Utah ~ Scenic Byway 12, Burr Trail & the LDS

24 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by Ed and Marti Kirkpatrick in Travels

Tags

Burr Trail, Capitol Reef National Park, Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument, LDS, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Provo, Salt Lake City, Scenic Byway 12, Utah

The US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration lists Utah Route 12 as one of America’s Scenic Byways. We had begun our traverse of the 124 mile long route with Bryce Canyon located at mile marker 13 (see the last post) and were now ready to continue on.

After Bryce, Route 12 slides in and out of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We stopped at the Escalante Heritage Center which has an interesting display about not only the town of Escalante but the 1880 Mormon pioneer expedition from Escalante to Bluff, Utah referred to as the Hole in the Rock Expedition.

This is a painting depicting the descent through Hole In The Rock that the Mormon pioneers blasted and built creating the gap that allowed them to continue on their way to Bluff, Utah. No one was lost. It was an incredible feat.

At mile marker 70 we stopped and marveled at the slick rock at Head of the Rocks Overlook.

The term, slick rock is attributed to cowboys because shod horses hooves would slip on the bare rock and sometimes they would go down. Crossing, particularly when wet, is very precarious whether on horseback or in a wagon.

The CCC spent 5 years building a road through here parts of which are now RT. 12. It’s known as the Million Dollar Highway because of the backbreaking labor and tons of dynamite used to blast through the slickrock terrain.

Just about five more miles down the road we stopped to enjoy the amazing views over the deep canyon of the Escalante River and a bit further on, down into Calf Creek where I hope to someday hike up to the falls.

The trail Marti hopes to hike someday is visible in the bottom of the canyon.

I had done my research as well as I could and assured Ed we could and should leave Scenic 12 and do the Burr Trail Road which crosses Grand Staircase-Escalante to Capitol Reef National Park. So at Boulder (AKA Boulder Town), we turned onto Burr Trail Rd where just a few miles in there was the 7 site BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Deer Creek Campground. Technically (according to their listing) we wouldn’t fit, but hey, it’s us so we “pushed and shoved” and JUST fit into spot #5 🙂

The Moon and Venus delighted us that evening but the mosquitos soon drove us back inside. The creek was right behind us.

What a wonderful road! Paved and basically empty of other vehicles Burr Trail Rd heads down through The Gulch into beautiful Long Canyon.

Top of the Gulch headed down into Long Canyon on the Burr Trail road.

Down inside the wonderful Long Canyon.

We saw an opening in the cliffs and stopped to walk back a short slot canyon. Meeting a couple on the way out we were told it was called Singing Canyon which fit the effects we’d discovered already 🙂

Headed back into the slot of Singing Canyon.

… looking back out to Long Canyon. Ed had lots of fun chatting with the Goddess Echo.

The landscape opens up outside of Long Canyon.

The Henry Mountains and the Water Pocket Fold before them as we cross into Capitol Reef National Park where the Burr Trail road turns to dirt.

Coming out of the canyon it’s not much farther to the border between GS-ENM and CRNP where the pavement stops. The dirt road looked good and a nice Canadian couple we had chatted with the night before had said the entire road was fine, and well…it is us… so we continued on.

Today the hole in Peek-a-boo Rock is kept company by a sunspot of light. 🙂

This should have been our first clue things were going to go downhill from here.

800 feet down in just 1/2 a mile on slippery gravel and Marti had every confidence in Ed. Of course, we didn’t know he had a detached retina in his right eye… just knew that things were not as clear as they might have been.

At the bottom of the Burr Trail Switchbacks, one can go left (Notom) or right (Bullfrog) on the Notom – Bullfrog Rd. The Burr Trail continues right towards Bullfrog and Lake Powell and most folks actually go this way. We went left because the road would eventually take us to where we wanted to be for the night. If one looks at the various websites both official and personal the road is “well maintained”, “only accessible by passenger cars”, “VERY rough”, “not recommended for RV’s”, and “impassable when wet”.

