SE Utah - May 2014 - Part 4

I spent 6 days exploring southeastern Utah. This included two national parks I'd never visited, Canyonlands and Arches. It would also take me back to Muley Point and to discover a few new areas between those destinations. 

I divided the trip report into four parts to aid digestion. This is part 4, the final installment.

Remember you can see larger versions of the photos by clicking on one of them.

Canyonlands National Park: Island in the Sky
and Canyon Rims National Recreation Area

May 7, 2014 continued

Dubinky Road

I think I mentioned I'd stopped at the Interagency Information Center on Main Street in Moab for info on dispersed camping on BLM lands around Moab. Due to the high number of visitors, this area is controlled much more strictly than your usual BLM lands in the west. You really need a map to determine if you are required to camp in a campground, camp area, designated area, etc. and the rules for trash and waste. All campgrounds and sites are first come, first serve. They have a whole 8 page "newspaper" with maps, lists and descriptions to help you figure all this out, it is a must have.

With the help of a knowledgeable gentleman, we determined that the dispersed campsites out Dubinky Road, between Arches and Canyonlands: Island in the Sky, might suit me. You get there by turning at the (very small) sign for Lone Mesa Group Camp off State Route 313. I missed the turn the first time in broad daylight.

To greatly shorten the story, I passed by a few areas already full of 5er's, RVs and ATVs. I found a narrow "designated" road headed south and I was hoping to find a hill, bluff, tree, or something to block my camper from the winds. I drove through a wide prairie, which I later learned is Dubinky Flat, to what seemed like the middle of nowhere. I would have turned back, but the road was too narrow and about 2 feet below grade. By the time I found a place I could have turned around, there was a giant, interesting looking, hill-shaped rock about a mile ahead and I wound my way there hoping for a sheltered camping spot. I switched on the 4WD toward the end as the road, and especially the turn-off, became very sandy.

I found a great spot as it turns out, in the lee of the giant rock. There was a good sized piñon to boot, and previous campers had left a large rock fire ring (complete with empty ammunition boxes) and a stack of cut wood. But best of all was the shelter from the wind. Again it was too cloudy for my hoped for star photography. I spent a quiet night.

May 8th

Another cloudy day, but with some morning light. It was pleasant enough to take a few photos and explore "my" rock, though I did not climb to the top.

Campsite and a small shoulder of the rock.

Looking down at my camp, from that shoulder.

From the vantage of the rock's shoulder (or maybe its ankle) I could see large trucks on a road to the south. I was later able to determine that road led to an oil well and became heavily used by tank trucks and what looked like strange cement mixers, but may have been carrying fracking mixture for all I know. I was glad I was off the beaten path. I had breakfast, took a little hike, then packed up to drive to Canyonlands, taking a photo of the rock hill as I retraced my path back to Dubinky Road and 313.

Campsite beside the rock hill. Estimating from a topo map, it's about 150' tall.

Canyonlands National Park: Island in the Sky

Island in the Sky is a narrow, branching mesa along the top of 1000 foot cliffs. There are foot trails, but not nearly as many as at The Needles. As my feet and knees were sore, I was happy enough to drive to the various overlooks and take one short, steep hike to look over the mysterious Upheaval Dome. The park is also noted for the famous White Rim Road - an adventure saved for another trip.

View from across the road from the Visitor Center

I drove first to Upheaval Dome, in the forlorn hope that the skies would clear later. It was an interesting hike. I took a large panorama from the first overlook. After processing it at home, I've decided not to save it as it just looks like an uninteresting pile of dirt. It's one of those very cool places that you just have to see with your own eyes.

Flowers along the trail to the dome overlook.

Next, I headed to the Green River Overlook. Another spectacular vista that you have to see with your own eyes. Again, my panorama does not do it justice, so I'll only display two photos of details of the scene. I did have a nice conversation with a young man who was a park service volunteer. I asked him about the White Rim Road, a section of which was laid out before us, down below. He allowed it was great fun and easy for the most part, only a few very steep, very narrow sections -  he mentioned Murphy's Hogback. We could actually see two jeeps moving along the road. He said there were some rough spots, but no steps or other technical features that should cause trouble for a Tacoma. To drive the road does take advanced planning as it is at least a two day drive and backcountry permits must be obtained. In prime season, those should be reserved ahead of time. Watching videos at home makes me really want to take that adventure.

Cliff edge and vista from Green River Overlook.

Zoomed in on a small section of the view, showing a gooseneck of the Green River
and a piece of the White Rim Road on the left and right.

