#vanlife; Southern Colorado & Northern Arizona

{colorado}

I crossed the state line into Colorado and continued a short drive into the state to Pagosa Springs for the night.  I was amazed by how quickly the landscape changed from adobe homes in the sandy desert to log cabins in the lush mountains!  The change in landscape and change in elevation brought with it a rather drastic change in temperature; the night was rather brisk and my first time experiencing single digits in quite a while.  

Welcome to Colorado!

Pagosa Springs is a hot springs and skiing resort-style town.  It has a very nice little downtown, a few hot springs and all the typical tourist amenities.  I spent my night at the local Walmart, then went into town the next morning for church.  I joined Mark and Sara & their three kids for a Mexican mothers day lunch afterwards, then they took me for a scenic Sunday drive.  We wound our way through the mountains to the east of Pagosa Springs, finding a waterfall and a few scenic lookouts along the way... we even found a bit of snow, which nearly sent me into a state of shock!

Treasure Falls

Pagosa Springs valley

I left Pagosa Springs mid-afternoon and arrived in Durango in time to book tickets for a tour at Mesa Verde the next day.  With that arranged and most of the shops in town closed, I decided to get as much of a mountain-fix as possible and continued my drive along the million dollar highway to Silverton.  It was a gorgeous drive through the mountains and well worth the extra time in the van.

Scenic mountain drive; Durango to Silverton

I got back into Durango just as the last light of dusk was fading and spent the night camped at Walmart, this time wearing more layers and much more prepared for the single digit overnight lows.

I got a fairly early start the next morning and headed west towards Mesa Verde, arriving in time for a look at the visitors centre and a couple of the lookouts before my tour of Balcony House.  They had warned us that the hike was not for the faint-hearted, so I did my best to mentaly prepare myself for an hour cliff-side.  The hike down was actually quite easy, and we had a wonderful guide who explained several aspects of life in the cliffs and surrounding valley.  Once we got mid-way down the cliff, we had to climb a 10m ladder into the dwellings, but our guide had wonderful advice to just focus on the rungs and it really wasn't so bad.

Overlooking Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde

Ladder into Balcony House, Mesa Verde

In Balcony House we got to see several dwellings, a couple different styles, and get a small idea of what life would have been like.  I would not have done well perched on the edge of the world like that.  To get out of the dwellings we had to climb through a narrow tunnel, up a ladder, and then onto steps carved into the rock cliff-face to get the rest of the way out - that part was definitely the most nerve-racking.  When the dwellings were occupied there would have only been one entry/exit, so it would have been very secure.

Balcony House, Mesa Verde

Looking over the valley from the dwellings

Climbing out of the dwellings
(is it just me, or does the cliff look like a face?)

After my tour of Mesa Verde, I continued west to the four corners where the state lines of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah meet.  It's on tribal lands and has - arguably, wisely - been turned into something of a tourist attraction.  I'm happily guilty of falling for the novelty of it, and enjoyed the thrill of standing in all four states at the same time.  The true entertainment value came in watching the less-than-agile members of society trying to straddle all four states!

In all four states at the same time!

{utah}

From the four corners, I briefly cut through the southeast corner of Utah to Monument valley.  The iconic long road leading to the monuments is in Utah, but the monuments themselves are in Arizona (or at least the Navajo Tribal Park viewing area is)..

Monument Valley bound

{arizona}

I joined the crowds at the Navajo Tribal Park just in time for a stunning sunset over monument valley; it was gorgeous to watch the sunset change the glow of the red rocks over the valley!  I considered being legitimate for a night, but the $40/night camping fees quickly discouraged that and I decided that the hotel parking lot would suffice.  And... for the first time, I was woken up by security asking me to move.. gulp!  The security man was actually really nice and told me I just had to move to the other parking lot, which was a mere 100m away.  Don't ask me what difference it made, but I moved down a few parking spots and spent the rest of my night peacefully.

Sunset at Monument Valley

I had good intentions of getting up for sunrise, but the 5:30am alarm required was setting the expectations a bit too high.  I missed the sunrise, but I did enjoy an early morning drive through the valley, getting close to the monuments and soaking in the immensity of the place.

Scenic drive through Monument Valley

After my valley drive, it was time to continue my drive west to Page for a tour of Antelope Canyon.  I was very excited to see the canyon, but did my best to keep my expectations low fully expecting the professional photos to surpass reality.  They don't - it's incredible!  The volume of people going through detract from it a little, but the natural beauty more than makes up for it.  Our guide was very fun and pointed out several rock formations - the smiling shark, the hippo, the crying elephant, etc.!

Antelope Canyon

Stunning colours of Antelope Canyon

From Antelope Canyon I headed Lake Powell, mentally prepared and enthused to spend what remained of my afternoon lounging on the beach, soaking up the sun and swimming in the lake.  Unfortunately, the beach was rock and the water was green (and 63 degrees) so I traded in my dreams for a shower at the campground and caught up on some errands in town.

After some dinner, I drove to the south side of town to spend sunset at horseshoe bend.  I was surprised by the height of the cliffs; photos don't give proper perspective to the immensity of the place.  It's another incredible natural formation, but the crowds taking photos on the edge of the 1000 ft. cliffs did little for my nerves.  Like negative amounts of little.  Thankfully we all managed to stay top-side, and enjoyed a beautiful (although buggy) sunset.

Horseshoe Bend (spot the kayaks on the river's edge..)

Another night, another Walmart.. this time I spent the majority of the time using their wifi to try figuring out what was wrong with my phone.  It was nothing - turns out that in a decent sized Arizona town I get no service, but in an isolated Utah canyon I get full coverage.. go figure..

J.