Fossil Butte National Monument

Visited: Aug 2014

Nearby town: Kemmerer, WY

Approximately 50 million years ago, the state of Wyoming was a sub-tropical jungle paradise, completely and utterly different than its environment today. Three ancient lakes, known as the Green River Lake System, covered this region of southwestern Wyoming, northeast Utah, and northwestern Colorado. 

Today, Fossil Butte National Monument preserves one of the best paleontological record of the Cenozoic aquatic communities in the entire world. Here you will find fossilized remains of fish, sting rays, alligators, turtles, and mammals such as bats and ancient dog-sized horses (known as protorohippus). The fossils here date from the Eocene Epoch (56 to 34 million years ago), so there are no dinosaurs (they went extinct approximately 65 million years ago). 

Make sure to stop at the Visitors Center to see the amazing exhibits, watch the video and learn about the work that paleontologists do. It is truly an aquarium in stone.

turtles

many varieties of fish found here

extinct species of alligator

The next thing you should do is take the short one mile hike up to Fossil Butte. At the end of the hike, we were lucky enough to see from Park employees doing research and conducting a dig. While we were there, they found some fossilized fish, but mostly coprolite (fossilized poop).

 At the end of the trail is the dig site.

If you happen to find yourself in this corner of Wyoming, Fossil Butte is an interesting place to stop for a few hours. Make sure to spend sometime in the nearby town of Kemmerer (The Fossil Fish Capital of the World), you can shop for all kinds of fossils. You can also visit the very first J.C. Penney Store (known as "The Golden Rule"), built in 1902. For more info on the National Monument, see https://www.nps.gov/fobu/index.htm

Rainbow Bridge National Monument

Visited: October 2012

Nearby town: Page, AZ

In the rugged canyonlands at the foot of Navajo Mountain, along the shores of Lake Powell, stands one of the largest and most impressive natural arches in the world. At 290 ft tall and 270 ft across, Rainbow Bridge is a must-see for any visit to Lake Powell or the Four Corners area. 

Native Americans have long held the bridge sacred, the Navajo named it Nonnezoshe "rainbow turned to stone." The first documented visit by whites wasn't until 1909. The next year, President Taft declared the bridge a National Monument by executive order. The first visit of the new monument was an expedition led by former President Teddy Roosevelt and author Zane Grey. Many people yearned to see the bridge for themselves but it was an arduous journey, requiring days of travel by foot or horseback. The completion of the Glen Canyon Dam and creation of Lake Powell in 1963 made the journey by boat much easier and visitation increased exponentially. Today, the Monument is administered by the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

The difference between natural "bridges" or "arches" is somewhat arbitrary. They are formed the same way. Some geologists argue that the terms are interchangeable. The Natural Arch and Bridge Society designates a "bridge" as a sub-set of arch that is primarily formed by water while arches erode by means of wind or other weathering. 

There are two ways to visit the park. The first is by foot. It's a 2 hr+ drive from Page along very precarious dirt roads to the trailhead. And then a 15 mile hike that will take a couple of days to get to the bridge. In order to do this hike, you need to get a permit from the Navajo Nation. The overwhelming number of visitors take the second option via boat. There are full day guided cruises from Wahweap or Bullfrog Marinas that leave daily. Or you can access via your own private boat, there is a courtesy dock. 

Tara and I visited Lake Powell a few months after we began dating. My sister and her husband were living in Page at the time and they arranged the guided tour for us. We took the cruise from Wahweap. It was a very scenic boat trip through the alien landscape of Lake Powell.

Once you get to the dock, it's about a mile hike to the bridge. Enjoy the views and soak in the majesty of the span. Because the bridge is sacred to the Navajo peoples, climbing on or standing directly underneath the bridge is prohibited. This prohibition is also for visitor safety and environmental concerns.

 We had a great visit to Rainbow Bridge. For more info: https://www.nps.gov/rabr/index.htm

Big Bend National Park

Visited: Feb 2018

Nearby towns: Terlingua, TX; Alpine, TX, Boquillas Del Carmen, Mexico

In a far-flung incredibly remote corner of West Texas lies a desert paradise. Big Bend is a huge National Park full of beautiful desert landscapes, hikes, trails, rafting trips & adventures, campgrounds, abandoned hot springs, and more.

The aptly named Rio Grande winds nearly 1,900 miles, with 889 miles of that forming the border between Texas and Mexico. The park focuses on a particularly large bend (Big Bend...duh) of the river. It's a lovely empty place, but there's lots of fun here. We stayed in the quirky old mining town of Terlingua. It's basically a ghost town but there's plenty to do here for tourists. If you're not camping inside the park (there is also a hotel in the park, the Chisos Mountain Lodge), Terlingua is a good place to stay. The closest major town of Alpine (which only has about 5,000 people), is about 60 miles away.

The park is massive and you're going to want to devote a couple of days to explore it. There are 5 visitor centers (2 of them close during summer). Our first stop was Santa Elena Canyon. This beautiful gorge is an awesome place, and if you only do one hike in the park, make it this one. It's only about a mile long. There are a number of outfitters in Terlingua that offer rafting trips through the canyon (unfortunately they don't run when we visited in February), you have to wait later in the year for the river level to be high enough. There were kayaking trips available in winter, but they run in different sections of the river outside of the park boundaries, and not in the canyon.

The Chisos Mountains way in the distance, these are located in the heart of the park

the mouth of Santa Elena Canyon

US on the right, Mexico on the left

Love the view of the Canyon in the distance. There are about 100 miles of roadways throughout this park, it was fun to drive around and soak up the harsh beauty of the desert.

This irregularly shaped mountain is known as Mule Ears...do you see it?

Take the Grapevine Hills Road (it's gravel) for a couple of miles out to the trailhead of Balanced Rock. This is a short hike to an incredible rock formation.

Balanced Rock

In the interior of the park is the Chisos Mountain region. This is a much higher altitude than the other portions of the Park. This creates a much different environment that contrasts with the desert floor. We did the Lost Mine Trail, it's about 4 miles round trip.

Head over to the eastern edge of the park to the Rio Grande Village. Here you will find the largest campground in the Park. There's also a small dirt road that you can take for a couple of miles for a short hike to some abandoned Hot Springs. This old resort still has some natural hot springs right along the river that you can enjoy. It was very pleasant and one of our favorite experiences in this park.

Another fun and unique experience is to take the international ferry crossing into the small remote village of Boquillas Del Carmen. This is a must do, it's the only international crossing in our National Parks. Make sure to bring your passports. We went first thing in the morning, it's a $5 ride on the ferry (it's a rowboat). Once you cross, you can take a car, horse or donkey into town, or you can just walk (it's about three-quarters of a mile). We chose to walk, bear in mind that if you take the horse or donkey, the guide will act as your tour guide in the village, and will expect tips. Just be prepared for that, if you don't want a tour guide and want to explore on your own, just walk. The town is very small, but very colorful and eccentric. There was an outstanding restaurant (homemade in Grandma's kitchen) where we got goat tacos and tamales. They were incredible! Amazing and authentic Mexican food.

the ferry

Tara's first time in Mexico

Make sure to stop here to eat. The only other restaurant in town is across the street

The Mexican village was a great and memorable experience, make sure to buy some souvenirs or some "No Wall" memorabilia 😀Big Bend is a fantastic National Park and we enjoyed our stay immensely. We can't wait to go back and do some rafting down the Rio Grande. More info here: https://www.nps.gov/bibe/index.htm