After a lovely time in Colorado I continued my path West. Next up was Utah, the last state on my agenda before heading home to California. Every state on my road trip was awesome and unique in its own way, but Utah was hands down my favorite. Read on to find out why!

Some highlights:

Impressive canyons and rock formations
Ghost town in the desert
Unbelievable sunset

Colorado National Monument

Just kidding, I still had one more stop in Colorado: Colorado National Monument. Technically a “unit” of the National Park Service, the Monument is hoping to gain National Park status. We’re rooting for you, Monument!

2017-11-07 11.25.24-1 — Deep, long canyon, with a mini meta-canyon at the bottom. In the background on the right is the Grand Mesa, the largest flat-topped mountain in the world. Distant in the back, the “city” of Grand Junction.

The impressive canyons and huge rock formations were created as a result of erosion.

2017-11-07 12.40.34-1.jpg — Coke Ovens, named after the ovens used to purify coal into coke. Coke is an almost pure form of carbon, used in the production of steel.

2017-11-07 12.52.35 — The Kissing Couple (rightmost of the front formations). Romantic!

2017-11-07 13.15.16 — Monument Canyon, again. This place is begging to be a National Park!

2017-11-07 13.29.13 — Book Cliffs in the distant background; named for their resemblance to a shelf of books.

Cisco

Now it was finally time to head to Utah. My first stop was the ghost town of Cisco, once filled with life — a very different fate from that of the Bay Area Cisco we all know and love.

2017-11-07 14.23.20 — This place was lit about a century ago.

Cisco sprung up in the 1880s as a saloon and water-refilling station for a nearby railroad. Stores and restaurants were built as more travelers came through this area, and the town soon grew to be a local livestock and provisioning center. If that wasn’t enough, oil and gas were discovered here in the 1920s!

2017-11-07 14.28.25 — Cisco survived long enough into the 20th century to be assigned a ZIP code: 84515.

Unfortunately the town of Cisco did not live happily ever after. As the heyday of the steam locomotive came to an end, so did Cisco’s. The final nail in the coffin was the construction of Interstate 70 in the 1960s, which narrowly bypassed the town.

Cisco’s proximity to the freeway (and easy access via Exit 204) attracted vandals, whose work left the town in its current form. What remains is now a somber reminder of the ephemerality of success.

2017-11-07 14.31.31 — Cisco died so other cities can live.

Arches National Park

After the sobering experience in Cisco I needed a pick-me-up, so I briefly headed to Arches National Park to catch the sunset (to return the next day for a proper daytime visit). This was one of the best sunsets I had ever seen.