10-12-2016 Denver, Colorado

On our way to the Denver Art Museum, we passed the Denver Public Library.

Public art by Donald Lipski outside the older wing of the library building.

Views of the newer building, designed by Michael Graves and completed in 1995.

Old (left) and new (right) together.

The new titanium-clad wing of the Denver Art Museum was designed by Daniel Libeskind.  Lao Tzu's Red Steel Sculpture sits in the plaza...

...as does Big Sweep, by Coosje van Bruggen and Claes Oldenburg.

Some of our favorite works from the museum, known for its Native American collection:

Mud Woman Rolls On, by Roxanne Swentzell, 2011.

Pottery, ranging from recently created pieces...

...to works made in the 1400s.

As well as an outstanding collection of feather baskets...

...and corn-husk bags.

Young Woman, by Allan Houser, 1993.

Jar, by Richard Zane Smith, 2000s.

On our way to the Denver History Center, we stopped at the Tattered Cover, which is one of the largest independent bookstores in the U.S.

At the History Center we saw a number of interactive exhibits and learned to make cordage from a single strand of twine.

10-11-2016 Colorado River, Utah and Colorado

As we left the Moab Valley and drove north, we followed the Colorado River all day up into the snow-covered Rocky Mountains that are its source.

The Palisade, Colorado, Branch of Mesa County Public Library.

Vail, Colorado.

10-9 and 10-10-2016 Arches National Park, Utah

On the morning of the 9th, we returned to Canyonlands where we viewed the Green River from an overlook.

For the rest of that day and the next, we explored nearby Arches National Park.

We hiked to two huge arches, North Window and South Window.

Then we hiked a primitive trail behind the arches and through red rock.

The Park Service constantly reminds visitors to stay on trails to protect the desert floor's biological soil crust, which forms when microscopic cyanobacteria bind sand and other soil particles together.   The bumpy surface holds water and prevents soil loss creating a place for algae, moss and fungi to grow.

There is much more to see in Arches National Parks than the arches, such as immense and unusual rock formations,...

...ancient sand dunes that have turned to stone, and...

...colorful valleys,...

...including Salt Valley, the site of a 10,000-foot-high and 70-mile-long salt dome that collapsed millions of years ago, creating many of the unique rock formations here.

The Moab Fault is located in Moab Valley, just west of Arches.

We stayed in Moab during our visits to Canyonlands and Arches.  It is a center for outdoor enthusiasts and adventure lovers, as is evidenced by outfitters, bicycle shops and off-road vehicles up and down Main Street.

10-8-2016 Canyonlands National Park, Utah

We visited the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park, a mesa that has been carved into fantastic canyons and buttes by the Colorado and Green Rivers and their tributaries.

The White Rim Road goes below the mesa top and follows the white edge of some of the deepest canyons.  Adventurous bicyclists and off-road vehicle drivers can travel this 100-mile road that begins with these terror-inducing switchbacks and hogbacks.

 

  

We hiked along the mesa top and saw more spectacular canyon views.

Everywhere we go in the parks we find young people enjoying photo ops, and making their elders very nervous.

The mesa.