UTAH
Featuring Capitol Reef
and Natural Bridges
Next Stop
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Welcome to UTAH Featuring Capitol Reef and Natural Bridges |
Next Stop |
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Hmmm. I was going to take the long way around until a park ranger challenged my manhood back at Natural Bridges. I had asked her if the Moki Dugway posed any danger. You know because of the kids and all. She looked me straight in the eyes and actually said, “Take off the skirt.” OMG! We’re doing it. Nuff said. As I sat, stopped, pulled off the road, staring at an intimidating sign warning what’s ahead, I looked at my wife riding shotgun and the kids through the rear-view mirror. We still had a choice, drive the long way around a mountain or go over top of it. The problem with going over it was that it was said to have a steep, narrow, dirt switch-back road without guard rails and a maximum speed limit of five miles per hour. I had to phone a friend. “Matt, did you go over this dirt road mountain in bla-bla-bla?” “If you don’t go over it, you will miss some of the most spectacular views of the whole trip,” He deadpanned. Ironically, Pink Floyd’s “Learning to Fly” played on XM Radio as we ascended into the sky when I thought “The Turning Away” may be more appropriate. This was one speed limit I certainly would not break. Once we were clearly at breathtaking heights I looked at my hands clutching the steering wheel in front of me and couldn’t help but notice my knuckles really were white just then. The kids were loving it. They were also loving my fear. “Dad, how fast would we hit bottom if the edge of the road crumbles around this next turn?” “QUIET! Let me concentrate!” I was serious. Meanwhile, my wife was busy taking pictures and some out-of-focus video sounding like she was at a fireworks display saying “Ooohhhh …Ahhhhhhh.” Going up I had to drive on the outer part of the 1 ½ lane road but as long as there weren’t any cars coming from the other direction, I hugged the rock wall on the inner part of the lane very conscious of the slight dirt embankment separating us from a death plummet. There were times I too got lost in the amazing breadth of vision as we neared the summit. It was like looking out of an airplane window (except when rock cliffs were in my peripheral vision) and seeing a ribbon of road stretching for what may have been a hundred miles. Perhaps I’m slightly exaggerating. But it was a sight to behold. In just a mile and a half, there was 1,100 feet between us and the bottom. I could feel the tires searching for traction around some hairpin turns. “CAR!” Shouted my wife. “Holy %&#@!*^&%$#!!!!!!!!” I countered. We passed within inches. I was maxing out at two miles per hour when they whizzed by doing at least 12 MPH – MORE THAN DOUBLE THE SPEED LIMIT. Some people are just crazy. Looking back at this death-defying adventure to save a bit of time driving, I’m not sure I’d do it again but I am glad that we did it once. It was one of those unexpected, unplanned happenings that you remember from a family vacation. WHEW! Now that Moki Dugway (a.k.a. Mount Cr_p Your Pants) was in the rearview mirror, we enjoyed the openness of the Southwest landscape and mountains in the distance. “Cool. Look at that. It looks like an upside down sombrero.” I said as we drove next to a strange rock formation. “It’s called Mexican Hat.” My wife muttered ready to eat and go to bed. “Wonder why they just don’t call it “Sombrero.” I wondered out loud. “Just drive Dad. Please don’t stop.” Begged the kids. Going through Monument Valley and Valley of the Gods was stop and go. Not because of the traffic but because I kept pulling to the curb when I had an opportunity so I could get out and take a picture of the rock monuments. Even after a long day’s travel and all the sightseeing and hiking we did, I just couldn’t pass on the photo opps. And with each mile, I had a better shot. The family was restless. I was obsessed. Finally, we arrived at the Navajo Reservation for a night stay in Arizona before exploring some sights there the next day on our way back across the border to Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.
