California Christmas

Our campsite at the East Shore RV Park

We arrive in California a few days before Christmas.  After frugally searching for a free camping spot in the Angeles National Forest, we learn from a park ranger that it's not safe to leave our trailer alone on public land in the foothills, so we go to an RV park instead.  And it's a gorgeous RV park - the East Shore RV Park in the Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park on the Puddingstone Reservoir in San Dimas (next door to Pomona, home of the Fairplex and popular drag car racing park which we can see from our site.)  We are camped high up on a hill overlooking part of the reservoir, a small airstrip, multi-million dollar homes and the snow-capped mountains to the east.  It's a beautiful view, as it should be for almost $60/night!  Since it's been raining almost every 3 or 4 days, the grass is green and lush which Grady loves after the dry, sandy desert.

Uncle Bill, Marilyn & Brad Christmas Day 2012

We wouldn't normally pay this much money to camp, but we are here to spend Christmas with my 83-year old uncle, my dad's last surviving sibling.  Uncle Bill reminds me a lot of my dad, and I get him talking about their childhood.  They were very close and spent a lot of time together when young, being only 2 years apart in age.  It is interesting to hear stories about my dad, their other 2 brothers and my grandparents, like how my grandmother was a crane operator at one of the steel plants in Hamilton during the depression and she had to tie her dress together at her knees so the male workers wouldn't look up her skirt!  We enjoy a wonderful family visit, go out for a few meals, and we cook him a small Christmas dinner. 

Reservoir, big homes and foothills beyond

During our stay here, our truck dies.  We are leaving to go pick up my uncle to go grocery shopping then out to dinner when the truck starts, then stalls and won't restart.  Luckily, this year we had purchased Roadside Assistance for our truck AND trailer, so we get a free tow to a nearby GM dealer, although it's late Saturday afternoon and no mechanics are on duty until Monday morning.  So Brad and I wait it out at the RV park (grateful the trailer was already parked somewhere) and use the time to walk along the reservoir and relax.  Monday morning (Christmas Eve day), the truck gets fixed (a cracked housing over the fuel pump which leaked diesel) and the best part is it's covered by our warranty.  Merry Christmas to us.

After almost a week, we are sad to leave but looking forward to continuing our desert camping experience.

A Day in the Life Of...

Finally - we arrive in the land of palm trees and cacti.  Brad has ordered some LED bulbs to replace those in our trailer and we pick them up at an RV dealer in Phoenix.  He has ordered only two to test to ensure they are bright enough, which they are, so we order the rest.  Now we have to wait over the weekend for the second order to arrive.

Campsite on Vulture Peak Road, Wickenburg, AZ

As readers of my blog, you know we like to camp for free and not in an RV park, and there are not a lot of free opportunities near Phoenix, but we do find a place in the "mountains" 1/2 hour away near Wickenburg.  It's a beautiful area with jagged peaks just over 3,000 feet, and a variety of cactus and small trees surrounding dispersed camping sites on BLM land.  Unfortunately, it's a rainy weekend so we catch up on indoor stuff.

Since I have nothing else to write about, I thought I would describe what it's like to "boondock" or dry camp - live in our trailer without hookups provided in RV parks.  We do it because we enjoy being in remote areas without neighbours even though there are limitations.  When we started out in our first year, we weren't fully equipped to dry camp, but we've since upgraded everything and the LED lights are the last step in the process.  Of course, Brad's always finding new toys from other RVers.  So, here's a day in the life of Brad and Marilyn ...

Today is moving day.  Grady hates it.  After we do our usual morning routine of coffee, one episode of the Red Green Show (which we record daily, can you believe it!), breakfast and personal grooming, we pack up the trailer.  Brad does the outside jobs (putting down the solar panels, hooking up the truck, lifting the landing gear), I do the inside jobs (packing away loose items, repositioning furniture to allow us to slide in the sides, locking down and closing all doors and cupboards, pushing the magic buttons that close the three slide-outs).  Time to pack up the trailer - up to 30 minutes although we can do it in about 10 minutes if we have to.

Our first stop is to dump our used water and fill with fresh water.  Our trailer is equipped with an 85 gallon fresh water tank which will last us about 8 days (we use this water for drinking as well as washing dishes and ourselves).  Our two grey water tanks are 35 gallons each and the black water tank is, I think 20 or 30 gallons.  When we arrive at a new location, we investigate where to dump and fill.  Because RVing seems to be so common in the areas where we travel, it is not as difficult as you might think to find water.  Many gas stations provide these services, some for free, others for about $5.  Many RV parks and state or federal campgrounds allow us to dump and fill for a small fee.  When we are boondocking, we are very conservative with our water, to the point of using paper plates and bowls which can be burned in campfires.  Time spent to dump and fill - about 30 minutes.

Disposing of garbage is typically the most problematic issue.  BLM land (federally-owned land for recreational use by the general public) typically does not have a garbage bin.  They have a "carry in/carry out" policy.  Some BLM field offices have given us permission to use their bins behind the office, gas stations occasionally give us permission, or we wait until we get to a developed campground.

Next stop is to fuel:  diesel for the truck, gas for the generator, propane for appliances (fridge, stove, hot water heater and 20,000 BTU portable propane heater).  Let me rant for a moment - when you're pulling a 35-foot fifth-wheel trailer that requires a large turning radius and wide laneways, you can't drive around a gas station looking for the diesel pump.  99.9% of all gas stations we have been to do NOT make the diesel pump obvious, and I often have to get out of the truck at the gas station street entrance and walk around the pumps to find the green handle which signifies diesel then Brad has to figure out how to get in and out of that pump.  You would think it would be easy, but it isn't always.  Interstate gas stations are better than those in cities; but we usually travel on small state highways using the Interstates only for our trip to our first destination and our trip home.  We also have to find propane stations which will fill tanks (not a tank exchange).  A lot of gas stations provide this service, but a trained staffer must be available to pump it.  Time at the gas station - up to 30 minutes.

Next stop is food.  We usually grocery shop on moving day.  After we purchase the food, we have to open part of the trailer (open the kitchen slideout) and put the groceries away.  Time spent grocery shopping and putting everything away - about 1 hour.

When we get to or near our next destination, we always stop at the local BLM office or Visitor Center to investigate campsites and hiking spots.  It's here we also find out where to get fresh water and dump our dirty water, and where to get propane.  Sometimes we also have to ask where to grocery shop as we are often in very remote, rural areas and we may have to drive to another town.  Time at a Visitor Center - 30 minutes to one hour.

