Today was a big sightseeing day as we headed to Dinosaur National Monument in both Utah & Colorado.  (One state isn't BIG enough for all these dinosaurs!)  Our first stop was the Visitor Center in Utah which hosts the Quarry Exhibit Hall.  We were taken by tram up to the site of the dinosaur "dig".  It was amazing to see the 100's of dinosaur bones, some still encased in the rock, while others were displayed as complete dinosaur skeletons.  Next we headed to the Colorado Visitor Center to see where the Colorado Plateau had been lifted up, warped, and eroded into a colorful, dramatic landscape that is home to a diversity of plants and animals.  The Green and Yampa rivers deeply cut into he rocks to reveal sheer cliffs and mysterious canyons explored and mapped by John Wesley Powell in 1869.  These waters are used to thrill rafters today. 

Beautiful Rocky Mountain Bee Flower and Wild Sunflowers welcomed us to the visitor center.

Dinosaur vertebra in the rock quarry

Leg bones and pelvis in quarry

Allosaurus skull and vertebra

Allosaurus skull thru telephoto lens

Bones of many dinosaurs piled on top of each other upon death,
and collected in a hole in an ancient river

Baby Camarasaurus skeleton

Allosaurus skeleton

Allosaurus forearm (left) and foot bones (right)

Tilted Rock

More tilted rock

Even more tilted rock



Bend in Green River

Split mountain, east side

Painted sandstone

Morrison region, red, gray, purple & white, indicating
good area to find dinosaur remains

John Wesley Powell mapped this area in 1869 & it is
used widley for rafting recreation today

It's fun to try to find shapes in the beautiful rock formations...
This one looks like a TURTLE!

Dome rocks of Entrada Sandstone

Canyon side of the Dinosaur NM, in Colorado

Colorado Plateau - colorful strata, flat topped mesas and buttes,
(a butte is about as tall as it is wide, while a mesa is much wider)

White Entrada Sandstone over carmel formation (red) the Glen Canyon Sandstone

Steamboat Rock from canyon overlook

Telephoto view of Steamboat Rock

From Echo Park

Opposite side of river from Harpers Corner

Back (east) side of Blue Mountains