Utah geology

My planned morning hikes in Dinosaur National Monument were canceled due to a road closure, but this welcome to Utah made up for it.


It isn't too clear in the pic below, but the landscape in the northeastern corner of Utah is quite varied, even in areas very close together; the upland area below is quite lush at this time of year, while the area below is a desert of sagebrush. The route I drove north out of Vernal had a series of road signs identifying the geology & what kinds of pre-historic creatures roamed when that rock was forming. Dinosaur info & themes are ubiquitous in northwestern CO & northeastern UT.



Boon-docking (free camping without hookups) tonight on the edge of Fantasy Canyon, about 30 miles south of Vernal, UT - pretty nice view out the back window. The trailer in the bottom of the pic was my Christmas gift from Meredith. 
 

Forgot to report that yesterday, I saw a coyote jogging along close to the road. The other coyotes I've seen were a bit ragged looking, but this guy had beautiful fluffy fur. And this evening, I glimpsed a mule deer nearby; it seems like they'd have moved to higher ground by now, but it couldn't have been anything else.

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