Below the line @ukboy has just challenged the team to hit the microbreweries of Durango, reminding us that Colorado has something of a reputation for beer. So while Marcel won't make Durango tonight, if you're in the area and feeling thirsty: 

Steamworks Brewing Company: Between the drinks menu (Lizard Head Red, Tax Alement, One Wit Wünder) and the food menu (chimicurri steak tacos with a side of calabacitas), Steamworks looks like your sure bet for quality "gastropub" fare.

Carver Brewing & Co: If you'd prefer a more casual taste of American beer, you can hit Carver for growlers and kegs. Their site quotes Ben Franklin (a sure sign of good character): "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

Durango Brewery: This brewery's motto is apparently "Real Town! Real Beer!", and the company traces its heritage back to 1886, when it was also an ice cream company, which also sounds delicious.

Ska Brewing Company: Complete with comic book mythology relating the story of "two guys named Dave and Bill [who] learned that while they loved gulping down good beer, they weren't old enough to buy it." Inspired by "thinking music, also known as Ska," they decided to brew their own beer. And so the Legion of Ska was born.

You've been sending us great suggestions for the next two days of Colorado – please, keep it coming!

Marcel will stay in Cortez tonight, having heard the shouts for Mesa Verde coming loud and clear from Twitter, Witness, and below the line. While @Button_CO worried for Marcel's safety on the road, @bix783 dropped the all-caps imperative:

Rosalta48 tells us the views are "jaw dropping". @ukboy says it has the "best cliff dwellings" in the region. Marcel is all but certainly Anasazi-bound.

There's some debate about which hot springs – Mt Princeton? Glenwood? – would be best to visit. Everyone seems to agree, however, that Boulder is fantastic.

A detour to Salida has come highly recommended by @lollipopshoes, who also notes, curiously, that Black Hawk and Central City could be worth checking out for an "alternate perspective on mountain towns", as they're "properly sinful casino towns, and it is illegal to ride your bike there."

We've heard tell of a reptile farm, gorges, and the tallest sand dunes in North America. There's been a long, complex debate about what byways and scenic highways to take on the road to Denver, and just to illustrate how many choices there are – in south west Colorado alone – I've put together a map with some of our readers' highlights:

So many choices – tell us which to pursue!

No matter which course the team takes – or gets lost attempting to follow – tomorrow looks like it'll be fun.

Another factor in this decision is Cortez's great looking little cinema which is showing … The Lone Ranger. 

10 o'clock showing here we come.

Back among the Arches of Utah, Marcel saw some petroglyphs on the canyon walls, artwork from the time before live blogs; these glyphs left are scattered all over the American south west. We expect to see more – as well as some amazing ruins – at Mesa Verde early tomorrow.

Over at Guardian Witness, thestens1 has given us a shot of the glyphs at Horseshoe Canyon:

Who made them? Some were carved by the Fremont, who built homes into the ground, as well as the ancient Anasazi and the nomadic peoples like the Ute and Paiute. Some are vastly older than others, though; horses – a Spanish introduction to the Americas – being a dead giveaway to more recent additions.

Rick Pickyavit, of Southern Paiute descent, told the NPS what he could about the petroglyphs: 

With few exceptions, we cannot really be sure what the ancient maker of the petroglyphs had in mind. Among serious students, there are some who consider almost all petroglyphs a form of writing, while others consider most of them to be art, not writing. The large trapezoid-shaped human figures excite interest. Many have headgear and horns. Figures are commonly seen with necklaces, earrings and sashes. Animals, especially bighorn sheep, appear in many petroglyphs, and indications are that they were once often hunted and perhaps revered. 

For more mysterious etchings around Utah, take a look at Moab's handy guide to the sites around the park (some also have dinosaur tracks). Of special note is Newspaper Rock, an elaborately carved monolith about 50 miles south of Moab.

That's me hitting the brakes. We're driving through Cortes and it's dawned on us that this is a better place to base ourselves if we want to visit Mesa Verde in the morning.

I'm turning round and looking for a place to stay here.

(Editor's note: we're hoping Marcel didn't brake quite as hard as this.)

It's amazing how quickly the scenery changes when you cross the state line. On the Colorado side it's flat and green and agricultural. We're only 60 miles from Durango but it's golden hour and we've stopped to take pictures of abandoned vintage cars in a field by the roadside.

Beyond the fields we can see the vast escarpment of Mesa Verde National Park rising up in the distance. That's where we're headed.

