Summer's Last Stand (Ouray, CO and Southern Utah 8/13 - 8/23)

[Paul R]

This is a trip we finished a little bit ago but I am just getting around to sorting out a lot of the pictures.The first half of the trip was with the Wasatch Cruisers in Ouray, CO, and the second half of the trip was our long way home.

We left Wednesday afternoon (8/13) and ate dinner at Ray's Tavern in Green River for a bacon cheesburger mmm... and then continued on until we set up near Cisco, UT for the night. In the morning we continued on through Grand Junction to the Ouray KOA and waited as others from the club showed up. In the evening we headed up to the Yankee Boy and Governor's Basins. The area is incredibly beautiful!

Yankee Boy Basin:

Governor's Basin

 

[Tacoma]

so is someone still working that mine??? that headlight looks newish, as does that pipe.

Nice pics, that must have been a sweet trip.

 

[Paul R]

On Friday we geared up for the "Epic Trails" Black Bear and Imogene Pass. Mariko even decided she wanted to drive the sketchy part Black Bear from the steps, down into Telluride. The pictures describe it better than words.

Black Bear Pass:

Imogene Pass:

 

[jpest]

That place looks neet I've never been to that area but every time I see these kind of pics it makes me want to get there.

 

[Cody]

Nice. Very green and a lot less snow than over the 4th of july.

I want to bring an enduro bike up there and cover some ground.

 

[Paul R]

Saturday we did Engineer Pass to Lake City then Cinamon Pass to Animas Fork to Silverton.

Engineer Pass:

Animas Fork:

Silverton:

 

[Paul R]

Mariko and I won some hotel stays in St. George that expire by the end of the year. We decided that if we didn’t use them before the next semester it might not happen, thus we planned to link our Colorado trip to a Southern Utah trip so we could use them up. After leaving Ouray on Sunday we journeyed south via the Million Dollar Highway winding through Silverton to Durango. From there we drove down to the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde National Park. We were forced to decide whether to go to Balcony House or Cliff Palace, each tour is about an hour long and we didn’t have quit enough time to see both. We opted to go to the Balcony House as it is more of a hands-on experience, climbing up ladders and through tunnels, to get in and out of the cliff dwelling.
Balcony House was an awesome experience, other than the typical National Park tourists who are always so concerned that they get the best shots and experiences that they fail to be considerate of others, but once we decided to hang out in the very back of the group the tour was much better and we were able to get some good pictures. It is so amazing to think of how the people lived day to day life living in a cliff. I would love to see how a typical day went while it was in its prime. We also overlooked Cliff Palace, and took a short hike to Spruce Tree House, before heading over towards Four Corners. We ended up arriving just a few minutes after they shut the gate so we weren’t able to go up to the monument, so we headed on to Kayenta and Monument Valley.

Balcony House (Mesa Verde, CO)

Balcony House (Mesa Verde, CO)

Balcony House (Mesa Verde, CO)

Balcony House (Mesa Verde, CO)

Cliff Pallace (Mesa Verde, CO)

On our way across Arizona we seemed to follow the sun west as it continually tried to say its last goodbye for the day until it slipped behind the mesa and we drove into the dusk. In Kayenta we stopped at the Burger King to see the Navajo Windtalkers Display, and grabbed some late night dinner. It was getting late and we didn’t know where we were going to camp I wasn’t sure how it worked on a reservation so we didn’t want to pull over and set anything up, so we ended up pulling over around the state line and slept inside the truck! What an interesting night, we pack a lot of our gear behind the seats in the extra cab area and could barely recline the seats, I don’t know how we ever got to sleep but it made me get up early as the sun was rising, which ended up being nothing short of spectacular. I think sunrise in Monument Valley is something everyone should experience at some point in their life. The amazing colors flooded the sky behind the giant sandstone silhouettes, and the rock seems to come alive. It definitely made the overnight stay in the truck well worth it, and it helped to set the tone for the rest of the day as we crossed many areas sacred to the original inhabitants.

