Traveling Interstate 70 in Utah

The first pictures are of the mountains surrounding Springville, UT. It did snow yesterday. My friend Debbie and I were planning to get together for lunch on Sunday, but it was cold and we were both warmly caved up and decided we will see one another when we get t0 Las Vegas in February. I have photos of the signs at some of the vista views in Utah and, since it is difficult to read them, I typed out the narratives next to the photos below.














































After leaving Springville this morning, I traveled south on I-15 to US Highway 50. Along Hwy 50 I saw so many beautiful sights with no place to pull off the road to take pictures - again! I need to make that drive one day in the car as there were a few places to pull off that would have worked had I been driving the car. There was snow along the sides of the road when I got up to about 5000 feet elevation and the clouds and snow on the Wasatch Mountains would have made some great pictures.

Along I-70, the roadsides are wide enough to pull off to take pictures and there were several off road view sites for travelers to take photos of the mountains and valleys formed by wind and water.

The mountain to the southeast, San Rafael Knob, is 7,921 feet above sea level, the highest point in the San Rafael Swell. This deep canyon is Devil's Canyon. It cuts throuth the Carmel

Formation, made of limestone and sandstone deposited in a sea that has been gone for 180 million years. The dramatically long and steep slopes below the Carmel are formed of Navajo sandstone, a formation prevelant throughout the Colorado Plateau, forming the spectacular views throughout Utah and Colorado. You are still ascending the west side of the rock dome that is the San Rafael Swell.

An anticline of huge proportions, the Swell was formed when forces below pushed up layers of rock below the earth's crust. Erosion has worn down the overlaying layers, forming the canyons, pinnacles and peaks you see here and as you drive further east. (I cut off the rest when I took the photo. Sorrrryyyyy!)

It takes rocks, water and time to make a landscape like this. Around here, rocks and water make great state parks, too, and there are four of them in San Rafael Country. With a little time, you can explore them all. Weird rock creatures seem to inhabit Goblin Valley State Park, 71 miles southeast of here(take the Hanksville Exit). The strange formations are great for kids to climb and hike around. Green River State park and Golf Course, just 45 miles east, is the put-in point for river trips through Labyrinth and Stillwater Canyons and is a base for seeing San Rafael County. When Traveling west through the Swell, you might detour to Millsite State Park and Golf Course for a round of golf or an afternoon of fishing. Farther north, you can enjoy a bit of boating, water skiing, and fun at beautiful Huntington State Park. Each park offers modern restrooms, shower facilities, and group use sites. For reservations and information, call 1-800-322-3770 or 1888-564-3600.

Humans have lived among these rocks and cliffs for longer than you can imagine. Archeological investigations conducted as part of the interstate construction across the Swell during the 1970s and 1980s located over a hundred prehistoric sites. The sites show that hundreds of generations of Native American peoples inhabited this rugged land for thousands of years and in all seasons. Archeologists explored sites from the early Archaic period of hunting and gathering about 9,500 years ago, up to historic ranching sites of the early 20th century. People survived by hunting and gathering until about the time of Christ, when small-scale agriculture, dependent on corn, beans and squash, was adopted. Archeological remains of these farmers, whom we call Fremonts, include small settlements of pit dwellings, granaries, outdoor shaded work areas, hearths, storage pits,and trash mounds. The earliest evidence of farming in the Swell dates to about A.D. 500 at the Confluence Site. This site provided important insight into the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture in the region, and predated previously known agricultural sites by 200 years. Bows and arrows and ceramics were the technological innovations of this time. Researchers found Fremont sites in the Ghost Rocks area, a few miles east of here, which is an upland environment and not well suited for growing corn. Study of the sites told archeologists much about the Fremont way of life, which included hunting and gathering year-round and farming at lower elevations along riverbanks.