Day six ranks as the most picturesque day of my whole vacation. Of the top 100 pictures I took, 12 of them came from day six.

Over the Valley of the Gods (Highway 261, Utah)

I woke up before dawn in Monticello, Utah. Monticello features very little in the way of amenities or people. When I left town at 5:30 am, I was the only car on the road. As I drove through Blanding, I again saw no other vehicles.

I decided to take a side road to the valley. It was highway 95 and it was the path to Natural Bridges National Monument. Right before the monument I turned south on state road 261. Still I passed no other vehicles.

The area featured dirt mountains and sparse green trees. The radio was filled with Navajo Nation broadcasts. And everywhere you turned, it was open cattle range. Since I had no traffic to contend with, I just stopped in the middle of the road when I came up to some cattle and clicked some pictures. They seemed wildly unaffected by my presence.

Descending to the Valley of the Gods (Hwy 261, Utah)

The road continued wide opened and I pumped the gas at speeds of 70 and 75. Suddenly, I found a sign that said, slow down ahead, 5 mph. I laughed, what could make me slow to 5 mph in this vast emptiness? Then, all at once, the road turned to gravel and next thing I know, I am looking down thousands of feet as I hang over a red rock mountain cliff.

If you look closely at the second picture, you will notice I took this soon after the first and the mountain in the first is behind the snake-winding road I was descending upon. Down and down and down I went until I reached the flat, green bottom. Way off in the distance (about 25 miles) you could see John Wayne and John Ford's Monument Valley (made famous in "The Searchers").

Mexican Hat Rock (Mexican Hat, Utah)

Once the road returns to level ground, you drive another five miles to Mexican Hat, Utah. Here is an odd-shaped rock that seems to be working on a balancing act, and the San Juan River. The red rock in the distance was stunning.

I soon made my way toward Monument Valley and took a couple of photos. It was around 8 am and I was finally seeing some signs of life. In all, I went at least two hours of travel without seeing another human being. I made my way to the edge of Arizona and stepped out of the car a couple of times to take some shots of the intriguing rock formations. One picture I even journeyed into the center of the road to get a photo...it was so desolate.

Monument Valley (US 163, Utah)

Before I made it to Arizona, I turned the car around and began my return to Colorado. On the way, I gassed up the car and plotted out the next few miles of my trip.

The next destination - the Four Corners. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the four corners concept, there is only one place in the whole United States where four states touch at one point. I, of course, had to put it on my itinerary. When I arrived, I wondered exactly why I had made such a fuss about making it here. First, it was not a national park, in fact it was a tourist trap of the Navajo Nation. After paying my entry fee, I was bombarded by a group of buildings all devoted to Navajo food and craft.

Valley of the Gods (US 163, Utah)

The actual monument features a copper disc that includes the name of the four states at the point they meet. I took a photo of it close up, but it's quite unimpressive to me, so I didn't even include it here. There were many people trying to crowd around it anyway, so I decided to move on.

Next, I drove up US Highway 160 and 666. Yup, that's right, some smarty decided to name a road US 666. I was a little nervous on that highway, but I did made it through with my soul in tact. Actually, I think I found the valley where the Spencer Tracy film "Bad Day at Black Rock" was filmed. If I am correct, it is near the town of Towaoc, Colorado in the middle of the Ute Mountain Reservation.

The return of green (Mancos, CO)

Soon after I passed Cortez, Colorado, things began to turn green again.

It wasn't long before I was on the south edge of the Million Dollar Highway. The Million Dollar Highway is a stretch of road between Durango and Montrose, Colorado that cost the developers...you guessed it - a million dollars. Now you may think that is chump change, but these were the 1920's we are talking about. Apparently, one man did a lot of the blasting of rock up in that area.

For all the hype, I was not very impressed. In fact, I thought maybe I was becoming jaded by scenery. After all, I was in awe through most of southern Utah and now all the scenery was starting to bore me a bit. The drive up US 550 takes a lot of work. There are a lot of twists and turns, and the most exciting part is probably when you lower into the mining town of Ouray...mainly because you know, the hard part of the driving is just about over.

