Avoiding thunderstorms

[hatchcanyon]

Summer of 2009. Monsoon season was in full swing. Nevertheless we were on a trip from Moab - on the bright side - to the area east of the Escalante River. Approaching Hanksville we could see dark clouds to the West.

Middle of the road - between North and South Caineville Mesa on State Route 24

We hat often seen these Mesas in sunshine, the more diffuse light this day was completely different.

South Caineville Mesa across Fremont River

North Caineville Mesa

We stopped there to take some pictures especially from Factory Butte.

Factory Butte - what a beauty!

Mud Cracks

Even if it is called "Blue Gate" and Factory Butte sits on the Upper Blue Hills - it's grey for us. But we like it!

Meanwhile the Thunderstorm had moved more or less in our direction. Due to the fact that the plan was to use Notom Road respectively Burr Trail we saw a chance to avoid the bad weather.

The thunderstorm moved over Boulder Mountain

It was a fantastic mix of light. Selective spots of sunshine like on the hill in the picture above created some dramatic scenes.

On UT 24 west of Caineville

To the West the situation did not get better, Capitol Reef was drenched with rain but we recognized a northeastern drift of the storm. Good chance that it saves our day by a mile or so.

In fact we reached Notom Road without rain and to the South it looked bright.

(To be continued)

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

Nice pictures!

 

[SmoothLC]

As usual - spectacular photographs.

 

[hatchcanyon]

This is part two of the story:

Driving on Notom Road to the South was easy - as usual. Overcast sky but no thunderstorm like the one behind us. Not far away from Strike Valley Overlook but down on Notom Road we stopped for a break and some pictures:

Strike Valley Overlook is on top to the right

Notom Road, Oyster Reef and Swap Mesa in the background

Waterpocket Fold to the North where the thunderstorm is stll visible

Fresly graded Notom Road and Oyster Shell Reef

Short before Burr Trail:

Peek-a-boo-Rock

Some pictures from Burr Trail:

Burr Trail Switchbacks, Swap Mesa and the Henry Mountains

Stone Layers ascending at about 32 degrees.

Two miles west from the upper end of the incline we found a picnic table. Good place for a lunch! Minutes later an eastbound truck passed, stopped and backed up. A man in his fifties walked out and asked us about having a seat. No problem there was plenty of room for all of us.

He told us that he was from Chicago, worked as a teacher adviser and in his leisure time her looked after places of geological interest. He asked from which direction we came? From Hanksville and UT24. That was the same way he had in mind - in the other direction. But was this feasible?

Why did he ask? He had seen the thunderstorm too and our very dirty Hummer H3, covered with mud. Combining these observations he feared difficult roads. Calm down, the dirt was days old!

 

[unkamonkey]

Good report and pictures. I've been heading to UT for over 35 years but have never done that area. Pictures of rocks are good, I was trained as a geologist. The weather is part of the adventure. We go to a few places in the Needles District for spring trips or for Thanksgiving. Sometimes in August you can't keep enough ice in your cooler, a few of the Thanksgiving trips, we were emptying the ice from the coolers so the beer wasn't freezing at night.

 

[hatchcanyon]

This is more or less the third part of the Avoiding Thunderstorms story but this part can stand alone too.

A little bit more than 4 Miles west of our lunch place we turned left (South) on a very good dirt road. The first miles were not that impressive. Pinion and Juniper as usual, no cliffs. The sky still overcast, therefore not the best light for photography.

There is a road fork 10 Miles south of Burr trail.

We kept straight on to Silver Falls Creek but did not go into the canyon. We decided to travel farther to the South into the Moody Creek system. Half an hour later and with another thunderstorm approaching from the West wer reached the wash of Moody Creek. For us it was the Creek of Hollow Stones. See the pictures below:

A new thunderstorm builds up in the West.

Moody Creek Wash

We thought the trail might not have used for a longer time. We couldn't find any tracks.

After two Miles the trail leaves Moody Creek goint East. The start point for the Purple Hills.