Saturday I drove down into Bluff Utah where I again took the opportunity to take pictures of the pioneer town and sites.

My next stop was the petroglyphs called the Desecration Panels on the south side of the San Juan River, southwest of Bluff Utah.

Back on highway 163, I drove west to where the highway cuts through the Comb Ridge where I spent some time hiking to the steep cliffs looking west. There I was surprised to see a small natural arch just off the old highway where I had parked.

I then drove down to Mexican Hat Rock to take a few pictures before ending up at the Navajo Tribe Monument Valley Park.

I arrived at the visitor center just in time to take a few pictures of “The Mittens” before the sun disappeared over the horizon. My efforts were hampered by an over-friendly cat that wouldn’t leave me alone.

As soon as the sun set, the wind got cold. I headed back to Bluff Utah where I had a room at the Recapture Lodge, my favorite place to stay when in Bluff.

The next morning after breakfast, I spent some time along the north side of the San Juan River near the Bluff airport, taking pictures of the scattered Indian Petroglyphs. This required a fair amount of bush whacking.

The weather was threatening storm so I had to cut the day short and head home again. Between Blanding and Monticello, I hit the front end of a bad snow storm and was glad to get around it before the roads got too bad. I again hit some snow over the mountain between Price and Spanish Fork but managed to get home just after dark anyway.

Just before hitting Moab, we turned west on the Island-in-the-Sky road and took the Dubinky Wash dirt road before hitting Canyonlands National Park. After a few miles traveling north, we took the Spring Canyon Point road heading west and then southwest. While the dirt road will take you to a really nice overlook for the Green River at its end, we took a side jeep trail heading north before the overlook. This allowed us to drive a short distance to the rim of Hey Joe Canyon, a short side canyon off of the Green River’s Labyrinth Canyon. Here we parked and hiked over the edge to find Cliffhanger Bridge, after searching the cliff edges for a while.

After returning to the Explorer and driving back to the main Spring Canyon Point road again, we proceeded a short distance further towards the overlook and parked next to the road. We then hiked south to the edge of Labyrinth Canyon and visited Solitude Arch which is hidden in a pocket in the cliffs.

Viewing the arch from the rim was easy enough but we wanted to climb down into the pocket and that turned out to be a little trickier. By squeezing through cracks in the rocks, we did manage to descend the first layer of cliffs a short distance from the arch. We then navigated a number of obstacles to get around the corner and down to the arch itself. By going this way, we discovered that there is a companion arch near Solitude Arch that we called Neighbor Arch.

Climbing out of the pocket turned out to be harder when you have to squeeze UP the cracks.

We then drove over to the overlook for a few sunset pictures over the Green River before heading home again. We had been noticing “Sun Dogs” around the sun all afternoon so it looked like the weather was due to turn stormy in the next couple of days.

However, THAT Saturday was perfect!

Saturday morning, David and I drove down to the Moab Utah area and then west to the top of Long Canyon for a quick look around. We were looking for a natural arch that exists somewhere near the top of the canyon. We even drove down Long Canyon for a ways to see if we could see it from below. There aren’t many places that a natural arch could hide but we failed to find it.

We then drove back down the Island-in-the-Sky road to the gravel road heading west along the south rim of Mineral Canyon. The canyon is about ten miles long before it dumps in the Green River, and has three major levels. We were looking for Mineral Canyon Arch which can be found one of the upper levels, less than a mile from the first major “dry falls” drop off. By exploring the area higher up the canyon, we were able to find a good place to descend the cliffs to the canyon floor. It was then a fairly easy hike along the rocky canyon floor to Mineral Canyon Arch, hanging on the north cliffs.

Along the way we found a couple of small class “D” natural arches called Split Top Arch and Rathole Arch. (I actually used Rathole Arch to get down the cliffs to the canyon floor.) On the way out, we hiked further up the canyon to find an easier way to the top.

We still had quite a bit of daylight left in the day so we drove up to the Canyonlands National Park “Island-in-the-Sky” area to watch the sun go down over the White Rim Canyons below us.

