September 14, 2007

September 14, 2007

From the Petrified Forest State Park, we drove into the nearby small town of Escalante, UT, where we stopped at another visitor center for Grand Staircase National Monument. I had seen some pictures of very narrow slot canyons and wanted to know where to find them. The ranger said we would have to drive twelve miles down an unpaved road to the trailhead for that hike. Aimee immediately vetoed that. Not with our home on wheels! Grand Staircase is a very large and remote park with beautiful scenery. We will have to come back at a future time with a jeep to explore this park. Talking to the camp host this morning, she said that she and her husband had put 2500 miles on their truck doing just that.

Continuing east on scenic Rt. 12 we pass thru a particularly pretty section. The terrain is almost solid slickrock in all directions with deep stream gorges cut into it. We stop at a nice pullout overlooking a canyon and have our lunch.

The Grand Staircase ranger did tell us about a mini-slot canyon hike we could do from paved roads. In the town of Boulder, UT, we take the Burr Trail road southeast. Near mile nine it plunges into a stunning red rock canyon of high sheer cliffs. At mile 11 we spot a narrow crack in the left canyon wall. It is only some ten feet wide at the mouth but quickly opens up almost cave-like inside because of rock falls. It is only 100 yards deep but still pretty cool. It is also somewhat claustrophobic because of the high walls and little sunlight. Neither Aimee nor I particularly like caves.

Back in Boulder, UT, Rt. 12 turns north and climbs over 9000-foot Boulder Mountain. Like Cedar Breaks, the summit is covered in a forest of Quaking Aspens. After descending to the other side we run into the imposing red cliff of Capitol Reef National Park. Southern Utah has impressive scenery that just won’t quit. We have to stop at the vistas and take more pictures. We arrive at the Capitol Reef visitor center around 4pm where we learn the campground is full. I should know better than to go to National Parks late in the day. National Parks absolutely refuse to knock down a few trees to meet the needs of visitors. We backtrack 11 miles to the town of Torrey, UT where we spend the night at a private campground. It is not a national park but I do get a view of the cliff walls from our window.