Dinosaur Bones!!

We decided to split the drive to Dinosaur National Monument into two days so we could have a Riley day at Starvation Lake. There are six campgrounds with varying amenities in the Fred Hayes State Park at Starvation Lake. You know our boy loves the water, so we planned to spend Tuesday night, 9/10, at the Lower Beach campground – hookup sites right on a sandy beach! However, when we arrived, we saw “No Dogs on the Beach” signs posted every 20 feet at the campground. That sucked. So we scouted the nearby Indian Bay campground and snagged a huge site right on the (unposted!) lakeside. It’s a primitive campground with no hookups and we were the only ones there!

Pretty awesome spot for a Plan B.

We caught a little rain and a bit of a light show from a passing thunderstorm. But it cleared up quickly and Riley got lots of off-leash ball time, water play and walkies.

Riley time!

Standing stones along the shoreline.

The next morning we were sitting in bed with our morning coffee when we heard a large bang, followed by a buzzing noise. What the???  A quick investigation revealed that a hose to the water heater had burst. We quickly turned off the water pump (the buzzing noise) and Rog tried the water heater by-pass, no luck. The burst hose was, of course, the most inaccessible and it looked like the water heater would have to be pulled to replace it. Ugh! Rog debated trying to fix it himself, but long story short we found an RV repair place in Vernal, UT that could get us in right away and several hours and $320 later we were back in business.  

Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise. 

While the short bus was in the shop, we took Riley for a drive to scope out our next destination, the Green River campground in Dinosaur National Monument. We reserved our spot, a nice pull-through a short stroll from the Green River. It was a good call, by the time we claimed the coach and made it back to the campground the pickings were slim. We spent the evening in camp just hanging out, letting Riley get his feet wet, and enjoying the storm clouds over the River.

Dramatic storm clouds over the Green River.

Sunshine today!

Gorgeous full moon and a great night for a campfire.

The next morning, we headed for the Visitor’s Center and the Fossil Quarry. To be honest, I think fossils are pretty cool but I’m not really dinosaur crazy. After visiting the Fossil Quarry I may be a convert. I have never seen anything like this ever. Wow! In 1909, Earl Douglass a paleontologist from the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, PA found eight tail vertebrae from an Apatosauraus here. Over the next 15 years, a section of sandstone 600 feet long and 40 feet high was removed, unearthing literally tons of dinosaur bones. A section of the hill and over 1,500 dinosaur bones was left in place so we could experience some of the wonder of his amazing discovery.

You don't have to be dinosaur crazy to be awestruck by this incredible glimpse into the past.

Pano of the hillside display. Wow.

Why so many bones in one place? The theory is that this was a site of a ancient river. A drought caused a huge die off with many dinosaur carcasses left along the dry riverbed. When the rains returned, the bones were swept into large piles, which were later silted over and eventually fossilized. Bones from ten different species and over 400 individual dinosaurs were found at the quarry site. And yes, you can touch the bones! Sorry Riley, none for you though. We also hiked the Fossil Discovery Trail near the quarry where you can see fragments of dinosaur bone lodged in the stone along the trail.

A literal logjam of dinosaur bones!

Eat your heat out Riley. Lol. 

We did the scenic drive to see some of the other park features. There are several areas where you can see petroglyphs created by the Fremont peoples over 1000 years ago. The giant lizard petroglyph was especially impressive. We are in awe of the effort that went into the artwork, especially considering they’re located halfway up a cliff face!

Loved the lizard petroglyphs!

Elephant Toes Butte.

Vista from the petroglyph site. 

We also enjoyed a short hike into a box canyon from the homestead of Josie Basset Morris. Josie settled here in 1914 and lived alone without modern amenities, raising her own livestock and food until she died in 1964 at the age of 89. Quite the character, she was accused twice of cattle rustling (but never convicted) and was an alleged associate of the outlaw Butch Cassidy. Married five times, she ultimately chose to live her life alone and on her own terms. I am sure there are some stories there!

Josie Basset Morris homestead.

Josie fenced off the front and used the box canyon as a livestock pen.

On Friday we hiked the Sound of Silence trail. Near the end of the trail there is a spur trail where you can climb a steep sandstone hill for 360° views. Rog started up and then stopped to tighten his shoes. I passed him,  trudging along, bent over, head down, concentrating on the rock right in front of me (I did mention it was steep, right?) and then made the mistake of looking back (and down). Nope. That was it. I sat down and decided the view was good enough right where I was. After taking a couple pictures, I crab-walked back down on all fours while Rog went the rest of the way up and took some lovely panos. Lucky for you, one of us has no sense at all. Lol.

Sound of Silence trail.

A huge Yellow Garden Spider doing his thing along the trail.

Rog going up.

Far enough for me!!

See that tiny speck at the top? That's Rog. 

Pano from the top.
You can thank Rog. Lol. 

Loved the sandstone fins.

In addition to the quarry, Dinosaur National Monument has a whole lot more going on. There are two sides to the park, one in Utah and the other in Colorado. Dinosaur bones are only found on the Utah side, but that doesn’t mean you should skip the Colorado side. There are several signature hikes, but we decided to drive the 13 miles of dirt road down to Echo Park campground. It’s located by Steamboat Rock near the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers.

A portion of the 13-mile dirt road in - downhill all the way!

Rafters float past Steamboat Rock.

Along the way we stopped to see more petroglyphs and Whispering Cave. The cave was really cool – and by that, I mean about 20° chillier than the ambient air temp. Somebody left the air conditioner running! The layout was long and narrow and kind of creepy, with a huge section of rock with deep clefts up either side suspended just above your head.

The entrance to Whispering Cave.

It wasn't big inside, but it was a little creepy. 

We also stopped at the Chew Ranch, another early homesteader that came in 1910 and spent over 50 years ranching in this remote location. The family sold 1,900 acres to the National Park Service in 1966 and still owns and ranches much of land adjacent to the national monument. Apparently, they also owned an early prototype of the Airstream travel trailer! Lol.

Early Airstream! Lol!

On Saturday, Rog drove back to Vernal to hit the McCoy Flats system of mountain bike trails. It was apparent both from the names of the trails and the whimsical art that the trail builders had a sense of humor. He did three trails, “Got Milk?”, “And Cookies”, and “Jackalope” for a total of about 13 miles. He wasn’t quite so lucky this time. Jackalope had about a 1000 feet of elevation gain and it was a rocky, shadeless, barren climb from the pictures.  I think Riley and I were smart to hung out in our shady campsite with the occasional walkies for a dip in the river. Lol.

That looks like some desolate country to me. 

Fun art along the way. 

View across the flats.

We have a 3-night stay at the Steamboat Springs KOA scheduled next. Not my favorite type of camping, but it’ll give us a chance to top off the batteries, dump and fill the tanks, and do some housekeeping and laundry. It won’t be all drudge work, there’s also a rail-to-trail we’d like to check out and a pup-friendly brew pub too.

Then we’re off to Rocky Mountain National Park. We’re keeping a close eye on the weather – the campground is at 9000 feet and things can get iffy pretty quick this time of year. 😊