Driving Through a Gigantic Geology Book

Day 4 Bryce Canyon to Hanksville 

Mileage 159 Miles, States – Utah

Behind schedule by 126 miles!

Another fight this morning to get Jane to route us the way we wanted, but I was determined to take Hwy 12 on our way to Capitol Reef National Park. I was glad I persevered with the navigation – Hwy 12 is one of the most spectacular roads we have ever traveled on…and to think we might have missed it if we’d just followed Jane’s navigation!

One stretch of the highway ran along the ridge with steep drops in either side – incredible! I wonder how fast the erosion is and how long before the road is gone.

That said, we only made half the mileage we’d intended to today…each viewing point needed stopped at, exclaimed over, and photographed. Just when we thought it couldn’t get better, the sky decided to join the act and chugged out some moody clouds.

When we finally made it to Capitol Reef we decided to explore a little, rather than shoot straight through, and ended up taking our faithful little Prius down some dirt tracks! It felt like we were taking her hiking with us – lazy hiking, since she did all the work.

Some of the features reminded us of highly carved furniture. It certainly was a skilled craftsman who turned this out.

There were all kinds of rocks along today’s route.

Red rocks

Cream rocks

 

Rocks that look like castles

Rocks that look like giant snake heads

Stripey rocks

Holey rocks

 

We spent the day wishing we had studied Geology at university.

Sunset was demure, secreted behind the clouds. As we lost light, we realized that we wouldn’t make it to Natural Bridges National Park as we’d planned and began looking out for towns, villages, heck, at this point it was so remote and off the beaten track, we even got excited at seeing a barn!

It was nearly full on dark when we reached Hanksville, the next town on the road. No point driving in the dark and missing anything. One thing I found interesting about Hanksville is that it is only 7 miles from the Mars Desert Research Station. Not hard to imagine what inspired them to base themselves here. The landscape sure did look pretty Martian at times.

Hanksville is a town with too motels. One had a "No Vacancy" sign, but the other, the Hanksville Inn (the less salubrious looking place,) hadn’t. We went into the office of the Hanksville Inn and asked if they had any rooms left. The guy asked if we had a reservation. My heart sank. Next town was 130 miles away…

“No,” we said, mournfully.

“That weren’t very smart now was it?” he asked, grinning.

“No,” I admitted. “But this place is just so gorgeous, we had to stop at every single viewpoint.”

“Yep,” he said,rubbing his chin. “I can see how that would take a while.” He took a breath. “Do me a favor,” he continued. “Could you flick that switch over there.” He directed me to a light switch on the wall near me.

I turned the switch. Nothing happened.

My Husband pointed outside. The “No” on the vacancy sign had just lit up.

 

“Ya got the last room!” Motel Guy said.

My Husband and I whooped like he’d offered us the penthouse suite in the Ritz Carlton for free! Ah price…

“What’s the damage?” My Husband asked.

Motel Guy said, “Well, isn’t that the thang?”

We held our breaths. He could name his price really… He drew the moment out like those reality TV shows do when they are announcing who’s about to be evicted. We waited…

“$75 dollars, $65 if you only use one of the beds.” (Motel rooms usually come with two double beds in the US.)

“Deal,” My Husband said.

“Thanks a million,” I gushed – I’m great at gushing!

“Well,” Motel Guy said, smiling. “Ya made my day. I get to go home early, if I’ve less work to do!”

It turned out it wasn’t the Ritz Carlton, but it did the trick. We were exhausted after another astounding day’s scenery and colorful characters to boot. We’d make up the miles tomorrow…maybe…

Byddi Lee

Canyons, Mesas and Hoodoos

Day 3 Zion National Park to Bryce Canyon

 Mileage 111 Miles, States - Nevada, Utah

What a spectacular day! This post is all about the photos because no amount of describing stupendous red rock gorges and amazing geological structures can do the day justice. Last night we managed to get the second last room in the Quality Inn and judging by the “No Vacancy” and “campsite full” signs possibly one of the last places to crash in Springdale. Hardly surprising since it was a Friday night and 7pm. Springdale, Utah, was a happening little place with a really nice vibe that we had not expected to find so close to a National Park. (We are used to the remote snobbery of Yosemite!)

We began Saturday by taking the shuttle bus into Zion Canyon. Cars are not permitted into the canyon from March to October (Sounds like a title of a book, right?). Our trip is more of a scouting mission. If we like a place we’ll try to make it back to do the detailed stuff such as longer hikes, (and chilling out) but for now it was the glance and click tour – for the most part.

Zion Canyon was beautiful - kind of a smaller and redder version of Yosemite. The buses were really regular, and we were very impressed with how organized the place was.

Top of Zion Canyon at the beginning of The Narrows

By 1pm we were back on the road for the relatively short hop to Bryce Canyon. The drive continued to thrill us with its scenery. I don’t know how My Husband managed to actually concentrate on the driving.

Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel

Mesas are elevated areas of land with a flat top and sides that are usually steep cliffs. Mesa is Spanish for table.

Basically, they are the little cousins of plateaus, complete with meadows, and what looked liked nice farmland. Once up here you couldn’t see the canyons below and it looked like a different world.

I’d heard great accolades of this Bryce Canyon, claims that it was better than the Grand Canyon, claims I’d found hard to believe, but, oh boy, this big ole hole in the ground did not disappoint! Actually, it isn’t really a canyon, rather the eroding edge of a plateau. However, as literature at the visitor center points out, Bryce Eroding Edge of Plateau doesn’t fit easily on a Tee Shirt, so Bryce Canyon it is.

