Blanding, Utah and the Abajo Mountains

Leaving Natural Bridges, we need to find a place to stay for the night and there is not much around.  The snow covered mountains that we spotted after climbing out of the canyon and up onto the Colorado Plateau are still in view.

There is also a ridge up ahead that we need to get across, but it looks like there is a way through (rather than over) …

 On the other side of which we see the mountains again ...

 … and are led into the very sweet and quiet town of Blanding Utah for the night.

These are the ABAJO Mountains - also called the Blue Mountains.

Natural Bridges National Monument

Yes, indeed. The Natural Bridges National Monument is open! (Thank you Governor of Utah!)

National monuments are areas reserved by the National Government because they contain objects of historic, prehistoric, or scientific interest. They are not usually as large as National Parks.

This is one thing that the United States does right. I don’t know of any other country that has protected its environmental and historic treasures the way we have in the United States of America. (Maybe New Zealand and Australia, but I haven’t been there.)

Everything is immaculately clean.  This is a walk-through garden identifying the various plants and trees that grow in the high desert.

The visitor's center is great, educating us about what bridges and arches are ...

... and about the people who have repeatedly occupied and abandoned this area from 9,000 to 700 years ago ...

Of course, a white man looking for gold "discovered" the bridges ...

All the roads and trails are clearly marked.  What a treat.  We take the loop drive, and stop often for hikes down into the canyons.

Looking down into the rock of the earth is like looking at a painting / sculpture of time itself. But unlike looking at art in a museum, here I am part of the art!  It’s unsettling, perhaps because it is so old and ongoing and we can recognize ourselves as just a little speck of awareness, looking at it. It challenges you to be larger (and more) than you think you are. I found myself wondering if I could “hold” all of this. Could I be this big, this complex, this grand?

Can you see the bridge?

In 2007 Natural Bridges became the first International Dark Sky Park by the International Dark-Sky Association.  Located in the sparsely populated southeastern corner of Utah, Natural Bridges is notable for its lack of light pollution (the brightening of the night sky by distant city lights that washes out the view of the stars and the Milky Way).  The park has retrofitted more than 80% of their light fixtures, making them dark sky friendly by shielding them so that all light points down.

Starry skies are recognized as part of the scenery of the park!  So large and grand.