If you are just stopping by you can read Parts I and II here and here.

There is such a contrast between the mountains of Colorado and the desert of Southern Utah. It was a little shocking and strange for me the first day, but it was a wonderful sight to be back to our normal environment.

Of course we did quite a bit of hiking in the area, checking out the classics.



Delicate Arch in Arches National Park is a Utah icon. After being there I can understand why. Although I don't think it's named well, it looks pretty sturdy to me.

I didn't take this pic, I swiped it from here. It's a great site if you are looking for more info on our National Parks.

Landscape Arch is a natural wonder. It spans 290 feet in length. A football field. In one place it's only six feet thick.

We were also fortunate enough to be able to take a backpacking trip through Grand Gulch Primitive Area. An area known for Anasazi dwellings and rock art.

Our trip was a 22 mile hike over two and a half days. It was hard, probably harder than I am really capable of right now, but it was more than worth it. The canyon itself was beautiful and well worth the hike. To be able to experience an ancient culture and visit dwelling sites more than 700 years old was incredible.

You can see the top of a ladder going down into the kiva beyond and to the left of Jay in this photo.


Many of the sites are on multiple levels of the canyon wall like this one. The upper level is most likely not a living area but for defense and maybe food storage.

There are three levels in this photo. At the tree line there were dwellings. In the middle of the rock face you can see what is left of a wall and at the top there is another structure. From top to bottom it's easily over 100 feet.





I wonder what buildings of ours might be standing 1000 years from now.

This was probably my favorite site. So much of it is still intact and you can see what complicated structures they were able to build.

The most amazing part of the area for me was all the rock art, the hand prints in particular. It was incredible to see these huge panels, some with a few pieces, others with a hundred shapes and pictures layered over one another. It's a much more personal look into life so many years ago.


These are all petroglyphs, they've been pecked into the sandstone rather than painted. The white color is recent, someone decided they wanted a better picture so they colored them in with chalk. Yea, they show up well, but it takes something away as well.


These are pictographs and have been painted. This is called 'Princess and Her Companion'. During one of the original archaeological digs, just below these two figures they found the mummified remains of a child. She was buried with feather blankets and other items that would have been quite valuable at the time. The figures aren't headless, their heads were painted in a different color that has since faded.

The hands drew me the most. I have dozens of pieces of art work and pages of coloring books with the boys hand prints on them. They are in clay, in paint, outlined and some are cut out. It made a connection with me to see the hand prints of people 1000 years gone. Especially the children.









It was an amazing weekend but it was so wonderful to get back to the boys. Buddy grabbed us in a bear hug I wasn't sure I could have escaped from if I wanted to. Sport was so overwhelmed with excitement he shrieked and ran the other way. I found him buried head first in the couch giggling. I almost cried to see how much his face changed while we were gone. He lost so much baby fat and looked so grown up. I'm still amazed at the difference, and a little sad I missed it.

It was a wonderful and much needed trip and I'm incredibly thankful.