This is a blow. I've arrived at Adobe Milling in Dove Creek, home of the Anasazi bean, only to find its store closed.

Peering through the window I can see an Aladdin's Cave of bean-related goodies: hot sauces, seasonings, big sacks of dried black, bolita and, of course, pinto beans. But I can't buy any … we're left with only the stray Anasazi bean lying around.

Nearly two-thirds of Utah's population belong to the Church of Latter Day Saints; Colorado is the home to the fictional, (in)famous denizens of South Park, which was inspired by the real, @rapptor-recommended town of Fairplay. What connects these things?

The Book of Mormon (the musical, that is), written by South Park's own, and Marcel's about to cross the border.

Thus:

Marcel, Jacob and Andy thought they were safely cruising towards Colorado – until @bix783 told them this:

Cue the chords.

We've turned onto 491 for our valedictory stretch of Utah. Next stop, Dove Creek, Colorado, Pinto Bean Capital of the World!

Those are the peaks of the La Sal Mountains off to our left – as long as we haven't mixed up north and south again. The SatNav is happy.

To my huge regret, Andy has not included Canned Heat's On the Road Again on any of his playlists. Surely that's first on the team sheet for any road trip compilation?

Here we go. Armed with corn snacks, water and flagons of blue gatorade (thanks, Jacob!) we're underway. Yes, we have barely scratches the surface of the great state of Utah, but we are on our way to Colorado. 

I'm going to take the wheel in a bit and give Andy a chance to enjoy his gatorade ("It tastes of blue!") and read the book about Billy the Kid he bought at Back of Beyond.

This is a lovely time of the day to be underway.

By the way, Bruce highly recommended the new Lone Ranger film, but, as a local, he may be biased; much of it was shot round here.

And some cowboy bandanas from Bruce Corn at The Western Image. Always useful.

Now it's getting to that time again. We've been swayed by the arguments in favour of the southwestern route into Colorado. Let's replenish our water bottles and saddle up.

Since Marcel has briefly gotten lost among the stacks, we did a quick bit of Wiki-study of our own, hoping to learn a bit about Moab, which has made a great impression on the team thus far.

First off, that name. Moab might be named after a region east of the Jordan River … or the Paiute word for 'mosquito'. Either way, some unhappy 19th century Christians – turns out the Biblical Moabites weren't portrayed very nicely – tried get the named changed, but to no avail.

After a boom in the 1950s, Moab became known for its natural beauty, and eventually its parks lured filmmakers, tourists and adventurers alike. @braciole lamented that the team didn't have a 4x4 vehicle to explore and camp properly in the national parks, but from the sites of the city and Arches National Park, doing Moab properly looks like it requires a canoe, a raft, bikes, and climbing gear to go along with the car and backpacks.

Risking a jaywalking ticket, I'm crossing over to visit Back of Beyond Books. An independent bookshop! I knew Moab was a great town.

Appetites sated, we're having a walk round downtown Moab. There's an attactive strip of shops with old weathered facades.

And of course the whole town is surrounded by red rock.

Below the line, @trimphone has reminded us to keep a road trip's priorities clearly in sight:

Keep sending tunes – we take requests! (And put 'em into playlists.)

Great food at the microbrewery. This is my burrito.

We're trying to figure out our next move. A route has emerged, but we're working out how much driving is involved and how long we can afford to stay in Moab.

The root beer's good, not too sweet. 

Andy says his is "a nice daytime ale."

What does that mean? "You won't be putting the kids to bed with a hangover."

Jacob? "It's good, got a little bit of a fruity taste. You'd probably drink it while you're watching sport"

We're here! Andy's drinking Baja Especial, Jacob's got Dead Horse Ale. I'm drinking their home-made root beer. Reviews to follow...

Just arrived in Moab. Heading to the microbrewery. They'll serve food, right?

I like the look of this town. I think we should stay awhile.

We had a great hike but it was longer than we expected and we've ended up violating Theroux's First Iron Law of Happiness, which states that lunch must always happen at 1pm.

Time to make amends. We're on our way out of the park and towards Moab to eat.

Back at the car park, I meet Anna Arsic, a park ranger who's handing out water to hikers.

On the way down we passed French walkers going up in tiny flip flops. They appeared to be too chic to be carrying water.

Given that the three of us drank a gallon between us, it seemed a bit foolhardy.

I ask Anna if people ever get in trouble on the walk.

"The whole time. People die here. This is the walk where it happens because everyone wants to see the arch. In fact, someone died here last month."

It's her job to go up with a rescue team when people get sick.

