Crossing Monarch Pass and entering the desert

Day 7 – June 16, 2009
There are no words to describe the beauty of the land we traveled through today. Within minutes of leaving Canon City we were snaking our way through the bottom of a canyon following the Arkansas River as it cut through the rocks. At places the floor of the canyon was just wide enough for the road and the river and at other places homesteads dotted the landscape. Later we were climbing the mountains and topped the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass. The sun was shining but it was cold at this elevation. After we left Monarch Pass the land quickly turned to desert. The whole land looked like a huge quarry. Mountains of what looked like sand could be seen everywhere. The extra layers of clothing began coming off as we warmed in this dry desert heat. We covered 358 miles today and have settled at the Super 8 in Moab, UT just 10 miles from the Canyonlands National Park.