Black Canyon (Gunnison National Park, CO)

When I reached Montrose, I was tired. I was also pretty sick of Tori Amos and Tool. You see, when I rented the car, it was equipped with a CD player, but I had brought almost all MP3 CD's. So the only two CD's I had with me were my own personal best of Tori Amos and the best of Maynard from the bands Tool and A Perfect Circle. So I made my way into another Wal-Mart. There I discovered two band I like had both released CD's so I bought them and returned to my car for the remaining drive back to Denver.

After gassing up the Sunfire, I turned onto US 50 toward the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park. I had heard of the stunning depths of this area and seen some pictures so I decided to see what I could see. I then noticed that the road was under construction past the park so I might have to take a different route to get back to Denver.

Scaling to McClure Pass (Hwy 133, CO)

While at the park I drove from overlook to overlook. The first few were almost devoid of river shots. The canyon was so deep it was hard to see to the bottom, but you could hear the water running by. By the fourth or fifth stop, I finally found a stop-off where you could get a great view of the canyon.

I didn't drive all the way to the end of the road, instead I turned around and made my way back to US 50. It wasn't until I reached the road that I decided to go back to Montrose and head north on a back road through McClure Pass to Glenwood Springs. I knew I needed to make some time in returning to Denver so this seemed the fastest, yet still scenic route. I didn't mind at all that I would be seeing I-70 again.

Waterfall (McClure Pass, CO)

The road and traffic were easy up to Delta and across to Hotchkiss. My fear was, how challenging would the road be through McClure Pass. The one thing about road maps is, they aren't very good at letting you know speed limits or how many hairpin curves you're going to be dealing with.

I must say, I was far from disappointed with my choice of routes. McClure Pass restored my faith in the overwhelming beauty that could be available on a drive. I pulled over at least 20 times on that drive (killing any hope of a speedy return to Denver). It seemed every time I found something that was incredibly beautiful, it would be followed by something even better.

At one point, I stopped at a location just beyond the pass and stood for 20 minutes admiring the landscape. A fellow traveler from Massachusetts also stopped to photograph the beauty and told me, if I liked what I saw, I would like what was ahead even more.

Descending McClure Pass (Hwy 133, CO)

What I discovered was more incredible mountains, valleys and a lovely waterfall right off the road. The farms in the area just added to the charm of the area. McClure is a nice path to take if you want a relaxing drive through great scenery, with driving that's not too strenuous.

When I returned to Carbondale, just south of Glenwood Springs, I met a four-lane highway and enjoyed the drive back into Glenwood Springs town limits. Glenwood is a nice tourist town, but a bit pricey. It would be a nice place to retire if you had a cool mil in the bank.

On the way back to Denver I passed through the Eisenhower Tunnel, Vail and past The Summit again. It's a really pleasant drive. I wanted to make Georgetown, Colorado before nightfall. I found the lake and mountains there to be quite stunning. But I had put too much on my agenda for the day and it was quickly turning dark as I passed by Vail.

Vail Pass (Vail, CO)

All the way back to Denver I found the play of twilight against the puffy clouds and mountain peaks fascinating. I stopped various times to try and capture the moments, but I was still a little rusty at getting my cameras aperture settings correct for dusk.

One picture that turned out nicely was the one I took at the rest area just past Vail Pass. This is probably the most confusing rest area I have ever stopped at. If you are traveling westbound, you have to cross to the eastbound side and there are poor markings that could lead you down a one-way road going the wrong way. Next, you have to figure out what building to go to. It seems to direct you to the lower building if you are driving a car, but it's the upper building that actually contains the rest rooms, fountains...life in general.

By the time I reached Denver it was past 9 pm. I was tired and had to make it all the way back up to Greeley. My car would be ready in the morning, and my new itinerary had me driving through southern Wyoming on Day 7.

> Day 7