TRAVELOGUE

Makiko and I left LA at 3am for the long haul across the desert. The plan was to drive all the way to Moab on the eastern edge of Utah. I figured the total trip will take about 12 hours. I just needed to stay awake until we got past Vegas and then the drive gets more interesting.

We screamed up the 15 and it took about 6 hours to get to Utah and couple more to get to the 70. The 70 was an incredibly beautiful drive and just a mere sample of what was yet to come. It wound through some tight canyons following a small river. Every bend offered something new to marvel at. There were a few small towns along the way but nothing that appeared very interesting.

MOAB - After a few more hours we made the turn on the 191 and headed south. After 11 hours of driving we arrived at our destination, the Adventure Inn in Moab. The motel was plain but clean and it was all we needed for the night. After a brief rest we got something to eat at the Moab Brewery. They had very good food and very good beer and it really hit the spot after such a long drive. We walked around the small downtown area in Moab which was very nice, friendly town with old quaint store fronts and more guide services than restaurants.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK - The next day we drove a few miles to nearby Arches National Park. The drive into the park is incredible as it winds up a steep bluff and then levels out as it drives past incredible bluffs, buttes and other fantastic rock formations. We drove directly to the Delicate Arch trail knowing that this is the most popular destination and we wanted to get started before the crowds showed up. As it was there were plenty of cars in parking lot already.

The temperature was rising rapidly as we started up the trail. Even though it was only a mile and a half, it seemed much longer and harder because of the heat and the altitude. It was worth it though as the sight is spectacular. It wasn’t too crowded and we sat for while and marveled at its beauty. After hiking back to our car we drove to the end of the park and started making our way back and stopping at all of the view points in the park. We did one other short hike to Landscape Arch which is a long very thin span. Most visitors to the park do very little walking and just drive to all of the various lookouts.

DEAD HORSE POINT STATE PARK - It was about 3 in the afternoon and we were cooked from the day’s heat and we headed out of the park and drove about an hour to Dead Horse Point State Park. It was a pleasant drive up a steep bluff which leveled out to a very flat mesa. After entering the park you could see the canyon lands below. It is a small park but it has a very nice visitor center and a great campground that had a shaded cover over the picnic table and shelves that also gave you a windbreak and it was about 10 degrees cooler than down at Arches.

We got up just before sunrise and drove about a mile to Dead Horse Point. Just before the point you drive across ‘the neck’ where it is just about as wide as the road with 1000’ drop offs on both sides. It then opens up again to wider ‘island’ with almost 360˚ view of the canyon below with the Colorado River winding through it. It looks a lot like Grand Canyon. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the paths that go all around the rim.

CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK - We headed back to our campsite and packed a lunch and drove about a half hour to Canyonlands National Park. We drove about half way through the Park and stopped at the Mesa Arch trail head. It is only a half mile walk to the arch and it is a spectacular sight. We hung around here and took a lot of pictures and then continued on to the end of the road. Canyonlands is large area separated into several different ‘districts’. We were in the “Islands in the Sky” district and that is exactly what it was. You drive from point to point on a large mesa and look out over expansive canyons carved out by the Colorado and Green Rivers. We spent the entire day exploring the park and then went back to our campsite at Dead Horse Point.

NEEDLES OVERLOOK - The next day we drove back down the mountain and headed south on the 191. It is a nice scenic drive and we took a side trip to go up to the Needles Overlook. The Needles is another district within Canyonlands. It offers an incredible expansive view of the area.

CEDAR BREAKS STATE PARK - We continued south on the 191 and stopped at Cedar Breaks State Park near Blanding. It is one of the best Indian museums I have ever seen that really gives you good feeling for the history of Indians in the area. Outside the museum is preserved ruin.

HOVENWEEP NATIONAL PARK - From Blanding we drove about 45 minutes to Hovenweep National Park, which is in an extremely remote area right next to the Colorado border. It’s a small park that has a number of interesting Indian ruins that are in and around a very small canyon. There is an easy trail that goes around the entire rim and offers up close looks at all of the ruins.

BLUFF - After Hovenweep we drove to the small town of Bluff and stayed in nice but inexpensive hotel. We had an excellent barbecue dinner from a cowboy restaurant just down the street that was recommended by the hotel staff.

