Walking in Dinosaur Land

When I left my hotel in Vernal, UT this morning, I was expecting a nice, sunny day. There were a lot of clouds in the sky, but at least they weren't rain clouds. My destination of the day was Dinosaur National Monument, about a half hour east of town. I had visited this park on a previous road trip, but the Fossil Bone Quarry building and new visitor center were still being constructed.

I got to the park as soon as it opened and spent about a half hour in the Quarry Exhibit Hall looking over the dinosaur bones embedded in the rock. There are a number of dinosaurs represented here including the carnivorous Allosaurus and the Stegosaurus with its back plates and spiked tail. They had an Allosaurus skull on display and you can see a Stegosaurus skull in the rock.

After looking at the dinosaur bones, I decided to take in a hike. I chose the 1.5 mile Desert Voices Trail, which follows Cottonwood Wash before climbing out and looping around through desert terrain, then back down to the wash again. When I started my hike, it was still cloudy, but the sun broke through about midway. My photos look so much better when it's sunny!

As I walked along the trail, I snapped photos of things I saw along the way. Pretty furry lichens, purple Pacific asters, yellow rabbitbrush flowers and a desert cottontail hiding under a shrub.

Later, while I was eating lunch at the picnic area, a golden-mantled ground squirrel came over to look for a handout. There was none from me, so it sat on a rock next to my car to eyeball me.

I spent the afternoon driving through Colorado on my way to Moab, UT...my pit stop for the night. As I traveled south on Hwy 139, I stopped off the road at Douglas Pass to admire the view and the fall colors.

Tomorrow, I'll be spending the day at Arches National Park. I'll be revisiting some places I've seen before, but it just never gets old. This is one of my favorite parks and I'm looking forward to getting more nice pics!