Colorado National Monument

High above Grand Junction we were lucky to find a campsite. It was a long day’s drive and we have no fixed itinerary just a place to be at a distant point in time. We are in Colorado now having followed to a great extent the Green River. Green River Wyoming is where John Wesley Powell embarked upon his epic journey through the Grand Canyon. Green River Utah is just to the west of now. It seems so far away that canyon from where he started.

Tonight we are in the high red rock country in the pinion-juniper climate zone. The day was hot but the sun is heading down and some cool air is falling from he ridge above us. We are in the red soiled pinion juniper forest of this part of Colorado and further south much of Utah.

I had not been to this park before and I find it beautiful if a little curious. It was designated a park by President Taft after a 5 year lobbying campaign by a man who traveled to the area and found himself stunned by its appearance. His success is a tribute to a kind of vision and crazy ambition.

The curious part is how one arrives here. As we are a couple of thousand feet above the Colorado River plain as it runs from Grand Junction east through Fruita and finally turns south again as it carves the soft red sandstone near Moab and then to Canyonlands National Park where it joins the Green River which has made its own canyon.

The curious decision was to build a road right up the great sandstone cliffs. A road of such ambition it seems to border on madness. I suspect that the West for decades was a haven for mad ambitious road engineers (second only to the engineers who damned every feasible place and few not so feasible places) and this road in the park is no exception. An exquisitely crafted set of switchbacks, long inclines and tunnels leaves you on top of this ridge staring out into the distance of Grand Junction and the mountains and beyond.

There is a southern entrance that leaves from Grand Junction and we expected it to be less ambitious but it was only slightly less so. This one is also the domain of another ambitious group, cyclists who ride up from Grand Junction and the take the loop behind our campsite before the breezy zip down through switchbacks and tunnels. In my more youthful day I would have cherished the challenge (‘death before dismount’ was the motto) but would have dreaded the downhill as I have an aversion to speed with tight corners.

Photography Notes

I used both my Fuji GFX 100s ii and GFX 50s ii. The 100s ii has my GF500 f5.6 lens while the 50s ii keeps my 35-70mm kit lens. I find it easier than switching lenses. Both I have set for this trip to Provia/STD film simulation as I find the higher contrast and slight saturation reproduces the colors we encountered best.

I tend to shoot 2/3 of a stop underexposed. This helps with bright western light this time of year and keeps highlights in check.

Most images have been tweaked on Apple’s stock photo app mostly for contrast.