Alluvial Fan
Hi again everyone
As you all know from our last posting, we had a day off Friday.
It was such an adventure, that we felt we needed to share it as soon as
possible.
We visited the park
again Friday to explore and learn about this Alluvial Fan. Clicking the hyperlink at left, will answer
those questions for you. Additional
information can be found here.
Our pathway up |
After visiting this
Alluvial Fan, we began the adventure and scary ride of the "Old Fall River Road". It is a 9 mile gravel road and thank goodness
one can only travel in one direction (UP!).
It has a very steep grade and most of the road has a gorgeous view(
riiiight) of the precipice on the driver's side. It is open to all vehicles, but after
completing this feat, I feel this road is for smaller vehicles and not the
large trucks like ours. That made the
trip a bit more unnerving. On two
occasions, it took more than 2 times (reverse & forward) to make the sharp
turns of the switchbacks. With each
turn, we were rewarded with beautiful views!
The dangerous narrow road was ever present on our minds though! (brought back some memories of a harrowing
jeep trip in Moab!) We stopped once to
view the Chasm Falls and to grant right-of-way to a couple of marmots right on the
road. As you will see from
the pictures, we were above the tree line and had the most glorious views of
castle-like rock spires. The
temperature dropped from 75 degrees to 58.
We had a picnic
lunch just past the Alpine Visitors' Center, and froze as we ate! Saw more marmots and pikas. These were too fast and elusive to
photograph.
Until next time….
Wow, those views! And that road, no thanks. Off to Google a marmot.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jamie. No thanks on that road. I need guardrails! LOL...what the heck is a marmot?! F xoxo
ReplyDelete