Another excellent day to be out and enjoying the country!

From the highway between Moab Utah and Monticello Utah, we turned west on the access road to The Needles but left the road just after passing the Dugout Ranch and headed south on the North Cottonwood Creek dirt road. After the road tops out on Salt Creek Mesa, it bends westward and soon passes on the north side of Cathedral Butte. We planned on camping near Cathedral Butte that night but wanted to do some exploring further west in the Beef Basin area, while there was still some sunlight. Unfortunately the Beef Basin area turned out to be much larger and much more interesting than we had time for. We visited a small natural arch and some Indian ruins before deciding we needed to return another time and spend some serious time exploring the entire region.

Back at Cathedral Butte, the wind was blowing fairly hard so we located a campsite off the road in the cedars that provided fairly good protection for the tent. For about half the night, the wind would slack off until almost calm before building back up to a roar, only to slack off again. This means that you were almost asleep when the wind roar and tent flapping would wake you up again. Then you would almost drift off to sleep again before it woke you up again. This was the “Lake Powell” winds that we had experienced before. It certainly doesn’t make for a very restful sleep.

The next morning, all was calm again. We fired up my propane stove for a hot eggs-n-toast breakfast before breaking camp. We drove back to the northwest side of Cathedral Butte and parked at the Salt Creek trailhead.

We then headed down the trail which began by dropping off the steep edge and dropping about 500 feet. (We knew this part of the trail was going to kill us on the way back.) After a short lateral hike along a rim, the trail descends again down a rocky wash leaving you another 600 feet lower. However, once you are on the canyon floor of the East Fork of Salt Creek, it is mostly flat walking with only slight elevation gain or loss.

For the first couple of miles, the canyon is dry and passes under Wedding Ring Arch, which cannot be seen from the canyon floor. Here we noticed a class ‘D’ arch we called Chin Arch.

Then the trail passes through a swamp and a small creek develops. Almost five miles down the trail is the Kirk log cabin and Kirk Arch in the cliffs to the north. In the distance, we can see Ring Arch on the cliff side. Suddenly I REALLY wished that we weren’t just day hiking. The area was just getting interesting and I wanted to explore every canyon and see every turn.

What a wondrous place to be!

After delaying the inevitable for as long as possible, we took our last pictures and headed back up the trail again. By taking a different trail through the swampy area, we found another small calss ‘D’ arch (Salt Creek Trail Arch) and some Indian handprints on the cliffs. Salt Creek was an important ancient Indian location with a year around water source and cliffs to build fortifications in.

The hike out wasn’t real fun but about the time we topped the first rocky wash drop off, we were joined by another hiker, Larry Beck, who had been exploring the middle cliff area between the trailhead and Wedding Ring Arch. He joined us for the rest of the hike and his conversation helped make the climb more bearable. Still, we were exhausted by the time we reached the parking area on top again.

It was then time to head home… mainly because staying longer would have been of no value to us in the exhausted condition we were in. (It takes me three or four days back at work to begin to recover from our weekend trips.)

The next morning after breakfast, we gassed the Explorer up and headed south down the Hole-in-the-Rock, which was particularly “wash boarded” this year. About the time our teeth and every bolt on the Explorer had bounced loose, we turned off on the Early Weed Bench road and headed east to end of the road and the trailhead.

From the Early Weed Bench trailhead, we began hiking almost northward, down the steep sandstone and across the sand hills to a south side canyon of Twentyfive Mile Wash called Fox Canyon.

Here we expected to find a large natural arch. However, after hiking a ways down both sides of the side canyon, we could only find one rather small class “C” natural bridge which we referred to as Fox Canyon Bridge. (A class “C” arch or bridge is large enough to drive a jeep through.)

We then began the gut busting climb back up to the trailhead and arrived at the Explorer a little ill from the climb and heat. Another hour  of bouncing along the Hole-in-the-Rock road didn’t help much.

On the way back, we did stop at the Devil’s Garden area just in time to take some excellent pictures of Mano and Metate Arch as well as the sandstone towers as the sun was going down.

