"Coke Ovens", Colorado National Monument

I have the laptop plugged in tonight, and have downloaded today's pics. Lots more to do yet, but I'm surprisingly keen to get back onto Blip for a while, so here's one from this morning.

We camped the night at Colorado National Monument, and drove along the rim road to Grand Junction this morning. The light was harsh, but it is never easy to get good light into the canyons in the height of summer, so here's my effort on the formations known as the 'Coke Ovens'.

The downside of the Monument at present is the abundance of cedar gnats, tiny little biting flies that we thought should be over by July. This evening the itching is still with us, and will probably last a few days. It is strange that they should be called 'cedar' gnats, as they frequent juniper scrub, that is usually inter-dispersed with pinyon pine, certainly not cedar. We really must find out what kind of flies they really are... but that doesn't stop the itching!