Last June, my wife Nancy and I had taken a drive over Wolf Creek Pass and down into the upper North Fork of the Duchesne River drainage where we spied possible natural arches in the high cliffs called Castle Cliffs. David and I decided to take another look and verify that they really were natural arches or just snow fields. We figured by the end of a very hot June, there wouldn’t be any snow on the south side of the cliffs.
We drove up through Heber, Francis and Woodland Utah on State Highway 35.
There was no trace of snow at Wolf Creek Pass and even the summer flowers were finished for the year. Driving down the other side of the mountain to the Duchesne River was a beautiful ride.
When we got to Castle Cliffs, it was still impossible to determine if there really were natural arches on the skyline. We finally decided that it was an optical illusion created by huge cotton balls sitting on the cliff wall in two locations. That way we didn’t have to climb all the way up there.
It really is a wonderful time of the year to just be driving out through the back country and lanes of Utah.