Colorado Monument is a beautiful place. We drove the 23 mile Rim Rock Drive starting on the East (Grand Junction) Entrance and came out on the West (Fruita) Entrance. It was too warm to do any hikes but I checked out the short hikes to some beautiful viewpoints. The plateau and canyon country is full of red rock geology. Fallen Rocks Viewpoint The weather plays a big part of rocks falling. Moisture freezes in cooler temperatures and then expands when it warms causing the rocks to fall. Highland View Artists View I did not hike down here. Coke Ovens Erosion produces unusual shapes in the landscape. As the Kayenta Formation layers erode the Wingate formation beneath it is exposes unique features. Early visitors thought these shapes looked like man-made structures called coke ovens. The Grand View The trail down to the Grand View An elder gentleman (I know he was older than me because he said he served in Vietnam) asked me if I wanted to know some things about what I was looking at....