We then headed back to Escalante Utah for a motel room and a much needed rest.

The next morning, we again enjoyed a breakfast at the local cafe before driving to the west end of Escalante and visiting the new visitor center for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This allowed us to check out area books and pick up the latest maps.

We then headed northeast to Boulder Utah and then east along the Burr Trail to the east end of Long Canyon.

We then left the paved road and headed south on dirt roads to the Wolverine Petrified Wood area. Here we parked at the top of Silver Falls Canyon and hiked down the canyon for several miles to see the natural arches along the way. All of the natural arches and bridges were fairly small (including Bills Arch, Emigrant Spring Arch, Emigrant Spring Jughandle Arch and Not Bill’s Arch) but we needed an excuse to explore the canyon.

We were dragging our backsides on the way out and I was glad we hadn’t gone deeper into the canyon than we had. I did spend a few minutes taking pictures of some “mushroom” rock formations in a gulley just off the main trail. By then, the storm clouds were gathering in the west and it was time to leave.

It seemed like an exceptionally long drive back to Utah Valley that evening. I required several stops for naps and Mountain Dew to get us home.

The first stop was at Bartlett Arch at the head of Bartlett Wash.

The second stop was at Dubinky Well where I wanted to spend some time taking pictures of the old windmill and tanks.

We then headed west to “The Needles”, a sandstone tower and cliffs near the head of Spring Canyon. Here we found some jeep trails that headed west down into broken country where we had located the Dellenbaugh Tunnel some years before. It required some searching before we were able to locate the correct trail. It seems like this area changes every time we are there.

In the meantime, thunderstorms had moved in and we started getting a little rain. This required some caution on our part since we needed to anticipate what would happen if it began to rain hard. That meant keeping the Explorer on sandy or rocky jeep trails and away from ravines, washes or canyons. We had parked higher on the hill and hiked down to the tunnel which was a unique and very LOOOOONG natural bridge. Somehow, the drainage had managed to tunnel under and through the sandstone hills instead of flowing around the rock. We walked through the sixty or seventy feet of tunnel and then walked out to the cliffs overlooking Spring Canyon before retreating back to the shelter of the tunnel to avoid a brief rainstorm.

Waiting for the rain to stop was a rather pleasant experience. However I am always a little frustrated when I can’t figure out how to capture something with a camera. Even video really didn’t work.

When the rain stopped and we had taken our fill of pictures, we headed back up the hill to the Explorer and spent some time roaming around the hills to the south.

We then bounced our way back to the main gravel road and drove down the Spring Canyon rim road, stopping at Secret Spire and Juniper Arch on the way.

After a few pictures at the Green River overlook, we headed back to Moab Utah again, grateful that we were able to dodge most of the rain clouds that threatened us all day.

The passing storms left behind enough clouds to provide a very colorful sunset.

A few miles east of The Needles, we came up on an odd sight… a porcupine. Out in the middle of sand and sagebrush… a porcupine. He must have climbed up out of the Green River bottoms somewhere.

Very odd.

The first stop was at the Fairyland Point trailhead where we took the trail off the edge and down into the narrow gullies of “Fairyland”.

In several side canyons, there are small unnamed class D natural bridges and a set of small bridges called Two Bridges.

The trail usually makes a loop and climbs back up the canyon to join the Fairyland trail again near the top. However, a large slab of rock and dirt had collapsed on the trail which officially closed it. (With a little climbing over loose rocks, it is possible to pass through anyway.)

It was naturally hot for an August summer day but much cooler in the canyon. That didn’t stop it from being a bit of a “gut buster” climb anyway.

Once we were back on top again, we drove further into the park and took additional pictures from the usual lookout points. We stopped to take pictures of Farview Point Bridge and Bryce Natural Bridge.

We also walked out on Bryce Point so we could take pictures of  Bryce Point Arch and Wall of Windows.