We had a spectacular day for this drive but as can so often happen…

…the clouds suddenly appeared ominous from the West and the road was, to put it politely, crap. Ed cursed the Canadian fellow many times but Marti thinks he was mistaken and had turned the other way to Bullfrog. We still had over 30 miles to go.

And the storm continued to build. Marti kept wanting to stop. Ed, remembering the “impassable when wet” part, was thinking about how much trouble we would be in if it actually started to rain.

Out of the backcountry of Notom Road and on Rt. 24 the RV campgrounds in the towns of Fruita and Torrey were full but a nice lady at one told us about tiny Sunglow Campground in the Fishlake National Forest a few miles further west near Bicknell.

Sunglow Campground. We made it!

Happily, we did manage to get the nowhere near level, but very nice, second to the last spot. The last spot was taken by a couple of delightful Dutch kids, Christine, a gastroenterologist and Jacob-Jan, a physicist. We really enjoyed talking with them over a couple of beers the two nights we were camped here.

Next morning we wanted to finish up the bit of the road we’d skipped doing the Burr Trail and so headed back towards Torrey and south on Scenic 12.

Rt. 12 south heading for Boulder Mountain and the Dixie National Forest.

Here the road climbs Boulder Mountain in Dixie National Forest and because of the extra altitude, 9,606’ at the top of the road (the actual top is 11,313’) and the pine and aspen this area has an entirely different landscape…

At the summit, the forest opens up and the view back to Boulder, Burr Trail Road and Long Canyon is spectacular.

Bright and early the next morning we packed up and headed back down to Fruita and the visitor center.

The Fluted Wall on Rt. 24 west of Fruita, Utah.

This is the most known/visited part of Capitol Reel and from here we did the paved Scenic Drive.

EPH Hanks Tower at the end of the paved road on Scenic Drive.

This particular morning the clouds and approaching storm were almost more spectacular than the landscape.

Scenic Drive in Capitol Reef National Park.

It was on this drive that Ed admitted his eye/vision was pretty bad and the better part of discretion was to head for Provo and Salt Lake City where there would be eye specialists.

And that is what we did. Through the rain and the clouds across Utah on Rt. 89 to Provo. Just an incredibly beautiful state. In fact, just put the entire state on your MVL, (Must Visit List).

Inside a Mormon wagon. Can you imagine traveling through this part of the world with this view?

Scenic 12 outside of Escalante, Utah.

Marti calls these green river snakes.

The Hogback at MM80 on Scenic 12. You will note the lack of shoulder or railing.

Inside Long Canyon.

Geological canvas abstract painting.

Notice how the aspens are at all different stages of leafing out. That’s because each grove is a single organism connected by roots underground and consequently each grove has its own timeline for waking up.

Heading back up the Scenic Road to leave for Provo… It started raining just as we left the park and rained all the way across the state.

After Ed’s eye surgery, we went up to Salt Lake City for two weeks. The streetcar stop was right outside the KOA so going in to Temple Square and city center was very easy. This is the Mormon Temple reflected in the pool in the gardens.

Thursday evenings the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s rehearsal is free and open to the public. We had a lovely dinner at Caffe Molise then walked over and thoroughly enjoyed this amazing choir. Marti says if we lived here she would be here every Thursday.

Not a headache. Not disgusted, but under doctor’s orders to rest his eye by looking down for a while. All in all, we really liked Salt Lake City not to mention beautiful Utah. We will be back!

