Weather: warm and sunny
274 miles
I got up at 8.15 and yet again went to get some breakfast from a nearby garage. Unfortunately this was on the opposite side of the road, which was several lanes wide and rather lacking in pedestrian crossings. I then checked out of the motel, and headed back through Jensen and up to Dinosaur National Monument. I parked and took the obligatory shuttle bus up the short distance to the actual dinosaur quarry, accompanied by a rather silly commentary about taking a journey many millions of years back in time.
The site was discovered in 1907 by palaeontologist Earl Douglass, who was exploring the area as its geology suggested it could potentially be rich in fossils. The site proved unbelievably so, and many fossils have now been fully excavated and are mounted in museums. Nowadays excavations on the site have ceased and the wall of the dinosaur quarry is now enclosed, allowing visitors to see the remaining bones in place.
The site has its origins around 150 million years ago as part of a prehistoric river, into which dinosaur bodies and bones were washed, becoming deposited in the river's sediments. The sediments became rocks, which over time became exposed again, revealing the six foot thigh bone which initially attracted Douglass' attention. Several different types of dinosaurs have been found at the site, ranging from the giant sauropods such as Diplodocus and Camarasaurus, through smaller herbivores and the bizarrely-plated stegosaurus to fearsome carnivores.
The manner in which the bones were deposited and the removal of the best skeletons from the site means that what remains is something of a jumble of bones from the various species, making it hard to tell exactly what's what, although printed guides were available to aid in the identification. One prominent skull remained on the cliff face as part of an almost-complete Camarasaurus skeleton, several vertebrae still in place behind the skull.
Further exhibits included various fossils (or replicas) previously removed from the site, allowing one to appreciate the size of some of these creatures, and displays on their life and times. I spent a while looking around then headed into the shop to buy a few souvenirs, before taking the next shuttle pack to the parking lot and continuing on my way.
I now had a long journey ahead of me across Colorado. After crossing the state border at Dinosaur, signs warned me of a lack of services for the next 70 miles or so, and I headed out through the middle of nowhere. The drive was not without interest -- in many places the road proved to be popular with the local prairie dogs, and I kept finding them in the middle of the road. Obviously they were not overly familiar with the dangers of road traffic, for in general they refused to shift, even with my sounding a horn at them. Not wishing to hurt the little creatures, I kept having to make detours onto the opposite side of the road to avoid them; fortunately this wasn't a problem on a long, straight, almost deserted road.
I reached the town of Craig, ninety miles into the state, and stopped for lunch at a Subway restaurant, this time having a roast beef sandwich. I returned to the car to find a colourful yellow and black butterfly on the rear spoiler, and snatched a quick photograph before heading off. From here onwards, the landscape became more rugged as I entered the foothills of the Rockies. I stopped to refuel in the town of Steamboat Springs, then continued over the Rabbit Ears Pass and into the valley of the Colorado River. At Granby I turned off to the north in order to head towards Rocky Mountains National Park rather than the interstate into Denver, stopped briefly to look at the lake, and headed up to the small town of Grand Lake, immediately outside the national park entrance at an altitude of 8400ft (2560m).
Grand Lake proved not to be overly cheap regarding accommodation, and I ended up paying a little over 70 dollars for a night at the Bighorn Motel on the town's ``Grand Avenue''. After a while I went out for a look around the town and to find somewhere to eat. I wandered to the end of the town and Rapids Lodge, an expensive-looking place alongside a fast-flowing mountain stream, then down to look at the lake, before settling upon the EG's Garden Grill for dinner. This proved to be extremely good, and I had a meal of soup, beef ribs in barbecue sauce, and a chocolate and raspberry ``burst'' dessert. I returned to the motel and read up on the attractions of the national park (its principal one simply being the drive across it), then went to bed.