My Journey

[tgil]

"Everything I need to know I learned from my dog: When loved ones come home, always run to greet them. Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy"- Author Unknown

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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

JD.....pretty much all you will get get here are dogs, landscapes, truck campers & Jeeps.....

tgil.....he gets better every day.....me.....not so much.....



We continued north on Cottonwood Canyon Road and didn't get much further up the road before making another stop at a shallow canyon.....I won't bother to post pictures of that canyon here cause our third stop a little further up the roadway from the second stop was even better. It started out with this trailhead sign along the side of the road.....



And it was just a short walk from the roadway when things got really good.....



I'd say we walked through terrain such as this for maybe a half mile or so.....





And then the canyon walls began to rise up into the sky.....





The silence in all of these dry canyons that we are exploring is almost eerie.....there is nearly no sound whatsoever. And this particular canyon was even more special than all the others.....just as we entered the canyon, a light snow began to fall and the flurries continued to fall during the entire walk.....





I think it was probably as close to Heaven as man can get.....cold play.....cold day.....perfect day.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

As we progressed further into the canyon we came to an intersection of two canyons.....to steal a well known line.....we took the one less traveled.....





This particular canyon only lasted for maybe a thousand feet before ending at a massive cliff.....yes.....it was majical here.....





We returned to the main canyon and continued onwards.....







Something that has continued to fascinate me about the rocks in Utah are the way that their colors are constantly changing. Here for instance you'll notice that the canyon walls started out in whitish tones but at some point you walk through a transition zone and it's reds & oranges.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I have a personal goal to never post more than 20 photos on any given day but sometimes I just can't achieve that goal.....and this would be one of those days.....

As it turned out this particular canyon paralled Cottonwood Canyon Road so when we finally came to its end we found ourselves back out on the road. The choice was to backtrack through the canyon or walk back along the road to quicken the hike.....I still had dreams of making it to Escalante, Utah that day.....we took the road.....

Here is the remainder of that canyon.....

 

[Ace Brown]

That narrows is well worth more than 20 pictures. I’ve walked the north end several times but never the whole loop. Seems I always encountered loud tourons which turned me off. Like talking in church.


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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....I'll easily take a hundred or even two hundred pictures of a place and sometimes it's just so difficult to pick so few.....



The next stretch of Cottonwood Canyon Road almost looked to be surreal.....





We actually walked this stretch of road for several miles as we headed back to get the rig.....







And then we made our way to the fourth and final stop of the day when I saw the directional sign for Grosvenor Arch.....it was only a one mile detour off our route so I thought why not.....we should see this too.....





We still had plenty of daylight left when we arrived so we parked the rig and immediately took the long concrete sidewalk to the viewing area and of course this was not good enough for us.....we had to climb it too.....





Now I didn't pay much attention to the best way up there.....I just wanted to climb it before sunset.....so we hiked to the west side of the massive stone walls looking for a route to the top of Grovesnor Arch.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

The western "route" to the top of Grovesnor Arch was once again the way less traveled. As a matter of fact I saw no human footprints nor did I see an easy route to the top.....I did see a multitude of beautiful stones along the way.....



We were persistent as we typically are and eventually we found an awesome route to the top and the views looking down into those stone spires were absolutely sensational.....





But the real goal here was to see if there was a way to stand atop of the actual arch.....





So now we were perched up there along the western side of this massive stone outcropping so we headed east now towards the arch.....





Now I knew nothing about this arch, had no idea if anyone had climbed it before us.....I only knew that there were no footprints coming from the west.....so when we finally got to the arch we saw footprints everywhere.....the sand up there looked like a California beach on a holiday weekend. Turns out there's a simple hike up coming from the east.....



The snow flurries had moved on and the sky turned blue once again and it was filled with those wispy white clouds.....



It was quite here and once again everything was ours.....we spent a night here.....and slept like a rock.....

 

[blanketslayer]

Amazing photos and narrative as always Jerry! So glad you are spending time there and sharing it with us. Do you ever have concerns with mountain lions and Tanner?

 

[tgil]

My first thought when I saw the arch, "I wonder if it's ok to climb that?" Honestly surprised it is allowed. So much is restricted these days! I'm all for protecting our history, for the future. "Leave only footprints, take only memories" was something I was taught very young, but I don't understand A LOT of the restrictions out there. Glad you got to go to the top, sorry to hear "everyone" does as well.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

blanketslayer.....thank you.....I do worry about a mountain lion encounter with Tanner quite often. The level of concern depends a lot on our location. We've been doing tons of bushwacking the past few months and when we are doing that I'll typically keep him on a leash on the way in. Just 2 days ago we were way out along a rocky ridgeline and we both heard movement in the rocks above us. We both froze and stared and saw nothing.....

tgil.....just to be clear.....we didn't actually stand on top of the arch although I do believe that with some lower class 5 climbing one could do that. Of course that doesn't happen with Tanner. We were maybe 100' from it. Also, remember this is BLM land so not near so many rules. Plus, these days they are much too busy picking up human waste from the parking lots.....




This tiny sign along the roadway at the archs exit is a key directional sign for sure.....fortunately I saw it just before taking that short cut.....



And now we continued north on Cottonwood Canyon Road and once again we were headed for Escalante, Utah.....



