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The Rockies

A 23-day roadtrip in 2012. We travelled 3835 mi / 6172 km through Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Utah and Arizona. We visited the oldest and most beautiful National Parks.

By Ellen

June 15^th, 2014

South Dakota

Mountain Goats at Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Fascinated by Deadwood history since watching the HBO series, we visited Wild Bill‘s (and Calamity Jane‘s and Seth Bullock‘s) grave. James Butler Hickok (1837 – 1876), better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West. His skills as a gunfighter and scout, along with his reputation as a lawman, provided the basis for his fame. He was shot and killed while playing poker in the Nuttal & Mann‘s Saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory (now South Dakota).

1918 Indian Model “O“ Light Twin at Sturgis Motorcycle Museum. This Featherweight two-stroke made its debut in 1916. In 1917 Indian replaced the two-stroke with a four-stroke horizontally opposed twin called the Model O Light Twin. It was smooth running and quiet, but the American motorcycle market was not impressed. This model was made only three years, through 1919. Although more than 40,000 were produced, few survived.

Mount Rushmore

Clever sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, Mount Rushmore features 60 ft / 18 m sculptures of the heads of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

Devils Tower

An igneous intrusion located in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming. IT was formed by magma welling up into the surrounding sedimentary rock. There it cooled and hardened. The sedimentary rock has since eroded away to show the tower. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,112 feet (1558 m) above sea level. The 1977 movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind used the formation as a plot element and as the location of its climactic scenes.

Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. They are a type of ground squirrel, found in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Prairie dogs are named for their habitat and warning call, which sounds similar to a dog's bark.

Old Trail Town

Very good impression of what a western town looked like. Old Trail Town is a collection of historic western buildings and artifacts, dating from 1879—1901, located in the city of Cody in northwestern Wyoming. Much of the collection was derived from within 150 miles of Cody, the town that Buffalo Bill and his associates surveyed and established in 1895.

Chief Joseph Highway

On our way to the Beartooth Pass, Chief Joseph Scenic Highway follows the route taken by Chief Joseph as he led the Nez Perce Indians out of Yellowstone National Park and into Montana in 1877 during their attempt to flee the U.S. Cavalry and escape into Canada.

Yellowstone Bison

You can‘t miss these prehistoric looking animals at Yellowstone National Park, there are so many! The Bison is the largest land mammal in North America. In a typical year, more than 3000 bison roam the grasslands of Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone

The lower falls are 308 feet / 94 m high, or almost twice as high as Niagara. Fumaroles at the Mud Volcano Area. Old Faithful is a cone geyser located in Yellowstone National Park. It is also called the most predictable geographical feature on Earth erupting almost every 91 minutes. Sapphire Pool and Sunset Lake.

Grand Teton

The youngest mountain range in the Rocky Mountains, the Teton Range began forming between 6 to 9 million years ago.

Old farm on Mormon Row

Mormon Row is a line of homestead complexes along the Jackson-Moran Road near the southeast corner of Grand Teton National Park, in the valley called Jackson Hole.

Rodeo at Utah State Fair

The season was nearing its end, we were lucky to be able to attend a professional rodeo.

Canyonlands

Canyonlands National Park is located in southeastern Utah near the town of Moab and preserves a colorful landscape eroded into countless canyons, mesas and buttes.

Arches

Ute Rock Art, carved by Native Americans around 1650 to 1850 on the trail to Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah.

Enjoying the view of Delicate Arch after a steep walk. Delicate Arch is a 65 ft / 20 m tall freestanding natural arch located in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah

Bryce And Zion

Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southwestern Utah. Despite its name, is not a canyon but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks.

Zion National Park is located near Springdale, Utah. The park includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches. It‘s a shame we didn‘t have the time for a decent hike.

Antelope Canyon AND MONUMENT VALLEY

Antelope Canyon is the most visited and most photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. It is located on Navajo land near Page, Arizona. Antelope Canyon was formed by erosion of Navajo Sandstone, primarily due to flash flooding.

View of Monument Valley, looking south on U.S. Route 163 from 13 miles north of the Arizona/Utah State line.

Jeep Tour

Native American guide Roger took us on a jeep tour through Monument Valley which is characterised by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 1000 ft / 300 m above the valley floor. It is located on the Arizona-Utah state line within the range of the Navajo Nation Reservation.

Colorado

Mesa Verde National Park is located in Montezuma County, Colorado and features numerous ruins of homes and villages built by the Ancestral Puebloan people, sometimes called the Anasazi. In the late 1190s, they began to build the cliff dwellings, which are structures built within caves and under outcropping in cliffs, including Cliff Palace, thought to be the largest cliff dwelling in North America.

The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad operates 45 miles / 72 km of track between Durango and Silverton, in Colorado. The route was originally built between 1881 and 1882, by the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, in order to carry supplies and people to and silver and gold ore from mines in the San Juan Mountains.

An autumnal treat along the Million Dollar Highway. U.S. Route 550 from Silverton to Ouray through the San Juan Mountains is frequently called the Million Dollar Highway and derives its name from the low grade gold ore present in its road bed.