Monument Valley at Sunrise:

 

[Paul R]

Continuing up the road to Mexican Hat we drove up Moki Dugway and out to Mulley Point to overlook the San Juan River goosenecks. We decided that rather than continue up the highway, to go back down Moki Dugway to Valley of the Gods. Valley of the God’s has a real amazing feel as you drive through the area and realize that these formations are sacred which causes reverence and reflection, I usually try and cover ground pretty quick but for whatever reason the area begged me to slow down or it could have been that I hardley slept the night before. We enjoyed the loop before getting back on the road to Bluff, and eating breakfast at a great little café in Bluff I think it was called the Twin Rocks or something.
Moki Dugway:

Mulley Point:

Valley of the God's:

From breakfast we headed up Comb Wash to view more dwellings. At top of the wash we crossed the highway and entered Arch Canyon I have heard a lot about the trail so I decided to look around and see if it was possible to run that day, we crossed the river 3 times and then the trail became tight and started to disappear, we also didn’t want to be out stuck in the mud alone so we decided it was wise to plan a return trip to run the trail. After all, there was still plenty of other areas to explore in the vicinity. Thus our next stop was the Mule Canyon ruins. We took a short hike and found the House on Fire Ruin which I have wanted to get to for quite a while. It is an awesome cliff dwelling that is situated in a way that the colors and layering of the roof of the alcove appears to be on fire when presented with the right lighting. It was even better than I had imagined and it has to be one of my favorite spots we visited.

Mule Canyon:

After our hike we continued on to Natural Bridges National Monument and quickly passed through the park taking note that the area would be substantially more interesting when we return if we were to take the time to hike down to the massive bridges.

Natural Bridges NM:

 

[Paul R]

Part of the reason we made such a quick go of the area is we wanted to make the last ferry across Lake Powell at Hall’s Crossing. With a bit of luck we ended up pulling up to the ferry about 2 minutes before it started loading and it carried us across the lake to Bullfrog Marina. We got on the Burr trail and climbed the switchbacks from Capitol Reef and crossed into Grand Staircase Escalante NM and ended up just off Hell’s Backbone outside of Boulder for the night.

Ferry at Hall's Crossing:

In the morning we headed towards Escalante and took a much needed shower at the Broken Arrow RV Park and checked road and weather conditions at the GSENM Multi Agency Visitor Center. I was really bummed to find out that many of the roads we had planned on taking were closed and washed out only a day or two before we got there. After reformulating our plans, we decided to go down to Hole in the Rock and check out the area along the way. Our first stop along the way was the Devil’s Garden which is a group of very cool rock formations and some small arches about 12 miles down the road. After walking the area and snapping some pictures we continued down the road pulling off at the Dry Fork trailhead to hike a few of the famous slot canyons.

Devil's Garden:

We dropped down into the wash and we were immediately stopped at Peek-a-boo at a large pool of stagnant water it was obvious that others trucked on through but we weren’t prepared to get wet and it looked to be at least waist deep. Deciding not to ford the stinky mud we hiked down the wash to Spooky Gulch and entered the slot as the walls closed in on us quickly. There were a couple lizards that tried to crawl up the wall to get away from us because there weren’t many options for them to escape. As they would run up the wall at times they would lose traction and slide back down, one poor little guy ran all the way up and almost made it to the top of the gulch before losing traction and falling with a smack-splat-smack to the sandy bottom and sat there completely stunned for a moment or two before scampering away. After passing a few more lizards the walls really began pressing in and we shimmied sideways down the narrow crack for most the rest of the way some areas tighter than others until we came to a section where you have to climb to a higher section while turning sideways and sliding around a curve. I made a slight miscalculation and slipped hitting my head, after I shook it off and climbed back up it wasn’t far until the end of the gulch where we turned around and returned to the truck.