White House, Toadstools & Bryce Canyon ~ OR ~ You’ve Gotta Take a Walk

08 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by Ed and Marti Kirkpatrick in Travels

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Bryce Canyon, Paria Canyon, Queen's Garden Trail, Red Canyon Campground, Thor's Hammer, Toadstool Trailhead, Utah, White House Trail Head

As some of you know, not only were we home (Maryland) for almost a month, we’re now on the road again, New York and as of yesterday Vermont, heading for Canada. Even so, Utah is just so magnificently beautiful and Ed’s photographic eye captures it so well, I still want to share our adventure and lots of pictures with you… sooooo…

Leaving Wapatki Monument we headed north on US 89 toward Page and Lake Powell which we wrote about back in May of 2017. We spent the night at the Page Lake Powell Campground where we’ve stayed before and tried to ignore the first really hot day we’d had pretty much this whole trip.

The water level in Lake Powell is way down.

Utah’s Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument begins just outside of Page and we had heard good things about the White House Trailhead Campground about 30 miles on up US 89. Stopping in at the Paria Contact Station, the nice BLM (Bureau of Land Management) lady said we might have a little trouble with the last dip in the dirt road but there was a spot about 1 ¾ miles back where we could camp. She doesn’t know us 🙂 We went the full 2 miles with no problem and being there early in the day had our choice of 4 of the 6 small sites; (there are also 5 walk-in tent sites beyond these sites).

Whack-A-Mole Wheels camped at White House Trailhead, in Paria Canyon, Utah.

The urRu/Mystics were watching over us. You will know the reference or you won’t. But here’s a clue – Dark Crystal.

The Paria River “flows” down the canyon passed White House Trailhead.

The wind creates beautiful leaf tracks in the sand and dust.

After our lovely 2 days at White House, we popped back south on US 89 a mile and a half to the Toadstools Trailhead where we did the short and easy hike back to see these fun rock formations.

Toadstools, also known as Hoodoos, are formed when weathering removes the softer sandstone from around a harder sandstone cap.

On the trail back to the toadstools, we discovered evidence in the sand of a pursuit of one type of critter by another more slithery type. 🙂

Bryce Canyon National Park was on our list back in the fall of 2016, but at 8,000 to 9,000 feet it was too cold when we were “in the neighborhood” so it was front and center on this Spring’s Utah adventure list. As navigator, I directed Ed to continue on north along US 89 to Johnson Canyon Road which was supposed to be very pretty. The filming set for the old TV show “Gunsmoke” was also supposed to be on this road.

The first part of Johnson Canyon Road which was quite beautiful and also paved… Then it becomes rough, washboarded dirt and the country is just flat and ugly. As far as the Gunsmoke set, it’s on private property and was completely falling down and derelict. Oh, well…

Once out of the awfulness of the end of Johnson Canyon 89 is pretty and unlike the last time we were here the Sevier River had a lot of water in it. Just shy of four miles down the righthand turn onto Rt 12 we were happy to find a not quite level spot at the first come, first served, Red Canyon Campground in the Dixie National Forest where with our America the Beautiful Senior Pass the price is $9 a night. We ended up staying 4 nights. 🙂

NOTE: These America the Beautiful LIFETIME passes were only $10 when we bought ours a few years ago. They have since gone up to $80 but even at that price if you do a lot of national parks, monuments and sites (a handful of states also recognize them) these passes are worth every cent. Generally, they cut the price of admission either in half or FREE!

Bryce Point at the furthest point on the road in the park is the start of a nice walk on the Bristlecone Pine Loop trail. There are shuttle buses that do a partial loop in the park. In an RV when the shuttle is running you cannot stop at those spots so you need to take the shuttle. However, there are many more viewpoints, including this one where you can park and get out to see the view or hike.

Natural Bridge is one of the viewpoints where the shuttle bus does not stop.

Piracy Point, another non-shuttle stop.

