From the moment my friend and I entered the East Entrance at Grand Junction Colorado and began winding our way up Monument Road, it was obvious that Colorado National Monument was a very unique park.
The art works created by the forces of nature were so awe inspiring that we could hardly contain ourselves. We wanted to stop and take pictures every few feet along the way, but had to wait until we reached a scenic pullout. Our first photo opportunity was at Cold Shivers Point which overlooks Columbus Canyon. From the moment we opened the car door, goose bumps began forming on our skin as a result of the chill in the stiff breeze. The canyon walls are layered with red, white, and black rock that has black streaks running vertically from the top of the cliff to about mid way down the cliff. The view of the valley below gave us the feeling that it just couldn’t get any better than this!
Our next stop was at Red Canyon Overlook, the view was completely different and quite unique at this lookout. As you look toward Grand Junction you can see a new v shaped canyon forming at the bottom of a curved canyon. As an added bonus we saw a couple of large black birds nesting in one of the trees that was growing out of the side of the canyon wall.
We continued driving along Rim Rock Drive enjoying the diversity of the rock formations along the way and made another stop at Fallen Rock Overlook. A huge piece of the cliff broke away and slide down to the canyon floor as a result of a crack forming and water and ice separating the two pieces.
Our trip began rather late in the day and without much planning. It was at this point in our trip that we discovered that we didn’t have extra batteries for my camera. My friend kept trying to coax “just one more picture” out of the camera even though the camera was telling her the batteries were low. She managed to take several more pictures at Artists Point and Coke Ovens Overlook before the batteries would no longer cooperate.
