Chapel on the Rock, Colorado

While we were on YET another scenic road during our western trip in June (Scenic Highway 7, Colorado),  we passed by one of the neatest little churches ---and of course,  I shreaked--and made George turn around to get some pictures!!!  Isn't he nice??????? (He'd say 'hen-pecked'--ha)


We were south of Estes Park --on our way toward Boulder, and came to a little town  (hole in the road) named Allenspark, CO.   On the side of the road sat a gorgeous little rock church.  AND--there was a wedding going on that afternoon!!!!!   Holy Cow---I was ready to attend... WELL---since I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt,  I'm not sure they would have let us in.  BUT--we could at least drive around and get some pictures.  That's what any good photographer would do!!!!! Right????

We didn't even know the name of this church ---but thanks to the wonderful internet,  I was able to find out all kinds of great info.  Seems as if there is a Catholic Camp nearby (Camp St. Malo).  The founder of that camp,  Monsignor Joseph Bosetti had the idea of bulding a chapel on the site.  In 1916 he and two friends observed a falling meteor during the night and in his search for the remnants the next morning,  he came across a large rock.  The beauty of the land inspired the priest and he remembered Jesus' words to Peter: "Upon this rock,  I will build my Church". (Matthew 16:18).

Bosetti prayed for 20 yrs. for funds to build the chapel.  During that time,  he found himself in a battle with the Colorado Highway Department which had plans to dynamite the enormous piece of granite to both widen and straighten the curve in the road.  Eventually Msgr. Bosetti won the battle and years later,  when the chapel became a reality, it was reported that a group of engineers who laid out the road came to the dedication and thanked him for his perseverance.

The chapel was designed by Denver architect Jacques Benedict.  The Malo family donated the funds for the building of the chapel and paid for its maintenance for decades.  The chapel was dedicated by Archbishop Urban Vehr in 1936.  It's name is St. Catherine of Siena---but is known as the Chapel on the Rock.  The picture above---taken from the internet --shows how they built this chapel on that huge rock... Amazing, huh?????


In 1993,  Pope John Paul II visited the chapel during his trip to Denver for the World Youth Day and bestowed his personal blessing on the chapel.  Over the years,  thousands of visitors have stopped as it is framed against majestic Mt. Meeker.  In 1999,  Boulder County designated the chapel as a historic site.  The Chapel on the Rock is truly a Colorado landmark.  I am SO glad we found it and took pictures that day.

Hope you enjoy my pictures.  All are mine except the first one (I wanted to show you the ROCK).  Hope you enjoy seeing this adorable little chapel... Wouldn't it be SUPER to have a wedding there?

The bride and groom are coming out to greet us.  Wasn't that nice of them?

These last two are my favorite pictures because you can see Mt. Meeker in the background.  However,  the sun was RIGHT in my face ---so I managed to get some sun spots... Oh Well---I was just thrilled to see this church and note that the bride and groom were standing there JUST for us!!!

What a beauty!  I have one more picture (which of course was my favorite).  It showed the snow on the mountains to the right in this picture---BUT the sun glare on the picture really distorted it.  SO --hopefully,  you will enjoy all of these and just imagine the snow on the tops of the mountains.... Isn't that bride and groom standing there just awesome?  (I got lucky to get these!!!!)

Hope you took time to read about how this chapel got its name (even though I'm sure the post is 'wordy')... I just think it is SO interesting.  We certainly do find some NEAT places during our travels. As I've said many times,  get off of the interstates --and enjoy the 'real' world!!

Hugs,

Little Colorado River Gorge, Arizona

When we left Holbrook, Arizona on June 14th,   we decided to take another back road to the Grand Canyon.  So--we drove to Flagstaff and then headed north on Highway 89 and then west on Highway 64 to the eastern entrance of the canyon.

Anyhow--like we always do,  we found a neat place to stop that morning.  That whole drive is gorgeous and the land in that area belongs to the Navajo and Hopi Indians.  We stopped to see the Little Colorado River Gorge --which is operated by the Navajo Indians.

