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

Playing in the Slots

I say "slots" and you think "casino".  Not us - we won't visit a casino except to check out the buffet.  For those of you who know us (me especially), we don't like crowds, we don't like big cities, we prefer to be surrounded by peace and quiet and nature.  No, my friends, when I say "slots", you should think "narrow canyons".

Slot canyons are very special, and Utah has the most slot canyons in the world.  We are on our way to Capitol Reef National Park, when we decide to stop first near Goblin Valley State Park in what is identified on the map as the San Rafael Swell.  Here there are several slot canyons to hike.  First, let's talk about the State Park and the San Rafael Reef & Swell.

We visited Goblin Valley State Park three years ago, before we started RVing.  The park takes its name from the hoodoo-like formations of rock which resemble goblins.  We walked amongst these rounded rock pillars, which are about 20 to 30 feet in height.  Our plan for this trip is to visit the areas outside the state park that we missed on that first trip.

A relief map in the State Park Visitors Center shows us what the San Rafael Swell looks like if you were able to see it from the air.  It is an ancient reef which tectonic forces have thrust up at about a 45 degree angle in an oval shape about 75 miles by 40 miles.  This jagged edge of rock surrounds the swell in the center, the desert land resembling particle board that has gotten wet and swollen.  It is a bizarre sight.  On the ground, it is full of canyons, some of them slot canyons, which are defined as being significantly deeper than they are wide.  You have to be very careful when entering a slot canyon.  Rainfall many miles away can cause a flash flood though the canyon - that's how they were formed in the first place, by very fast-moving water.  We check the weather forecast and, although it's supposed to be a bit cloudy today, no rain is forecast.

Brad & Marilyn in Little Wild Horse (slot) Canyon

We hike into Little Wild Horse Canyon which is supposed to be the narrowest and most colourful in the San Rafael Swell area.  It is fantastic.  The walls are orange stripes on crazy angles, sometimes swirling in all directions.  We are amazed at how these layers of sediments and sandstone can twist like that.  What forces nature imposes on our planet!  This realization always leaves us feeling a little insignificant.  The canyon narrows in two long stretches, at one point being only wide enough for our shoulders; in fact, we have to bend to the side to pass for about 15 feet.  At the bottom, the canyon is a V at its narrowest meaning we have to walk on the sides of the walls.  Good thing Brad's ankle has healed well, although he wears his brace today for extra support.  In several sections, we have to scramble over boulders that have wedged between the canyon walls, using our arms on the side walls to shimmy up.  These are muscle groups we haven't been using much and we are sore the next day.  Since we are in a canyon, all of the views are up or horizontal, but we are not disappointed.  We are compelled to touch the smooth sandstone which has been polished by eons of rushing water, sand and stones.  In many places, tiny caverns interrupt the smooth walls where stones or just water have whirlpooled, or the walls are rippled by some strange current.  A loop trail will take us into another canyon, Bell Canyon, but after we exit the last narrow section, we turn around and head back the way we came.  We can't get enough of a good thing!  Now we get to climb DOWN all of the wedged boulders, which is actually somewhat more difficult.  All-in-all, we hike about 5 miles - enough for me!

Brad & Marilyn in Little Wild Horse Canyon - note the water pockets in the walls

Miner's cabin ruin with Temple Mountain in the background

Some days we have surprise finds, like the day we come across the ruins at Temple Mountain and the incredible slot canyon of Crack Canyon.  Here's how it happened - we decide to drive a bit further up Temple Mountain Road where we are camping to see what's there and within a mile come to a large parking/camping area with a sign providing a description of the mining operations that occurred here from the 1880s to the 1970s.  A small town used to exist on the site where the parking lot is now, and a stone ruin up the hill has survived.  Uranium and vanadium were mined here; radium was extracted from the uranium and was sent to France for experiments done by Madame Curie - yes, THAT Madame Curie - two time Nobel Prize winner in physics and chemistry.  It is rumoured that she stayed in the stone house (pictured) that is now a ruin during a trip to see the origin of the excellent grade of ore she was receiving.  We can see the holes in Temple Mountain that were once mine shafts, with the rubble tailings spilling from the openings.  The many ATV roads here were built for the trucks that carried the mined ore out.

Cave-like holes in the wall in Crack Canyon - Brad at the bottom middle

Our map shows us that Behind the Reef Road, a dirt road traveling to the west from the parking lot at Temple Mountain, will take us to a viewpoint of the swell from the top of the reef.  Well, the views are amazing all along the road and after about 4 miles, we see a small parking lot with a sign - Crack Canyon Trailhead.  Well, why not!  We have all day!  Crack Canyon, another slot canyon of the San Rafael Reef, turns out to be better in our opinion than Little Wild Horse Canyon.  The rock of the reef is incredibly porous, resembling swiss cheese.  In one section, cave-like openings have eroded the cliff walls in two horizontal rows.  Just further along the trail the walls are full of these strangely-shaped water pockets in yellow and orange sandstone, and we have our picnic lunch in view of these.  About 1.5 miles in, there are several sections of the trail (really, the dry stream wash) which are choked with large boulders, and we have to do a lot of rock scrambling.  Some drops are about 8 feet, and we hope we can get back up.  We finally stop and turn around where the drop is about 10 feet and the bottom filled with a pool of water - we will go no further.  Scrambling back up some of the boulders we slid or climbed down is much more difficult, especially for the shorter me.  Brad has to boost me up in one place, but we make it back out.  This canyon, and the minimg ruins at Temple Mountain are unexpected, but we enjoy this day immensely.