Out here in the desert, dehydration steals up on you because you don't seem to sweat.

I have a new appreciation for that scene which appears in every cowboy film where a thirsty man drinks pantingly from a canteen of water.

While the guys are doing the difficult work of reviewing Moab's only microbrewery, we can relive the classic, oft-parodied finale of Thelma & Louise, which – as the ever-helpful @alishepster pointed out – was filmed at Dead Horse State Park, near Moab.

This clip is a spoiler, to be sure, but if you know what happens, then please enjoy that early 90s electric guitar, the slo-mo panic on Harvey Keitel's face, and the most famous criminal-BFF hand clasp in cinema history:

We're going to tear ourselves away from this place and start back towards Moab.

Andy reckons he's found an alternative route down to the car park. I don't like the sound of that.

But that's Jacob behind him: "I'm going to follow Andy."

Have you learned nothing on this trip, Jacob? Too late! They're off...

Hang on guys! Wait for me!

There are fierce signs in the parking lot commanding you to bring two litres of water per person. I'm glad we obeyed. The wind is so hot and dessicating (the temperature here will reach 38C today).

Andy's keen to drop down into the valley. The microbewery in Moab sounds tempting to me (thanks to @alishepster for the tip).

In fact, what they need here is someone serving cold drinks
beside the arch.

I better move. I'm ruining everyone's photos.

I'm standing right inside Delicate Arch looking out over the cliff into the valley on the other side.

I love this place! Andy is bounding around like mountain goat.

You half expect to see some dinosaur. The valley looks like Jurassic Park. Older readers may remember the film The Land that Time Forgot.

There's an emerald strip of trees and plants right across the valley floor where the water flows when it rains.

Wow! This place is amazing – and huge! We're surrounded by vast pink Henry Moore sculptures …

Forget Henry Moore, this is pure Dali!

Round the corner, and then this:

Searching for signal …

The path curves up and around a groove in the side of the cliff. Man, it's hot.

The boys appear to have ghosted out of cell range (again).

It's hot out there. They're walking through a sandstone desert. They're going to be thirsty when they return.

So we're indebted to @alishepster (again) for plying us with booze options in Utah (an alcohol-lite state). She has pointed the boys in the direction of the only microbrewery in Utah when they reach Moab. And a bar that serves pretty mean margheritas.

So that's Jacob and Andy sorted. And Marcel behind the wheel again.

Cheers @alishepster!

We're driving to the beginning of the hiking trail. Then we're going to get out of this car, I promise.

Reader @qzikly steers in favour of the southern route to Denver as a means of avoiding the interstate: "I might suggest heading a bit further south on an out-and-back trip to see Silverton and travel via US-550 over the Million Dollar Highway, which has amazing views."

"You can't go wrong with any route, really," they say.

Have you been reading @qzikly? They're constantly getting lost!

Meanwhile, Stay ZK suggests a restorative soak in the hot springs at Glenwood. Which will please the amphibious Marcel.

And @alishepster suggests Dead Horse Point park near Moab.

The blog's not that bad is it, Ali?

Jacob just said to me, " You look like someone who got beat up in high school."

They never got a chance, Jacob, because I was always in the library.

Spoilt for choice again. I want to go to Fiery Furnace, but you can only go with a ranger or if you have a permit. I don't think we'd pass the permit test.

We're going to have a look at Delicate Arch, immortalised on the licence plates.

Let's just take stock:

Sunscreen? Check.

Sunglasses? Check.

World's ugliest hat? Check.

This is one of the iconic sites of Utah.

The outline of one of the Arches is on every Utah licence plate. We're tempted by the Tower Arch hike. Trying to figure out how to get there...

We're going into the Visitors Centre to pick a hike. 

Time to shed the Birkenstocks. The guide counsels sturdy footwear and plenty of water. Maclure's taking a can of Lilt and his flip-flops.

It's also a bit of custom on US Twitter trips past for there to be some disagreement on the route taken by our bloggers - along the lines of "so much Florida, California, Texas, Utah, so little time" - so it's good to see Marcel is keeping with tradition.

South or north to Colorado? Cast your vote in the usual places: @GuardianTravel, @Therouvian, #TwiTrips, or in the comments below

Expert advice coming for the route dilemma. With thanks to @ID3924385

ID3924385

24 July 2013 5:12pm

This comment has been chosen by Guardian staff because it contributes to the debate

I have done this drive many times! For the most beautiful route, I would explore Arches near Moab, and then head towards Colorado on 128, following the valley of the Colorado River.

