{"id":16419,"date":"2017-07-16T13:49:53","date_gmt":"2017-07-16T20:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/?p=16419"},"modified":"2017-07-25T14:36:04","modified_gmt":"2017-07-25T21:36:04","slug":"americas-most-overlooked-natural-beauty-colorado-national-monument-grand-junction-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/golf\/lifestyle\/16419\/americas-most-overlooked-natural-beauty-colorado-national-monument-grand-junction-colorado","title":{"rendered":"America\u2019s Most Overlooked Natural Beauty &#8211; Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction, Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-16466\" src=\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02693-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"DSC02693\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02693-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02693-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02693-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02693-90x60.jpg 90w, https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02693.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><em>Words are not needed&#8230; (Photo by Robert S. Fagan)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So convenient and so accessible and spectacular as well, yet for some reason, many will give blank looks if I ask them about the Colorado National Monument. Situated an easy 20-30 minute drive from most anywhere in Grand Junction, Colorado (also easily accessible via I-70 or its modern airport), the Colorado National Monument is what I might call the \u201cMini-Grand Canyon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Writer Richard Skyzinski goes straight to the point. \u201cVisiting Grand Junction without touring the Colorado National Monument is like visiting Paris and neglecting to see the Eiffel Tower.\u201d That\u2019s no exaggeration.<\/p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-16467\" src=\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02587-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"DSC02587\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02587-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02587-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02587-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02587-90x60.jpg 90w, https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02587.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>(Photo by Robert S. Fagan)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Briefly, this property features eleven canyons, rock spires, arched windows, and natural monoliths on it 20,000 acres that over millions of years have been formed by wind and rain. It was designated a \u201cnational monument\u201d by President William H. Taft in 1911 and offers hiking, camping, rock climbing, bicycling, picnicking, and camping.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, while the scale and scenery are spectacular, if you\u2019re pushed for time you can peruse the higher elevation rim area in a half a day or less. Of course, I\u2019d recommend more time, and hike the trails on the bottom if possible. Any photos as special as they may be, simply don\u2019t do the Colorado National Monument justice. Different vantage points of the same canyons within it yield totally different perspectives and the shadows that vary with the time of day are totally mesmerizing. It\u2019s a photographer\u2019s delight. Take Skyzinki\u2019s and my advice, visit the Colorado National Monument!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>Looking down into the vicinity of Grand Junction. \u00a0(Photo by Robert S. Fagan)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-16470\" src=\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02716-781x1024.jpg\" alt=\"DSC02716\" width=\"781\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02716-781x1024.jpg 781w, https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02716-229x300.jpg 229w, https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02716-768x1007.jpg 768w, https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02716.jpg 853w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 781px) 100vw, 781px\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Words are not needed&#8230; (Photo by Robert S. Fagan) So convenient and so accessible and spectacular as well, yet for&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/golf\/lifestyle\/16419\/americas-most-overlooked-natural-beauty-colorado-national-monument-grand-junction-colorado\" title=\"ReadAmerica\u2019s Most Overlooked Natural Beauty &#8211; Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction, Colorado\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":16466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[993735,18,19164],"tags":[277,279,1006241,1017087],"class_list":["post-16419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-2","category-lifestyle","category-offcourse","tag-colorado","tag-grand-junction","tag-colorado-national-monument","tag-william-taft"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2017\/07\/DSC02693.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16419"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16511,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16419\/revisions\/16511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}