GOOSENECKS STATE PARK - Feeling refreshed in the morning, we continued our journey south to Goosenecks State Park. This is just an overlook where the San Juan River does 3 360˚ turns one after the other. It is a remote and barren landscape, but interesting to see. From Goosenecks we then turned northward along what is known as the Trail of the Ancients. We passed by the Valley of the Gods but we did not go into it. The road continued on and looked like it would run straight into cliff, which is exactly what it does. It goes straight up the cliff on an unpaved section that winds up the bluff for 2.2 miles switching back and forth up a 10% grade. This is called the Moki Dugway. Top speed on the road is only 15mph with sharp turns that you can only negotiate at 5mph. It’s a washboard road but as long as the weather is good, any 2 wheeled vehicle can make it. However, it is not recommended for trailers or large RVs. Near the top there is a turn out where you can pull over and look back at the Valley of the Gods.

NATURAL BRIDGES NATIONAL MONUMENT - Continuing on Hwy 261 we were on a flat ground going through a pygmy forest until we got to Natural Bridges National Monument on Hwy 95. Bridges consists mainly of a 1 way loop that it is paved and you pull over at various overlooks to view 3 large natural bridges, Indian ruins and other scenic spots. It is very beautiful and it does offer many hiking trails, but most of them are tough because you have to descend into the canyon for miles to get anywhere and then come back up. We took a short hike to see the Indian ruins which does not require much elevation change. Also the very last bridge on the loop has the shortest trail. We walked down to it and hung around under the bridge for a while before making our way back up the trail. Even though the trail is only 1 ½ miles, the heat and the elevation takes its toll and makes every hike seem much harder.

CAPITOL REEF STATE PARK - We left the park and continued north on Hwy 95 for several hours not knowing exactly where we were going to stop. The 95 was another incredibly beautiful drive through high desert bluffs. Near Hite you cross the Colorado River on beautiful little bridge and then wind up at a gorgeous overlook looking back at the bridge way off in the distance. We continued up the 95 to Hanksville which is another small depressed town and turned westward on the 24. This was also a beautiful drive and soon we were in Capitol Reef State Park. We stayed in the campground here which was pleasant.

The next day we took a short hike to a natural bridge and then took a scenic drive in the park. The paved road ends but you can continue on a dirt road through a tight gorge for another mile or so. The dirt road ends and you can then walk through the gorge which used to be a dirt road that people did drive through nearly a hundred years ago. Along the road there are some Indian petroglyphs and the Pioneer Register where many people that traveled through there scratched their name and year into the rock. After passing the Register there is what is known as the Tanks which are a series of pools that have water in them most of the year.

As we were walking back through the gorge, an English family was leaning against the rock face looking up at something. One of the boys informed us that there were some tiny bats in crack just a few feet above their heads. We looked and indeed in a tiny little crack about ten feet of the ground you could hear and see them.

TORREY - We drove out of the park and only went a few miles to the small town called Torrey. There wasn’t much there, but there was a decent motel and a few restaurants. We asked the inn keeper for a restaurant recommendation and he said there are 3 choices including a high-end place called Café Diablo that he said was pricey but people rave about it. We went there and it was very good serving high end southwestern fare and one of the best margaritas I have ever had. On the way to dinner I spotted a weird looking building that was unfinished. After dinner I went to this building and it was a modern kiva that someone was in the process of building.

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK - The next day we headed south on Hwy 12 which again, was another spectacular drive through the Dixie National Forest. After a couple of hours we headed into Bryce National Park and found a campsite there. We drove through the park and looked at all of the turnouts along the way. Later that day I took some sunset photos. The next day I got up before dawn and took some sunrise photos. Later that morning we hiked down into the hoodoos along the Navajo Loop and Queens Garden trails. Even though it was hot, there are places that have shade as you walk through the hoodoos. There is nothing quite like Bryce and the perspective walking through the hoodoos is a completely different feeling than looking down at them from the rim.

The next day we started the long drive home. Leaving Bryce, we drove the 12 to the 89 and the 14 towards Cedar City. This again was a nice drive as it went from high desert to lush forest and then through the long hot Nevada desert before getting to the long hot California desert. The total trip was 9 days and we drove over 2000 miles.