Next stop was the picnic area at White Rim Overlook.

A view from the picnic area. I think this might be Gooseberry Canyon.

After lunch I drove to the Grand View Overlook. Had the weather been nicer, it actually drizzled for a few minutes, I might have told my knees to buckle up and taken the hike to the actual Grand View Point as it was only 2 miles there and back. So you'll have to be content to accept this panorama and a closer view of Monument Basin.

Monument Basin from Grand View Overlook.

Zooming in on a section of the basin. Notice the road and the white canyon rim.

It was time to start heading out of the park, as I wanted to get across and down to the Canyon Rims area for my last night before heading home.

I believe this is Buck Canyon, and again you can see White Rim Road.

Colorado River Recreation Area

In one of the national park visitor centers I'd admired a large relief map. In doing so I noticed a deep, winding canyon of which I was unaware, stretching northwest from above Moab. I decided to briefly explore up that way on State Route 128, before continuing south. The photo below is not the most dramatic, as I waited for a safe pull-out to take the picture.

Colorado River along Utah 128

There are many BLM camping areas along the river. I'd seen them listed on their website and maps, but was still surprised by the reality. Some of them are right on the Colorado and fairly secluded from one another, in others you'd be watching your neighbors as much as the scenery. Still, no getting around the fantastic views of the river and canyon walls. Moab has a great bike lane system and there is a beautiful, smooth asphalt path that runs along the river and provides great access to the first few camping areas. As none of the individual sites are reservable, theoretically you have as good a chance as anyone of getting a primo site. But I suspect there are large families or small groups of friends who send advanced scouts a few days ahead to try and snag a good one; I know that's what I would have done back in the day!

A nice couple from Colorado in a big Lance pop-up camper, who I met later that night, said there were good sites downstream on Utah 279. I may have a to check those out next time.

Canyon Rims National Recreation Area

After having a green chile cheese burger in Moab, I continued south on US-191, then took the turn onto the paved Needles Lookout Road toward the BLM Canyon Rims NRA. (The BLM may be the nemesis of a certain dead-beat rancher, but they're a godsend for those of us who love to camp and enjoy the wild spaces of the American Southwest!)

I took a look at their Windwhistle Campground, which is about 9 miles in from the main highway. It looked pretty nice and is situated in an area with large cliffs and a lovely view. Still, I wanted to go to the Needles Overlook and would check out areas for dispersed camping out that way.

The Needles Overlook is extremely nice. The BLM has done a wonderful job. There are easy sidewalks for those who need them, fun climbs for others, picnic tables, natural landscaping, informational placards and vault toilets. The views are spectacular.

Looking toward the north toward Island of the Sky.

Looking southerly across Indian Creek Canyon with the Abajo Mountains in the background.
You can see the Lockhart Basin Rd, which I drove a few days before.

Turn around to see the La Sal Mountains to the northeast.

As I drove away from the overlook, I took a dirt road north where I'd look for a campsite. Not too many that way that weren't taken, unless I wanted to be out in the open, susceptible to high winds. There were a couple of sites with fantastic views south of the paved road a few miles east of the lookout, but according to one BLM map these were not designated sites, though people had obviously camped there. I stopped there, relaxed a while and admired the views, but decided I'd been beaten by the wind enough on this trip and headed back to the Windwhistle Campground which was sheltered by the surrounding cliffs.

My site at Windwhistle.

There is also quite a nice nature trail located past the group campsite. It is in an alcove in the cliffs and worth checking out if you're in the area. I took the following photo as the sun was going down.

Windwhistle Rock in the early evening light.

Despite the promise of the photo above, there was no sunset worth photographing that night, either.

May 9th

I got up early, didn't even stop for breakfast, but broke camp and drove quickly back out to Needles Overlook. I was hoping for a nice sunrise or early light on the canyons and cliffs. Alas, the weather continued to not cooperate. Here is a panorama, similar to the one taken the previous afternoon, though from a slightly different spot. You can see the shadow of the overlook stretching across the valley.

Indian Creek Canyon vista.

That's pretty much it, folks. I headed back to the highway, turned south on 191 toward Monticello. I found a little cafe on US-491 that I'd be taking to Cortez, Colorado, before turning south to New Mexico. It is called PJ's and I recommend it to you. You have to order your food and pay at the counter, but then they bring it to your table. Every item was freshly cooked and delicious. They even placed little Ball jars of homemade marmalade on the table. Now normally I'm not a big fan, as it is a little tart for my taste, but this was mild, sweet and delicious. I can't recommend that famous diner in Moab, but PJ's breakfast restore my faith in mankind :-)

I hope you enjoyed "coming along" on my camping trip to SE Utah. Leave your questions or comments, below, as I enjoy those. And I hope to meet you on the trail.

