May 9
What does one do when TPS monitor for one of your tires says “low pressure”? Expect the worse, that you have a flat tire. Nothing like throwing a curveball into your plans and timing. Three of the tires showed 42 psi, while the RR was 26psi, below the 33psi set point. Was this a slow leak, from something I ran over yesterday in Capitol Reef? I drove into Torrey to find an air pump at a gas station. Only one gas station, and the clerk told me the compressor was broken. She knew of no other available air in town. One has to have resilience to live in areas like this. I took a gamble that maybe the sensor was stuck or broken. As I headed east on Utah 24 the pressure ticked up by 2psi. 35 miles later, at Hanksville, I pumped the tire up to 50 psi. It has stayed at that value since. So, back to park-seeing.
I mentioned yesterday that everyone should take Utah 95 at some point. After today’s drive, I reinforce that point. Very few roads in this country can match is scenery. The road cuts through the northern section of Glen Canyon NRA (which I saw back in January, at the southern end). The asphalt then heads through a mesa region of shrub brush just before the turnoff to Natural Bridges NMon. I met a couple from Minneapolis on the Sipapu Bridge trail. They were delighted as I was with the beautiful morning and sun shining down on the cliffs, rocks, and the bridges. Another couple from New Hampshire crossed paths with me at the Kachina Bridge. We spent a few minutes talking about other national parks, such as Saint-Gaudens NHS which is in New Hampshire. A third couple was sitting under the long arch of the Owachomo Bridge, enjoying the cool breeze and perfect shading from the sun. They had plenty of questions about our national parks.
There is a trail on the White Canyon Creek that connects the three bridges. Makes sense, since this water source helped create these geological formations. But one would have to either retrace their steps, doubling the trek distance, or have someone pick them up at the end of their one-way hike. Most folks like to hike down-and-up on one or more of the three rim-to-canyon trails. The path for Sipapu Bridge is especially entertaining, with railings, ladders, slickrock sandstone, large stone steps, and the like. Trails like this can be dangerous. Just watch your step and go at a comfortable pace.
About 10 million years ago the subsurface plates in this area collided and started pushing upward. The Colorado River and its tributaries, such as White Canyon Creek, began cutting through the raised sand, silt, and muck, creating these magnificent canyons that stretch for as far as one can see… from an airplane.
Google Maps on your IPhone will get you from Natural Bridges to Hovenweep. Make sure to select the Visitor Center section of the park, or else you will be looking at entrances to gravel and dirt roads which require high-clearance vehicles. But the NPS selected the largest concentration of ruins to make their “home base” for the park. You can get close enough for some good photographs, but wires are set around the structures, to keep folks at an appropriate distance.
There are 29 native tribes who have ancestral connections to Hovenweep. Pre-recorded times go back to 10,000 years, as archeologists have discovered. By the late 1200’s, Hovenweep had a population of 2,500 people. As with other places in this region, like Mesa Verde, the 1300’s saw those people vanish. Historians still cannot pinpoint the reason(s) why the ancient Puebloan peoples disappeared.
When I arrived at the VC there was a sign on the door saying the park is having an extremely difficult time in staffing levels, therefore VC hours have been adjusted. There went getting the stamp in the Passport Book, and for getting a lapel pin. Oh well, there are worse issues to handle.
Yucca House NMon is one of those National Parks which should be removed from management by the NPS. Archeological digs in the area discovered a large complex, providing President Woodrow Wilson with the reason to designate the monument in 1919. But nothing has been done to the area since. One can walk on a couple of dirt paths, seeing nothing but grasses, bushes, and a few trees. There are no plans to excavate the site, or add amenities. A visitor has to park their vehicle on a farmer’s driveway before walking over to a raised boardwalk. I heard someone banging a hammer on a car in the nearby garage. I wonder how this family feels about visitors “invading” their property, day after day, just to grab a few minutes of being in a National Park. Again, this was Ancestral Puebloan culture, with the site having been populated between 1150 AD and 1300 AD, before the people disappeared. Maybe it can disappear from the NPS listing of parks, and given over to the state of Colorado.