Southern Utah Spectacular

[SunMan]

We had plans all set for a 10 day Baja Sur trip, yippee! What could be better, right? Well, that is until a couple days before the trip a nice little CAT-4 hurricane spun up and decided to seriously F with my head. I watched it for two days hoping for a miracle but Mother Nature and that pinche Hurricane Jimena decided that it wasn't to be. Sadly, things aren't so good for alot of folks in Baja Sur right now. After I finally accepted that after months of mental preparation and excitement the trip was a no-go, good ole "Plan B" went into effect. At the last minute (damn near literally) all of the surfing and fishing gear got pulled out and we decided we were headed for Utah via Flagstaff...one big ole loop (not quite as big as Edna's though

). Thanks to Jay (Chnlisle) we got turned on to the Mormon Lake area near Flagstaff... ...Being Friday of Labor Day weekend Mormon Lake proper was packed with some sort of equestrian gathering with hundreds, and I mean hundreds of RV's and horse trailers. But no worries, there were plenty of FS roads to get lost on and find a nice secluded boondock camp:

The surrounding area was just beautiful, we felt we could have probably spent a week just exploring that area alone...thanks Jay!

 

[SunMan]

The next morning we gassed up in Flagstaff and headed North towards Monument Valley...

It was a cloudy day but the views were still insane...I could only imagine it on a Bluebird day...

 

[SunMan]

After Monument Valley we were off towards Mexican Hat and the infamous Valley of the Gods. KCOWYO posted some pics of there some time ago and I never got 'em out of my head, pics just don't do the place justice...

Cocktail hour on the verandah...

It was coudy there too and we felt like we got a little gypped on the sunset, however, the sunrise/moonset more than made up for it...

 

[SunMan]

The next day we headed up the Moki Dugway...

And then over to the Natural Bridges NM...

 

[SunMan]

We thought the sedimentary rock at Natural Bridges was pretty cool...

Later on our way towards Moab it was pretty warm and we were fairly ripe from hiking around Natural Bridges all morning so we stopped at this little lake for a swim just outside of Blanding...

Not far out of Monticello we decided to pass on Moab as it was still Labor Day weekend so we headed towards southern Canyonlands Nat'l Park and camped on some BLM land just outside the park...we had our own private butte keeping watch over us.

 

[SunMan]

On the way out we stopped at Newspaper Rock for a spell...

We simply could not believe the graffitti defacing this beautiful landmark by a handful of the jerk off's....grrrr...

Afterwards we stopped briefly in Moab for fuel and then headed up to the Arches NP...the clouds and sky were absolutley stunning on this day...

 

[SunMan]

After the Arches NP we headed up the Colorado River on the 128 to find a place to camp, all of the sites were too close to the highway for our tastes so we headed up into the Manti La Sal NF to search for a site. We were driving along and came into this cool grove of birch (or Aspen?) trees and I commented how cool it would be to camp in the middle of them, not a 1/4 of a mile later we see a campground sign and not a soul around...serendipity baby!!

Devil Dog keeping a watchful eye on things...

 

[SunMan]

The next day was the Tuesday after the long weekend and I REALLY wanted to have a go at the White Rim Trail, it is a 112 mile 4WD trail that traipses thru Canyonlands Nat'l Park. Permits are required and supposedly as much as a year in advance...I made the call and they had several campsite openings...giddyup and off we go!!

Dropping in:

It was mostly a two wheel drive trail...

Unfortunately for my co pilot, who is VERY AFRAID of heights, I didn't quite tell her exactly what we were getting into...some views out of my window:

Someone not paying very good attention could kill himself pretty easily out here...the co pilot was obviously not overly happy during the following six hours it took us to drive the 50 miles to our designated campsite...he he he

Waiting to go up Murphy's Hogback behind some enduro riders:

Looking down Murphy's:

 

[SunMan]

View from the top of Murphy's:

Going down the other side:

Almost to camp for the night:

Home sweet home, our own private canyon and river view for the night (a measly 50 miles in 6 hours):

A well deserved marg at the end of a long day:

 

[SunMan]

Heading out the next day, it wasn't nearly as long of a day as going in. The Green River:

Heading back up...

4WD wasn't necessary all that often but when it was, it was...

 

[SunMan]

A very narrow stretch on the way out...I was trying to imagine a Sportsmobile going thru here but I've seen pictures of them on the trail...

Damn near peeled my camper open here...it was a close call...

The end/top of the trail, what an AWESOME drive!! Definitely one of the highlights of the trip...

 

[SunMan]

After we finished the White Rim Trail we headed North to the 79 and shot over and down to Hanksville and the Notom-Bullfrog Scenic Backroad thru Capitol Reef NP...you should notice some similar sights from Kokopelli's and Edna's Big Loop journeys from here on out...

Capitol Reef on Notom-Bullfrog:

Heading up the Burr Trail:

Views from the top:

 

[SunMan]

We found a little creekside campground off the Burr Trail just outside of Boulder for he night, it wound up getting crowded with travelers by the end of the day...

 

[SunMan]

We had breakfast in Escalante the next morning and made our way to Kodachrome State Park:

My copilot took an unusual interest in this part of the park, not sure what it was she saw in it...hmmmm???

 

[SunMan]

Next up: Bryce Canyon. Living reasonably close I can't tell you what an ass I felt like that I was just getting around to seeing this natural wonder. I was utterly speechless. I've never seen more people in awe except for maybe the Grand Canyon. We had an enjoyable hike down the Navajo Trail to the bottom of the canyon.

A little weather moved in during the afternoon and it was a semi cloudy day, we could only imagine what it's like in the right light. We'll be back either way to see it again.

 

[SunMan]

Last but certainly not least we hit Zion. What can i say, it's Zion.
Checkerboard Mesa:

My girlfriend is dangerous and is not to be trusted with a camera...

...or maybe she was just going insane after 9 days on the road with my smelly a$$??

 

[SunMan]

As seen in the parking lot of the Zion Visitors Center:

This one looks familiar:

Last shots of Zion and some POOR attempts at B/W...

We had a really killer trip and sure saw a lot in only 9 days and 2200 miles. We were reallllly bummed that we couldn't tie it in with the CO rally but we needed to be home on the same weekend as the rally, would've been great to see some old wandering friends as well as meet some new wanderers too. Looking forward to the rest of your reports...get busy guys!!

 

[Kokopelli]

Wow! Spectacular photos and great trip report Sunman. I can't believe you saw and did all those things in one trip. Can't imagine a more comprehensive list of the best of the best places to go. Nice job.

 

[Marc]

Mi Amigo
outstanding pics and write up. looks like you, J & G had a great time and covered alot of terra firma. Sorry we missed you in CO. but looks like a good excuse to get some of the Cali boys together.

Adios

marc

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Dear Suni-

Great sequence of photos!

In a while I might gonna post pictures of our truck in some of the same exact spots.

We are thinking of going back there, too.

Edna has driven home to me the danger mingled with the excitement by going out there alone, so next time, I want to go with at least one more traveler||truck combo. Who knows? Maybe we can do two overlapping loops with our women in time and space?

I hope your domestic partner forgives you for the shock to her emotions and will come back to the desert with you again.