Colorado National Monument: Rim Rock Drive

Yesterday we met my sister for lunch at Cafe Sol in Grand Junction and then headed out to Colorado National Monument for some sight seeing along the Rim Rock Drive. Noelle and I had driven this scenic road before, way back in October of 2003. It would be nice to experience it all over again with Sierra, Katie and Terry. Our first stop was the Cold Shivers Point overlook. The view from the official lookout is pretty spectacular, but perhaps even more interesting is the fin of rock that one can walk out onto for a really cool, if exposed, view overlooking the canyon below. 

From Cold Shivers Point, we headed further along in the drive to Red Canyon Overlook. As advertised, it features a view over Red Canyon.

After a short drive we found ourselves at the next overlook, Ute Canyon View. There is a short, loop trail there that leads to various views. We walked it clockwise and found the first half to be more scenic.

From Ute Canyon we made our way along the curving road to Fallen Rock Overlook. Again, the view was as advertised with an obvious rock that had fallen to the canyon floor in the distance. 

Since we had just enjoyed the view from Ute Canyon View, we decided to skip the Upper Ute Canyon Overlook and instead continued on to the Highland View.

From Highland View, it was on to Artists Point. 

After Artists Point we made the short drive over to the Coke Ovens. Last time Noelle and I had visited Colorado National Monument we hiked the trail out to the Coke Ovens. This time we would simply admire the view from the overlook.

The further northwest we travelled, the more dramatic the scenery became. Next up was the Monument Canyon View. It did not disappoint!

Then, we moved on to Grand View.

Our last overlook with Katie and Terry was the Independence Monument View.

Then, we made a quick visit to the visitor center before saying our goodbyes to Katie and Terry. They would be heading to Moab for the next few days. We would be headed to the Saddlehorn Campground to set up camp for the night. 

After setting up camp, we decided to go into Fruita to get a cool treat at Dairy Queen. On the way into town we spied Balanced Rock 

and some bighorn sheep. Upon returning to the monument, we decided to hike the Canyon Rim Trail as the sun started to set. This hike did not disappoint. We started by heading to Window Rock.

The views from all along the trail, at unofficial overlooks, were amazing!

We hiked back to the visitor center 

where we got some water and then returned to the campground, past its namesake Saddlerock, 

via the road. Back at camp, we finished the leftovers from lunch before thunder and rain forced us inside the tent for the night. 

This morning after breakfast and packing up camp, we headed out on the Alcove Nature Trail for one last short hike in the monument. The most interesting part of the hike was the end where there were little caves and shady alcoves to explore.

After we had finished our hike, we got in the car and headed east on Interstate 70, headed towards Glenwood Springs for our next adventure.