Now we are finally ready to find our campsite.  Our GPS is usually useless when locating a free campsite, so I use a combination of sources - the internet, Frugal RV Travel Guides which I have purchased and which are an excellent source of information, BLM offices and Visitor Centers, and Benchmark map books which where public land is.  Finding a dispersed campsite on public land is not always easy.  Usually, they can be identified by a disturbed area with a fire ring indicating that someone has previously camped here.  BLM staff ask that you camp in a site that has previously been used to limit the impact to an area.  Time to find a campsite - anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour.

Once we have found that perfect campsite, we open up the trailer - Brad does the outside jobs and I do the inside jobs.  This takes about 30 minutes.

Excluding travel time, moving day activites consume 3 to 4 hours.  Movings days are long, and at every stop Grady is hopeful that it's the last one.  He's a very patient cat.  He much prefers non-moving days, when he plays in the morning, eats, sleeps, plays in the evening, eats and sleeps.  Well, who knows what Grady does when Brad and I are out hiking all day, but that's what he does on days we hang around the trailer.

When we boondock or dry camp, main considerations are power and water.  We are not tenters, so we need power.  We have two solar panel to produce power which is stored in our two large 6V batteries with 325 Amp Hours each, and an inverter that converts the DC power from the batteries into the AC power used in electrical outlets.  We also have a super-quiet 5,500 watt generator which we used for power-hungry appliances like the microwave/oven and my hair blower (c'mon, I still have to look good!), and to charge the batteries on the rare cloudy day.  Not only do we angle the trailer so that our big back window faces east to capture the morning sun for early radiant heating (Grady's cat tower is in the back window and he waits for that sun every morning) and our numerous living room windows face south to capture the afternoon sun, Brad also lifts the solar panels so they absorb the low, winter rays of the sun.  This specific trailer angle is another reason we like to boondock; in an RV park you have to park your trailer on a gravel or asphalt pad that may not suit our solar needs.  On a really sunny day, we can make up to 160 amp hours (that's a lot).

Heat is provided by a 20,000 BTU portable propane heater which we purchased during our first year after our furnace drained our old RV batteries overnight.  We typically use the heater only during the night and only cool, rainy days like today.  The trailer has an air conditioner, but we have rarely used it.  Because we travel in the winter, it is usually not too hot even in the southwest.  We also can't use it without electrical hookup (30 or 50 amp as provided at an RV park) as it draws too much power even for our generator.  We have only wanted to use it once during a heat wave in Big Bend National Park in southern Texas in February 2011, but we survived without it.

We are connected to the outside world via a satellite dish (for TV) and cell phones.  We always look for wide, open spaces in which to park the trailer for our satellite dish and solar panels, both of which need a clear sky view to the south.  We use our home satellite plan for our trailer.  Our cell phones are both American:  we have a TracFone for making and receiving calls (pay-as-you-go minutes) and a Palm Pixie with a cheap plan from Verizon for our internet signal.  We can also use our Verizon phone for calls, but at a much more expensive rate than the TracFone.  Of course, we need a cell tower in the vicinity for the phones to work, and coverage can be sparse especially in Utah and Arizona.  It is not unusual for us to drive into town to pick up milk and to take our cell phone and computer with us to download email or use the internet.

So it's cetainly a different lifestyle.  RVing and specifically boondocking has made me very aware of how much electricity and water each person consumes.  When I go back home and I run the kitchen tap just so the water gets hot so I can rinse or soak a pan, I am reminded of how I would NEVER do that in my trailer.  That pan would be wiped out with a paper towel until it's almost clean, then I would quickly wash it with soap and water trickling.  Too much effort?  Perhaps, but you do what you have to do.  And it's not that difficult once it becomes your norm.

For me, I love boondocking and RVing - I get to go some really beautiful places.  But I also love my time at home.  I am grateful to have the best of both (of my) worlds.

Lee's Ferry, Arizona

During our trip to Arizona four years ago, we drove out of our way 30 extra miles to Lee's Ferry to see the Colorado River up close and personal.  Lee's Ferry, officially part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon National Park, and bordered by the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, is THE launch site for river rafters.  It was mid-October then and the water at the small, sandy beach area was so cold, it numbed our feet and ankles within seconds; but there were kids swimming - of course they were!  We didn't spend much time here because we were on our way to Page for an overnighter.  This time, we want to see some of what the river and canyon has to offer.

Campsite with river below

There is a campground on a hill overlooking the river rapids; surrounding our trailer are bright red/orange cliffs about 1,700 feet high.  Only 15 miles downstream, the gorge becomes the infamous Grand Canyon, so you can picture what we see.  Lee's Ferry is, reportedly, the only place within 70 miles to get down to the river.  The colour (green) and power of the water are reminiscent of the mighty Niagara River.  The sound of the rapids lull us to sleep at night.  The water level is fairly high (even though Lake Powell upstream is so low!) and the beach we walked on four years ago is now under the current.

The name, Lee's Ferry, originated from the man who started the first (and only) ferry service here - John D. Lee, a Mormon settler.  River crossings were more common then as other Mormon settlers used the service in their pioneering during the late 1800s.  A small settlement grew here and there are several sandstone buildings as evidence of the lives that once called this magnificent place home.  Gold mining was also attempted here, but the technology did not exist to extract the fine, powdery metal from the abundant clay.  A short, interpretive trail follows the river for about 1/2 a mile, exhibiting the old buildings and mining boilers.  The Spencer Trail climbs to the top of one of the cliffs for a view of the gorge, but at 1,700 feet up, we take a pass!

Marilyn climbing down around various dryfalls

We do, however, hike the Cathedral Wash.  This is a short 1.5 mile trail that leads down the wash to the Colorado River.  At first, the hike is less than interesting, although the hardened clay/sand walls contain many fossils from ancient seabeds that once covered this area; in fact, much of the rock resembles a huge sea sponge.  And suddenly, we come to a 25-foot drop - a waterfall, now dry awaiting spring snowmelts.  There is no mention of this in our photography book which has guided many of our hikes on this trip; nor in the Glen Canyon brochure - we are supposed to be able to get to the river.  Upon closer inspection, we spy a way to climb down on the side wall (hope we can get back up!).  This is not our last dryfall we must circumnavigate, but it is the highest in this canyon, which has narrowed to a very pretty slot canyon with 1,500-foot high red cliff walls.  Then we can hear the rushing water of the Colorado River, and our trail ends at a beautiful, sandy little beach.  What a pleasant surprise!

