Man, time flies….already Thursday. Left Vegas and drove over the Hoover Dam. Huge disappointment! They’re building a new freeway 1000 feet over the top of everything so you can’t stop anywhere in view of the Dam face except in the $7.00 parking lot….I passed…..lol. So, I moved on to Arizona. Spent the night in the back country at an Agate collecting site near Ash Fork. Turned out to be the coldest night yet. I discovered the next day that it was over 5000 feet elevation, but I got up at 7am and by 7:30 I had all the choice specimens I wanted. I never did find the local Petroglyphs though so I headed off to the Grand Canyon. It REALLY is a breathtaking site! Here’s something they don’t tell you on the Travel Channel though…..when you’re standing on the rim of the canyon, it’s between 7100 and 8200 feet above sea level, and it freakin’ SNOWS there! But, even if you go down more than the mile to the bottom, where the Colorado River runs, you’re still higher in elevation than the Rogue Valley (1244 ft.), so, it’s not like it’s carved out of the earth but out of the mountains far above the earth’s crust. Kinda changes the perspective.

Next I had to see the Painted Desert so I drove out onto the Navajo Indian Reservation. The mountains were SPECTACULAR! After viewing some of the native Arts & Crafts I pulled over and slept on a ridge…..quite the site to wake up to. The natives were very friendly and respectful & while driving through a tiny village one of them even invited me into his home, a tiny “shelter” really, about half the size of a standard garage. Their living style was meager, yet sufficient. They still had corn stacked in the corner of the house from this years crop. He didn’t have anything to put in his “peace pipe” though. When he asked if I had cigarettes I had to tell him my (throat cancer) story….he truly had a look of horror on his face as his son and their dog listened in. As I left the village I traveled through the Hopi Indian Reservation and out the south end to a collecting site for Petrified wood. The locals told me it has been picked over for years, but I’ve heard that before….after 2 miles and about an hour, I stumbled onto a prime piece sticking out of the 225 Million year old Volcanic ash and started to dig. Turns out it was 2 pieces together and each one weighed about 100 pounds. After excavating them both I 4-Wheeled down to the spot, got out the ropes, tied them to the Trooper and drug both pieces out of the wash and up to a flat surface so I could load them in the back. What am I going to do with 200 pounds of Petrified wood you ask?….Hell, I don’t know, but I couldn’t very well just leave them there now could I….lmao.
So, tomorrow it’s off to the Petrified Forest for the day, then…who knows? Till next time…

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What an incredible week it’s been, and, what an incredible place Utah is. I found myself using the term “Spectacular” multiple times a day. As I made my way across the land I was both enthralled and inspired by the beautifully unique rock formations as well as the mutlitude of colors they displayed. I made sure I got to Arches National Park early in the morning so I’d have the entire day to take in the intense, and sometimes unbelievable, landscape. I can’t even begin to describe the Parks beauty. While snooping around the Park I did find a restricted 4 wheel drive road tucked away and had to inquire about it to a Ranger. They highly discouraged me from going anywhere near it even in my 4X4. which, of course, made me want to go all the more. I mean hey, it not like the gate was locked so, “what the hell”…..lol. Turned out to be a fantastic journey through the backcountry and after leaving the park boundries I even stumbled upon a large cache of some beautifully colored agate. I must have loaded up a hundred pounds or so before moving on and spending the night in a gorgeous remote canyon. After exploring for another day on my own I decided to head to some of the other local National Parks to see what they had to offer. While working my way around the visitor center, I noticed an old picture (in an obscure corner) of an old Indian ruin built into the side of a cliff. With a little effort, I provoked a ranger into disclosing that it actually resided within the park, but it took a 4WD and a special “Backcountry Wilderness Pass” and they only issue a few a day….as a matter of fact, the last person they issued one to was still out there stuck on a boulder since the day before! Sounds like my kind of adventure :O

