We spent the night in Escalante Utah . The next morning we found the Hole-In-The-Rock road to be just as washboard as usual.

The two mile trek from the parking area at the water tanks was uneventful and it didn’t take too long to locate the cliff that we were suppose to descend. I was pleased to find a rope had been permanently positioned there because the cliff looked a lot steeper than the first time I had used this “trail”. Auntie Sam thought we were crazy but followed me down the rope anyway. I felt much better when the three of us were safely on the canyon floor.

It was a beautiful Fall day in the Escalante Canyons. We had lunch at Jacob Hamblin Arch before hiking the few miles down to Coyote Natural Bridge, which is one of the few natural bridges that actually has a stream flowing through it.

Unfortunately, Fall days are short and soon it was time to climb up the rope and head back to the vehicle. For some reason, the hike back seemed like a real slough.

We again spent the night in Escalante and found ourselves to be too tired to do much the next day. We bumped around Escalante, Salt Gulch and Boulder Utah areas before heading home again.

Aunt Sam went home with some ugly bruises on her arms from the rope into Coyote Gulch. I suppose that is one way to remember a quick trip to southern Utah.

Saturday morning, my brother David and I drive down to Moab Utah for the day. From Moab, we head east along the Colorado River heading for the Fisher Towers area. Rain from the previous couple of days had left water running in Professor Creek, which was so unusual that I had to stop and take a picture.

We then parked the Explorer and began hiking the Fisher Towers trail which winds among the tall spires, towers and cliffs to the south and east.

Along the way, we marvel at several rock climbers who manage to take turns climbing a dangerous tower and then standing on the highest point.

For those of us who prefer living, we hiked to the end of the established trail, pausing often to take pictures.

At the end of the trail, we had to search around the broken terrain before we located a class ‘C’ natural arch called Big Bro Arch. It seemed appropriate to take one picture of Little Bro at Big Bro Arch.

We then wandered back down the trail to the vehicle again. This still gave us enough time to drive down the road and take sunset pictures of Fisher Towers reflected in the waters of the Colorado River.

Fisher Towers is yet one more very unique place in Utah that would be hard to image or describe without pictures.

What a Wonderland Utah is!

Even with as much of Utah that I have seen, I am still continually amazed. And there is so much more to see!

I wasn’t in a hurry that day so I stopped a number of times along the way just to take pictures of whatever caught my fancy.

Access to the canyon was on a non-descript dirt road leaving state road 10 south of Emery Utah and heading west into what looked like private property. There was only one gate that had to be opened and then closed behind me. Soon I was in the canyon proper with a small stream of water appearing occasionally and steep chalk-like rocky hill sides that looked like stairs.

I found several small pictograph and petroglyph panels at the confluence of a major side canyon, about the place that I would expect to find some.

I tried to drive further up the main canyon but the road deteriorated into a bad jeep trail so I turned around and headed back down the canyon again.

Just outside of Emery, just before sundown, I encountered a flock of Nighthawks (Chordeiles minor) sweeping the sky of flying bugs and moths. This was very exciting to me, having grown up in Vernal Utah, where every summer evening included large number of Nighthawks swooping and diving through the air, much like very large swallows during a feeding frenzy. No matter how many hours I spent watching the event, it always excited me.

It pleased me greatly to know that they still exist someone in Utah.

I have GOT to capture Nighthawks on a video recorder somehow!

Since there was a few minutes of daylight left, turned west in Ferron and drove past Millsite Reservoir to some petroglyphs located near the road.

Around Torrey Utah we stopped long enough to take a few pictures.

We then headed south up Boulder Mountain where we turned to the east on a gravel road that took us past Bowns Reservoir.

After a very rocky ride, we were in Tantalus Flats where we parked and began our hike around to the west side of the sandstone cliffs. Here we could traverse the broken rock until we were far enough south to see the arches we were looking for, far up a shear cliff on a section of steeply inclined sandstone hillside, overlooking Maverick Draw.

While both arches were class ‘B’ in size, one was thick rock while the other nearby arch was much thinner. The names “Laurel and Hardy Arches” immediately came to mind.