Just a couple of words about Bryce and then I will let Ed’s photographs and our comments tell the rest of the story. First ~ Put this on your MVL (Must Visit List) but DO IT OFF SEASON! It actually wasn’t too bad but we strongly suggest you start each day early to get a jump on the crowd. We had a nice chat with one of the shuttle bus drivers when no one else was on board and he said in the last couple of years Utah is making a BIG push to attract tourists. They are pushing extra hard in Asia and Europe and judging from the myriad of languages we heard here (and in 2016 at Zion), they’re getting a huge response. He also said their visitor numbers are doubling every year lately! Second ~ Stop at every overlook and look 🙂 . Third ~ Hike, a little or a lot, get out and walk at least some of the rim trail and down into the canyon. Some folks claim it’s all the same but from subtle to radical it’s really all different! Fourth ~ watch for the Violet-green Swallows. They are beautiful. Ed tried to get a photo but they are too fast! Mostly JUST GO!! 🙂

Swallow nests made of mud from the Paria River at White House Canyon.

Frank H. Clark, Sept. 25, 1911, left his mark on the wall at White House Trailhead.

An old stile that was in a fence that is no longer here. Someone ranched this area back in the day but no longer.

The sandstone cliffs are what remains of ancient sand dunes and the lovely shapes and patterns are carved by wind and water.

The swirls and ribbons left by different colored sand and dust blowing into dunes and over the ages metamorphosing into lovely sandstone cliffs.

And then there’s the color of the cactus blooming amongst the sand dunes.

Toadstools Trail. Marti likes the white cliffs better than the toadstool formations.

This speaks for itself.

A roadside attraction while Johnson Canyon Road was still pretty.

In Bryce Canyon, a Peregrine Falcon eyes Ed but decides better of it.

Another vista at Bryce.

A fire started by a lightning strike years ago leaves a scar but the forest always comes back.

John’s Valley Road, a 60-mile side trip originates across from the Bryce Canyon entrance road. We decided we needed a break from all the red and orange rock and so headed north down Black Canyon towards the small town of Antimony.

The Osiris site at the base of Black Canyon is now an abandoned mill site.

Coming out of John’s Valley Rd, at Kingston and then onto Rt 89, look what we found! Butch Cassidy’s boyhood home.

The next day we went for a hike down the Queen’s Garden Trail into the canyon. Marti said it would be fun. She failed to mention the last mile part…

Heading down on the Queen’s Garden trail.

… and down some more. Why is everybody coming in the other direction?

Ed found some shade.

But, it does give you a whole new perspective.

Still going down…

And here’s Queen Victoria for whom the gardens are named.

In case you didn’t see her in the photo above.

Nearing the end of the down part is the shady part looking down into the valley and Marti’s gourmet lunch, granola bars, and water.

The up part starts,

and here’s the part Marti left out, 850ft. up over a mile of trail switchbacks. The strategy was to go from shady spot to shady spot to get our breath.

A view of Thor’s Hammer formation near the top. It was pretty, Ed admits and worth the climb.

looking back down the trail, you got to admit it’s spectacular.

Goodbye from Bryce Canyon! We hope you can make it too someday.

Grand Canyon & Glen Canyon ~ Created By or For Water

12 Friday May 2017

Posted by Ed and Marti Kirkpatrick in Travels

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

#Prescott Arizona, boondocking, Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell, Navajo Bridge, Navajo Generating Station, North Rim Grand Canyon, Page Arizona, Vermilion Cliffs

We had been to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon back in mid May of 2015 (if you don’t recall a blog post it’s because we didn’t get one done…sorry), and it had rained, hailed, thundered, sleeted and snowed on us all on the same day!

Craaaaazzzzzy weather at the South Rim in October 2015.

This being late October (2016), we knew the higher elevation North Rim would be closed up for the season, but Rt. 67, the road in, was still open and the views still there so we headed off. As expected there were very few people and the views were indeed beautiful.

Marti in her classic pose at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

We have been delighted and amazed as we travel around the country how many folks say they grew up, went to school, have immediate family etc. in Maryland, particularly within the Frederick-Baltimore-DC metro-Eastern Shore area. While we were sitting trapped at the end of a point and waiting for a bunch of 20 somethings to finish their photos/viewing one asked where we were from. When we said Maryland, he points to a gal and says, “I think she’s from Maryland.” Turns out she graduated from the same high school a year after my niece Janetta!