Brad (bottom left) standing in Cathedral Wash

Picnic lunch at the Colorado River
Notice how much higher the water is behind us above the rapids

The sand is soft, there are huge boulders that have been pushed down Cathedral Wash during floods (flash floods are VERY common in the desert, but happen mostly in the summer and early fall after thunderstorms which may occur many miles away), trees and bushes.  There are animal tracks all over in the sand, probably small rodents.  We have lunch on the beach and notice that, looking up-river, we can easily see that the height of the water is some two feet above where we are standing.  It's a bit disorienting as you expect a river to at least look level even though you know it's flowing downhill.  But such a drop I haven't seen except in the Niagara Gorge where we hike down from the Niagara Glen picnic area near the Whirlpool.  The river here is only about 50 or 60 feet across and flowing incredibly fast.  It's a great spot for our picnic lunch, at least until the sun goes behind the cliff wall and we are reminded that it's the middle of December and only in the mid-40s (temperature, maybe 6C)!  Our hike back is much easier now that we know the route (getting around the dryfalls).  Another canyon hike survived.

Making our way back up the 25-foot dryfall (seen on right)

Beach Camping, Utah/Arizona

(First, I must admit to being lazy.  I should have written this blog almost a week ago when it all happened.  Anyway, better late than never...)

Camped at Lone Rock Beach, Lake Powell

Our next stop is Page, Arizona, only a few miles from the Utah border and about one hour from Kanab (our previous stay).  We camp right on the shores of Lake Powell just 7 miles northwest of Page inside the Utah border.  It has been 4 years since we were last in Page, and at that time we never made it to the lake (we also didn't have the trailer then), so this time it's a must.  We are the only ones camping here besides the campground host (this is an official primitive [no services] campground of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and a small nightly fee is charged), but we have the entire beach to ourselves.  Last time we were in this area, we visited Antelope Canyon, a brilliant slot canyon with hues of orange, yellow, purple and white depending on the light rays penetrating into the canyon, and Horseshoe Bend overlooking the Colorado River some 2,000 feet below cliffs that would excite the Wallendas - and Brad who sat on the edge of the abyss... we will forego these sites on this trip.  We pass most days here this year chilling out on our beach chairs.  It's just too peaceful here to go anywhere, and with views of the Vermilion Cliffs, the deep blue lake and Navajo Mountain in the distance, what more could we want?  Lone Rock sits several hundred yards out front of us.  We can see how low the water level is (about 87 feet below "full pool" or 54% full) by the bleaching on the bottom of the rock walls all around the lake.  Many marinas are closed because they are unusable.  Wahweap Marina, a few miles east of us, is still open and full of beautiful boats.

Campfire on the beach, Lake Powell

Wahweap Marina, Lake Powell

Grady and Marilyn walking on the beach at Lake Powell

 We expect Grady will love going for walks here because of the sand and wide open spaces, but the opposite proves true.  The sand is wet and hard in most places because of the cold, damp nights, so he doesn't roll around in it much like he did the soft, red sands of the dry creek beds in Utah.  He also seems afraid of the lake, which he won't go near.  He's very interested in the coots swimming there, but only as a cat watching birds.  And the ravens - these really frighten poor Grady because they start to attack him from the air.  They swoop at him, looking like they will pick him up in their talons.  I have to hover over the poor kitty to keep him safe.  I didn't think these scavenger birds actually hunt, but I guess they will - or perhaps they are trying to scare him away from their territory.  But Grady's last straw is the Russian Thistle (tumbleweed) bushes that forest a soft sandy area between the NRA road and the lake.  This plant, found throughout the desert regions of the southwest, are vicious, at least this time of year when they are dried up and consisting of only tiny pea-size spheres coated with tiny thorns that stick to everything including the rubber soles of our shoes.  And they hurt.  So here's the story...

Carrying Grady in my sweater (thistles in background)

It's our first day at Lone Rock Beach and we take Grady out for a walk.  At first, he's content walking about 20 feet from the shore, eyeing the water but not getting too close.  Or maybe he's interested in the single female mallard who is swimming beside me, quacking at me as I walk on the beach.  We head away from the water and suddenly the ravens (there are about a dozen flying around or sitting on the sand) start to circle Grady.  A few swoop at him and the cat seems to become frightened.  Maybe he realizes that he is out in the open with nowhere to hide - whatever the reason, Grady heads for an area where the Russian Thistle is growing in abundance, like a miniature forest.  We let him wander around the bushes (thankfully the prickles don't stick to his fur), but now to get him back to the trailer, across the open sand with ravens circling overhead.  I start to lead him back (it's maybe a 1/4 mile) and he starts to follow as he usually does, but then he takes a 90 degree turn and heads down the beach.  I follow him, trying to catch him - impossible.  He keeps a few steps ahead of me recognizing the game.  Determined to get him home, I throw my sweater over him and pounce on him, wrap him up and try to carry him back.  Now, Grady is not a cat who likes to be carried - ever!  He squirms so violently with all claws reaching in all directions, and he eventually knicks my wrist.  I put him down and scruff him.  "Let him follow you back," Brad says.  I believe this to be a mistake, but I let him out of my sweater and try to lead him back to the trailer.  Grady turns and walks back to the Russian Thistle plants.  Brad follows him while I go back to the trailer to get his carrier.  When I return, Brad announces that he lost Grady somewhere in the thistle bushes.  These bushes are about 3 feet in diameter and dense!  It turns out that Brad started to chase him, trying to get in front of Grady to turn him back around to the trailer, and Grady proceeded to jump into the middle of a thistle bush!  As Brad was figuring out how to get Grady out of the bush, Grady ran through it and disappeared on the other side!  Now I have a lost cat.  But after about 10 minutes of searching (and calling), I see a little gray face peering out from under a bush.  As I get closer, he meows at me.  Whew!  I open the carrier, put it down in front of him and he scoots right inside.  Mission accomplished!  Back at the trailer, I release the thistle-jumper and - he's perfectly fine.  Not a scratch!  There are one or two thorns (not the full thistle ball) embedded into his fur, but not his skin, so I pull them out.  Grady is very spooked and hides for about an hour, but is fine after that.  Except, he doesn't want to go back outside.  Maybe that's a good thing!

