Four Corners Monument: Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona

Four Corners Monument is located in the Navajo Tribal Parks system and is the only location within the United States in which one can stand in four states at one time: Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.  Despite the fact that little else is located at the site other than the point and some interpretive plaques, when approaching close to the famous junction of the four states, it is an obligatory stop.

Below we are standing at the site of the famous junction.

And Sueshan places an extremity in each state...

The flags of each US state; New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, and Navajo nation occupy each quadrant.  The buildings surrounding the monument are shelters in which natives are selling jewelry, handmade arrows, tee shirts, and the like.

The marker denoting the exact location of the intersection of UT, CO, NM, and AZ below.

The interpretive plaques below explain some of the survey work over the past century and a half that has determined the location of the point.

Natural Bridges National Monument, UT

From the Canyonlands NP area, we meandered south to Natural Bridges National Monument, near Lake Powell and Glen Canyon NRA in southern Utah.

At 220 feet tall and 268 feet wide, Sipapu Bridge is one of the largest natural bridges in the world.  Sipapu is a Hopi word meaning "place of emergence."

Horsecollar Ruin, difficult to see in the photos, was a cliff dwelling inhabited by the Anasazi between 1050 AD and 1300 AD.  The site is unusual because it contains both round and square Kivas, ceremonial chambers.  The round Kivas are associated with the Mesa Verde Anasazi while the square Kivas are associated with the Kayenta Anasazi of northern Arizona.  Based on pottery also found at the site, it is believed that Horsecollar Ruin was occupied first by the Kayenta Anasazi and later by the Mesa Verde Anasazi.

The ruins are a little difficult to see in the photos below.  In the first photo they are in the upper right hand corner.  They are easier to spot in the closeup of the second photo.

In these photos the ruins appear to look almost like part of the sandstone.  They are clumped together near the center of the photo below.

Kachina Bridge is still being enlarged by streams, especially during the monsoon season.  Kachina Bridge is 210 feet tall and 204 feet wide today.

The third and final bridge in Natural Bridges National Monument is the Owachomo Bridge.  Owachomo Bridge is 106 feet tall and 180 feet wide, and the most delicate of the bridges in the park; the span is very thin and appears as if it could crumple down at any second.  A short trail leads down to the bridge.

Filet Mignon, anyone?

As we left Canyonlands headed for destinations in southeastern Utah, these cows were lazily crossing the road, sunbathing and chewing.  We stopped to look at them and they in turn stared back at us.  George told me to start filming them.  Here is the video and the events that occurred thereafter.

Yes, perhaps this could be construed by PETA as abuse against animals.  But it's less abusive than say-- hitting one in the road with the Falcon Voyager rig and cutting it up into steaks and stocking the fridge.

Canyonlands National Monument; The Needles, UT

Canyonlands National Park is one of the most remote and least-visited of the park in the National Park System; it is split into three sections by the convergence of the Colorado and Green Rivers.  The 3 sections are: Island in the Sky, The Maze, and The Needles.  The Maze requires a four wheel drive vehicle as there are no paved road accesses in this area.  Island in the Sky provides more canyons and canyon-like views.  The Needles area is similar to Bryce Canyon with many Hoodoos and rock formation.  Heading south out of Moab, without backtracking we were closest to The Needles area, so we decided to go there.

Our first hike was at Cave Spring.  The trail leads through a former cowboy camp situated under an alcove in the rock.

The grain bin below was used by the cowboys as a food store, and would have been lined with tin to prevent infestation.

George located another new "house" in the prime real estate below.

Ancient handprints and native-painted Pictographs.

The seep spring below provided water for those natives and cowboys traveling through the area.

A HUGE old leaf spring, probably 3 times the size of the ones on our van, is likely a remnant of mining operations in the area decades ago.  Like many desert southwest area, the Canyonlands regions was explored and exploited for uranium.

The trail required climbing of some ladders to complete the loop.

Pothole Point trail leads to tons of natural potholes as well as views of the Needles.

The lunar-like pothole surface is significant both for its unusual geologic erosion formation, as well as its holding of water for long periods after rains which provides a unique ecosystem for a host of interesting biological creatures.

The spiky formations in the distance are the Needles, for which this section of Canyonlands NP is named.

Big Spring Canyon

At Big Spring Canyon Overlook this Raven nearly flew into our van while begging for food.  George tried to scare it off.

Wooden Shoe Arch

An ancestral Puebloan granary located in an alcove off a trail.