Mar 31, 2015 - Calf Creek Recreaion Area

Calf Creek Falls Once again acting on hints from my fellow campers at Organ Pipe, I ventured back to Calf Creek, which had been on yesterday’s route, to take in the 6 mile RT hike to Calf Creek Falls. There’s really not a whole lot to say. I have to presume this is one of the few, if not the only, falls in this part of Utah, as many families were hiking in for a picnic and kids were taking a dip in the pool. Besides the falls themselves, the beauty and geography of the canyon were also very appealing. BLM had also prepared a nice...

Sep 13, 2013 - Burr Trail Road

After leaving Red Canyon, we drove on up Hwy 12 towards Escalante. 12 is a beautiful highway winding through canyons and forests. You could see the damage in the rivers from the flooding. We stopped at the visitor center in Escalante to find out about road conditions in the area. Very disappointed to find out that the Hole in the Rock road was closed as well and may be for 6 weeks. We went back to a gallery we spotted and talked for an hour with Brigette Delthony who makes primitive pottery. She had some beautiful pieces with Indian art...

Sep 1, 2009 - Boulder, Utah and Burr Trail Road

We left Capitol Reef and headed toward Bryce Canyon. We made a few stops along the way. One was in the town of Torrey. We were amazed that paper plates cost $4.57 and a gallon of milk was only $2.57. We drove through the beautiful Dixie National Forest. This section of Utah was known as "Dixie" because during and immediately following the Civil War, Mormons tried to grow cotton in the area. We stopped at the Anasazi State Park to view their museum and ruins. We asked about camping in the area and were told our RV was too large for the small...

May 27, 2009 - More riding in the rural countryside

For our entertainment today, we rode along an All American Road, a state scenic backway, visited an archaeological state museum, and even walked inside a real slot canyon. It doesn’t take much to make us happy in a scenic place like Utah! First we headed out on Highway 12, which runs south out of Torrey, and has been designated as a state scenic highway, a national scenic byway, and an All American Road. We passed some small ranches with irrigated pastures, and then entered the Dixie National Forest. As we rode through the forest, we also...

Sep 20, 2007 - Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument

We visited part of an area called the Grand Staircase. When the earth formed a view years ago, some of my old friends may remember this, there were created a series of 5 steps covering an area from high mountains to low river beds. If Marilyn were writing this she could give you the proper names, but let me assure you, the are BIG STEPS on this staircase. The result is an amazing area of changing colors and textures. Again will attempt to let the pictures do the talking. One very pleasant surprise, and maybe one of the true memories of the...

May 30, 2004 - Desert nights are cccccold!

I've just got up from one of the coldest nights of my life. After geting our things together yesterday we started out quite late in the day with very minimal gear - no water, no blanket, no food... just some basic stuff in our waist packs. This is the 'impact' phase of the course. We hiked for several hours, past sundown and went by the light of the moon - which was very cool. The landscape here is spectacular, canyons, cactus.. some of it like a moonscape. Since we don't have watches, I can only estimate that we finished hiking around...