It allowed us to get up close and personal to the hoodoos.

One legend tells the story of the Legend People who lived here long before any people, in the time of Gods, when Coyote ruled the land. The Legend People were greedy and used up all the resources of the land. So the Coyote invited them to a huge feast ,and they all turned up in all their finery. Then Coyote turned them to stone as punishment. Its easy to see the Legend People to this day!

 

At 4pm we got one of the last campsites in Sunset Camp, actually in the park. The whole tourist industry here seems much “kinder” than in California, where it feels like the top spots are always full, and there are fewer places to stay in the places you most want to. Here everything flowed into place, even though we did not  make a single booking. Traveling in September helped.

Then we went exploring! We drove the length of the canyon rim all the way to Rainbow Point then stopped at the various viewing points on the way back. This works well, since you are now on the right side of the road for the stops. When we return I think a nice thing to do would be take the shuttle to Rainbow Point then work back via the various trails.

 

At certain points you can reconnect with the shuttle and stop there, returning the next day where you left off. This might take a week or more!

 

 

We ended up at Sunset Point for sunset.

 

One short trail beckoned. “The Navajo Loop Trail – 1.6 miles.” The sign pointed straight down into the red canyon below.

“Let’s just go down it a little bit, get a taste of it!” We told each other. So off we went, no food, water nor map! (Typical Lee hiking adventure…) At least I wasn’t wearing flip flops and a pink mini-skirt this time…like that time in Death Valley, in July 2005…but that’s another story!

This canyon went straight down for a half mile (and obviously straight up for the same.)

 It was glorious, like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

I officially declare that the Navajo Loop Trail is a MUST DO. Take it slowly if you need to, and do bring water, and maybe you shouldn’t embark upon it as the sun is setting!

It was a very happy couple that sat watching the Milky Way outside our tent before we hit the hay.

As I drifted off to sleep, I looked forward to more exploring tomorrow and gave thanks for having the chance to do trips like these.

Byddi Lee

Ailiens and Moonscapes

Day 2 Tonopah, Nevada to Zion National Park, Utah

Mileage 347 Miles, States - Nevada, Utah

I don’t know what AT&T did to Tonopah, but someone took the hump, and now it’s the only Cell phone provider that does not have service there. Bummer for us, but luckily the Mizpah had WiFi, and the car has its own navigation. It’s a bit dopey and somewhat grumpy. It doesn’t speak to us like Jane does, but it gets us there!

The Mizpah was beautiful inside – I mentioned this already in my last post, but I only took the photos this morning.

This is the business center! Just kidding. They had lots of beautiful old furniture and "olden days technology" on display everywhere. 

The Cafe where we ate dinner and breakfast.

The Lobby.

The casino

We couldn’t leave town without having a mosey about. There isn’t much to Tonopah, but it’s cute. A nice stop on a long journey. 

There’s is a mining museum with tours…

A fire station…that didn’t really inspire confidence…but at least they're next door to the water company. That should come in handy.

And we just had to visit the Clown Motel…

…and right next door we could pay our respects at the Miners Graveyard, which is harder than you’d think what with having all those crazy clowns at your back.

When we’d checked out of the Mizpah, the receptionist had explained to us that Nevada is the most desolate state because so much of it is owned by the Government/US Military. That was why there was so few civilian settlements and so much distance between the ones that existed.

As we drove east along Hwy6, we could appreciate this sense of desolation. The scenery alternated between this…

…and this

Long straight stretches with short hops over hills to the next long straight stretch.

We saw a sign that told us we were in the Toiyabe National Forest. This is the forest...

Now, I’ve heard of not being able to see the wood for the trees, but not being able to see the forest for the lack of trees is a new one on me.

Approaching junctions was pretty exciting, though ultimately anticlimactic – but it was a break in the monotony.

And then we were on the Extraterrestrial Highway 375.

 The first thing we saw was this.

I think it was okay since we’d been warned for miles that we might see one.

My Husband had great concerns about the dangers of cattle on the highway. My view was that it wasn’t like you’d turn a bend and bang one would be standing in front of you. There were simply no bends in the road! His comeback, “It’s a 70 miles an hour highway!”

We stopped for lunch in Rachel, a tiny town with a permanent population of 84. Area 51is nearby and the restaurant was themed around it and aliens.

On the way out of Rachel, heading south, we saw two dead cows by the side of the road. My Husband reckons they were hit by cars, but I'm thinking those aliens in the restaurant looked pretty dodgy!

As Nevada merged into Utah, the flat pans became more undulating and green, the mountains more craggy and pinker.

Cedar City, Utah, the biggest town we’d seen since we’d left the bay area, was dwarfed by the huge red hills that rose up behind it.

We headed from there to Kolob Canyon Visitors Center only  to discover that the Visitors Center was closed. The sign on the door said it closed at 6pm. I checked my watch. It was only 5pm. And then My Husband said, “I think we’ve crossed into a different time zone.”

Our smart phones confirmed this – they’re smart, you see! We'd driven all the way forward an hour.

Luckily, the road was still open, and we got the first taste of the truly spectacular, jaw dropping vistas that we are expecting from this area.

I particularly liked the way the road was colored red too.

We approached Springdale, Utah with the hills turning deeper and deeper shades of read as the sun dropped below the horizon. Tomorrow, we intend to spend the day just exploring canyons. It may be a pictures only blog, because I'm running out of words to describe how gorgeous everything is!

Byddi Lee