Spooky Gulch:

 

[Paul R]

Continuing down the HITR road, we passed Dance Hall Rock where the members of the San Juan Mission held dances and other functions while waiting to push forward on their journey. Our next stop along the way was Carcass Wash. On June 10, 1963 this was the site of a major tragedy for Utah when 13 Boy Scouts and leaders were killed and many others injured when a truck rolled off an embankment after a brake failure. The scouts were on their way to a river rafting trip along the Colorado River before the Glen Canyon Dam was built. One of my neighbors growing up was actually involved in this accident as a scout and lost many of his best friends and was permanently injured from being pinned under the truck, so knowing some of his story brought a better understanding to the area for us. In fact he was pinned under one side of the truck and one of his best friends under the other side of it. When emergency help arrived they were debating which one to take first as they thought jacking up the truck from either side might make the truck slide and they would lose the other boy. Both friends told the responders to save the other, and they finally decided to save his friend because my neighbor was so bad off they weren’t sure he would make it. With a miracle the truck didn’t budge and both of the friends survived. My neighbor returned thirty years later to help place the monument that stands there today.

Dance Hall Rock:

Carcass Wash and Scout Monument:

From the scout monument we pushed on to the end of the trail which dead ends at The Hole in the Rock which is where The San Juan Mission, a group of early Mormon pioneer settlers, dropped their wagons down through the cliff to cross the Colorado River and continue to the San Juan area near Bluff, UT. This was only the beginning of their trials and it is amazing that anyone would take a wagon through the slot, but the pioneers were a hardy group of people. We wandered around for a bit and hiked part way down to Lake Powell before starting the long washboard trip back to the town of Escalante.

Hole in the Rock:

After filling back up with gas and airing up the tires we pushed on towards Kodachrome Basin State Park for the night. I chatted with the ranger for a while who was really down to earth and helpful. The campsites were in really good shape and it was very obvious that they really cared about the Park and area. I would definitely recommend the area to anyone who wanted a nice campsite with warm showers. In the morning we wandered around a bit and found out that the park got its name from the National Geographic Society that got the name from a brand of Kodak film.

Kodachrome Basin:

 

[Paul R]

We knew that Cottonwood road was washed out so we took Skutumpah road towards Kanab and drove through Zion’s National Park to go to St. George.

Along Skutumpah Road:

While in St. George we took things easy enjoying the swimming pools and the surrounding area. A couple of things are worth mentioning, after arriving at the Hotel I hoped on the internet and found out that Ara and Spirit, a Traveler and his dog that Trek across the states on their journey, were in the area so we sent an email and planned to meet up with them the next day. We ended up meeting in Snow Canyon State Park and talking for a while and a wonderful time meeting up as he is on his way to Big Bend, TX for the winter (here is his post of our meeting if you haven’t followed or heard of his journeys before I would definitely recommend it. http://theoasisofmysoul.com/?p=3759).
Snow Canyon SP:

Ara and Spirit:

While being so close to Zion NP we couldn’t help but go for a hike so we picked a gorgeous evening and strolled through the narrows.
Narrows in Zion NP:

Overall the trip was a screaming success no breakdowns or failures plenty of dirt with enough amenities to sustain consistent off-road travel and plenty of relaxation before starting another grueling semester. It was a wonderful time and a great last hurrah.

 

[Paul R]

Nice. Very green and a lot less snow than over the 4th of july.

I want to bring an enduro bike up there and cover some ground.

The San Juans are amazing definitely one of the coolest areas I have been.

I would love to ride in that area on a dual sport just have to get one first...

 

[Cody]

you guys covered some ground. Looks like an awesome trip.

 

[Houndoc]

That is a heck of an area to cover in one trip! Great photos and write up.

 

[Bart]

Wow, great trip and fantastic pics.

 

[chadschoon]

Awsome!!!

 

[kbjames]

Great stuff indeed, looks like a blast. Some great quality pics there too.

 

[Thursty]

Awesome trip!! Thanks for the write-up and the great pics.

 

[193kyle]

Wow that looks like a fun trip. Kinda makes me ashamed that i live in UT and don't know that all this cool stuff is out there.

 

[BroncoMama]

Ouray and Silverton rocks! Looks like you had a great trip!