Howdy from Fruita, Colorado!

What a wild week it has been! Last Sunday, I graduated from Dartmouth and feel very fortunate to get to share that day will family. After driving most of the way across the country with my dad, I’ll start work as an interpretive ranger at Colorado National Monument tomorrow. 

Here are some notes from the trip and photos of the very cool place where I’m spending the summer.

Tuesday, my dad and I headed out early in the morning to make the 2,255 mile drive to western Colorado. We packed the fake-truck full with clothes, hiking gear, and my bike in the back. We camped along the way, spending nights in Homerville, Ohio, Oak Grove, Missouri, and Central City, Colorado. Huge thanks to my dad for tolerating my recovery from a sleep-deprived senior week combined with my unmatched ability to sleep in the car. It was an awesome road trip.

One highlight was reaching the Rocky Mountains. After spending nearly a whole day looking at Kansas flatness, this view, just west of Denver, was a jaw-dropper. 

My favorite sign on I-70 on a seriously long, steep downhill:

And the view from our campground on the third night:

With a little extra time, we stopped in a few neat little towns in the mountains along I-70 on the drive through the Rockies. We arrived in Grand Junction in early afternoon, so we walked around main street and got lunch before heading ten miles farther west to Fruita, where I am living for the summer. With a shortage of housing in the park, the GeoCorps program set me up with a house in the neighboring town, living with another seasonal intern. I feel lucky that it worked out this way, because the town is great - a nice walking downtown, restaurants with outdoor seating, a library and pool.

Friday afternoon, we drove to the visitor center in Colorado National Monument and we were stunned. First, the drive is harrowing. The road curves around switchbacks up the side of steep red rock cliffs. Second, the views are stunning. From the road, you can see all the way across the Grand Valley to the mountains on the other side. It’s hard to believe that this place isn’t more widely-known.

On Saturday, I brought my dad to the Grand Junction train station, where he caught the California Zephyr to Denver to fly back home. It was tough to say goodbye, but I’ve got a lot to look forward to this summer. Since then, I’ve done some exploring of the area, grocery shopping, and hiking. Saturday night, I attending a very impressive ranger program in the campground on the Colorado night sky. Nick, the ranger who led the program, is the person who hired me for this job. Unfortunately for me, he got a new job at another national park, and is leaving this week. 

After his program, we set up a big telescope and looked at Venus, Saturn, and the rising almost-full-moon over the canyon. Nick pointed out constellations, shared stories of the stars, and tales of his time as a ranger. It was an amazing way to spend a night and a phenomenal introduction to my summer job.

This morning, I hiked Serpents Trail, which follows the route of the original car road up the monument. The road was built in the early 1900s and — according to the signs — the fuel pumps in cars were not powerful enough to push them up the steep inclines of the road, so they had to drive up it backwards so that the fuel pumps went along with gravity! The road went out of use in the 1950s when Rim Rock Drive was completed as a project of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Here's the view from the top:

That’s all for now. Not sure how frequently I'll be able to update this, because I don't have wifi at the house, but check back sometime for more stories and photos. First day of work tomorrow!

“If you have not touched the rocky wall of a canyon. If you have not heard a rushing river pound over cobblestones. If you have not seen a native trout rise in a crystalline pool beneath a shattering riffle, or a golden eagle spread its wings and cover you in shadow. If you have not seen the tree line recede to the top of a bare crested mountain. If you have not looked into a pair of wild eyes and seen your own reflection. Please, for the good of your soul, travel west.” 

― Daniel J. Rice, This Side of a Wilderness