Alternately, head to Colorado by heading south on 190 (after you've seen Moab of course!) and turning to the east on 46, which goes past some gorgeous small mountains. It becomes 90 once you cross over in Colo(u)rful Colorado and follows the Paradox Valley, which is incredibly beautiful. Take this to 141, then on to 145, then to 62, past the Dallas Divide (not to be missed!!!) and head to Ridgway. From there you can go north on 550, which will take you to the farming community of Montrose (and if you want to take a quick detour south, go to Ouray, "The Switzerland of America"). From Montrose you can explore the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, which is well worth a visit! After that, head along 50 to the town of Gunnison, through there and onwards over Monarch Pass (11,312 feet with a gondola at the top!). Then hop on 285 which will take you past the majestic Sawatch Range of the Rockies, full of 14,000 ft + peaks, through the gorgeous vistas of South Park and ultimately deposit you in Denver!

He's at it again.

"That's basically a slagheap," he says as we pass a big pyramidal formation on the turn-off to I-70.

I'd like to see some photographic evidence to support his claims.

The consensus in the car is that Utah is awesome. It never stops serving up extraordinary vistas. Andy claims some of the structures resemble the slagheaps around Warrington and St Helens, but on a much bigger scale. Not sure if he's taking the mick.

At least the wrong turning gave us a great view of the Henry Mountains.

We're recovering from a slight navigational error. On leaving Hanksville, we went south instead of north. What tipped us off was the large number of cars with boats heading in the same direction. Our satnav was protesting too, but we stopped trusting trusting it yesterday when it told us outright lies about the distance to Hanksville. We're now using it as a form of high-tech scapegoat. It's the receptacle of all blame.

And here's a perfectly suited soundtrack for your desert drive, as suggested by @OllyKnights of Turin Brakes, another Tooting SW17 local, like Marcel.

As Marcel and the team drill their motor towards Moab, we thought it might be useful to share, in a virtual sense, the experience of driving for hours on end in a deserted landscape.

In 1995, the illusionists Penn and Teller devised a deliberately bad game for Sega as a satire against the anti-game lobby. We'll let online magazine Motherboard Vice, who brought the game to our attention, explain the rules:

Desert Bus puts you behind the driver's seat for a real-time, 8-hour commute from Arizona to Las Vegas. That's it. That's the entire game. There is no pause button. One point is awarded for completing the trip.

You can play Desert Bus in the Motherboard Vice link above. See you in eight hours.

I won't go into detail about our breakfast except to say it wasn't a highpoint in terms of gastronomy or nutrition.

Using Maclure's Patented Measurer, we've considered all the options.

In the interests of team unity, I've put my desire to go swimming to one side. (Editor's note: shocked!)

We're going to head to Moab by the quickest route possible, forsaking painted rocks, mesas, oddly shaped cacti, et al.

We should have at least half a day to explore Moab. 

We're all very excited at the prospect of doing something other than driving when we get there. But what?

The debate continues... meanwhile Evereste claims bragging rights in the comments below. We're not sure what 'cries crossing and teeth three shows' means, but it's a road we don't want to go down:

That's a doddle of trip. I just completer [sic] a ten thousand mile road trip from la to Ny across to spokane and down to Vegas and home with cries crossing and teeth three shows over 30 days. That's a road trip

Marcel asks if you can swim in Lake Powell. Here's what we've discovered about the "second largest man-made reservoir on the Colorado River" (thanks to Strel Swimming Adventures which offers swimming holidays there):

Lake Powell makes an excellent playground for safe adventurous swimming and exploration. Imagine swimming within the scenic canyons, and looking at the painted sky that changes from mesmerizing sunset to a star-filled sky by the end of the day.

Useful things to know about Marcel #1: He is a keen and active member of South London Swimming Club, whose home is at Tooting Lido - open-air and the largest swimming pool in the UK. It is unheated. Marcel likes swimming in very cold water.

Get in.

Considering our choices over breakfast. Lake Powell looks nice on the map. Can you swim in it?

Or should we go up towards I70 via Goblin Valley state park (as recommended by Johnny J Love on yesterday's blog)?

Or down towards Mexican Hat and then across southern Colorado (as suggested by braciole below)?

Help! We're overwhelmed with possibilities.

Also, let me just say that typing in haste yesterday I mistakenly wrote "Star Trek" when I meant "Star Wars." It's a small thing, I know, but I'd hate you to think I got them confused and I don't want to become persona non grata at my local Games Workshop.