THE PARSONS PROJECT

Teton National Park - 3 nights

Sep 30 - Driving from Yellowstone NP - Boondocking near Jackson, WY

Had an easy drive day after enjoying breakfast in West Yellowstone and dumping our tanks and filling water at Grizzly RV Park (expensive at $30.00 but seeing as how our 4 night stay in the area did not cost a dime, we figured we'd splurge!)

Spending the next few nights in the Bridger-Teton National Forest off Toppings Lake Road. This is a great viewing location but it is very busy with other people staying here as well. We were lucky to get a spot, not on the edge but we can still see the Teton Mountain Range.

The days drive was colorful with lots of trees turning yellow.

This area is in the Bridger-Teton NF.

This is our view out our front door...not too shabby.

Oct 1 - Relaxation & Catching up the Website

After taking a relaxation day...Ken also got a cold and needed the down time...we will get to exploring the area in the coming days.

Oct 2 - Touring around Grand Teton NP

We had a beautiful driving day for our tour around the National Park. Luckily, smoke from the nearby fires did not take away from our views.

Our first stop of the day was to see the old homestead of J.P. Cunningham. What a beautiful location.

I think we saw the very last of the Fall color change.

We took a quick stop at Jackson Lake Dam and Reservoir. I heard from a couple that otters were playing in the dam below the bridge but I could not find them.

Just another stop along the way...I love the reflection of the Fall colors...

...and the reflection of the mountain.

Potholes...they don't just exist on the roadways!

Mount Moran

Grand Teton, highest peak at 13,775 ft.

Cascade Canyon

Jenny Lake

Timing was not right for us as there is a small boat that takes you across to the other side of the lake, however last day for operations was Sep 30. Missed by 2!

Teton Glacier

After viewing the Teton Mountain Range we drove the short distance to Jackson, WY to see the Elk Antler Arches and visit another brewery.

Snake River Brewing

Finished up the day (with so many others) seeing a bull moose at the side of the road. Great way to end our time here in Teton National Park.

Driving to Arches National Park (4 nights)

Oct 3-4 - Flaming Gorge, UT

Last view of the Teton Mountain Range as we head out.

Views along the drive today

Spent a few nights at Deer Run Campground, a National Forest campground in the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.

Crossed over the Flaming Gorge Dam on our way to our campsite.

The next day we explored a bit of the area.

Drove back to the visitor center at the Dam and they had a few informational boards.

Why was this area named Flaming Gorge?

Fish to be found in the Green River.

Drove over to the Red Canyon area and enjoyed a short walk along the edge of the canyon to enjoy the views.

I guess now you can see why it is called Green River!

We continued on with our day and drove to the Sheep Creek Canyon Geological Area. This was a really interesting drive.

Finished off with a view of Tower Rock.

Oct 5-6 - Vernal, UT - Dinosaur National Monument

The next day was a short drive we made it to Steinaker State Park just north of Vernal, UT. We wanted to be in the area to get laundry done and then explore Dinosaur National Monument.

And it was an exciting day (at least for one of us!) as the truck odometer hit 100,000 miles!

Celebrated the milestone with a cold one at Vernal Brewing Company.

The next day we toured Dinosaur National Monument Visitor Center (the Quarry) and the surrounding area.

From the visitor center we took a short tram ride to the quarry where you can see the wall of fossilized dinosaur bones. This is the top level.

Earl Douglass discovered this site in August 1909.

The lower level of the exhibit.

Touching a 149 million year old fossilized dinosaur bone!

From the quarry we took the 0.75 mile hike back to the visitor center. It was all downhill!

It was a smoky day so the air quality wasn't the best which also made for some not great views.

Along the way we found some petroglyphs.

A great pictorial description of Wildlife Safety!

After finishing up at the quarry and visitor center we drove out towards Josie Morris Ranch to see the sites along the way.

This was at the first Petroglyph site, Swelter Shelter.

Here we are overlooking Split Mountain Campground.

Rock layers time frame

A bend in the Green River, called Placer Point...looks to be a great place to go fishing!

Fish in Dinosaur

Turtle Rock? You have to look close!

Elephant Toes Butte

More petroglyphs

Ended our day with a drink and appetizer at Swain Brothers restaurant back in Vernal. This is also where their local Rotary group meets.

Arches National Park & Canyonlands National Park (6 nights)

Oct 7-12 - Moab, UT

An uneventful drive from Vernal to the Moab region. Ken was really hoping to have breakfast in Dinosaur, CO (he figured Dinosaur Diner just had to be there!) but no such luck. So it was back into UT where we will stay for the next few nights while we visit Arches NP and Canyonlands NP.

Had a great vista to enjoy lunch.

We are staying just south of the Moab airport in what used to be BLM land but has now been taken over by the state and is being run as Utahraptor State Park. No services other than porta potties in the area, but now costs $15.00/night. Only about 15 min. to Moab.

Oct 8 & 10th - Arches National Park

The night before, we went online and got our next day time entry pass to enter Arches NP. Let's see what it is all about...or at least what we get done in a day or two!

Balanced Rock

Fiery Furnace from a distance

Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch Viewpoint Trail, Upper

Looking from the Upper Viewpoint down the trail.

I was able to really zoom in on Delicate Arch from the Upper Viewpoint area.

The Fiery Furnace

Sand Dune Arch Trail includes Sand Dune Arch, Broken Arch & Tapestry Arch

A narrow passageway to get to the prize!

Sand Dune Arch tucked in amongst the boulders.

No going past here!

This family was nice enough to add some dimension to this picture!

The first sighting of Broken Arch

On the other side of Broken Arch as the trail went right through it.

Tapestry Arch...this trail went from Broken Arch to Tapestry Arch and finally to Devil's Garden Campground and then back to the Sand Dune Arch parking lot.

