rollar coaster.....which IF I rode, Im sure that I would throw myself off to avoid falling out. Sort of a control ( or lack of ) issue. Maybe you have to be there to understand. Anyway, we made it across the Terror Hwy. to Boulder and visited one of Jeanies visitor centers there, the Anasazi Museum. It is located right on top of a real deal excavated living site for ancient people, and after visiting all of the artifacts there, you walk out back where the pit houses and intact living areas sit. The fire burned timbers for the roofs and pottery sherds lay around on the edges of the ruins and you can go in and see " up close " and dirty, how they lived. Very cool ! Then we took a drive down the " Burr Trail " into Long Canyon where the RED RED striped rocks rise up on both sides of the road upwards for miles. Jeanie knows where there is a cool slot canyon, so we hiked back into it where it turns dark and cooler within a few yards of the opening. There is dripping water, moss and trees in there, but when you hike back out, the desert and dry catus and white sand just hits you like no other place inside of 20 ft. Sensory overload. Laura was a little pink by then, but still couldnt turn her head to fast. We stopped the JEEP and let her see dinosaur tracks headed up the rock on the side of the road. Its a funny thing to see peoples reaction when instead of seeing a 5 ft. square track of some monster, they are palm sz. like turkey tracks inbedded in the rock. Hey, there had to be little monsters for the BIG ones to eat, right ? Eagles, turkey vultures, deer, antelope, lizzards, lots of desert bugs, tons of wildlife live there. We sadly headed back to Jeanies place and took off towards Cedar Mountian where we were going to try and catch the " Star Gazing Party " at the Cedar Breaks monument, up on the midway point towards home, but when we reached Hwy 89, it was starting to rain and the skys and lightening turned us back to go home up over Hwy 20, a truck route instead. Good choice, as it was really comming down up near the top and I doubt we missed anything at Cedar Breaks. Long fun day. Part 5 ? LAST one later. It involves lots of FJORDS so tune in. Lisa Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
