![\"Grand](\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2021\/08\/unnamed.jpg\")
<\/a>Grand Junction\u2019s Colorado National Monument is both awe-inspiring and accessible. (Photo by Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re dwarfed in the middle of a collection of 60-foot-tall rocks that create this beautiful alcove of classic desert scenery: red sandstone rocks \u2013 dark and light shades of high contrast and a texture that is something to behold. These rocks were sand dunes 200-million years ago,\u201d explained Sage, who also pointed out the smell of sage in the air and the soundscape of birds and breezes. \u201cThe feeling out here is magical. As we look straight up we see a beautiful blue Colorado sky; and as we gaze out we can see some pinions and Juniper trees and another layer of 1,000 cliffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those cliffs tell tales according to Miracle who then drove me up Rim Rock Road to a scenic viewing platform at Cold Shivers Point. \u201cAs you look down into this canyon and peer into the abyss you get cold shivers from looking straight down from 7,000 feet and from taking in the beauty,\u201d said Miracle. But his origin stories of the cliffs gave be chills, too. \u201cThe earth is about 4.5-billion years-old \u2013 an amazing amount of time. The oldest rock we have here is about 1.5-billion years-old: the hard granite that makes up the bottom of these cliffs. The youngest rock we have here is only 150-million years-old \u2013 that\u2019s during the age of the dinosaurs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The selfie I took perilously close to the edge became an even less significant snapshot in time as he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think of the history of the earth is a 24-hour clock, these 150-million-year-old rocks showed up at about \u201811:48 p.m.\u2019 That\u2019s how young – and how old they are. Humans, by comparison, showed up at \u201830-seconds before midnight\u2019 on that time scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Independence Monument, a 450-foot, slender, sandstone spire sticking up out of the canyon floor is arguably the star of the show \u2013 and so are those who dare to climb it. John Otto, the park\u2019s first superintendent, first did it on Flag Day in 1911 by pulling himself up with spikes and, at the top, unleased a massive American flag. Miracle has similarly summitted but with a harness.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou put your faith in your gear. It\u2019s not easy to get used to but it\u2019s okay to fall. Sometimes you just hang hundreds of feet in the air,\u201d Miracle described and said while freestyle and traditional rock climbing and canyoneering are big in the park, visitors needn\u2019t even get out of their car to enjoy world-class views. \u201c23-mile-long Rim Rock Road was hand-carved to cling closely to the rim of the canyon. You feel like you\u2019re in an airplane when you take that drive staring straight down thousands of feet. You can stop and take the short walks to some scenic overviews or there are trails that go for miles. There are guide services in town, or you can be all by yourself and take in the beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trent Prall, Grand Junction\u2019s public works director, detailed only a few of the area\u2019s activities. \u201cWe have the mountains with the highest high alpine plateau in the world. You can be skiing in the morning, mountain biking in the afternoon and finish it off with a river trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
Golf will get you into the action, too, according to Sandra Weckerly at Redlands Mesa Golf Course. \u201cWe get people from around the world because it\u2019s such a unique golf course. It\u2019s a high desert course with a lot of high elevation drops off of the tees. Golfing here is like golfing in a western national park with coyotes, deer, bobcats and quail and sometimes bears.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at\u00a0<\/em>MShiels@aol.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0His radio program may be found at\u00a0MiBigShow.com<\/a>\u00a0or weekday mornings from 9-noon on WJIM AM 1240<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Grand Junction’s Colorado National Monument is a sight worth seeing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[279,277],"class_list":["post-2559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-grand-junction","tag-colorado"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2021\/08\/unnamed.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2559"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2561,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2559\/revisions\/2561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}