Lot's of sand, like you are on a beach.

After the campground we hiked through this canyon to get back to Sand Dune Arch parking lot. Glad we had good hiking boots to help grip the rocks.

Skyline Arch Trail...this was a short distance from our last hike so we did not take the time to hike to the base of the arch...pictures will suffice!

We drove up to Devil's Garden Trailhead but it was super busy around 1:30pm so we just drove down the hill and stopped to enjoy our picnic lunch. Then it was time to head home. We may come back to the park another day to check out the trail to Landscape Arch.

The Windows as seen on our drive by.

Enjoyed some chips & salsa (very good!) at Moab Brewery on our off day from the National Park.

Another day back into Arches to see the following.

Devils Garden Trail

Hiked to Landscape Arch.

Pine Tree Arch

Tunnel Arch

Double Arch

That is Ken walking towards the base of the arch in the grey shirt, beige shorts.

Ken at the base of the arch with his arms stretched wide.

Do you see the face here?

Does getting closer help to see the face?

This was at the Garden of Eden viewpoint. There was no information panel here, so we just walked onto some of the rock formations. ??? Not sure what we were supposed to look at/or see from here.

Overall, we enjoyed Arches National Park, the highlighted areas are what we have seen. There are still more to be enjoyed and hiked to if we decide to come back to the area. I gave this park an 8 out of 10, Ken gave it a 6.5.

Oct 11 - Canyonlands National Park

About 30 minutes from our campsite is Canyonlands and specifically we checked out the Island in the Sky District of this park. There are 3 other areas, The Needles, The Maze & The Rivers that we need to explore another time.

Stopped at the visitor center to check it out.

Dust storms and haze can affect the views.

This is across the road from the visitor center.

Grand View Point Overlook...there is a rim trail here that we chose not to do.

Our next stop was the Buck Canyon Overlook.

As we decided to bypass the Grand View Point Rim Trail, we drove further down the road to do the 3.2mile return Murphy Trailhead. Glad we did this one...it was quiet but enjoyable with great views at the end.

Some of the trail that we walked on.

Green River Overlook...this is the same river that we first say in the Flaming Gorge area.

Continued on to see Upheaval Dome...we hiked to both the first and second overlook areas. Getting to the second viewpoint was a bit challenging as we hiked the rocks....good thing our hiking boots have good grip. Both of these trails had lots of steps so we got that part of our workout done as well!

Upheaval Dome is a mystery as to what caused it...it is either a salt dome that cracked and tilted the rock about 300 million years ago or the other theory is that 200 million years ago a meteorite struck here and caused the large crater that was filled in with surrounding rock and then over time erosion exposed what we see today.

This is the view from the first viewpoint.

Hiking down the rocks towards the second viewpoint.

As seen from the second viewpoint.

Our last stop of the day was to hike to see Mesa Arch. And as this was our third hike of the day I was more than ready to be done. All those stairs and stepping over large rocks does a number on the knees! Ended the day at just over 19,000 steps!

Canyonlands National Park is a must do again to explore other parts of the park that we did not see this time around.

Time to enjoy a last night sitting out in the Moab region before heading back to Arizona.

Drive Back to Arizona (2 nights)

13 - Cortez, CO

As we left the Moab region...how about this for advertising?!

Enjoyed a quick stopover night just outside of Cortez at The Sleeping Ute RV Park which is part of the Ute Mountain Casino. Good time to catch up on laundry and dump the tanks.

14 - Mexican Hat, UT

The next morning we stopped at Four Corners Monument which is the intersection of Arizona, Utah, Colorado & New Mexico.

How's this for being in four States all at the same time!

Continuing on our drive it was back into Utah on our way to Goosenecks State Park located just outside of Mexican Hat. This is a place we have seen on the maps for years and said one day we will have to go there. I grew up in Medicine Hat and this name was just so close to that.

This part of our drive was quite scenic with all of the rock formations and colors.

For only $10.00 a night, no hookups, we were able to stay on the rim overlooking the San Juan River.

That's our rig in the middle of the picture.

If we stand close to the rim edge this is what we see below us.

The river's unique "goosenecks" flow for 12 miles by canoe, but only cover 5 miles "as the crow flies".

After setting up, we took the short drive to see Mexican Hat. Along the way were these terrific sand colors in the mountain.

Our first view of the Mexican Hat Rock

The top rock is supposed to look like an upside down sombrero. I don't quite get it!

And into Mexican Hat...not much here we tried to stop for a drink at the one restaurant but it didn't open until 5pm and we were there at 4pm.

Back at Goosenecks, this is what we saw across the canyon.

Arizona - for the rest of the winter!

Oct 15 - Flagstaff, AZ - Coconino National Forest

Our last view of Utah, part of Monument Valley

This is one of the scenes from the Forrest Gump movie. Lots of people stopping here and standing in the middle of the road to take their pictures.

Home, sweet home!

Found a boondocking spot for just the one night just north of Flagstaff. It was nice in the sun but in the shade the air was cool.

And only for one night as the night time temps will soon be in the freezing zone!

This was also a dusty road in front of this spot...not the best location for a long term spot.

Oct 16-17 - Cottonwood, AZ

Hanging out here at Dead Horse Ranch State Park for a few nights giving a little extra time for the temps to cool down in the valley.

Was able to get a great pull through spot but not quite near enough to town to be able to walk. Enjoyed a brewery and some wineries and of course our favorite location to grab a meal at Pizzeria Bocce!

Oct 18-22 - Phoenix Valley - Wild Horse Arizona State Trust Land

Left a stormy Cottonwood to arrive at our home while here in the Valley staying in the desert just north of Peoria and close to Lake Pleasant. And of course it is windy as usual.

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OCT 2024

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