Bluff–Third and final part

As I said in part one, there are a lot of things to do in the area.  I was there 1 week and could have stayed longer.  If I come back to the area, I might spend a few days at Gooseneck State Park, a few days around Bluff (Sand Island BLM campground or a private campground) and a few days around the Natural bridges area.

I went to Natural Bridges National Monument one day.  I had planned on going back to hike down to the 2 bridges that I didn’t hike to, but ended up not having time.

The first bridge on the one way loop is the Sipapu Bridge. 

It’s hard to see, but the opening of the bridge is very close to the center of the photo above.

My next stop was the Horse Collar Ruin overlook, which is a short hike from the parking area.  The walk to the ruins was great, but very windy.  I later learned there were gusts up to 60 MPH while I was at Natural Bridges. 

The canyon where the alcoves are with the ruins. 

I love the way they build the ruins in the alcoves in canyons.  I always wonder how they built them.  These ruins were abandoned more than 700 years ago. 

One day my cold or sinus infection (whatever it is) was bothering me so I decided to do another no hiking day.  Just another scenic drive – I ended up going to Monument Valley (actually I did this the same day I did Muley Point).

I had been there years ago and taken one of the guided tours, but this time I decided to just drive where they allow tourist to drive.  The road was dirt and pretty rough, so I didn’t drive the entire way (for those who know this area, I skipped the loop).

In the picture above, you can see the dirt road that I drove a bit after taking this picture from the visitor center.  The picture below is taken from the dirt road.  These buttes are called the mittens – it’s easy to see why!

Above was taken from the John Ford’s Point.  This is one of a few overlooks where the Native Americans set up tables and sell things – mostly jewelry. 

Many movies have been filmed in this area, from John Wayne movies to Forrest Gump and many others.  The road below is the road where Forrest Gump was when he decided to stop running.

If interested here is a neat blog about many of the movies filmed in the area (including a picture of Forrest Gump running this hill).  {Utah's Canyon Country}

On one of my last days in Bluff, I headed to Hovenweep National Monument, which is in  Utah and Colorado.  Hovenweep is where Pueblo Indians build round, square and odd shaped towers.  Some of these structures were built on or around boulders.  It is believed that they left this area in the late 1200’s.  Below are the Twin Towers. 

There are several structures in the above picture.  My favorite is the Eroded Boulder House.  You can see the roof is a boulder and they built front and side walls to enclose the house.

I also appreciated a tower that was built down in the canyon.  Again wondering how they did this so long ago. 

From Bluff, I headed North to Moab, UT where I currently am.  I still have some congestion and after playing a bit in the snow on Wednesday, decided to spend the afternoon out of the cold and wind and finish up all my blogs.