USA > Autumn Drive from Santa Fe to Denver, back to Vegas

This is a trip that we did in October 2018, with a rental car picked up at Los Angeles Airport LAX. The story continues from Santa Fe, going northwards to Denver, then turning west to return to Vegas and eventually LAX.

[Some entries may have multiple photos – please swipe sideways to view them all, Instagram-style.]

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State Road 68, New Mexico. Leaving Santa Fe, we headed northeast via State Road 68, with a beautiful river to our left. Only later did we realise that, that river was Rio Grande — the famous river which forms the natural border between Texas and Mexico, as it flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 15, 2019 at 7:24am PDT

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Rio Grande, New Mexico. Fly-fishing at the scenic Rio Grande, along the State Road 68 in New Mexico, near Taos. This is the famous river, downstream becomes the natural frontier between Texas and Mexico.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 15, 2019 at 9:53am PDT

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New Mexico / Colorado State Line. Colorado, finally, as we drive north from Santa Fe, New Mexico. The fifth and last state for this roadtrip. Not as colourful as I thought, but then this is fall and Colorado is famous for its autumn foliage. We'll see … 😉

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 16, 2019 at 12:34am PDT

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Fort Garland, Colorado. Driving straight north into Colorado, along State Road 159 towards Fort Garland, with Mt Lindsey as backdrop.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 16, 2019 at 12:42am PDT

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Durango, Colorado. They say, the best place in Colorado to peep autumn leaves is around Durango, so here we are. Looking promising …

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Durango, Colorado. Just north of Durango. 🤩

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Durango, Colorado. Beautiful autumn colours along the road heading north from Durango.

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Mesa Verde, Colorado. In southern Colorado, there's a significant Unesco World Heritage Site – Mesa Verde National Park. It's the site of numerous cliff dwellings, occupied by the Ancestral Pueblos from a thousand years ago.

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Mesa Verde, Colorado. For thousands of years, Ancestral Pueblos, ancestors of the present Pueblo tribe, lived atop this huge mesa. Then about a thousand years ago, they decided to move down (literally) and built their villages inside huge caves overlooking canyons. Most likely for security and comfort.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 16, 2019 at 7:31pm PDT

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Mesa Verde, Colorado. Numerous cliff dwellings can be seen at Mesa Verde, occupied for a couple of hundred years by the Ancestral Pueblos, before they left the mesa for good some 800 years ago – the reason most likely being poor climate causing them to migrate to the plains. 🤷🏻‍♂️

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 16, 2019 at 7:44pm PDT

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Mesa Verde, Colorado. Another cliff village, almost a thousand years old, occupied by Ancestral Pueblos. Mysteriously vacated in the 13th century. Overlooking a deep canyon, a great bedroom view they must have had!

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 17, 2019 at 1:54am PDT

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Mesa Verde, Colorado. Long before the Ancestral Pueblos lived along the cliffs below, they lived in complex villages on top of the mesa itself. These are the ruins of one such village, from 800 AD. Note the sacred spiral stone, denoting a shrine.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 17, 2019 at 2:03am PDT

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Colorado School of Mines, Boulder, CO. It was a nice long drive from Santa Fe in New Mexico to Denver in Colorado. But we never really went to Denver itself, but rather ended up in Golden, a place 30km to the west, where the famous Colorado School of Mines is. Founded in 1874, it's one of the best schools in the world to study mining engineering, and nephew Islah is a freshman.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 18, 2019 at 2:31am PDT

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Berthoud Pass along Route 40, Colorado. Heading into Rocky Mountain National Park, we pass Berthoud Pass at 11300ft altitude. The watershed continental divide, where water to the left will flow into the Pacific Ocean, while water to the right will drain to the Atlantic Ocean. (With Islah, the Mines freshman.)

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Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Route 40 snaking its way into Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, as viewed from Berthoud Pass at 11300ft above sea level.

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Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Looking deep into Rocky Mountain National Park, from Berthoud Pass at 11300ft altitude.

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Colorado River. We trekked to the source of the awesome Colorado River, now just a stream, deep inside Rocky Mountain National Park. This is the beginning of the mighty river which carved out many canyons (such as the Grand Canyon), and be interrupted by several dams (such as Hoover Dam), before entering Mexico and drying out in the desert. Couldn't reach the Pacific Ocean, 2400km away, the poor fellow, no thanks to man's many abuses. 😢

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 18, 2019 at 3:19am PDT

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Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Beautiful forest, with the nascent Colorado River next to us. Fascinating! (With Islah, who joins us on this pleasant trail.)

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 18, 2019 at 3:24am PDT

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Grizzly Creek, along Interstate 70, Colorado. Beautiful fall colours along Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon, about 250km west of Denver, along the I-70. A nice spot for a breather after the long drive.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 19, 2019 at 7:01pm PDT

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Grizzly Creek, I-70, Colorado. What a pleasant surprise – an Amtrak train on other side of the Colorado River. I think this service is from Chicago to San Francisco, a very scenic route indeed.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 19, 2019 at 10:15pm PDT

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Grizzly Creek, I-70, Colorado. The Colorado River, still a small fast-flowing river, surrounded by vivid autumn colours. It's so difficult to leave this place! 🤩

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 20, 2019 at 12:01am PDT

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No Name, Interstate 70 West, Colorado. Yes, that's the name of the place, no kidding, so we just have to stop. It's only 5km down I-70 from beautiful Grizzly Creek. Another scenic spot nevertheless. 🤩

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No Name, I-70, Colorado. The beautiful Colorado River again, I simply love this river! 😍

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 20, 2019 at 12:32am PDT

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No Name, I-70, Colorado. This place with no name is so pretty that we decide to hang around for a while and have lunch. 😍

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 20, 2019 at 12:38am PDT

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Grand Junction, western Colorado. About 400km after leaving Denver, and having passed through the scenic Glenwood Canyon, carved by Colorado River, we reached the western edge of Colorado along Interstate 70. Grand Junction, founded on the banks of the ever-useful Colorado River, is surrounded by massive mesas. A nice place to spend the night too. 😁

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 20, 2019 at 9:25am PDT

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Colorado/Utah State Line, along Interstate 70. About 40min after leaving the town of Grand Junction, we re-enter Utah in the middle of the desert, with mesas all around. Good-bye, Colorado and the Rocky Mountains!