I immediately bought my pass and headed out. 2 hours and 5 miles later, through deep sand and high water I found myself staring up at this incredible 900 year old structure. I just had to get a closer look though. I took the next hour inching my way straight up the cliff (on foot) to within 100 feet of it. Beautifully preserved, I found it absolutely breathtaking as my mind wandered away wondering what it must have been like to not only build this homestead, brick by brick, but to live there as well. Later, as I continued through the backcountry trail, I ran into the guy who “highcentered” his GMC Yukon on the giant boulder, still digging himself out. You know me, I had to call him out with a little good natured smack. He took it well and even laughed before I wished him luck and moved on. At this point, rather then go back the way I came through the locked gate, I opted to leave the park the hard way and maybe spot some Petroglyphs along the way. As I approached the canyon leading the back way out of the park, I found it to be barely wider then the Trooper…..this was gonna be fun!. I was excited at the prospect and the route turned out to be treturous, grueling and totally engrossing…..I absolutely loved every minute of it! At one point I had to squeeze my way under a 50 ton boulder that had fallen off the cliff above as I negociated the canyon, after all, there was no way to turn around. Eventually it opened up to some beautiful vistas and I did manage to get some pictures of the ancient Indian art etched into the wall those hundreds of years ago. I finally made my way out to the nearest town which turned out to be Moab, Utah, a haven for extreme sport enthusiasts, I ended up spending another day there just lurking around and exploring their lifestyle (damn health nuts) before charting my course for the next leg of the journey. You’ll have to wait for my next post though to find where that takes me. Till then…………

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Well, honestly, I started this blog period wondering if I could ever top the great discoveries made in the last one. To my absolute amazement, I did! It didn’t start out that way though. Day one the Atlas had me headed out to a road that should have been a beautiful scenic route that cut cross country. After going 40 miles to get there, I find out from the locals that the road only goes 3 miles to a Country Club and the rest was washed away 20 years ago when they built the Dam. Back-tracking and taking the long way around was disappointing as well as highly unproductive. But hey, it’s not like I’m on some kind of time schedule, right?

After getting back on track I headed to a known collecting site (my usual M.O.). Come to find out that modern growth has them paving this 8 mile long road into the wilderness. So, I decide to go off exploring on my own. After a couple hours of driving Forest Service roads and finding nothing, I figure it’s time to find a way to see the big picture of what was actually around me. The best way I know of to do that is to go to the highest point and look around. Turned out to be the best move I could make. I picked out a mountain peak, put it in 4WD and went to the top. Upon arrival I found the view so spectacular I immediately chose to spend the night there. So, of course, I have to go investigate the surrounding area and as I head out I glance upon a rounded sort of rock sticking out of the ground that just doesn’t fit in with the rest. Not really thinking much of it, I continued my search. After only about 15 minutes I spotted an odd looking piece that was covered with holes. Brushing it off and dousing it with water I discover that it’s a petrified Sea Coral. Before it actually sinks in, I find a completely different kind and colored Sea Coral. Imagine, petrified Sea Corals on the top of a mountain, proving that this peak used to be the bottom of the ocean floor. Amazing stuff, ya know? So, excited with my finds I head back to the car to put these rare specimens away and get myself some dinner. On the way back I noticed that same rounded rock sticking out of the ground but I’m way to excited to give it much thought. After a full belly and much contemplation of the Sea floor now being 3600 feet above sea level I figure “where there’s 2 pieces, there must be more”. I go out looking again, this time with no luck. But this time, on the way back to the Trooper I see that damn rounded rock for the third time…..now I HAVE to investigate. I start to brush away the dirt around the base to get an idea of the size before I try to extract it. As I brush I see some familiar markings, I’ve seen these before. They look like a gently cracked egg shell, I laugh, remembering that the place that I’ve seen these was a museum. Could it be?. I continue wisking away the dirt and finally fully expose the stone. I was in disbelief as I washed away the loose earth coating….my heart raced….OMG…No, OMFG!!! It is…It’s a Dinosaur Egg! Millions of years ago the original egg must have been engulfed in mud which formed a perfect mold. As the egg rotted away over time, the “mold” filled in with molten stone and left me with a perfect replica of the real thing. Now, I’ve only seen about a dozen or so of these, all of which were either at Shows or in Museums, but this is definitely authentic! Looking at the picture below, I’m sure you’ll see a huge resemblance to what you would imagine a dinosaur egg to look like. but believe me, no one is more astomished than myself. The discovery of a lifetime, I’d say.

After collecting myself the next day, I decided to move north to Utah. Unfortunately, by the time I got to Flagstaff and saw snow outside the restaurant, I said “screw this” and headed south again. Good thing I did or I never would have seen Sedona. This was a beautiful, upscale town with probably the best views in all of Arizona. Even though the cops ejected me my first night there, I still loved it. Spent some time there watching candles being made and even toured a pottery classroom/studio. It’s the kind of town where you wake up to hot air ballons in the sky everyday. Lol…it’s so “upscale” that McDonalds isn’t even allowed to display the Golden Arches!
After a couple days there I resumed my search for treasure and ended up exploring a couple of old Indian Ruins that were FASINATING! So, all in all, I’d say this was a Great Week. I’m headed to the California Coast right now for a little “beach action”. You can read about that in my next blog though. Till next time…….

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