To Escalante via Burr Trail and Hells Backbone

We left Torrey and went to Boulder where we diverted off onto Burr Trail. This is a remakable 20 mile trail through red rock canyons which is mainly paved.

You can see the road winding through this canyon.
We went onto the Wolverine Loop Road which was unpaved. It got trickier and was quite sandy in parts with waashes across the road which were tricky to get out of.

We went onto the Horse Canyon trailbut there were some very sandy stretches which I didn't fancy as we hadn#t seen anyone else since we left the Burr Trail. So we turned round and headed back past some more fantastic scenery. We stopped in a short slot canyon,

Back at Boulder we turned off onto Hells Backbone Road. This is a trail winding high into the mountains which is quite precipitous at times, with the road goind along ridges with 1000 foot drops on either side and a bridge across a deep canyon.

We then went on to Escalante where we're staying in the Circle D Motel. We had enough time to do the Cedar Wash trail and see Ceadr Wash Arch.

At one point we did get stuck getting out of a wash and had to dig the tyres out and lay some stones down before gunning it.
Tomorrow we're hiring a proper ATV to go along Hole in the Rock \road to some slot canyons before returning to this motel.

To Torrey

We made good progress today. The scenic roads are faster than I expected. However there was one bit we took extremely carefully. The road switched from paved to gravel and then headed straight for some cliffs. We were somewhat surprised to see that the road climbed straight up through a series of very sharp switchbacks with no barriers! This was from the top about 1000 ft up:

We took a side track at the top to get some spectacular views of the goosenecks of the SanJuan River and the plains with Monument Valley in the distance (from about 40 miles):

We carried on to Hite on the shore of Lake Powell. However it turned out to be really run down. It had been a thriving sports centre. The problem is that Lake Powell has shrunk so much through excessive water extraction that the huge concrete slipway at Hite is now high and dry.

Here's a photo from the other side. Lake Powell originally covered the grassy bit and went right into the inlet.

We carried on and came across a petroglyph on the red rock walls which are covered with rock varnish:

We passed through Capital Reef National Park with some great rock to Torrey. We've found a very nice motel with a pool. At Supper tonight we had dessert rattlesnake patties:

Tomorrow we go back into Capital Reef to do a trail and then head to Escalante on 12. I hope the rattler's cousins aren't out for revenge!

Valley of the Gods

We got up early this morning and headed off before sunrise (Steve suggests thats the best time!) about 8 miles to the start of a track going through the Valley of the Gods. This is reckoned to rival Monument Valley but is much more deserted as it is not very easy to access.

We arrived as the sun was just starting to rise and gave a pinky glow to the rocks,

Finally the sun rose above the surrounding mountains and gave real shape to the rocks.

Finally giving great colour in the centre of the valley,

Steve was right about the lighting!
We were glad we got the SUV. Parts would have been difficult in a saloon car due to rocks and sandy stretches. It is only 2wd but gave us extra clearance. We saw one other person on the trip (about 16 miles off road) who was in a RV but had had to turn round with great difficulty as one wash (stream bed which fills rapidly with water when wet) was too steep.

Now back at Mexican Hat for breakfast and a swim before heading North on the 261.

We had a great day today. First of all, a "hundred year" cactus had fklowered at the motel we stayed in. Then we headed off to the Grand Canyon. There was a thunder storm whilst we were there but it didn't rain much despite a lot of thunder and lightning.

 

 

Then we went to Desert View at the Eastern end of the Grand Canyon where we got a good view of a watch tower

We then went towards Monument Valley to try to get it before sunset. We just about made it, the rocks looked spectacular:

We're now staying at Mexican Hat, Valley of the Gods tomorrow.

Arrived!

We've arrived in Arizona. All went well and BA flight was good. Much better than Delta, Air France etc.
We're staying in a small place about 60 miles before Flagstaff called Cordes Junction. We're just off to breakfast and then we'll call Mum.
Phoenix was stupidly hot at about 45C, but slightly cooler here as gradually climbing onto the Colorado plateau at 6000 ft.

Have created the new blog! Flight is at 14:35 today from Heathrow so the taxi will be arriving this morning to take us up. Should be arriving in Phoenix Arizona around 17:30 American time and then driving up towards Flagstaff and staying at a motel along on the way. Hopefully will post again once arrived and in the motel if it has wifi.