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 20, 2019 at 10:59pm PDT

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Arches National Park, UT. Southern Utah is full of spectacular landscape, so our first stop is the famous Arches National Park. A network of roads traverses the huge park, but you still need to trek to get to the choice locations.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 20, 2019 at 11:11pm PDT

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Arches National Park, UT. Trekking in the desert is always interesting, lotsa things to see and experience. But always carry provisions (drinking water, snacks, chocs), and wear comfortably, with the right head- and foot-wear. All commonsense stuff. 😁

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 20, 2019 at 11:19pm PDT

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Arches National Park, UT. Delightful trekking all around. It's autumn so the weather is mild. We wouldn't be doing this in summer for sure. 😂

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 21, 2019 at 12:35am PDT

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Arches National Park, UT. The first part of the long trek, all for this! The most famous icon of Utah – Delicate Arch. Found on car license plates, postage stamps, most Utah brochures, etc. Quite an impressive natural structure, sandstone and all. 🤩

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 21, 2019 at 12:50am PDT

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Arches National Park, UT. The iconic Delicate Arch at extreme left, followed by its siblings. Sandstone formations from 150mil years ago. Spectacular stuff!

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 21, 2019 at 1:16am PDT

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Arches National Park, UT. More spectacular sandstone formations as we drive deeper into the park. These rocks are between 140mil and 180mil years old. 😳

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 21, 2019 at 1:23am PDT

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Arches National Park, UT. Walking in between tall sandstone pillars of about 150mil years old.

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Arches National Park, UT. A rather pleasant walk through the sandstone pillars. The landscape is truly fascinating.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 21, 2019 at 1:25am PDT

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Arches National Park, UT. Truly amazing landscape. Should have spent a few days here!

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 21, 2019 at 1:30am PDT

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Arches National Park, UT. Another trek, another wonderful structure. This is Landscape Arch, said to have the fifth longest natural arch in the world (top four all in China), with a span of 88m across. Danger of rockfalls has closed trails going right underneath it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 21, 2019 at 1:38am PDT

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Arches National Park, UT. Selfie at your own peril. 😂

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Arches National Park, UT. Impressive sandstone pillars. From at least 150 millions of years ago when the whole plain was under a sea.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 21, 2019 at 8:04am PDT

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Arches National Park, UT. The area was once inhabited by the Ute Indian tribe. This rock art comprising stylized horses with riders, surrounded by bighorn sheep and dog-like animals, is typical of their style. Not too ancient, maybe just several hundred years old.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 22, 2019 at 2:19am PDT

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Castle Valley, UT. Back on Interstate 70 heading west, we stop at an area called Castle Valley. Barren, harsh and arid, this place was first settled by the Mormons in the late 19th century. Obviously it was not a successful colonisation, the Mormons themselves called it, a place nobody wanted.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 22, 2019 at 7:16am PDT

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Interstate 70, Utah. This is one of the most remote places in the US. Look at the mighty I-70 snaking its way along the desert of central Utah. It starts its life behind us, near Baltimore, Maryland, on the east coast. That's about 3230km away, and we got onto it in Denver, 630km away. In front of us I-70 would end in another 230km, thus making this major east-west US interstate highway a total length of 3460km !

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 22, 2019 at 7:48am PDT

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Marysvale, along Route 89, southwestern Utah. From I-70 we hopped onto Route 89 to take us on a scenic drive to the southwestern corner of Utah, before heading for Las Vegas.

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 22, 2019 at 8:10am PDT

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Navajo Lake, Dixie National Forest, southwestern Utah. Day 12 of our trip and she does need a good stretch! We have been on the road for 4350km now, with another 800km to get us to LAX to fly home tomorrow night. 😁 Navajo Lake is a product of volcanic lava flow – there were active volcanoes here just a few thousand years ago. 😳

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 22, 2019 at 8:49am PDT

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Zion National Park, UT. Just west of Navajo Lake in Dixie National Forest, I can make out the awesome canyons of Zion National Park. Another spectacular area carved by another river (not Colorado this time), but unfortunately we don't have time for this trip. 🤷🏻‍♂️

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 22, 2019 at 9:07am PDT

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Cedar Canyon, southwestern Utah. We are now slowly leaving canyon country of Utah, so this is an apt good-bye – scenic snow-capped sandstone formations. From here we go to Cedar City to join Interstate 15 which goes all the way to Los Angeles, via Las Vegas. That's a 280km drive to Vegas followed by another 460km to LAX, to return our rental car and catch the flight back to Malaysia. In total we drove 3200 miles, that's about 5150km. Covering California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. Not bad at all. 😁 [This is the final entry for this series on our southwestern US roadtrip of October 2018. Thanks for following. 🙏]

A post shared by Naim Y (@naim.yunus) on Sep 22, 2019 at 9:25am PDT

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US National Park Service. A worthy companion for trips to the USA. 😁

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> THE END