We found a dirt and rock ramp just to the south of the arches that allowed us to climb to the top in an effort to try to climb down to the arches. However at the rim, we found a thin, barely navigable edge with a several hundred foot shear drop on the east side and a steep slope down to the arches on the west side… and then another cliff. The slope down to the arches was much too steep to use without ropes and walking along the rim was like balancing along a knife edge with sure death on both sides.

And then there was the fact that the wind was blowing.

We decided we were going to have to come back with ropes some time.

Back at the dirt ramp, it was safer walking near the rim were we soon discovered two class ‘C’ natural Arches. One of the arches, Skyline Window Arch, could be seen from the jeep trail that ran down Tantalus Flats and then entered Capital Reef National Park before heading north along the west side of the reef.

However, we did not know about Tantalus Arch which was only visible from our location along the top rim.

When we felt like we had finished taking enough pictures, we headed back down the ramp which reminded us that climbing down is often more difficult than climbing up some areas.

Back at the vehicle, we decided that we had enough daylight to continue on the jeep trail into Capital Reef National Park and just make a loop on our drive. That was probably a mistake since the rest of the jeep trail was much rockier than we had already driven through.

We arrived on the paved park road about sundown which allowed for some quick evening pictures before beginning the long drive home again.

We were tired and sore — which is always a good indication that we had a good day.

We didn’t get too early of a start that Saturday morning because I stopped to take morning pictures of Hibiscus flowers growing in my front yard. These flowers only appear for a short time in the early morning before wilting and falling off when the heat hits them.

Several hours later, David and I were just northwest of Moab Utah where we pulled off on the Mill Canyon Road, just south of the Moab airport. We stopped at the old Halfway stage coach ruins for a few pictures.

Before driving up Courthouse Wash we also stopped near the head of the canyon so we could walk out to an area where we could get good pictures of Slickenslides Arch, a class ‘C’ jughandle arch that hangs on the east side of Courthouse Rock. It seems like the light and picture angle is never right to get a good picture of this arch though we pass it every time we go to Moab.

We then bounced up the jeep trail on the west side of Courthouse Rock. We then took one of many jeep trails in the area to the east and the top rim of Corral Canyon where we could view Corral Arch below us. This was another class ‘C’ arch which means it was big enough to be able to drive a jeep through the opening, if the opening was located in a way that would allow a jeep to drive through it.

We then continued driving south to Uranium Arch, a wonderful class ‘B’ arch (meaning the natural arch is large enough to drive an 18-wheeler diesel truck through it). I was surprised to see that the BLM had fenced and signed the area around the arch. This is obviously a major destination for people jeeping in the area. This was quite a bit different than the first time I visited this arch several years ago. I could barely find it then.

From Uranium Arch we traveled west to the northwest end of Merrimac Butte where there was a small class ‘D’ arch (meaning the natural arch is smaller than what a jeep could drive through but larger than a 3 foot opening).

We continued our loop through Courthouse Pastures by heading north to Determination Towers where we walked around a bit.

While I was on one side of the Determination Towers taking pictures, David was on the other. As I walked up one side, the largest jack rabbit that I have ever seen, hopped out from a nearby bush and moved a short distance away. He was tall enough to reach the belt on my trousers! (Not that this is very tall…) He didn’t seem too afraid of me or perhaps it was just too hot to care much. (Especially when you have to wear a fur coat all summer long.) I walked towards him and he finally lopped away into the sagebrush. When I next saw David again, he began to tell me about another jackrabbit that he had just seen and how big it was. Sure enough, when I saw this jackrabbit, it was almost as large.

We then drove down Mill Canyon Wash and hit the Moab highway again. Before we hit the highway, we stopped so I could take a picture of the Dinosaur Trail sign but we didn’t take the hike.

We headed for Moab but turned off on the Colorado River road just to the north of town. We only drove a short distance down this paved road so we could take pictures of Dove Feather Arch (class ‘D’) and Updraft Arch (class ‘C’) in the cliffs overlooking the river but located in short side canyons.

We then drove into Moab Utah for refreshments and before driving south down the highway to the Looking Glass Rock road, which is a dirt road that heads southwest just south of La Sal Junction. Just two miles down this road is Looking Glass Rock with a nice class ‘B’ arch on the west side. Again we found the area fenced and signed by the BLM.

Back in Moab Utah, we still had lots of daylight and not inclination to head home. We drove into Arches National Park to see if we could see a small arch that is in the cliffs near the visitor’s center. We still couldn’t find it.