Glen Canyon Dam

The only activity we muster the energy to do is to take a tour of the Glen Canyon Dam.  The only other couple on the tour is from Ottawa - what a small world!  Our wonderful tour guide explains the building of the dam and bridge which was completed in 1963, tells us about the water levels of the reservoir (Lake Powell), how much water must be released for downstream consumption (the Colorado River supplies water for agriculture, power, municipal use and recreation to Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, as well as Mexico), and answers every question skillfully.  This dam is only 16 feet shorter than the Hoover Dam on Lake Mead (downstream).  The town of Page was built originally to house the dam workers and today is home to over 8,000.  All of the land surrounding the town is either federal (the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area which feeds into the Grand Canyon National Park about 15 miles south) or Navajo Nation Reserve.  It is beautiful country, and the Colorado River and Lake Powell only enhance this stark, arid landscape.

Waving from Kanab, UT

Our circle from Bluff in southeast Utah has brought us finally to Kanab near the southwest of Utah, and our final destinations in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM).  I am most excited to be here because this is the portal to The Wave.  This natural phenomenon is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful rock formations anywhere in the world, not to mention the only one of its kind.  It is so popular and so protected by the federal government that only 20 people per day are allowed to visit.  Those 20 people are chosen by a lottery; 10 online (the first 10 to complete an application four months prior to their visit), and 10 in person at the BLM Office in Kanab the day before you hike in a Bingo-like lottery draw.  Brad and I won the in-person lottery on our second day (actually, we won on our first attempt, but only one spot was available and we don't hike without each other, especially after learning that last year a lone hiker, returning after dark, blindly walked off a cliff and died!)

Brad & Marilyn standing in The Wave

The Wave may just be a new favourite place for us, rivaling Bryce Canyon (previous blog) in outstanding beauty, although the two are very different.  The Wave became popular in the 1990s, likely with the advent of the internet.  This was when the government imposed visitation restrictions.  This sandstone formation, striped orange, pink, purple, yellow and white, is shaped like deep bowls and a curvy, exotic dancer.  That nature can form something this unusual is beyond comprehension.  I suppose this is why so many people believe in a supreme being.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves rather than try to find adjectives worthy of its grandeur.  The 6-mile hike itself is very strenuous (for us) and remote.  A photo map from the BLM office and GPS coordinates help us find the way.  Whoever finds these points of interest in the middle of nowhere?  You don't want to just wander endlessly out here in this harsh desert with little to no water or food.  The path constantly climbs and falls like a roller coaster over uneven, angled slickrock or in very deep sand.  At the end is a 200-foot ascent up a deep sand hill and sloped slickrock as The Wave hangs on the side of Top Rock with fabulous valley views.  At the end of the day, we are exhausted and aching, but know that we have witnessed a truly unique natural wonder.

A back hallway in The Wave

While in the area, we also visit the Paria (pronounced Pah-ree'-ah) Movie Set, Lick Wash, Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch.

The old Movie Set was in front of these hoodoos

The Paria Movie Set was an actual movie set in the 1960s for almost 30 years and used in TV shows and movies such as Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales.  A pioneer town was originally located across the Paria River but was vacated by about 1913 due to constant flooding, and nothing remains of this town today.  Even the movie set is all gone as it burned down in the 1990s after sustaining flood damage.  Locals and BLM staff rebuilt two buildings, but they too succumbed to flames from arsonists.  All that remains at the location today is two building foundations and the pioneer cemetery.  However, the area is incredibly scenic with rainbow-striped badlands (rock eroded into gravel piles); they are yellow/green, purple, blue, pink, orange, white and red, topped by the Vermilion Cliffs which are intensely red, some 2,000 feet high and extend for hundreds of miles.  Even if the old movie set is gone, it is still a great location for a picnic lunch and short hike along the muddy banks of the river.

Old Gunsmoke TV show set

Lick Wash is disappointing; it is considered a slot canyon although it doesn't get much more narrow than about 5 feet wide.  The walls are about 50 to 100 feet high, and the rock colour is mostly grey, although heavily grooved like cow patties on a 25% angle.  What is most interesting in this dry wash is the rocks which seem to have washed down from the Pink Cliffs to the north.  The rocks are pink, yellow, red, purple, brown - every colour in the rainbow.  Brad is as excited as a 5-year old on Christmas morning.  But, as this is part of the GSENM, no collecting is allowed.  On the way home through Johnson Canyon, we stop at what looks like a Ghost Town.  At the BLM Office, we learn that it was the old Gunsmoke set, now unfortunately falling down.

Marilyn under the alcove at the end of the Wire Pass
(slot canyon to the right - yes, that narrow crack!)

Wire Pass leads us through its beautiful orange slot canyon for over half a mile when it meets Buckskin Gulch, another canyon that narrows into slots both upstream and downstream from the confluence of these two canyons.  We walk upstream for about a mile, but the walls in the slot of Buckskin Gulch are unchanging - about 200 feet tall, orange with black varnish, curving in and out, and with no special features.  The path is often littered with rocks about one foot in diameter, but is mostly a hardened clay/sand trail above clay that has cracked as it dried.  The short hike through Wire Pass is, by far, the prettier of the two canyons.  Water is seeping over the top of the canyon walls and flowing down to wet the sand in the wash, creating a shimmer on the walls.  A huge alcove near the confluence with Buckskin Gulch dominates the red canyon wall and is a highlight of the day.

And so will end our tour of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, as well as Utah.  From here, we will head south into Arizona and seek warmer climes.

Extraordinary Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Spires on the Peek-a-boo Trail at Bryce

Have you ever witnessed such intense beauty that it makes you cry?  This is the beauty of Bryce Canyon.  There are no sufficient adjectives to describe the colours and textures in these overwhelming scenes, although Brad and I keep repeating "this is just stupid" as we round each corner.  How does nature create such symmetry and beauty?

Our original intention is to go to Kanab in the very south of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  We plan to hike a short trail in Bryce Canyon National Park that is en route and we, once again, succumb to Bryce's charms.  Bryce is our favourite place - anywhere.  It claims to be the only park like it in the world and we know why.

The short trail that draws us in is Mossy Cave; the cave itself isn't that spectacular - it's a seep where moss and ferns grow in the underside of a cliff overhang.  But the surrounding orange, pink and white pinnacles that surround us take our breath away.  They always have.  So why not stay a while and enjoy the scenery - we certainly have the time.  The trick will be remembering what we haven't done in our two previous visits to this glorious natural wonder.

