Colorado images - page 5 of 9

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Colorado National Monument - Fruita, Colorado
July 4, 2012
page 2 of 3

The guard shack for the Fruita entrance to the park is in the middle of the road and to the far right of the red roof. (Seen from Redlands View observation point.)
[The road into the park cuts a diagonal across the land as the ground begins to swell to create the canyon walls.]

Distant View observation point
[In the foreground is the sign, Distant View, which accurately describes what is seen beyond it as the sun lights the earth view for miles.]

A portion of Canyon Rim Trail (Accessed from the visitor center deep within the park.)
[A flat-topped section of land with a near vertical drop off on one side--nothing to stop a fall until you hit the canyon floor.]

Mountain range in the distance is known as Book Cliffs and extends for nearly 200 miles. (Seen from Canyon Rim Trail.)
[A mostly greyed view of towering mountains surrounding the trees and buildings in the canyon.]

Columbus Canyon is technically known as a canyon within a canyon (which is why there is a scooped out portion at the far end).
[High canyon walls have greenery below, but the greenery sits in a canyon of its own. At the far end is what appears to be a small scooped out portion of land which is actually the inner canyon.]

Ute Canyon
[A wide canyon with a meandering green section in the middle which either was a river at one time or holds a river during wetter times.]

Further down Ute Canyon with 'Fallen Rock' seen at the far end.
[More meandering greenery within the canyon. Fallen Rock is a huge chunk of canyon wall which seems to have slowly broken away from the wall and is sinking into the canyon floor.]

Closer view of Fallen Rock
[Photo focuses on the chunk of canyon wall that now has its top half about halfway down the canyon wall as if it were a block of ice melting into the ground.]

Red Canyon
[Several photos stitched together showing a canyon coming down from the left side and then going around a bend in front before continuing away to the right. There is a huge 'tabletop' in the middle of the image around which a road/river wends.]

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All photos © S. M. Garver