We then drove west down the Potash Road, on the north side of the Colorado River, taking pictures of the Indian petroglyphs next to the road. The sun was almost right for getting pictures of Hidden Arch, on the other side of the river just southwest of the Kane Springs Canyon mouth.

We also took pictures of Williams Bottoms Arch and Island Arch which are small class ‘D’ arches.

After some evening pictures of the Colorado River at Williams Bottom, we headed home again.

Though we didn’t get to do much hiking, we did get to see quite a number of arches and places that we had been meaning to stop at. All in all, it was a good day.

I enjoy the regular visits back to this area which have many memories for me. My fondest memories were of fishing Sheep Creek, just across the road from the Bennett Sheep Creek homestead. I would fish through an area of the creek and my Grandfather would follow, pulling out numerous brook and rainbow trout from the very holes that I had just floated a wet fly through. Fried trout dinners were a big part of our visits to the family cabin located at Grizzly Ridge north of Vernal Utah.

By the end of the afternoon, people were starting to wander away so David and I headed back to Vernal with a stop at the Brush Creek highway crossing so we could take a few pictures of the Indian petroglyphs located there. Of the thousands of people who travel that highway, I doubt any but a few see or even know about the petroglyphs high in the cliffs above them.

We headed back to Utah Valley the next day after church and a big family dinner.

It is good to return to your roots occasionally to remind yourself who you are and where you came from.

At the top of the was, we also stopped at the miner’s shack just east of Temple Mountain.

We then attempted to drive the jeep trails around the north and west side of Temple Mountain. Along the way, a brief rainstorm tried to make the trail slippery which caused some white-knuckle driving when near the shear drop offs.

By the time we reached the miner’s shacks south of Temple Mountain, the rain had moved on to the east.

At least the Palmer’s Penstemons was enjoying the wet weather.

We then drove down Temple Wash which was a maintained gravel road and stopped to take pictures of the pictographs in a large alcove next to the road.

Our next stop was just around the corner to the south where we parked and hiked westward into an obscure little wash. This led us up the Swell’s anticline to Wild Horse Window, which is the name given to a large hole in the ceiling of one of two large alcoves.

Nearby the Stemless Woolly Base was blooming.

After making our way back to my vehicle, we still had some daylight to burn so we drove south into Goblin Valley State Park.

We wandered around the first basin for a while before heading back to the parking area. We were half way up the hill when we were met by a young man running full speed down the hill. He managed to come to a complete stop immediately in front of us when we discovered it was a nephew of ours, a son of another one of my brothers. Most of the rest of that family were dining at the nearby pavilion and were quite surprised to see David and I wander in from the basin. They were staying at the state park overnight and were on their way to Lake Powell the next day.

That was rather a strange coincidence. What are the odds of running into family in southern Utah?

After visiting a while, David and I headed for home while my other brother and his family spent a rainy night camping in Goblin Valley State Park.

After breakfast the next morning, we headed west to Natural Bridges National Monument.

Once in the park, we wanted to head for Kachina Bridge, which is the second natural bridge along the one-way park road and a class ‘A’ natural bridge. However, we did stop long enough to take some long distance pictures of the first Natual Bridge along the park road, Sipapu Bridge, also a class ‘A’ natural bridge.

Down the road we parked and began the climb down the trail into the bottom of the canyon to Kachina Bridge, passing Kachina Trail Arch (class ‘D’ arch) along the way.

While we were interested in taking pictures of Kachina Bridge, I was personally interested in the Indian ruins, pictographs and petroglyphs located on a sand shelf on the southwest leg of the bridge.

The most complete part of the ruins was a round pit with a low wall around it. The wall was purposely rounded along the rim with one door like opening and the inside wall was decorated with pictographs. When I saw this, the first thing I thought of was that this was a playpen to keep toddlers safe while parents were busy nearby.  If it had been a turkey pen, there would have been no need to decorate the inside.

The cliff walls were also decorated with symbols and handprints. I especially enjoyed the image of a butterfly. Obviously a decoration intended for women and children rather than the usual hunting scenes.

From here we hiked downstream a short distance to the confluence of White Canyon. Just around the corner in White Canyon was another natural arch, a class ‘C’ arch called Indian Foot Arch.