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UNIQUELY UTAH:
PART I Our Pit Stop left us with little sleep and a jam-packed day of sightseeing and driving were ahead. First stop, Capitol Reef National Park, a hiker’s paradise. We loaded up on bottled water because we knew we’d be out on the trail for an extended period of time. But before we hit our first scheduled destination, we pulled off the road, parked, and hit the trail, or lack there-of, with coffee in hand. Not iced coffee either. It was the hot stuff on a hot morning. We ran to the top of a twisting series of mounds resembling an earthen serpent and followed it, riding it, until it ended on the other side of surreal red rock formations. “Watch for rattlesnakes,” became our mantra for our many Southwest hikes ahead. (scroll down or click to continue)
Capitol Reef is known to have an abundance of geodes. It is also one of the least crowded national parks. The red rock formations, twisting canyons, colorful cliffs, massive domes and miles of slick and rocky wilderness came together to make this a great excursion whether traveling by foot or by car along thin wavy dirt and paved roads that meander with dry rivers and creek beds for very long distances. Be careful though, flash floods are something you have to consider wherever you may explore. The park protects a long waterpocket fold spanning a hundred miles from a massive buckling of sinuous rock. Whether we drove or walked along dirt trails, we never knew what spectacular site would greet us around the next bend. This park was quickly becoming my wife’s favorite of the trip, including the popular parks that would come later down “Holiday Road.” She enjoyed the long walks along the Waterpocket fold. But when she discovered the Petroglyths of Capitol Reef, she fell in love. The rest of our time spent exploring Capitol Reef had purpose – find more Petroglyths. This obsession would lead to adding an unplanned stop later in the trip so she could get her fix of Petroglyths to remember for a lifetime. (Scroll down or click to continue)
Once we retreated to the vehicle for the last time in Capitol Reef, we headed to Natural Bridges National Monument. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to include Arches National Park nor Canyonlands. Utah is a rocky paradise preserved with national parks and monuments galore. However, we would later stay at Bryce and Zion National Parks. That said, we could spend three weeks just exploring Utah. But on this trip, we had to keep moving. Our agenda included many adjustments. Occasionally we had to cut something out because we delved so deep into something else. And more often than not, we saw things unexpected and added previously unplanned stops. En route to our next destination, we had a remarkably scenic drive through Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. It was a panoramic view that got better and better with each approaching mile. We could see as far as the eyes could see. And when our sights were set on Lake Powell against the rocky canyon backdrop, the deep blue contrast against the earthen shades of brown was incredible. It was an oasis. We took the time to make a few stops to gaze over ridiculously high cliffs at an expanse of land that extended forever. Camouflaged by Glen’s vastness was the Glen Canyon Bridge, a marvel of engineering, spanning the Colorado River and probably the only place you could cross for a several hundred mile stretch. It’s because of this, or perhaps poor planning on our part when we mapped this portion of the trip, that we would cross this particular area three times in the next several days. And by the last time, it was like the scene in National Lampoon’s European Vacation where they repeatedly pass Big Ben and say, “Big Ben,” over and over obviously losing some luster each time. (Scroll down or click to continue)
We had spent such a long time in Capitol Reef in addition to several stops along Glen Canyon, when we finally arrived at Natural Bridges we thought we’d shorten our visit there and just take some photos from afar at the scenic overlooks and try to make it to the pre-booked room on the Navajo Reservation before dark. When we planned this vacation we were told to pre-book our motel or hotel rooms during this stint because they were so few and far between. Like so many times before, our plans changed as we allowed ourselves to get sucked into another impromptu family-fun mission. Our son said he would love to stand directly under the best natural bridge we could find. “Why not. Let’s do it,” We all conceded. (Scroll down or click here to continue)
And do it we did. It’s funny how something really far away doesn’t seem that far when you start out. Our depth perception in the desert was something to be desired. My son pointed out the natural bridge that we’d target. We descended. Down, down, down the cliffside we traveled. It was a very easy walk though and the layered rocks had us constantly wandering in no particular direction except to see how the rocks unfolded as we progressed. When the path before us posed danger by dropping off or making for a steeper than desired walk, we’d backtrack and find a new route much like walking through a maze. When we reached the canyon floor and actually stood directly beneath the natural bridge we targeted, it was a moment of exhilaration and accomplishment. We relaxed, walked around, played on boulders, laid under the stone bridge, found flowers and lizards, and really just had a carefree time. The walk out of Natural Bridges took longer than we thought, as the trip back always does. When we returned to our vehicle after the very long, impromptu walk, we had to make up time to get to our pre-booked motel room for the night. But to do so meant taking an incredible Detour.
