Ever since I first visited this place with my Volkswagen Vanagon I have wanted to return with something that will stray a little farther off the beaten path. That time came this Memorial Day Weekend. My Sweetie and I had 4 days off and a Jeep loaded with camping gear to go with an ambitious list of sights to visit.
We left Albuquerque at 4:30am with hopes of catching the noon ferry at Halls Crossing. According to our GPS the ETA at the ferry was 12:05 so we took a slight detour down the Nokai Dome Road to the beginning of the Hole in the Rock Trail, where we had a hot lasagne off the manifold for lunch under the big cottonwoods of the camping area.
We arrived at the ferry ramp a few minutes early, pulling into line behind a BMW (big Morman wagon, according to the license plate frame.)
We made a stop at the visitor center at Bullfrog Marina to grab a pile of maps and stuff, then headed north to the Burr Trail. These are the kind of road signs I love!
The switchbacks on the Burr Trail, find the H3 Hummer for bonus points!
In Muley Twist Canyon there appeared a sight for tired eyes... a beautiful roadside campsite all of our own.
Next morning we drove the rest of the way up canyon, admiring wildflowers and arches aplenty along the way. The option we took at the end of the road was the hike to the Strike Valley overlook, which afforded otherworldly views of the Waterpocket Fold.
We caught Scenic Highway 12 and a bunch more traffic at the metropolis of Boulder, UT. Dodging cars, motorhomes, busses and Harleys we headed for Calf Creek Recreation Area. The parking area looked like Dec. 23 at the mall so we kept on going, to the Interagency Visitor Center in Escalante. I have looked at the dotted line labeled "Left Hand Collet Canyon" on the map for years and wanted to drive throught there. The road conditions report on the Monument website shows it as impassable so I inquired at the visitor center. The desk ranger stated that it had washed out in the big floods of last October and didn't know when it was going to be fixed. This was belivable as I had spent a memorable week in Moab and Canyonlands during those big rains. While there I scored a road map for the Monument, as well as a flyer about the Twentymile Creek Dinosaur Trackway.
We left Albuquerque at 4:30am with hopes of catching the noon ferry at Halls Crossing. According to our GPS the ETA at the ferry was 12:05 so we took a slight detour down the Nokai Dome Road to the beginning of the Hole in the Rock Trail, where we had a hot lasagne off the manifold for lunch under the big cottonwoods of the camping area.
We arrived at the ferry ramp a few minutes early, pulling into line behind a BMW (big Morman wagon, according to the license plate frame.)
We made a stop at the visitor center at Bullfrog Marina to grab a pile of maps and stuff, then headed north to the Burr Trail. These are the kind of road signs I love!
The switchbacks on the Burr Trail, find the H3 Hummer for bonus points!
In Muley Twist Canyon there appeared a sight for tired eyes... a beautiful roadside campsite all of our own.
Next morning we drove the rest of the way up canyon, admiring wildflowers and arches aplenty along the way. The option we took at the end of the road was the hike to the Strike Valley overlook, which afforded otherworldly views of the Waterpocket Fold.
We caught Scenic Highway 12 and a bunch more traffic at the metropolis of Boulder, UT. Dodging cars, motorhomes, busses and Harleys we headed for Calf Creek Recreation Area. The parking area looked like Dec. 23 at the mall so we kept on going, to the Interagency Visitor Center in Escalante. I have looked at the dotted line labeled "Left Hand Collet Canyon" on the map for years and wanted to drive throught there. The road conditions report on the Monument website shows it as impassable so I inquired at the visitor center. The desk ranger stated that it had washed out in the big floods of last October and didn't know when it was going to be fixed. This was belivable as I had spent a memorable week in Moab and Canyonlands during those big rains. While there I scored a road map for the Monument, as well as a flyer about the Twentymile Creek Dinosaur Trackway.
