It's Cold in Them Thar Hills

Summit Scenic Byway 12

The past couple of days have been quite windy. At our campsite in Escalante the wind blew so hard you could feel the sand hitting your legs as you walked and it smarted. Yesterday morning it was the same as we prepared to head over the mountains from Escalante to Torrey. I was somewhat concerened about the wind and the high mountain roads. As it turned out that was not a problem. in the video you can hear just how windy it was.

When we were driving up on the mountain on the Fish Lake Loop it was COLD. The wind was blowing really hard and the aspen leaves were glistening in the sun as the wind caught them and Fish Lake had white caps.

Fish Lake Loop

Aspens on Fish Lake Loop

More on Mountain Driving

I know I have mentioned mountain driving in at least one past blog entry, but it deserves a little more attention.

Today we took the much-dreaded Scenic Byway 12 from Escalante to Torrey, UT. We inquired at the Interagency Visitor’s Center after reading that the road’s summit was 9800 feet above sea level. We were told that the road did have a 9800 ft. summit and that there are many steep grades and switchbacks.

Yesterday we had decided to head to Boulder, UT in the car to see the Anasazi State Park Museum in a valley over the first set of mountains. I drove. The road is just as advertised—scenic, but who had the time or nerve to sightsee. There were turnouts and scenic overlooks, which we took advantage of. The views, when stopped, were fantastic. There were two sections that had 14% grades and many more 8%. One section of road went across a spine between two mountains and it was difficult not to see the sheer drop-off on each side of the road. This road is not for the feint of heart. Tom took photos and video both when we were stopped and moving.

We made it there and back fine but we knew we would be heading back with the motorhome the next day. We decided to drive separately. Why pull an extra nearly 4, 000 lbs. up these winding roads and then try to slow both vehicles on the way down.

This morning took the Scenic Byway 12 drive. Tom was at the wheel of the motorhome and I was driving the Suzuki. The 70 miles took us 2.5 hours. By far the worse portion was the first section, the one we took yesterday.

If that was not enough after we got settled at our campsite, we took off again. We buckled the boys into their car seats and drove the mountainous Fish Lake Loop. The sagebrush and cedar trees disappeared and it was like being in another world--blue mountain lakes, streams and groves of quaking aspen that were brilliant yellow to orange.

We came home and took a nap.

People

Met some very nice people on this trip. At Flaming Gorge, we were parked next to a nice couple, who always took time to say hi or chat. As they were getting ready to leave the man came over to say goodbye. That was really nice. At Bryce Pines the folks next to us and behind us were very friendly and of course the couple from Wisconsin. At Escalante we have met some very nice folks and their big boy Chihuahua, Chico. Who were completing an unfinished trip they started last year when they were called home to assess damage when hurricane Ike struck near their home in Texas.

Not too many years ago you would take a campground walk and visit with those you would encounter. Now many don’t want to talk. They are not rude they just keep to themselves. I’ve been trying to think of some possible reasons. I can come up with a few. Full-timers—this is not a vacation for them it is their lifestyle, an everyday occurrence. Satellite television—years ago you sat outside and were available to visit. Now folks are tied to their televisions and are not outside. Younger people—they don’t have anything in common with the older generation. They are out doing it all. Biking and hiking are the most popular activities it seems. Traveling in groups—they have no reason to go outside their circle of friends. For instance, at the Pines there were members from a bicycling club from California camped near each other and they pretty much stayed to themselves.

So the friendly people are like gems. They are harder to find, but well worth it when you do.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Our campsite at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park

Our base for three nights is Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. We arrived early, as we were only 50 miles away. It did take us two hours to drive it though. It was up and down and around. At one point the motorhome was down in first gear. Fortunately it was a good road so I was only scared not really, really, really scared.

Of course we arrived too early to get into our spot so we parked near the office, left the boys and went to the Interagency Visitor Center as the park is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and under the umbrella of the Department of the Interior and NPS. After we finished there we came back and our space still was not vacated so we put the boys in their car seats and drove 30 miles to the turnoff to Kodachrome Basin State Park. The park entrance was an eight-mile drive from Hwy 12. This brought us to a hidden treasure with bright red rocks, hoodoos and spires. We attempted to take a dirt road to see the Grosvenor Arch but after two miles or so down the washboard road we decided to cut our losses and return.

Escalante-Day 2

Did the stargazing with the naturalist last night. It was amazing the number of stars. We even saw our nearest neighboring galaxy, Andromeda. We were told some of the stories behind the names of the constellations. There were about 30 people out to see the stars.

This morning we went with the State Park naturalist on a back country hike. It was us and one other couple. We told our guide that we would only go part way as we didn’t think we could do the climbing involved in the 5-mile hike. Are you kidding? I couldn’t tell you if either of us ever walked or hiked 5-miles even when we were young. So we parted ways when they went up and we followed a wash for about a ½ mile. As long as we stayed in the wash we couldn’t get lost. It was like walking on a sidewalk for the most part. The surface was hard and fairly even. We saw coyote and deer tracks and more nice scenery.

Tom on our back country hike.

After that we took a 17-mile gravel and dirt road to Devil’s Garden. This was a good site for us as you could walk into it without climbing. You could walk among the hoodoos and arches. Wildlife today was a snake—undetermined species. This was located in Grand Staircase-Escalante.

Devil's Garden in Escalante

On the way back we stopped for a few essentials at the grocery store in town. When we came back the campground was pretty much cleared out but this evening it was full and I saw at least three parties leave as there was no spaces remaining. They did arrive quiet late.

