Bridger Jack and the Six Shooters.

The title of this post could almost be that of a Western novel.  Continuing West on Route 211, you are constantly being awed by what lies around the next bend.  Whether it is opening up to a vast vista, or a parking area where you can hike out onto the range; make sure to stop.  Get out of the vehicle and listen; it is quiet, so quiet that you feel like you're the only person left on the planet.  Even the moon peeks out to keep her eyes on this alien landscape.

Bridger Jack Mesa and the Six Shooters
 

Coming around one bend, you suddenly see before you Bridger Jack Mesa and the Six Shooters.







Bridger Jack Mesa - traveling West view
 

        In the Indian Creek area, a couple of miles past the  Donnelly Canyon, Bridger Jack Mesa looms to your left.  Turn left onto Beef Basin Road, cross the river, drive over a cattle guard, immediately turn right and follow the road until right below the serrated ridge of Bridger Jack Mesa.  This is a rough road, so your vehicle should have 4 wheel drive (SUV, Jeep or ATV); a car won't fair well.  For climbers, Bridger Jack Mesa and the Six Shooters are a definite must and no dirt road is an obstacle. 

The story of Bridger Jack is that he was a Paiute (also spelled Piute) Indian medicine man who attempted to cure William Posey's (1923's "Last Indian War") sick child; the boy died and Bridger Jack was killed for his failure. 


Bridger Jack Mesa - traveling East view
 

There are ruins and petroglyphs indicating the area was used mostly by the Anasazi; later on it was used by the Archaic (basket weavers), Ute and Navajo.









The Six Shooters

North Six Shooter
 

South Six Shooter
 

The Six Shooters are Wingate sandstone towers, also known as desert towers.  Their iconic name comes from the famous pistol of the Wild West, the Six Shooter.  If looking at the top of the towers at a certain angle, the similarity to the gun becomes evident.  Getting to the towers can be a task; a dirt road (4 wheel drive required) can be taken to Davis Creek; after that it is a 1 to 5 mile hike depending on which tower you wish to get to.




After passing by these stone giants, you're almost to Canyonlands National Park where The Needles are located.  Consider this your second appetizer, or the soup and salad course of the adventure down Route 211.

Mary Cokenour












Now where to start this new adventure....

Back in 2006, my then "boyfriend", who is now my husband decided it would be a good idea to bring me out to the Southwest. He had been born in Denver, Colorado and lived in many areas throughout Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Roy wanted his family members to meet me, and lets be honest, he wanted their approval. I was curious about them too, and lets be honest, I wanted to see what I was really getting myself into. We rented a car with a large trunk; I knew we'd be bringing back lots of souvenirs and what-nots. 

                                                             Yes, Yes!!!  I will admit to it now, I actually brought home a real tumbleweed.








Driving across the country can be a thrill depending on what routes you use, and the states themselves.  If you live on the East Coast, make sure you do most of the traveling on Interstate 70; it's the simplest route.   Watch out going through St. Louis, Missouri as their highway system is a bit erratic lane wise; you believe you're in the correct lane and suddenly a sign tells you to jump three lanes over if you want to continue on your designated route.  Kansas is by far the worst state to travel through; nothing but flat, brown land for six hours and billboards full of religious gloom and doom. 

The most spectacular state is Colorado and traveling through the Rocky Mountains; no photo in a magazine or show on the television screen can do them true justice.  Roy laughed watching my reaction, "Honey", he said, "You had your mouth wide open in shock the entire way through".  Of course I did!  I was in a place I'd never, ever thought I'd ever be in, and it was absolutely breath taking.

The entire trip there took two days and we were so exhausted by the time we reached our final destination, Moab, Utah.  Roy's mother and brother still live there, but we decided to stay in a hotel instead.  We showered, got a quick meal and then collapsed into bed; not waking till the next morning.  Opening the door and stepping out onto the balcony, I was greeted by the sunlight against the Red Rocks; the bluest sky I'd ever seen; and air so fresh my lungs went into shock.

Don't worry, I'm not going to give you every detail about this trip, nor a slide show of photos that will take hours.  What I will do is tell you that I fell in love, in love!!!, with the area; the ecosystems, environment, animal life, plant life.  Lying on flat rocks out in the desert, I was contented as any of the local lizards.  There is barely any humidity, the air is clean and I could breathe!  I walked for hours, climbed rock piles so high that Roy stated, "The spirit of the mountain goat is within you", along with "Come down from there before you kill yourself!!!".  I wanted to stay out here and not go back to Pennsylvania's blue-green skies of pollution, and humidity so high that you always felt damp and steamy.

We did eventually move out to Utah, and this story will develop with each separate writing.  There will be lots of photos, so if my writing bores you, at least enjoy the visuals.  Oh, why did I really start this new blog; the photos.  I have always been pretty adept at taking nature and landscape photos, and folks kept saying, "You should start a travel blog".  My food blog, Food Adventures of a Comfort Cook is pretty well established now, and picking up in popularity. As I was taking a ride through the Abajo Mountains today, taking photo stops and letting one of my dogs romp around, a title for this blog finally hit me that I was happy with. I have brown eyes that are constantly growing wide at the thrilling sights of the Southwest; hence the name.

So here is my introduction for this new blog, and I've lots of thinking to do about how I'm going to introduce you to all the adventures I've had, and all the new ones I'll be having.  I may go in time order, I may jump around a bit; ha! more like a lot, but it's going to be a grand time no matter what.

Thanks for reading....

Mary Cokenour