We then drove out of the park and turned east on the main highway and southeast towards Tropic Utah. We stopped at the trailhead for Water Canyon and hiked up to Mossy Cave. Because of the drought, there didn’t seem to be enough water leaking from the back of the cave to keep the usual fern garden alive. However, the nearby stream had plenty of water for the small waterfall. It was hot enough that I was tempted to jump in, but I am old enough to know not to. Here we took pictures of the small wall arches called Mossy Cave Windows.

Back in the vehicle again, we drove down the highway through Tropic and on to Cannonville Utah.

Here we took the south county road south and then east to Kodachrome State Park. Besides taking general pictures in the park, we also took the short hike out to Shakespeare Arch, a small class “C” arch located on the east side of the park. By that time, it really was too hot for hiking. We were glad that it was a short hike.

August days are long and we decided to head for home before dark and before we found another trail to hike.

As much as I wanted to see this area, we were also interested in documenting a class “B” natural arch that kept showing up in pictures of Range Creek.

The University of Utah through the Carbon County Recreation department, was given the task of regulating the limited guided tours that would have access to the canyon. My wife, my brother David and I each paid the $50 fee to get on the list and on the next available guided tour. Our turn came up for Saturday July 15th.

Before we could take the day long tour, we had to attend an orientation meeting and view a short documentation about Range Creek. The orientation meeting was on Friday evening so we took off work early to drive down to Price and got a motel room. At the orientation meeting, we met the other people who would be going in the two University of Utah vans as well as our guide.

The next morning, we met in Price and loaded ourselves into the vans. We then traveled southeast down the highway towards Green River and turned east to go up Horse Canyon to the top of the Book Cliffs. It was then quite a drive on the dirt roads until we descended into Turtle Canyon which finally joins the Range Creek near the head of the canyon. Here we had to wait a while for an armed BLM officer to join us and unlock the gate. This BLM officer then shadowed us for the rest of the day to make sure we didn’t pick up anything or get off the trails.

Most of the Indian ruins and petroglyphs had to be observed from the dirt road but there were several stops to walk side trails to different dwellings or rock art. It was wonderful country! However, the “tour group” status really made me crazy. I really wanted to ditch the group, get off by myself and REALLY see this country. But there was this BLM guy… and his gun…

When we got to where the natural arch could be seen in the high cliffs, the group made a special stop just for David and I. The sun was in a lousy place to get a good picture so they promised to stop again on the way out, just for us.

Towards the bottom end of the canyon, we stopped at the ranch house and cabins for lunch and a rest. This gave us a chance to take pictures of the ranch and talk with one of the team leads for the research that the university was conducting. It was very pleasant there under the big cottonwood trees. Very peaceful. I was jealous of those that got to stay in the canyon all month.

Finally it was time to head back up the canyon again. We did get to stop for better pictures of what we found out was called Budge Arch after the nickname of Waldo Wilcox’s father.

Then it was a long bumpy ride back over the mountain and down Horse Canyon to the highway back to Price. We then loaded up the Explorer and headed home again.

Just after Cedar City Utah, we took a road just north of Kanarraville Utah which headed east up the mountain. We then took back roads heading south which we were hoping would take us to the border of Zions National Park, above the Kolob Canyons. We wanted to see what the upper parts of the park looked like and find out what access options there were. Unfortunately, before you can get too close to the area we wanted to see, we hit private property which was closed for general travel.

Instead we backtracked until we could hit back country roads that took us further east to Kolob Reservoir and then south down the mountain to the main park road in Virgin Utah. On the way, we hit a little rain, which didn’t concern us much once we were on paved road again. Over all, it was a pleasant summer drive on the mountain.

We drove into Springdale Utah with the idea of getting a room for the night but summer rates proved WAY too expensive. We ended up driving clear back to Hurricane Utah before we could afford a motel room for one night.

Since we had some time left in the day, we drove south down the Hurricane Cliffs until we were almost in Arizona. We then headed west on the south side of Sand Mountain. Here we found a parking area and short trail to some exposed dinosaur tracks now captured in the sandstone.

Further west we visited Fort Pearce in Pearce Wash. This fort was constructed immediately above a spring which was one of the only water sources in the area. This would have been an important destination for wandering Indians and an easy way to pick up those who were not suppose to be off their reservation lands.