I had an epic 20 mile hike planned so we needed to make a stop in town to get the required permit. It kind of felt good to be in a town again so we walked the streets of Escalante, Utah and then we drove east.....my only souvenir in this town was a sticker attached to the trucks wiper blade.....hopefully not an omen I thought.....



Five miles east of Escalante, Utah we turned to the right, headed south, driving down Hole In The Rock Road. The trailhead was 51 miles down that road.....the worst road I have been on in a very, very long time. We stopped at the trailhead for Zebra Slot Canyon to have a look and stayed here for 2 nights.....the coyotes barked and howled that first morning.....and I was hooked.....





There was about a 2 mile hike through the red rocks of Utah.....





.....before entering the Zebra Slot Canyon.....where you come across this fence.....funny story about one of the canyons along this road.....one of the ranchers cattle actually got stuck in one of these canyons.....so closing the gate appears to be of extreme importance.....for some people just too big of a hassle.....



Now we hiked along a soft & sandy canyon floor and entered what turned out to be an incredibly skinny canyon.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Now we have been in quite a few slot canyons lately yet I still had the enthusiasm for one more.....





This particular canyon is not all that long but I had read that the colors were just amazing.....we weren't too far into that canyon when we came across a canyon floor covered in stagnant water maybe one foot in depth.....





I waded into the water not really knowing quite yet at how stagnant this water actually was.....the canyon walls nearly merged together as they couldn't have been more than a foot apart. Tanner followed in my tracks but clearly this wasn't a canyon for us. Somehow Tanner was able to jump straight up, turn 180 degrees and he was gone.....out the door to Zebra Slot Canyon.....





He faithfully waited for me while standing in the dry sands.....





You can't even begin to imagine how peaceful life was here.....coyotes and stars and wonderful clean, crisp air.....



One of those places where you find yourself being thankful for being able to live the travelers life.....

 

[Ace Brown]

That sign that says road closed 24 miles ahead is misleading. I drove it about ten years ago to where it was washed out somewhat but I got through driving solo. Then I tried again a few years later pulling my small off road trailer. The damage was a little worse plus the trailer forced my to turn back. Getting that trailer turned around was very difficult. I would imagine it’s still passable with the right vehicle and driver.

HITR Road very possibly is the worst washboarded road in Utah. I only drove it’s full length once but that was enough. I was camped there in one of the side roads once when a seasonal BLM Ranger came by for a visit. Turns out he was an internationally known photographer who had recently moved to Boulder. His name was Ace Kavale and he had a dog named simply Desert Dog. DD had his own blog written by him and often describing his master as the not so bright human. It was a fun read. A Google search for desert dog might turn him up.

There are tons of other roads all over GSENM that lead to interesting spots but many require 4x4 or at least high clearance. Never try them when wet. Never!


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[jgaz]

That sign that says road closed 24 miles ahead is misleading. I drove it about ten years ago to where it was washed out somewhat but I got through driving solo. Then I tried again a few years later pulling my small off road trailer. The damage was a little worse plus the trailer forced my to turn back. Getting that trailer turned around was very difficult. I would imagine it’s still passable with the right vehicle and driver.

HITR Road very possibly is the worst washboarded road in Utah. I only drove it’s full length once but that was enough. I was camped there in one of the side roads once when a seasonal BLM Ranger came by for a visit. Turns out he was an internationally known photographer who had recently moved to Boulder. His name was Ace Kavale and he had a dog named simply Desert Dog. DD had his own blog written by him and often describing his master as the not so bright human. It was a fun read. A Google search for desert dog might turn him up.

There are tons of other roads all over GSENM that lead to interesting spots but many require 4x4 or at least high clearance. Never try them when wet. Never!


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Thanks, I’ve seen that sign twice before but was solo and never took the time to drive down to check it out

 

[halseyt]

Ace Brown.. I just spent the last hour reading Ace Kvale. Good stuff, thanks for that.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Alan.....of course I gave thought to driving up that road but I knew that if I did I would be a week up there and I had plans so I moved on but maybe another day.....

jgaz.....solo.....the only way to fly.....

halseyt.....I watched the short film "Ace and the Desert Dog" and thought I'd definitely hang out with those two.....thanks Alan.....




We went out for a short morning hike before our planned departure and getting back on that washboard filled road.....the short morning hike turned into a search for the barking & howling coyotes that we had heard on the first morning while camped here.....



We started out on a ranchers single track sandy road.....



That single track sandy road would soon end and here we dropped into a ravine and followed its meanders as we climbed higher.....





The sounds of the coyotes came from the base of these mountains.....at least as far as I could tell.....anyhow, this was the goal.....



At some point on this morning hike I decided to change our early morning goals.....I kept eyeing this one butte and I just couldn't help myself as I began to wonder if it could be climbed.....



So now we began to scramble through the bush and it's just amazing all the little things that you see as you wander aimlessly.....again not things that are worthy of a name or having a trail that leads you to "it".....yet it's all fascinating out there in their own small ways.....





And as we climbed higher I began to see the enormity of this place that was now absorbing my soul and I was really excited at what may lay ahead.....not just for this day but also for the days to come.....



Now this planned short morning hike was turning in to much more.....and I was just loving it here more & more.....