Posts Tagged ‘Rangely’
Posted on June 18, 2010 - by Nadia
Before ranchers or Utes, there were Fremont People
Canyon Pinturado is loaded with pictographs
Day 14: June 17, 2010
65 miles
Fruita to Canyon Pinturado (about 10 miles south of Rangely)
Everyone who heard I was going to take this route to Dinosaur said, Ugh, boring. And no one really blinked an eye that I would climb Douglas Pass. Well, the route has been spectacular and Douglas Pass (elev. 8240, up from about 4,500) was nothing to take lightly. After about 30 miles of approach, during which I stopped for lunch and a nap, rode about a mile, stopped and cleaned my bike because it was sluggish, I crawled my way up the pass. I have been east of Dinosaur, years ago, and remember it being a flat, white, alkaline wasteland. I expected the same. I was wrong. Most of the approach, all of the climb and most of the descent was forested and touched by a cool breeze. The descent culminated in the Canyon Pinturado, a stretch of canyon with pictographs attributed to the Fremont people. I am camped on a slope in one of those side canyons, intent on continuing touring my way to Rangely for lunch tomorrow. (Internet in Rangely is slow. I’ll leave this as a place holder and move on toward Dinosur and Vernal.)