Anybody who knows me realizes this is a huge accomplishment to stand so near the edge. The very faint mountain peaks in the far distance are the San Francisco mountains at Flagstaff, Arizona 65 miles away as the crow flies.

With everything closed for the season we planned on boondocking (camping not in a designated campground, with no hook ups, often off the grid) somewhere outside the park in the Kaibab National Forest, (boondocking not being allowed in the park). I’d read that there were good places up FR22 so we headed up this pretty, decent dirt road. At about 9,000 feet we found a nice almost level spot where we could tuck back into the trees, and settled in.

Settled in for the night at 9,160 feet elevation in the Kaibab National Forest.

It was windy and high so we knew it was going to be cold but let me tell you the night sky…WOW!! We watched 6 satellites, one the Space Station, crossing the heavens, and the Milky Way literally stretched from horizon to horizon! Nice night 🙂

Next morning after a little walk about,

Just below our campsite for the night, this was our morning walk about.

we drove back out 67 to US89A heading to Page, AZ and Lake Powell. This beautiful drive past the deep red (iron oxide) Vermilion Cliffs and over the Colorado River’s Marble Canyon (the western boundary of the Navajo Nation) at Navajo Bridge should be on your MVL (Must Visit List).

Vermilion Cliffs are full of spectacular rock formations which can only be seen by extensive backpacking.

Dedicated in 1929, the closer bridge is Navajo Bridge spanning the Colorado River . The farther bridge was opened in 1995. Navajo Bridge is now for pedestrians only. Vermilion Cliffs are in the distance.

We stayed at Page Lake Powell Campground the best game in town and very convenient to drive over to Glen Canyon Dam where we did the tour with Paul, which was our good fortune.

Glen Canyon Dam and the Glen Canyon Bridge below.

Marti listening to Paul, our tour guide in the bowels of the dam.

Seems his dad graduated college and came to the dam construction company town of Page to teach. Paul, who is a few years younger than us, was born here and as a kid he and his friends played at the dam running all over and through it! All the workers knew them and sort of kept an eye on them, security not being what it is today. During his senior year of school Lake Powell was finally full (over the years it mostly is not) and he and his buddies challenged a friend to jump in. He did and started swimming to shore. Everyone piled into their car to go pick him up, but a Park Ranger saw and got to him first. When Paul and his friends showed up they all claimed they didn’t know the guy and the Ranger didn’t charge anyone.

We went to Antelope Point Marina on Lake Powell and did an hour long boat trip up Antelope Canyon with Jared our guide.

Jared knows the lake well enough to take his hand off the helm.

He loves the lake and knows it inside out and backwards having been in many of the over 90 side canyons! He also loves to photograph and showed us some of his work which was quite good. When we got back to the marina, we had a late lunch of good hamburgers and talked about how much we want to spend a few months or more exploring and living in a houseboat on the lake.

Entering Antelope Canyon and the Navajo Generating plant is in the distance.

This will be our last post from 2016. After wintering at home in Maryland house-sitting and “doing the holidays” it’s past time to get you all up to date with where we are and have been since getting back on the road at the end of March. We thank you so much for riding along with us on our adventures over the next hill 🙂

South Rim from the Grand Canyon Village.

Way below Marti is the Bright Angel Trail to the bottom of the Canyon.

At the North Rim the aspens had already lost their leaves but the oaks still were in full color.

Looking West from the North Rim.

Some locals on the road leading out of the North Rim in the Kaibab National Forest.

Aspens grow in clumps and are a single organism connected together underground.

Looking across House Rock Valley to the Vermilion Cliffs.

The new bridge from Navajo Bridge over the Colorado River at Marble Canyon.

The Colorado River in Marble Canyon.

California Condor #53. We saw six that day on the bridge span, all tagged. There are over 400 total in the reintroduction program, up from 22 at the low point.