The Little Colorado River originates at Mt. Baldy in Arizona's White Mountains (near Springerville) and travels northward through Joseph City,  Winslow and Wupatki National Monument before reaching the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.

There are HUGE differences in the two canyons.  As opposed to the Grand Canyon,  this gorge is remarkably narrow.  It is so narrow in fact that visitors that approach the edge are astonished at the deep abyss that is below them.  The Little Colorado travels through this narrow canyon ---but while we were there,  the river was as dry as a bone!!!!

The geology of this Gorge sets it apart from the Grand Canyon also.  Whereas the Canyon is a massive sand art painting with layer upon layer of rich, deep hues cutting horizontally across its jagged edges,  this Gorge is mostly gray and back limestone layers at the top, with smooth, colorless sandstone at its deeper levels.

The Navajos have lived in unity with the Gorge for the past 1000 years. Their Parks and Recreation Department operated the Little Colorado River Tribal Park  alongside the Gorge, and maintains the overlooks which are equipped with picnic tables for travelers.

As you can see from the picture above,  George is admiring some of the tables  which were set up  for the native artisans to sell their wares. We didn't buy anything --but you can find unique pieces of silver and turquoise jewelry, original pottery and hand woven blankets there.  The people were friendly and loved talking to us tourists.

Here  we had our first view of the Little Colorado Gorge.  I went one direction to take pictures and George went another... We were impressed at how well-maintained the area was.  Can you see George in this picture???  He's standing almost at the left end--with a burgundy-colored shirt on...

Of course, since I took a picture of George,  he also had to take a picture of me---although he zoomed in a little with his camera.  See me there?  The covered area behind me contained a picnic table..   However,  nobody was having lunch there that morning.. Could it be because there was a SNAKE under the table????  (I'll show that picture at another time.)

This picture shows a little of the depth of this narrow canyon...  YES---this one was much different from the Grand Canyon nearby!!!!  But--it truly was breath-taking.

Don't think we should try to climb down that gorge,  should we????  Yipes!!!!  But--there are some great hiking areas around here --luckily,  not straight down though.

You'd think by looking that there was water in the Little Colorado River below...  NOT a DROP... They say that there can be alot of water during the rainy seasons (early spring, and late summer or fall)...  We want to go back!!!!!!  Wanna know why?????  WELL---we found out that there is a huge WATERFALL (Grand Falls) south of here  which is dry now --but gorgeous during the rainy seasons.  We saw a video of the 185 foot Grand Falls on the internet ---and it is FABULOUS... SO????  We must go back.  Right??????

Also--during the rainy seasons,  the rafters and kayakers love the Little Colorado River --as it makes a rapid 2000 feet descent over about 30 miles to the Grand Canyon (from the Cameron, Arizona area)!  They say you can hear the sound of rushing water all around the canyon as the water rushes through there.  Wouldn't that be SUPER to see and hear????

We were surprised to see a sheep herder and some sheep crossing the road --as we left this area.  Look at that desert...  Gorgeous ---but so different from the hills of Tennessee!!!

Finally, this was just one of the many views we saw as we left that area ---headed for the Grand Canyon.   This section of the Gorge between where we were and the edge of the Coconino Plateau can be as deep as 800 feet, and it is about 800 feet wide in spots also.  That is the only place where the canyon is this large.  They say that the lower gorge (east of Highway 89) is more spectacular but much harder to reach,  requiring long drives across unpaved roads in the Navajo Reservation.  BUT--we will do it since that is how you get to Grand Falls!!!!!

Again I say:  Get off of the main roads and check out some of these gorgeous areas of our country.  We really enjoyed our visit here.   Hope you enjoyed seeing some of this area.

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Today is my eldest son's 48th birthday.  Bert was born on July 18, 1963 in Athens, Tennessee.  (I'm sure I was a CHILD bride... ha ha )...  My parents used to brag about their daughter saying that I got married, had a baby, and graduated from college before I was 21 years old.... That was TRUE!!!!

Hugs,