Knowing that our time is limited because cold weather is coming (well, actually it's here at night although Bryce usually has snow by now), we decide to do one good hike and, with a park ranger's help, settle on the Peek-a-boo Loop trail.  We will only do this one hike because it is listed as "strenuous" with an almost 1,600 foot accumulated elevation change.  That's like hiking up and down our Niagara escarpment almost EIGHT TIMES!  Go ahead - do it!  First of course, is the 800 foot descent from Bryce Point (elevation over 8,000 feet) into the canyon, where the pink, orange, yellow and white hoodoos surround us.  The trail meanders up and down through these spires providing views from their base as well as vistas from heights.  Two or three times, the trail passes through a window in a rock wall and we emerge to find a new view where we are taken in by the colours and shapes that unfold.  "This is just stupid," we exclaim with our mouths gaping open.  The quiet is broken only by the occasional bird-song, passing jet, or infrequent fellow hiker.  It's like being on another planet.

If you never see anything else in the U.S. southwest, you MUST see Bryce Canyon.  Nothing else compares.

Moon rising over the Pink Cliffs in Bryce Canyon National Park

The Cockscomb and Cottonwood Canyon, Utah

We move only about 40 miles west along Highway 12 to a new campsite near Kodachrome Basin State Park in Utah.  To the north, the Pink Cliffs dominate the skyline marking the most beautiful, in my opinion, national park in the state - Bryce Canyon.  We have been to Bryce a couple of times in the past, so we will focus on some hikes and sites down the Cottonwood Canyon Road.  It is a lot colder here at night because we are in a basin (as the state park name implies) and all of the cold air is funneled into this valley.  Bryce is over 9,000 and usually has snow by this time of year (it's been a warmer than usual fall this year), and the ridges surrounding us are also quite high.  It dips below freezing every night, but we are cozy inside with lots of blankets and our propane heater.  Grady has taken to sleeping under the covers with me; he doesn't emerge until just before sunrise.

Looking north up The Cockscomb

The 46-mile Cottonwood Canyon Road follows a geological feature called the "Cockscomb" and is encompassed in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  These strange rocks form a serrated ridge from north to south for many miles, rising about 70 to 100 feet on about a 45 degree angle.  The rock colour is mostly a golden brown.  To the west of the road, another ridge angles up along a fault line very similar to that in the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park.  Some of these rocks are at almost 90 degrees and are white, red, pink, purple and yellow representing different minerals, mostly iron oxide and manganese.  Park rangers call this area candyland because many spires are white with pink or red striping.  The canyon is stunning and we find it hard to drive and watch the scenery.  Cottonwood Creek runs alongside the dirt road (just regraded last week, thank goodness and it is a very good surface with very little washboard right now) providing a water haven for many birds and animals, not to mention the huge cottonwood trees for which this canyon is named.  It must be beautiful here when the leaves are changing colour; now the trees are naked.

Marilyn standing under an alcove in
Cottonwood Canyon Narrows

 

Along the drive, we stop at the Cottonwood Canyon Narrows and hike its 1.5 miles.  We start in the north where the canyon walls are only about 200 feet high, but at the southern end the walls have grown to almost 500 feet and are very impressive.  This canyon doesn't have the colours of others, nor extreme narrows as in slot canyons, but it is a pretty hike and we meet another couple from Flagstaff, Arizona with whom we share our slot canyon experiences.  Further south, we climb a 4x4 road to the top of the Cockscomb, and let me tell you, this is a frightening adventure indeed.  The road (remember, nothing is paved out here!) is very steep and winds up the hills at unbelievable grades.  (A typical highway grade through a mountain pass is usually 6% although we've seen 9%.  I don't doubt some of the grades on this little road are 15%!)  We stop along a narrow ridge half-way up to get some photos and Brad decides he wants to drive to the top.  I can't imagine where a road has been built looking up the cliffs, but up we go around some hairpin turns with steep dropoffs and boulders jutting up in our path.  I realize that I am gripping the door handle so tightly that my knuckles are white and every muscle in my arm is tense.  At a couple of turns I actually close my eyes just willing the drive to be over.  It's hard to put your life in someone else's hands.  Brad is having fun!  At the top and on the backside of this ridge (so no great view afterall!) there is a gate so we decide to turn around.  (The gate is probably to keep cattle on the other side and to prevent them from leaping over the cliff.)  Now we have to make the terrifying journey down, although it's actually better than going up for some reason (maybe because I don't worry about slipping backwards even though we're in four-wheel drive), and we survive although I am stress-eating peanuts all the way.  But it IS an amazing view of the Cockscomb.

We make a quick visit to Grosvenor Arch, a pretty, photogenic double arch.  Surprisingly, here there is a paved trail from the parking lot to the arch which is only a few hundred yards.

Grosvenor Arch at sunset

Marilyn in the Willis Creek Narrows

In the Willis Creek Narrows, a hike on the Skutumpah Road, we find water running in the creek, which is unusual in this dry climate.  Because we are actually hiking in the wash, we have to cross the creek numerous times along this 2 mile journey.  In a couple of spots, we throw rocks into the creek to make a stepping-stone bridge because it is fairly deep, and there is ice along the sides and where the water isn't flowing as quickly.  Cheers to hiking boots which keep our feet warm and dry.  These canyon walls also lack the colour of others, but the texture of the rock is interesting with ripples going in several different directions.  A group of cowboys on horses pass us as we eat lunch in the sun (canyons are cold because the rocks hold the low temperature and they're mostly always in the shade) - such a typical west scene.  As we hike back, we realize that the water level of the creek is several inches lower as the rocks we threw in are now almost entirely exposed.  We theorize that the creek source might freeze overnight, then melt in the morning sun releasing a heavier flow until midday.

Marilyn crossing our "rocky" bridge on the way in (deeper water)

Vehicle wedged in the Bull Valley Gorge - road is on top!

Two miles past Willis Creek, we find another canyon with a trail along the top edge of it.  This is Bull Valley Gorge and it is very deep and narrow.  The road crosses this gorge (a span of 15-20 feet) but not with a bridge - it looks like the construction crew just threw a bunch of big stuff into the gorge until it all wedged tight and then they put gravel and dirt on top.  We can see not only huge boulders, but a truck!!! wedged into the gorge about 30-40 feet under the roadway.  A truck!  We don't know if the truck fell in by accident of if it was tossed in on purpose but what a story it would be either way.  We walk only a short way along the trail as it's getting late in the afternoon and we don't know how far this trail is or if it descends into the gorge; we will save it for another day.

Yellow Rock and The Box hike we decide to access from the south end of Cottonwood Canyon Road, so we decide to move to Kanab which is almost on the Arizona border.  Hopefully, it will be warmer there too.