Near the spring was one large rock covered with Indian petroglyphs.

In the parking area for Fort Pearce, we met a couple of guys on ATVs. One of them had a flat tire and was looking for an air pump. I happen to carry a small electric air pump and we soon had him on the road again. (Those ATV’s look like they would be a GREAT way to explore the back roads and trails of Utah. Hmmm…..)

The next morning, we drove back to Zions National Park and used my 2006 National Park pass to enter. We then drove to the far east end of the park where we could park near Checkerboard Mesa.

We then hiked on the west side of the mesa, up over a narrow pass into the back country. On the south east side of the mesa was a small class “D” natural arch called Checkerboard Arch.

The climb up the pass was rather nice in the morning with the shadows from the cliffs. However, by the time we reached the other side, the temperatures were in the 100’s. NOT a good time to be hiking. The area was interesting and I would have like to explore more — but it was just too hot. Heading back down the pass and back to the Explorer was much harder in the full heat of the day.

At that point, we were pretty much drained of energy. We played tourists and took some pictures from the road before heading for Utah County and home again.

I REALLY wish I had the time and energy to explore more of the back country in Zions! Instead, I just get an occasional peak… and that is NOT enough!

The next morning, we headed north towards Mt. Linnaeus and then northwest along the face of the mountain. We parked along the gravel road above Bayles Canyon and proceeded to bushwhack our way down the steep hill to the west. In the distance to the west, we could see smoke from a fire burning in the cedars. Off and on all day long, we were breathing that smoke.

Once on the bottom of the steep ravine, we were able to make our way down to the main rim of Bayles Ranch Canyon.

Here we found narrow and rocky chute down off the rim and onto the floor of the canyon. It was then an easy walk around the point to Bayles Canyon Arch.

While descending this last steep chute, a helicopter flew low into the canyon, proceeded to the top of the canyon, hovered for a moment and then rose to exit the canyon just over our heads. Tourists, I suppose.

(I gotta get me one of those!)

Bayles Canyon Arch is a wonderful large class “B” natural arch. The setting is high enough that it is surrounded by Ponderosa pine and Gimble oak instead of the sagebrush we are used to.

At the arch, we found a trail heading down the canyon which is probably the better way to access the arch. We couldn’t see any roads in the distance but there probably is at least one.

After spending some time at the arch, it was time to head back again. We ended up climbing up a closer chute and walked as far as possible on the upper level of the canyon before we had to tackle the brush going up the steep hill to the road. We choose a different hill to climb hoping that the going would be easier.

It wasn’t.

In fact, it was almost impossible to climb up the steep hillside that was so covered with brush. At one point, I actually climbed straight up a short cliff just so I could make some progress. It was ugly but we finally made it to the top, badly scratched and exhausted.

Luckily, that was the last thing we did that day. After enjoying a peaceful sunset, we drove back to Blanding for a motel room and to rest up for the next day’s hike.

The next morning we enjoyed a big breakfast at the Old Tymers Restaurant, which is not necessarily a good way to start a day of hiking.

We took a quick drive down Blanding’s Westwater Creek road so we could take new pictures of Westwater Natural Bridge (Class “C” bridge) and some Inidan cliff ruins.

We then drove west to Natural Bridges National Monument and then north up the mountain and over Bear Ears to South Elk Ridge. We then turned northwest where the gravel road took us above Cherry Canyon to Dry Mesa looking down into Woodenshoe Canyon.

Here we explored the canyon rim until we found a natural arch we called Kinked Arch.

There should have been two natural arches in this area but we couldn’t find any others.

Along the way, we saw an unusual number of horned lizards (or “Horny Toads). It seems like we see some every time we are near the Dark Canyon Wilderness area high mesas.

On the way back to Bear Ears, it was the right time of the evening to see a lot of wildlife including mule deer and wild turkeys, none of which seemed to be concerned with our stopping to watch them. However, we had a long drive home that night so we could be back at our jobs the next morning.