Across Southern Utah

In the last installment I'd just crossed into Utah following the Great Western Trail, which placed me on US-89 just east of Kanab. My goal for the day was to drive to Bryce Canyon National Park in time to get a campsite at this very popular destination. Lots of folks told me I should have gone to Zion National Park, but I decided to save that for another trip.

Driving north from Kanab the highway winds through and up an interesting canyon with large, vertical rock slabs as its sides. These red rocks look like they've been scoured by a giant grinder, but I supposed it was only the wind. I don't have photos, perhaps because I didn't see a good place to pull off the highway, or perhaps I was too focused on getting up the highway. It has been difficult for me to judge drive times in these areas that I've never visited before.

Bryce Canyon is really a plateau into which a number of canyons have cut. These canyons are filled with the park's iconic Hoodoos. I took nearly 400 digital photos of Bryce which I've yet to process. I'll save those for a later photo gallery post. In the meantime I'll include the requisite campsite shot and a photo of an interesting tree.

There are excellent sites for small campers in the tent area of the campground.

Along the Queen's Garden trail.

Bryce was gorgeous and amazing; a place everyone should visit. The plateau is at 6000 to 8000 feet in elevation, so is much cooler than the other Utah parks, such as Canyonlands and Arches. I had the added benefit of personally knowing one of the interpretive Rangers and we had a great hike the next morning between Bryce Point and Inspiration Point. Gorgeous! I stayed two nights in the park.

From Bryce Canyon I drove east on Highway 12, which is part of the state recognized scenic loop highway. It was interesting and I hadn't realized how much agriculture there is in southern Utah. I stopped at the Federal Interagency Information Station in Escalante to pick up maps and brochures for a future trip - a nice facility with helpful people. I picked up info on the Dixie National Forest and Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument.

Continuing east from Escalante the scenery at first seemed rather plain, then you drop off the edge!

Looking back west from whence I came. Can you follow the highway all the way to the top?

Soon  you come to the canyon containing the Escalante River.

Highway 12 overlook above the Escalante River.

From there you wind up a canyon and the next thing you know you're on a "hogback" with a steep drop-offs on either side. By the time I found a place to pull off the narrow highway for a photo it wasn't quite as spectacular.

Looking south along a hogback on Highway 12.

Soon thereafter the highway turns and starts heading up into the mountains. There are large stands of Aspen. It is distressing, however, to see many colonies totally dead. My first in person experience with Sudden Aspen Decline. See also this short Smithsonian article: What's Killing the Aspen?

The highway climbs quite high up and around Bluebell Knoll, which is actually a very large mountain, and it got very chilly! Lots of recreation opportunities up here, but quite far from most places, and no specific, spectacular attractions as one comes to expect in this region.

The highway drops thousands of feet within a few miles on the north side and soon you find yourself back in the desert. Here Highway 12 goes north and joins Hwy 24. I turned southeast.

It was hot and very windy as I entered Capitol Reef National Park where I had intended to camp. Unfortunately, even though I got there around noon, hundreds of other folks got there sooner and all the spots in the lovely campground were full to overflowing. The campground doesn't take reservations, but people must have headed out early for Memorial Day.

Looks like an interesting place to return. The campground and valley are noted for the historical orchard and community of Fruita.

I didn't stop for photos, but keep going down the road past more intriguing rock formations, which I also didn't stop to photograph.

I finally stopped for a late lunch in Hanksville near the junction with Hwy 95 where I'd turn south. I stopped at a cafe that was part of an RV park not expecting too much with the name of Duke's Slickrock Grill, but needed a break from driving. Turned out it was a very nice stop, clean and cool inside, with good food - I had a full meal with vegetables, salad, and everything. They also had wireless Internet and was able to check my email after my meal.

Heading down 95 was a long, boring stretch which got slightly more interesting as the highway started down into this branch of Glenn Canyon, but it was still hot and windy.

No sign of a lake at the crossing, only a trickle of river, and I didn't bother taking the turn-off to Hite.

I did stop at Natural Bridges National Monument, the first national park in Utah, created by Teddy Roosevelt. It was getting on toward 4pm and I didn't expect to camp at the small campground here. The ranger gave me half a sheet of paper they'd prepared to assist folks in finding a nearby dispersed camp on BLM land.