(... the next day...) Uh-oh - how quickly plans change.  Our drive to Kanab takes us through Bryce Canyon National Park (a definite favourite), and we can't resist its charms and beauty.  We stop here for a couple of days first.

Hole in the Rock Road, Escalante, Utah

Escalante [es-cah-lahn’-tay] is Spanish for climbing and provides a very appropriate name for Utah's gem the "Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument".  This vast area of almost 2 million square miles begins along the Utah-Arizona border in southern Utah and climbs steadily but slowly "up the staircase" to the Aquarius Plateau north of the town of Escalante.  Much of the landscape is slickrock (rolling hills of sandstone), grassy plains and sand.  We are camped very near the Straight Cliffs which run north to south and are almost a perfectly straight line of white and green striped rock and vegetation providing an interesting background to our (free) campsite.

Hole in the Rock Road was engineered by the Mormon settlers who traveled from Cedar City in Utah's southwest to establish the settlement of Bluff in southeast Utah.  (See my Blog titled "No Bluffing".)  It is now a fairly decent dirt and gravel road with lots of good ol' washboard, but certainly passable (we just plug in the iPod and turn up the volume so we don't hear the groaning of the truck!).  The road ends at Hole in the Rock on what is now Lake Powell; but of course, Lake Powell (a reservoir dammed by the Glen Canyon Dam and used to generate hydro electric power) didn't exist in the 1880s when the Mormons made the trek and their route was blasted down into the valley that is now underwater.  The journey from Highway 12 just outside of the town of Escalante is about 50 bumpy miles; we drive only half of this distance to a day hiking area.

While camped in this vicinity we explore Calf Creek Falls, Hell's Backbone Road including Posey Lake, Devil's Garden, Peek-a-boo and Spooky Slots, and Zebra and Tunnel Slots.

Lower Calf Creek Falls

Calf Creek flows in a canyon along the west side of scenic Highway 12 below what is known as "The Hogback", a thin razorback ridge falling steeply on both sides of the roadway providing amazing views east and west.  Calf Creek is one of very few creeks in Utah that has water perennially.  We hike to the Lower Falls, a 6-mile round trip inside the canyon.  The hike itself is okay but not as beautiful as many Utah canyons.  But the falls are magical.  The trail ends at a sandy "beach" where pines provide shade and a deep blue-green pool invites swimmers in the hot summer (but not today).  The water falls 126 feet over sandstone in three stages.  The top section falls into a pool which then turns right (when looking up) and falls onto a ledge where the water then cascades over the smooth rock at the bottom where green moss and algae are growing.  The thunder is enormous and even from across the pool (probably 100 feet) we are feeling the water spray and wind which the falls is creating.  It is a cherished reward for the long hike and we have lunch here despite the coolness.

Rock face on Hell's Backbone Road near Escalante

Hell's Backbone Road turns west from Highway 12 only a few miles south of the town of Boulder.  Unfortunately, this dirt road and scenic byway is very disappointing, winding for miles up and down through pine forest (pretty, but nothing spectacular) until we reach Hell's Backbone Bridge where the bridge spans a thin section of rock between two deep canyons - Box-Death Hollow Wilderness Area to the west and Sand Creek to the east.  The existing bridge was rebuilt in 2006 for the second time since 1933 when an original wooden bridge was constructed.  The canyons here show jagged rock cliffs coloured yellow, pink and white dotted with evergreen trees and shrubs.  Amazingly, we can stand on the very edge of these cliffs and look straight down to the bottom of the canyon hundreds of feet below - no guard rails are used anywhere!  I am getting much more accustomed to peering over these precipices although it makes Brad nervous, even though he does it too just to get that perfect photo.  We take a very short side trip north to Posey Lake which is in the Dixie National Forest.  This "lake" is no more than a big pond but popular with local fishermen in the summer because it is stocked with fish.  Right now, it is half-covered with ice thanks to the freezing temperatures at night!  We eat lunch in the picnic area watching the local Coot population (black ducks) feed, fight and preen, and enjoying the solitude - we are alone except for a park ranger who chats with us for 10 minutes.  The road continues its loop and ends in the town of Escalante.  At this end of the road, the rock walls are deep gold, yellow, pink, orange and red; much more scenic to us than the forested area.

At Devil's Garden, we wander amongst strange hoodoos and arches formed in the soft orange sandstone.  There is a heavy concentration of these formations within a small geographic area.

Marilyn beside hoodoos at Devil's Garden

Marilyn climbing into Peek-a-boo Slot Canyon

 From Hole in the Rock Road, we explore four slot canyons during two single-day hikes.  The furthest in are Peek-a-boo and Spooky, causing us to drive 26 miles down the bumpy road and another 2 miles on a 4x4 road.  Peek-a-boo Slot is a real challenge!  We must climb up a 12-foot vertical wall in order to get up into this "hanging" canyon.  Finger and toe-holds carved into the sandstone help but are spaced for a man's long legs and Brad has to boost me up.  It's very scary, hanging onto a wall 12 feet above the sand and rock floor, but once up inside the slot, I am exhilarated simply because I made it!  But the obstacles continue.  More climbing and balancing on narrow protrusions is required to get into the prettiest part of this slot.  Huh!  I can do anything now!  The sandstone walls are incredibily orange and smoothed by eons of erosion.  Near the slot entrance is a double arch which requires a lot of photo-taking.  We easily hike to the end of the slot and have another great picnic lunch, then decide to find the back end (exit) of Spooky Slot by going across the slickrock as our photography guidebook directs.  No problem!

Brad inside Peek-a-boo Slot Canyon

Marilyn in a tight squeeze in Spooky Slot Canyon

Spooky is a very narrow slot at the end and we are just able to squeeze between the rippling walls.  At many points, my butt and gut are touching opposite walls; I have to carry the backpack in front of me.  Thankfully, the canyon widens towards the entrance which we exit.  What fun!  You can tell I'm not claustrophobic; some of our friends wouldn't be able to do this hike because it is very confining and I wondered once or twice if I might get stuck.

