Dinosaurs and 'Disasters' (June 5, 2012)

This is Flaming Gorge, Utah....named by Maj. John Wesley Powell when he discovered the gorge during  his famous expeditions to the Rocky Mountains and the canyons along the Colorado and Green Rivers in the 1870's.  He is a very well-known guy, we have discovered in our western travels, and is responsible for much of the discovery and charting of these frontier areas.  Flaming Gorge is beautiful with its red rocky ridges, looking very much like flames in the sun's rays.  My pic, as usual, cannot even to capture its beauty.

We came back to this corner of Utah to see Flaming Gorge, and to check out the National Dinosaur Monument.  For a variety of reasons, this has turned out to be our least favorite stop.......not really a disaster, but certainly not what we had hoped.

Yesterday (Monday), we headed out to see the dinosaurs. The National Dinosaur Monument is located near Vernal, Utah, which is about 40+ miles from where we are staying in Manila, UT - normally, an easy drive in the car.  What was not too evident was the terrain - or at least we did not pay too much attention  to what this trek would involve.  Anyhow, after looking closely at the map - Rt. 191 is the only 'main' road running north and south in that part of Utah, so it is well-traveled.  


About 10 minutes into our trip to Vernal, we found ourselves traveling along the same kind of trail as our 'white-knuckle' drive coming across the Rockies last week!  At least this time, we were in the car and not our RV. We soon found out we were crossing the Uinta (u-IN-tah) Mountains, and the elevation/descent grades were 8-10% while cutting through mountains and navigating hairpin turns for at least 10 switch-backs.  Good grief....how much did I really want to see those dinosaurs???

The vistas along the way were spectacular, however....although Dick did not get too much of a chance to dwell on the sights as he was busy hugging the road and trying to keep the car from going over the cliffs.  To add to our fun, the winds had been kicking up, making each encounter with one of the many huge tractor trailers that also travel this route a 'rattling' experience.  There is nothing except national forest, mountains and mesas between Manila and Vernal along this 2-lane highway......for miles!  This gorgeous shot, by the way, was taken at the Visitor's Center in Red Canyon National Forest.  Awesome!

OK, so we finally got to Vernal.  The Dinosaur National Park is an extensive rocky gorge covering territory in Utah and Wyoming.  We thought the main entrance was on the Wyoming side.  By the time we checked into the Visitor's Center there, we found that the only location with dinosaur fossils was on the Utah side. So, back-track to Utah we went.  The Visitor Center display was 'slim' and disappointing, and the shuttle tour through the 'park' was in an open-air shuttle.  With  afternoon temps in the 90's, and winds creating dust storms everywhere....we took a 'no thank you' helping.  The shot above was taken at the Vernal Dinosaur Museum....which we found later in the afternoon.

The Vernal museum was pretty impressive and had many interesting artifacts from people who had come and gone.  I am always interested in the 'people' history - especially those who were here thousands of years ago.  This is a replica of a 'petroglyph' that has been etched in stone....a remnant from those they call the 'ancients' - the hunters and gatherers.  A petroglyph is  an image etched, carved or scraped into stone, while a pictograph is a painted image.  If we would have done the shuttle tour, we would have passed some of the rocks where there are many petroglyphs that have been found in the park. 

So...weary from the day, we get ourselves back on 191-N for the cumbersome trek home.  By now, we are sure Cutter is wondering 'where is Mom and Dad...it is time for my dinner.'  Once we get up into the mountain elevations, we encounter an accident on one of the hairpin turns.  Seems a 'wide-load' rig was navigating one of those tight turns and someone in a van thought they could get by the rig on the curve....NOT !!  The collision ripped out the drivers side window and the left side of the windshield.  YIKES!!  So...with nowhere to go, we sat for about a hour and a half.  The winds, of course, were really kicking, so I had to have my window closed top keep the dust storms at bay.  Geez....what a memorable afternoon.


Today, Dick tried some fly fishing.  The winds were so fierce today (60mph gusts) that he was never able to get his line in.  He came home a bit wind-battered and empty-handed in the fish department.


Tomorrow, we are leaving this place for brighter days.  We are heading to Jackson, Wyoming, and will be there til the end of the week.  This is the location of the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar......a most anticipated stop on my agenda :-)  WOO-HOO !!  So....stay tuned for some great pics from that venue.