I drove the loop road, stopping at each of the three overlooks. To get a good look at the rock bridges would actually take a little time to walk down the steep trail to the canyon bottom, which I elected to do on another occasion.

I did find a good camp spot on Deer Flat Road with a large juniper to help shield me from the winds.

Campsite along the road, sheltered by the junipers.

After I setup I watched the full moon rise over the red hills.

Moonrise over my campsite.

The next morning I returned to the highway and soon thereafter turned south on Utah 291. I had been wanting to visit Muley Point for some years since seeing a wonderful photograph of Monument Valley viewed from there. I had originally planned to camp along the canyon edge, but it had been just too windy for such an exposed location the night before and this morning I felt like there were just too many places to go in my journey to pause there for a whole day.

On my way down 291 I stopped at the BLM Kane Gulch Ranger Station to learn what I could about the area. Turns out this particular patch is fairly interesting. The nearby finger canyon coming up from Glenn Canyon is called Grand Gulch. There are a number of hiking trails and archeological sites to explore. Site visitation requires a permit as the number of visitors is limited each day to mitigate the impact of visitation on these fragile sites. Permits are required for all hiking here, so plan to stop at the station. Another area for a return visit, perhaps in early spring or late fall.

Muley Point lived up to my expectations. You turn west just where the pavement ends (or begins depending upon which direction you're driving) and take a very good dirt road to the point. All except the last 50 yards is suitable for a 2WD sedan. I didn't actually follow the road all the way to the official point as the initial overlook is so spectacular. I'm looking forward to a return visit with camping. I'm sure the dusk and dawn looking over the canyon is inspiring. My photos don't really give you even a hit at how amazing the canyon view is from here; you'll have to see it for yourself.

A gigantic rock perched at the canyon edge.

Monument Valley in the distance.

The drive down Moki Dugway was super scenic and fun. The road is dug into the cliff as it drops hundreds of feet just about straight down.

View from partway down Moki Dugway.

I didn't know what exactly to expect from Utah's Valley of the Gods. People said it was worth a visit; said it was like a miniature Monument Valley; but frankly it didn't look like much when I made the turn onto the unmarked road near the bottom of Moki Dugway.

A short ways in there was an informational board from the BLM to reassure me I was in the right place. The first part of the drive was fun, the road looks wicked, but is actually pretty tame, though I did drag my steps in a couple of places. I was thinking it was a charming area and pulled off in one of the dispersed camping spots for a spot of lunch with a view.

Having lunch at a turn-out along the Valley of the Gods road.

A little farther on the road and the scenery took a turn for the more spectacular. No, not as grand as Monument Valley, but wonderful nonetheless and there are lots and lots of free dispersed camping spots with fabulous views of the rock formations. This will be a great place to come back on a moonless night to try star trail photography with the interesting rock formations creating a foreground to contrast against the sky... though not when the wind is strong, as you are totally in the open.

Valley of the Gods, BLM, Utah

A fellow voyager from Albuquerque, who I meet at Muley Point, recommended a coffee house just as you arrive at the town of Bluff. I forgot the name (Bluebird Cafe?), but it is on the north side of Main Street, US 191. I had a non-coffee, iced drink with an unpronounceable name. It had chocolate, mint, and creme and was super delicious! They serve hot breakfasts in the morning and sandwiches for lunch.

I didn't know if I should bail on my trip and head for home or what. My preconceived schedule had been shot and I had planned to head home from here, but by not stopping at Capitol Reef I was a day ahead of my plans. I decided to instead head north from Bluff. I saw on the map that there was a national forest just west of Monticello, UT, then the next morning I thought I'd poke my head into Colorado with my "extra" day, maybe head toward Telluride.

I stopped for directions at the Forest Service office in Monticello. There's only one road out of town west toward the mountain, but it is not well marked. Lots of dispersed camping spots, mostly taken by folks with trailers or tent colonies and ATVs. I found an isolated spot and crossed my fingers.

My verdant campsite. A closeup of the mountain and valley in the following photo.

The La Sal Mountains east of Moab and Canyonlands as seen from my campsite.

Turns out I was't bothered by ATVs and the lovely little meadow had a great view of the La Sal Mountains to the northeast with interesting canyon formations in the middle distance. It got cold that night.

The next morning fortunately I was up early enough that I wasn't awakened by baying hounds. Apparently this area is a popular spot for running hunting hounds. The three trucks driven by rustic Americans had special kennels in back and were driven around with the hounds perched on top of the kennels, baying at the wind. I packed up and hit the road eastward.

My next, much shorter post will cover my brief trip into Colorado.

Thanks for visiting!