May / June 2022 Vacation Day 9 · · PAGE 23.

May 31, 2022:  The Utah state route 128 follows the Colorado River through this canyon down to the north side of Moab, Utah at the junction with US 191.

This set of images is going north showing the walls that were carved by the river over thousands or is it millions of years.

Every twist and turn reveals different patterns in the canyon walls and the soil deposited on the banks of the Colorado River.

The sign in this image is about the Colorado Riverway Recreation Area which is seen in these images adjacent to the river.

The river is flowing south and we are driving north.

I took this photo along the shoreline of the Colorado River.  For once, Chase is looking at me and the camera, and appears to be caught midway into a yawn.  Take note of that rock near the right side of my photo below.

Just a few feet down stream, the gentle current near the shore creates a few ripples.

This Google Earth image I captured is at the same spot along the river going north in the Google Camera vehicle.

This Google Earth image is a few miles north of the photo I took of Linda and Chase by the edge of the river.  I raised the Google Earth camera well above the river looking straight down and measured the width of the river at 360 feet.  The bushes hide the river and the opposite shore line making this area appear to be narrow, but it is not.  Everything you see on the canyon walls is very big indeed.

The Big Bend in the Colorado River is about 6 miles north of Moab.  The yellow line shows the bend is more that a mile across as this image is looking straight down on the river bend area.

This Google Earth image of the Big Bend is taken from Utah route 128 on the north side of the river that is hidden by the trees and bushes.  There is a camp ground here with those pickup truck campers and the trailer.

Just 14 miles up stream from Moab, Utah is this Horse Riding Ranch on the edge of the Colorado River.

This point on Utah route 128 is 33.5 files north of Moab.  This is where the COLORADO RIVER joins Utah state route 128 going south together to Moab, Utah.

This point on Utah 128 is 38.5 miles north of Moab.  The Colorado River and 128 are on their separate ways as seen in the photo above.  This image is looking north.  The land here is relatively FLAT, but mountains are ahead for us between here and Salt Lake City, Utah.  This is my camera image.

Looking WEST from the image location above using my camera.

Telephoto lens looking West with my camera.

The mountains to the East are free of snow caps.  My camera is used here.

For us, this is where we get over on Interstate 70 although the on-ramp to the divided highway is 3 miles away to the west.  The Google Earth compass from this image shows a northwest view.

West on I-70 where Utah state route 128 ends.

Here is our next major intersection leaving I-70 going north on US 6 and US 191 to take us toward Salt Lake City for tonight.

Here is the highway going north from I-70.  We are down to two-lanes and 3-lanes depending on the need for passing lanes.  The speed limit on I-70 was 80 MPH.  On this undivided roadway, the speed limit is 65 MPH.

This highway and an adjacent railroad are going north in this valley.  The road ahead is going to cross over the railroad.  Since this Google Earth imagery is late in the afternoon, the sunlight is passing through the place where the railroad goes under the  highway.

The Google Earth Vehicle collecting these images was traveling south, but we are going north.  I had glanced at the mountains to the east of this valley in the pictures above. The sunlight was reflecting in a bad way and washing out the details of the mountain range.  I decided to use the camera facing south to get this next image to show more details.  The layers of rock are better defined with this camera angle in the late afternoon lighting.


US Highways 6 and 191 turn west toward the town of Price, Utah before resuming a northerly direction again.

The Price River flows south out of the mountains seen in the image below.

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