On Tuesday morning, we were off on the I-70 through the Rockies. It’s a nice drive and we had pretty nice weather — a few days after we went through, snow closed the I-70, so our timing was good! Once through the Rockies, the road slides past the Grand Mesa and then the rock walls open into the valley containing Grand Junction and Fruita. We took the route through Grand Junction to the ‘back entrance’ of the Colorado National Monument and started our climb up the side of the Uncompahgre plateau. In the collection of photos below there are some nice views from the heights and several of the key features of the monument are highlighted. We navigated west and then north toward the main entrance of the Monument and thence back on the the I-70 to continue our journey to Moab, UT.

Climbing Up. The city of Grand Junction lies east in the valley floor. The road switches back in the distance. On the distant horizon is Grand Mesa (with the Rockies hidden behind it).Rising to the Top. We've completed the climb from Grand Junction (eastward in the distant valley). You can see the vegetation found on the top of the Uncompahgre plateau both in the foreground and the distant mesa top.Scenic View -- Colorado National Monument. Looking north toward the Colorado (distant blue) and the Fruita Valley. Note the obvious limestone caps on the fins to the left and right of the frame.The Independence Fin. A large free standing fin. The Colorado River and Fruita in the distance.The Coke Ovens. Furnace like rock 'ovens'. Small limestone caps will be gone (geologically) soon and these features will erode (geologically) quickly thereafter.
Colorado Plateau 2017 Launch!
Castle Valley 2017