Marilyn about to enter the "tunnel" - sides are not joined on the ceiling

Brad in Crack Canyon - very porous sandstone

Marilyn climbing down a boulder jam

Grady buried in the sand

Grady really likes our campsite, which is in a very large gravel "OHV Staging Area" (OHV=ATV) parking lot with fire rings.  We are alone most nights except on weekends and even then it's not busy.  We camp right beside Wild Horse Creek, now dry so technically a "wash" and it is very sandy.  It turns out that Grady loves the sand.  He actually lets Brad bury him in it several times, with only his head stuck out.  Crazy cat!  We don't see any snake paths in the sand, so we figure he's safe.  There are several tiny footprints that are probably from mice or Kangaroo Rats, one of which we get in the trailer for a couple of days.  We can hear him chewing on something in our storage compartment under our bedroom, and one night Grady chases something around the kitchen floor, but it gets away.  Brad finally catches it in a trap which doesn't even injure it because it's so big - as big as Brad's fist!  We let it go and don't see it again.

Oh yeah, so our "fuzzy plan" changed and we're not going to be heading back down Hwy 24 and east on Hwy 95 to Natural Bridges, Valley of the Gods and the Moki Dugway - all places where we've been before.  We'll continue to head west on 24 through Capitol Reef National Park and eventually to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and hope the great weather holds out for the next few weeks while we hike around there.

Canyonlands' Island in the Sky

Snowcapped La Sal Mountains from our trailer spot in Moab, Utah

Before we head into Canyonlands' Island in the Sky district, we stop in Moab to stock up on supplies.  We decide to stay overnight in an actual RV Park - our first of the trip - so we can catch up on some internet work, do laundry, grocery shop, etc.  As we head to the RV Park, the skies become overcast and soon after we get set up it starts raining.  It rains for a couple of hours and while I'm at the laundromat, I look out the window and see that, not only has it stopped raining, but there is SNOW on the tops of the La Sal Mountains about 20 miles away.  It's a beautiful sight to see as the sky is clearing so there are now puffy white clouds and deep blue Utah sky!  It is quite mild down here in the valley, but it must be freezing up on those mountain tops!

Our campsite, ready for the horse trail ride

Outside of Canyonlands National Park, we find a great camping spot on free BLM land where a horse "ride" is being held in a few days.  When we get up on Saturday morning, there are about 20 horses and their families all around us readying for the trek.  They're all gone by the time we return from our daily hike.  Since we are basically alone here on a rocky plateau overlooking a valley, Grady gets his walks again.  The weather has turned very cold even though it's sunny.  Day temps barely reach 60F (16C?) and at night it hovers around freezing, so there shouldn't be any dangerous snakes about late in the day.  He is a good pet to walk, staying with me at all times, sometimes following and sometimes leading and always going back into the trailer when I clap my hands and say "Go" or tell him "In!" at the trailer steps.  He seems more content for having the exercise and activity.

Island in the Sky with La Sal Mtns (not a volcano)

In the National Park, there is lots to do and thankfully most of the trails are shorter than in the Needles District.  This area of the park is very different, looking more like a mini Grand Canyon.  You drive along through a meadow and suddenly, where the road stops, is a cliff 1,400 feet down to the next plateau which stretches away from you for several miles of nothing except small green bushes and reddish-brown sand and rock, and then another drop of perhaps another 1,000 feet to the Green or Colorado River, depending on which side of the park road you're on.  It's a stunning view pocked with buttes or a red-rock monoliths with names like Candlestick Tower, Turk's Head, Cleopatra's Chair and Washer Woman's Arch here and there.  Here's the run-down of our tour:

Upheaval Dome is a 2-mile wide depression in the rock seen from a viewpoint that we hike up to.  There are two theories on how this crater was formed.  One is that it was caused by a meteor whose impact deformed the layers of sediment and rock in the earth.  Another is that an underlying layer of salt left behind by ancient seas flowed up through the rock as it is less dense and forced the rock to heave up into a dome.  In both cases, nature then eroded the upper layers of rock, exposing the twisted layers that are visible today.  Whichever theory is true, the resulting piles of white, red and pink gravel framed by twisted red rock layers are intriguing.

Brad at Upheaval Dome, looking into the crater

Mesa Arch is a beautiful white rock arch on the edge of a cliff.  This is different from viewing the arches in Arches National Park only about 20 miles away - there you are typically standing on the ground or another rock formation from a distance looking up at an arch.  Here, we stand on the rock ledge to which the arch is attached, looking out at the valley and La Sal Mountains.  Because we are inside the arch and so close to it, we feel like we are looking through a picture frame.  Standing at the edge of the cliff (yes, we do that sometimes!) Mesa Arch looks like it is barely attached to the cliff face, there is such a large crack between it and the wall.  People walk out on top of the arch which would take very steely nerves for it's a very long way straight down.

