Monday, Sept. 30 - We've received some pictures from friends in Western Canada. Grim. Snow, so much so early. We feel for you all, as it's far too early to get dumped on like that.

We are now in Southern Colorado, enjoying good weather  Mornings are cool, but it warms up nicely by 11:00, so jeans off, shorts on for rest of the day. Being in Colorado, we are warned that weather can change in a minute, especially at the higher altitudes. We'll be hitting some passes at 9,000 to 10,000 feet, so given that it's the first of October tomorrow, we'll be watching weather forecasts very carefully.

We've really enjoyed the scenery available in both southern Utah and here. We spent another half-day at Arches yesterday, managing to get lucky and find parking, so that we could do some hiking. Two different sites allowed us close to 4 miles of tramping...not tough terrain, but still good exercise. And today, we spent several hours driving the canyon rim in the Colorado National Monument, which provides some wonderful scenery, somewhat similar to the parks in Utah. The big difference is that you're driving around the perimeter of the canyons for 25 miles, looking into the depths while gazing out at the broad valley below. There were some fine sights to be seen.

Following the tour of the Monument, we headed south-east to Montrose, so that we can do the Black Canyon of the Gunnison tomorrow. It's reputed to be quite spectacular, with 2,000 foot walls, black and foreboding, squishing the Gunnison River fall below. Getting here took us across stark desert landscapes, with a wind howling from the west, nearly enough to blow us off the road. But it's settled down tonight, so all is calm, all is bright (lots of stars).

From here, we 'll carry on to the north, and leave the sandstone scenery behind. Rocky Mountain Park is the goal, followed by a day or two in Denver, and maybe Colorado Springs before we wend our

way east and home. We hope all are well, with sympathy to Alberta friends. A couple of pics to finish. More later. Stay tuned.
The pics: Gail standing on the edge in the Colorado National Monument Park; the Independence, a spire that challenges rock climber skills to the nth degree; Gail dressed to deal with the howling wind in Arches; one of the largest of the arches in the park.