We then headed back up the trail and back to the parking lot to collapse in my Explorer. I thought that was all the hiking/climbing that we were going to be able to do that day. However, we found ourselves stopping and hiking to the third grand natural bridge in the park, Owachomo Bridge, which is another class ‘A’ bridge.

Even after leaving the park, we still had plenty of daylight left so on the way back to Blanding, we stopped for a few pictures at the Comb Ridge road cut.

A short distance further down the road, we also stopped at the Butler Wash Ruins. Walking out to the ruins overlook turned out to be more of a hike than I remembered from the last time I was there.

From the ruins overview, we could walk along the cliffs to the north and visit a class ‘C’ natural bridge called Butler Wash Bridge. While it was too steep for old men like us to climb down into the opening, we could see hand prints that ancient Indians had left on the inside wall.

Back on the road again, we had to stop one more time to take pictures of the Desert Lupine (Lupinus Aridus) wildflowers that were prolific along some parts of the highway.

Once we were finally back in Blanding Utah, we again grabbed a motel room for the night and a burger at the local A&W drive through.

The next morning, we were a little slower getting up and getting on the road again. (I hate getting old!)

We headed back to Natural Bridges National Monument. We wanted to hike down into Sipapu Bridge but threatening rain allowed us only to get half way down the trail before we took shelter under a sandstone overhang. We knew we shouldn’t be in the steep canyon bottoms during this kind of rains.

Instead we climbed back to the park road and drove down the road again to the Kachina Bridge viewpoint. The rain had stopped long enough for us to walk out to the Horse Collar Ruins overlook where we could view the ruins in the cliffs on the other side of the canyon.

We then climbed down to an area below the overview area where we could take pictures of Horse Collar Ruins Arch, a large class ‘B’ natural arch that most people never notice.

We decided it was time to begin the long drive home since we certainly didn’t want to miss work the next morning. (Ya, right.) We decided to get back via Lake Powell (50% empty because of the drought) so we could see some different territory. Along the way we had to stop to take pictures of blooming cactus and wildflowers.

The Prince’s Plume flowers were especially colorful this year.

What a nice weekend.

Hmmm… I want another one!

We entered the park from the northwest corner, down Salt Valley. (No, this was not unethical since I held a Golden Eagle National Parks pass so we weren’t trying to bypass the entrance fees. That trail was just the fastest way to get to the Klondike Bluffs area of the park.)

The Salt Valley dirt road heads southeast into the park and we were clipping along at a good rate when I had to do an emergency stop to keep from hitting a ong gopher snake crossing the road. Their main defense seems to be to just freeze until the threat passes. That is not a great idea when on a road. We got out of the vehicle to take a few pictures and then urge him off the road so we could continue.

From the Salt Valley dirt road, we took a side jeep trail that then heads southwest up a sand hill and passes on the southeast side of the Marching Men rocks.

Where the jeep trail veers to the northwest and heads for nearby Tower Arch, we stopped to explore the nearby rocks to take pictures of Anniversary Arch.

We then continued on the jeep trail to the northwest to the parking area for the short eastward hike to Tower Arch.

We also visited nearby Parallel Arch.

After leaving the Tower Arch area, we took the Eye-of-the-Whale Arch road southeast long the fins. This allowed us to visit several smaller arches hidden in the sandstone rocks and fins on the southwest side of the jeep trail including Sandhill Arch and Rock-in-the-Hole Arch.

When the fins finally ran out, we found someone had etched the words “The End” in the wall of the last sandstone wash. We wondered if this had been left by those that helped Dale J. Stevens and J. Edward McCarrick document all the natural arches in Arches National Park back in the 80’s.

By then, the sun was about to set so we headed for home again.

Part of the way down the dugway, there is a nice dinosaur footprint in the sandstone.

Once in the bottom of the canyon, we began hiking south up the canyon which allowed us to visit a number of Indian petroglyph and pictograph panels along the way.

It is several miles to the main panel sometimes called The Great Panel (or even The Holy Ghost panel). Here a very quiet or spiritual feeling seems to prevail.

This is one of those “magical” places.

I would have liked to have explored further up canyon but my legs were telling me that I was almost through for the day. We headed back and really struggled to get up the dugway where we reached the vehicle about dusk.

That made for a very nice day trip.