Marilyn at Mesa Arch, framing the view into the canyon

False Kiva is a "secret" cliff dwelling at the end of a trail that is not on the park map.  It is considered a Class 2 archeological site meaning that park staff will tell you about it and how to get to it if you ask, but they will not volunteer the information.  A Class 1 site is open to the public and you will find these on maps.  A Class 3 site is so top secret that no one will tell you anything about it.  We are introduced to False Kiva from a book we purchased called "Photographing the Southwest, Volume 1 - A Guide to the natural landmarks of Southern Utah" by Laurent Martres.  It is an excellent book that tells us how to get to the locations, when it's best to photograph them (morning or afternoon light) and from where.  The beginning of the hike is easy but then, the path descends a rock cliff, makes a sharp u-turn and climbs back up the rocky cliff to the Kiva.  It is a strenuous climb down and then back up this steep switchback, but the view is extraordinarily rewarding.  From here, we are overlooking Holeman Spring Basin with a great view of Candelstick Tower and the White Rim Road about 1,400 feet below us.  The 100-mile long White Rim Road is a 4x4 road which requires a permit and 3-4 days to drive or cycle.  It mostly follows the rim of the lower plateau, above and east of the Green River and at the southern tip of the Island in the Sky District cuts across to wind through the plateau just west of the Colorado River.  Back in the Kiva, which archeologists believe wasn't really a kiva (native ceremonial place) at all but rather a circular dwelling, we wait for the afternoon sun to light up the cliffs and Candlestick Tower in front of us.  Another photographer and his wife arrive and we chat (they are from Alaska!) and we finally take some photos.  Then suddenly, about 10-12 other photographers show up!  Everyone wants to photograph the view in the late afternoon sun, as the photography book recommends.  This lighting provides for a warm glow off the kiva's red rock ceiling.  Brad and I hike it out of there, leaving the others to await sunset and a trek back in the dark, first down the rocky cliff, then across and back up.

Brad & Marilyn at False Kiva, view of Candlestick Tower

The Shafer Trail Road descends by a series of steep switchbacks down to the first plateau about 1,400 below the park road.  It is a nail-biting dirt road set on the edge of the cliff and barely wide enough for one vehicle, however this road used to be traveled by uranium ore dump trucks, so I guess we can do it in a 4x4 pick-up!  Brad makes me incredibly nervous as he's watching the scenery and, in my opinion, not focusing enough on the task at hand.  I, the passenger, never take my eyes off the road.  We are fortunate that no one is coming up the switchbacks at the same time as us, although there are tiny, tiny pull-offs where one vehicle can wait while the other passes; sometimes these are on the inside (against the cliff wall) and sometimes they're on the outside (at the edge of the cliff).  Surprisingly, a new model Mustang is descending in front of us.  Must be a rental or dad's car!  At the bottom, the road straightens out, but is still rough.  The Mustang lets us pass and we don't see him for the rest of the day.  This road becomes the White Rim Road (so named because the rock on which most of the road is built is white caprock) which we can see from the viewpoints along the park road on top.  We stop at Goosenecks Overlook which is a short trail to the cliff's edge where we have a great view of the Colorado River.  In fact, this is the best view we've seen from anywhere in the park!  The La Sal Mountains are in the background with red cliffs in the foreground, the river below edged by willows and cottonwoods, and in the middle the grey-green flat plateau.  Above us and just down river is Dead Horse Point State Park where the end of the movie Thelma and Louise was filmed.  Musselman Arch, another mile or so down the road, is similar to Mesa Arch except that the top of it is at ground level and the arch is below us.  Again, the arch is attached to the cliff wall where we stand so we look out through the arch to the scenery beyond instead of looking up at an arch in the red rock.  We can walk out on top of the arch as it is flat and about 4 feet wide at its narrowest point.  We meet several other people along the road, some like us just checking out the Gooseneck and Arch, but also cyclists who spend 3 or 4 days down here cycling the entire 100-mile White Rim Road.  They travel with at least one vehicle following behind them carrying water and supplies for the journey.  A permit is required.

Switchbacks going down the Shafer Trail Road to White Rim Road - YIKES!

Colorado River with Dead Horse Point above at the Goosenecks

Marilyn on Musselman Arch

Green River, Buck Canyon and Grand View Point Overlooks are all viewpoints of the plateaux and eroded formations in the "Monument Basin".  We can see southeast to the Needles District where we have already explored, southwest to the inaccessible (for us) Maze District, east towards Moab and the La Sal Mountains, west towards the Henry Mountains.  Of course, some views are better in the morning and others in the afternoon, as the changing position of the sun lights up the formations and creates shadows.  The views are incredible, solidifying Canyonlands as a truly unique and special place.

Brad overhanging the cliff at White Rim Overlook

The Monument Basin and White Rim Road - strange erosion at work