People Do the Strangest Things or What Are They Thinking

We nearly had an old woman fall in front of the motorhome in Zion. We were near Checkerboard Mesa and for some reason about 10-15 people had crossed the road from the scenic turnout and climbed a large (size of a house) rock. This was not a designated viewing area. Well I saw this old women coming down off the rock toward the road as we were approaching, stumble in loose sand at the bottom and almost fall into the road. We were only going 10-15 mph as it was a congested area, but I am not sure we could have stopped if she had fallen in front of us.

Then there was the young lady in the dress and flip-flops coming up the steep Navajo Trail Loop at Sunset point at Bryce. How far had she gone? I don’t believe that she hiked the whole loop as I think her feet would have been a mess.

People, in droves, walk down the middle of the road, dart into the road for a picture or stand very close to the side of the road to pose. They will go out on ledges for a better look or a photo. A woman at the Bryce Shuttle station said when she was driving home one evening, someone was laying on the double yellow lines taking a worms-eye view photo of the one of the two tunnels on Hwy 12 between Panguitch and the park.

I will add more. I’m sure there will be more.

Bryce’s Top 10 Causes of Injury (from their newspape)

#10 Unsafe Driving

#9 Climbing / Sliding Down Cliffs

#8 Feeding Animals

#7 Ignoring Extreme Weather

#6 Dehydration

#5 Leaving The Trail

#4 Over-Exertion

#3, 2, 1 Bad Choice Of Footwear

Bryce averages less than one fatality per year. Causes in order most to least:

Heart Attacks

Falling off Cliffs

Lightning

Vehicle Accidents

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who first settled the area. It is not actually a canyon though, but an “amphitheater” of cliffs, hoodoos and pinnacles in pink and orange. What a place. I am running out of superlatives to describe the sights we have seen.

We left the motorhome at about 9 a.m. and parked at the shuttle parking lot just outside the park. We had about a 20-minute wait for the shuttle to arrive. Met a couple from France, who Tom asked if he could take their picture for them. This set the stage for the remainder of the day. Whenever he saw a couple or family he asked if they wanted their picture taken. What a nice guy.

The shuttle is the way to go. Get on get dropped off, get on again. No muss, no fuss.

Unfortunately the shuttle does not go to the far end of the park, which is about 20 miles from the visitor center. So we did the shuttle stops in the morning and because we were so close to the campground went home for lunch and then went back and toured the remainder of the park using the car.

We did mostly the scenic overviews but we did attempt one trail. We knew we wouldn’t be able to make the entire thing and after we got on the trail and began walking down we encountered those coming up gasping for breath. Not just older people but young thin and very fit looking folks. So we decided to go down a little way and come back. The trail switch-backed, the railings disappeared and we came back shortly after that. We did see one young lady who was coming up the trail wearing a dress and flip-flops. I can’t imagine she went very far dressed like that.

This is the entrance to the 1+mile long tunnel in Zion.

We left Zion this morning. At the entrance gate we paid the $15 to go through the tunnel as we headed for the eastern entrance of the park. Large vehicles need to make these arrangements as the tunnel is curved at the top and large vehicles, such as our motorhome must go right down the middle of the tunnel so traffic must be stopped at the opposite end to allow us passage.

Stopped for a picture on the way out of Zion. In the background you can see the tiny little wall I mentioned.

I must tell you now about the road. It is NARROW. There is no shoulder to speak of and at least six switchbacks. Guardrails are non-existent. The feeble attempt at a barrier at the sides of some of the curves were probably made in the 1930s before anyone even dreamed of driving 14,000 lbs towing another 3800 up and down those canyon walls. Of course it's the same old story, I'm looking down, when I dared to, from my lofty perch and can't see the side of the road. What an invigorating way to start the morning. As soon as we exited the park there were real roads.

On the way today all the B & Bs, dude ranches, and cabins had no vacancy signs. I lost count of the number of tour buses heading for Zion.

On the way to the campground we came through Red Canyon.

We are staying at Bryce Pines Store and Campground just eight miles from Bryce Canyon . As Tom was registering a young man approached the motorhome to look at the boys who were on the dash. I opened the window to say hi to him. He was traveling by motorcycle and I said he was traveling light not like us. When he responded he had an accent so I asked where he was from. He haled from Korea and is on a trip around the world. Yes world.

Our campsite in the pines.

Well Bryce Pines is really nice. We are nearly 8,000 feet above sea level and the air is thin for us flatlanders. Our campsite is in a grove of Ponderosa Pines and the sky is so blue.

Well we set up camp, had lunch and headed for Cedar Breaks about sixty miles away. We took the car, yeah. Again up winding mountain roads but no switchbacks this time. It was a beautiful drive.

Cedar Breaks

Again another awesome view. We were at 10,300 feet looking down at a canyon full of spires called hoodoos. There were some arches, which the ranger lady kindly pointed out to us, as well as a several thousand-year-old bristle cone pine (they did a core sample of the tree to determine it's age). We saw a Bald Eagle sitting on a rock next to the road. It was probably about 4 years old as his head was just turning white. We saw mule deer, cattle right on the road and the fattest chipmunk we have ever seen eating flowers right at the visitor center door. Well worth the 120 mile round-trip ride.

Mule deer along the road.

The fat little chipmunk eating flower heads at the Cedar Breaks Visitors Center.

Met a couple from near Milwaukee at our campground and had a nice visit with them. Talked to a woman for California while I was doing laundry. They are returning from Idaho and will be home in two days. They are traveling with two yellow labs and have a cute Airstream trailer.