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Glen Canyon National Recreational Area Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park Natural Bridges National Monument Rainbow Bridge National Monument
Before we set out to explore Capitol Reef, Natural Bridges and the most exciting Detour of the trip, we had spent the previous night in Torrey, Utah after a power drive from the Grand Teton/Jackson Hole region. When we arrived, we broke for the outdoor pool right after getting our room key. Searching motel literature for a place to eat was next on the list. We figured we’d just walk over to the motel restaurant. But when we crossed the parking lot from our pull-up room to the motel office/restaurant, we were strangely pulled past it and across the street to a dusty old, yet strangely inviting, place called The Patio. Pizza was in the air. When we walked in, we were greeted like old friends. They sat us out back on …the patio of course. And up came a dog. Now to dog lovers this was welcomed and it made us miss our dog back home but petting a strange dog and then eating pizza made me long for hand sanitizer. Another group of people were seated on the patio and more dog petting ensued. I guess there was something fuzzy and warm about it so I shifted my focus to everything else around, which was nothing really. And I liked it. A lot! I breathed in the dry air, absorbed the cool evening dessert breeze and gazed at the long red rock cliffs at the edge of the flat desert floor. All that plus the sparse vegetation and tumbleweed enabled all of us to reach a deep state of relaxation leading to words like, “Isn’t this the life?” A hummingbird visited its feeder, the kids were playing darts outside, then horseshoes, then Frisbee golf while we waited for pizza and drank a couple beers. If there was a hammock, I would’ve paid to sleep there and heck, the dog could’ve joined me for all I cared. The pizza was supreme! Either that or we were absolutely starved, which could’ve been the case except I have since read some rave reviews about The Patio’s pizza and their Frisbee golf course. Back at the motel room, we gathered on the balcony for a gorgeous view of a red rock ridge. Once the kids lopped over in deep sleep where they sat, we moved them inside to bed. Laundry-time. I took our mounting pile of dirty clothes a couple doors down to the quarter-operated washers and dryers. When it came time to switch the loads from washers to dryers, we had a problem. No more quarters. My wife and I searched all our bags, then went through the car, then dug deep into every crevice of the car and motel and came up with nothing. We even raided the kids' possessions hoping for quarters to turn up. Still nothing. We knew others wanted to use the washers. Therefore we had no choice but to move our mountain of clothes out of the washers. This was a job because our clothes were sopping wet from washing machines that didn’t wring out the water at the end of their cycles quite as well as one would hope. And we couldn’t put them in the dryers. No quarters. The office, believe it or not, was closed. Still no quarters. I always thought motel offices were open all night. At least that ‘s what the movie Psycho taught me. Psycho. That was a pretty good word for that moment. We took turns standing watch out our door that we cracked open hoping to catch someone going to use the washers and dryers. A couple of young ladies went into the laundry room so we seized the opportunity. After we realized we scared the wits out of them (it was about Midnight), we learned they could barely speak English. My guess, after piecing together hints, was that they were avid hikers from Scandinavia traveling Capitol Reef. Even after desperate attempts to break through the language barrier (our inability to speak their language and their painfully slow and low understanding of ours) they repeated over - and over - and over, “Naww – No Quat-Ahs …Naww – No Quat-Ahs …Naww – No Quat-Ahs.” And if this vocal repetition, once we broke through the communications barrier, wasn’t like fingernails dragging down a chalkboard, their tone and facial expressions certainly indicated they wished to cease talking with us. Defeated, we checked the bags again, then went through the car again – each of us separately because we were testing each other’s nerves now. Then we dug deep into every crevice of the car and motel again. And again, we came up with nothing. We even raided the kids' possessions again. Still nothing. So our clothes sat out on a table in the laundry room all night dripping all over the floor. Someone even bothered to leave a note expressing their displeasure in our apparent irresponsibility of not monitoring our wash cycles and creating a rather large puddle on the floor. When the office opened, I was at the door, dollar bills in hand. So it goes. |
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