Brad inside Zebra Slot Canyon

Zebra is another beautifully striped sandstone slot, as its name implies.  It is even more narrow than Spooky, and I don't fit through this one!  Being all alone on this particular hike, we dump our packs in a wide part of the slot canyon and head in.  I squeeze through to a narrow section where I have to arch my back to contour to the rock wall, but it's a no-go!  My feet are turned 90 degrees to my body, my right foot to the right, my left foot to the left, and with each itty bitty step I try to take, my knees complain!  While I might be able to force my body through, my knees won't agree to the angles my feet are taking.  I go back and try turning my feet in the same direction, but the result is the same.  I go back, defeated.  Sleak Brad squeezes through without any hesitation.  Bugger!  He goes in and takes photos while I eat lunch sitting in the sand outside the slot.  I later read that others who can't squeeze through chimney themselves up to a higher elevation on the wall using their hands to push themselves along.  My arms and shoulders are already sore from Peek-a-boo yesterday!

Moqui Marbles on checkerboard slickrock

Again, we head cross-country from Zebra to find Tunnel Slot in order to avoid backtracking about 1.5 miles.  Using our guidebook and our GPS, we easily find the slot (thanks to my superior navigation skills!) as well as other interesting formations along the way: the orange and white rock walls are beautifully striped; the slickrock on which we're walking has a fabulous checkerboard pattern common to this area's white sandstone; and the most curious are black ball bearings called "Moqui Marbles" which are strewn about in groups on these slickrock hills.  These marbles are iron oxide concretions of sandstone encased in a hard outer shell of hematite and goethite (GUR-tite).  They range in size from peas to baseballs, most being perfectly round but others resembling oval spaceships.  Moqui Marbles are entombed in the Navajo Sandstone walls and eventually weather out as the soft rock erodes.  It is believed that local native tribes used these stones for healing and spiritual purposes.  Moqui means "dead" in the Hopi native language.

Brad in Tunnel Slot which is full of water

We have to scale down the steep slickrock to drop into Tunnel Canyon's exit.  The floor here is about 10-15 feet wide and sandy with many chokestones blocking our path, so we have to do quite a bit of scrambling.  We encounter a pool of water and Brad finds out the hard way that it is surrounded by quicksand - sand with pockets of water underneath.  He doesn't disappear, but does sink into the mushy sand several inches.  As we head towards the slot itself, we realize that it is full of water.  A close look reveals that the water is deep - too deep to wade through as we can't see the bottom.  But the slot is very interesting with an almost closed top although the roof walls don't actually touch, they overlap giving the appearance of a tunnel.  The discovery of the water means that we can't exit through Tunnel Slot's entrance into the wash where we can easily navigate our way back to the truck.  Retracing our steps to Zebra Slot and then back through Harris Wash to our trail will be about one mile.  From the slickrock above Tunnel Slot, I can see the trail where we need to be - it's right there!  But how to get off this rock towering above the wash!  We try heading straight for our trail, but that leads us to a cliff drop of about 50 feet.  We're not going this way.  We head towards Zebra Slot and miraculously find a gentle slope down to the wash where we're within 1/4 mile of our trail.  What luck!  I think Brad doubted we could do it, but I'm always game to find that alternative.  I knew we weren't lost - we could always retrace our steps using the GPS.  Maybe I'm just over-confident in my navigation skills and one day that will get us into trouble.  Well, we survived to tell this tale...

The Burr Trail

Henry Mtns in background, from Boulder Mtn on Highway 12

Highway 12 from Boulder to Escalante in southern Utah is considered to be the most scenic highway in all of Utah.  We have to cross Boulder Mountain (so named for the black, volcanic boulders strewn across the mountain) at about 9,600 feet and, because of the recent snow storm, parts of the highway at the top are still snow-covered.  We didn't get any snow in Capitol Reef National Park where we waited out the storm, but there is snow at higher elevations and the surrounding mountains are snow-capped.  Besides crossing the pass in the mountain, we also have to wind down the "Hogback", a high, narrow ridge with steep drops into white-rock canyons on either side.  The views are incredible!

The Burr Trail is a mostly paved road heading east from Scenic Highway 12 in the town of Boulder, Utah.  After some 50 or 60 miles, it becomes a good dirt road that enters Capitol Reef National Park and descends the Waterpocket Fold in a series of switchbacks - the same road that we drove up a week ago.  At the bottom, it meets the Notom-Bullfrog Road which takes you either north to Highway 24 or south to Lake Powell at the Bullfrog Marina.

We camp in a large parking area along the Burr Trail only about 5 miles from Highway 12 in Boulder (a town of only 200 people! with no cell phone signal for my internet connection) and just inside the boundary of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  This rugged and remote national treasure is a huge area spanning almost 1.9 million acres in southern Utah and was the last place in the continental U.S. to be mapped.  Grady loves our campsite as we are alongside a very sandy wash, and everyone knows how much cats love sand.  We take him out each day for a walk, and he runs up and down the wash at top speed like a little kid.  We are surrounded by tall ponderosa pine trees (about 50 to 60 feet tall) as well as the shorter cedar bushes (about 10 to 15 feet tall), and white slickrock rising a couple of hundred feet in all directions.  The Burr Trail is home to an "open range" meaning cattle wander freely with the occasional cattle guard - flat metal tubes that cross the road so that vehicles can travel the road, but cattle can't cross them - dotting the road.  Thankfully, cattle move slowly - or not at all - as we often encounter herds standing on the road.  We also see plenty of mule deer along the road, and knowing that they move much faster than cows, we are sure to drive slowly and carefully.

Driving through Long Canyon on the Burr Trail

Long Canyon along the Burr Trail is one of the most spectacular drives we have taken.  The road winds between towering red cliffs on either side, perhaps only 100 feet apart and about 300 feet high.  The lighting in the canyon is very dramatic, with the sun shining on one side of the cliff, reflecting its red-orange colour onto the other side, saturating the red-orange colour of these opposite cliffs.  The red sandstone is also full of water pockets typically referred to as "Swiss cheese" as this is exactly what it resembles.  Again, the forces of water in action!  We happen along Long Canyon Slot, a sliver opening in the north wall leading back several hundred feet.  We look up the narrow walls at the end and can see the indigo Utah sky.  But the best is yet to be seen - when we turn around and face the slot opening we just walked up - our mouths gape and our hearts flutter.  The sun is not only lighting up the red walls at the entrance to the slot, but naked trees in the wash are glimmering in the light against the red rock background of the cliff across the canyon.  The site is very spiritual.  The camera gets a workout today!

Brad in Long Canyon Slot

We drive the Burr Trail to the Long Canyon Overlook which sits atop a valley stretching to the east and the Waterpocket Fold, which doesn't look as spectacular from this angle (looking at the top of the Fold) as it does from the Strike Valley Overlook which is on the edge of the Fold looking east into the Waterpocket inside Capitol Reef National Park.  However, the view of the valley between here and the top of the Fold is lovely with its red gravel rolling hills dotted with green sage and pinion or juniper pines.

Driving through Horse Canyon

Just as spectacular is the drive through Horse Canyon from the Wolverine Loop Road accessed from the Burr Trail.  This is a 4x4 road with some soft sand and icy-covered spots (it was water, but the nights have been very cold!), but was easily passable in our 4WD truck.  At first, the canyon is wide but narrows as we go further, with 500-foot red rock walls strangely carved by wind and water.

Brad with petrified wood in Little Death Hollow

At the end of this 12 mile road, we follow the wash to Little Death Hollow, the next canyon to the east.  In the wash, which isn't dry in Horse Canyon and is only partly dry in Little Death Hollow, we find scattered remnants of petrified wood.  These ancient trees have been mineralized over millions of years, as water deposits various red, green, white or yellow-coloured minerals into every cell of the dead tree.  The result is a tree trunk or branch that looks like a rock, or is it a rock that looks like a tree trunk or branch?  Either way, these are beautiful - and they're ALL OVER!  Some are very large, weighing 40 or 50 pounds.  No collecting is allowed as we are on federal land, and it's hard to leave such beautiful specimens where we find them.

We are slowly making our way across southern Utah, unarguably our favourite state.  Its beauty and serenity are unsurpassed, and we will stay as long as the weather permits us.

Capitol Reef National Park

from the Scenic Drive road

Capitol Reef National Park is often bypassed by Utah visitors traveling from Bryce Canyon National Park to Arches National Park, the latter two being much more "famous" and photographed.  But this gem has a lot to offer and its beauty is jaw-dropping.  For those of you who know anything about Utah's national parks (southern Utah has FIVE national parks!:  Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion), Capitol Reef is more like Zion with towering red sandstone cliffs and canyons chiseled into interesting and gravity-defying shapes.

Storm brewing

For the first two days, we camp on BLM land just outside the park along the Fremont River, but an impending storm and cold front threatening rain and/or snow drive us to the campground inside the park where the roads and trailer pads are paved.  The slippery clay/adobe mixture of the BLM areas are undrivable when wet, let alone when trying to pull a 14,000-pound trailer.  The park campground is quite nice, settled into the Fruita valley, originally a Mormon settlement, with lots of big trees for shelter, and we are visited by herds of mule deer in the mornings and evenings, which Grady enjoys.  The storm turns out to be mostly gusty winds with a bit of rain that barely wets the pavement, and lots of cold air.  But Utah being Utah, the sun still shines for at least part of every day providing us with a bit of solar energy to help our batteries (there are no electrical or water hookups at the campsites).  A couple who arrive when we are in the Visitors Center checking the forecast had just driven here from Escalante, further south where we plan to go next, and they say the weather there was horrific - fog, ice, snow, slush - the roads were very bad and that highway winds through a mountain pass at about 10,000 feet; hence the reason we bunker down here waiting for the storm to pass, begrudgingly paying the $10/night fee.

Grady watching the mule deer watch him - Fruita Campground

During our first full day in the park, we visit places we can easily get to by vehicle, and as our day progresses, we realize that we did all of these roads/trails on our last visit here three years ago.  Of course, we don't remember that until we're actually reliving the moments, but we enjoy it just the same.  We must be getting old!  This repeat day includes taking the 10-mile Scenic Drive to Cathedral Gorge where we drive a good dirt road through the canyon to a trailhead (fantastic scenery), hiking to the Pioneer Register (interesting history), and visiting Panorama Point and the Goosenecks high above Sulpher Creek (nice but not unique).  On our last full day we hike Cohab Canyon which rises 320 feet from the campground via a series of steep switchbacks, then through a pretty canyon with red striped walls full of "swiss cheese" holes to the valley overlook.  We do this two days after the storm, so it's very cold (barely above freezing) and windy until we get into the canyon at the top, but worth the 2 hours and the view.
 

Driving in Catheral Gorge

The drive along the Scenic Road from the Visitors Center is pretty with red cliffs and striped clay-like formations to the east, but the dirt road through Cathedral Gorge is incredibly beautiful, with the canyon narrowing to perhaps 30-40 feet.  The road ends at a parking lot/picnic area and, after lunch, we hike further into the canyon for about one mile, seeing the "Pioneer Register" along the way, which is where pioneers carved their names and dates into the sandstone walls - historic graffiti.  Some of the carvings are fairly high up, and the park ranger in the Visitors Center tells me that in the late 1800s, engineers wanting to play a hoax on their friends, lowered each other from the top to leave their marks; then years later told these friends "that's how quickly erosion has occurred here - we were standing in the wash bed when we carved our names just a few years ago!"  See?  Engineers DO have a sense of humour!  Some names are not carved into the rock, but are a series of holes that form the letters - these were made by gun shots!  You'd have to be a pretty good aim to do that.

Marilyn on the Burr Trail Switchbacks - strange slope for rock!

A full day trip takes us south down the dirt (and often washboard) Notom Road in the 100-mile long Waterpocket Fold.  This is undoubtably the most interesting feature in the park and, in my opinion, one of the best natural features I've ever seen.  Geological forces pushed the earth upwards about 1,000 feet along a fault-line on one side, and downwards about 200 feet on the other side of it.  The result is that the west side of the "Fold" is pushing up out of the earth at a more than 45 degree angle, exposing layers of red, orange, green, yellow and white  rock that 65 million years ago was deep underground; east of this ridge is a depression - the "Waterpocket" - harbouring creeks, small trees and bushes; east of the Waterpocket is another ridge about 400-500 feet high straight up forming a flat plateau stretching miles to the east.  This feature is best seen from an airplane, but since we don't have one of those, we drive up a series of switchbacks (more frightening twists and turns on a dirt road overlooking a cliff!) and drive/hike out to the Strike Valley Overlook, where we stand atop the "Fold" and look up and down the "Waterpocket".  Behind the eastern plateau are the Henry Mountains, which will probably be covered in snow after the aforementioned storm passes (it's supposed to start later tonight).  The sun is peaking through clouds today, and it's late in the day, but Brad manages to get a couple of photos before the lighting flattens and the Fold is in shade.  The Waterpocket Fold is such an amazing site that we are transfixed for several minutes just soaking in the magnificent views.  Man, this beats working!

looking north up the Waterpocket Fold with Golden Throne in the background

looking south down the Waterpocket Fold