Yesterday we dodged rain showers all day. Today was beautiful! One threat of rain appeared in the distance but never reached us! We left Torrey UT at 8:30 and 41 degrees but the sun was out so we dressed accordingly and put the top down! We drove through Capitol Reef National Park on Rt. 24 to Hanksville. In the park, we took a short hike alongside the Freemont River. All we could see were tall red sandstone cliffs. Outside the park the terrain was still beautiful but the gray/brown rock formations were pointed and smooth looking and
looked like piles of road salt/sand.
At 10 we stopped for coffee and fruit in Hanksville where it was 60 degrees. Here we connected with the
Bicentennial Highway, Utah Rt. 95 S. The signage for
open range proved to be accurate. Cattle right on the shoulder! We drove through North Wash Canyon, Glen Canyon and the northern end of Lake Powell which is
down 50 feet from 25 years ago. The view of land locked Hite marina is a testament to this fact! The red rock mesas and buttes were sites to behold! After crossing the Dirty Devil River, we crossed
another bridge over the Narrow Canyon of the Colorado River. Our altitude
was 4500 feet and the temp 62 degrees. From these high desert plains we viewed the buttes Jacob's Chair and the
Cheese Box. The drive was, again, fantastic, but we are running out of accolades! You just have to see it to believe it!
A juniper forest led to the top of Cedar Mesa and the
Natural Bridges Monument. Outside the info building we walked through a desert garden and looked at a lovely
round leaf buffalo berry bush. From there we drove the
nine mile loop to several natural bridges seen from the canyon above. About 12:45 we stopped for a picnic lunch
on the loop and then at the
Horse Collar Ruin overlook we hiked a 1 mile trail to view Pueblo ruins. Next to the trail were high desert purple wildflowers.
We left Natural Bridges at 2 and got back on the Bicentennial Highway to Blanding. We drove through a tight passage cut out of Comb Ridge and continued through the high desert juniper and sage brush. This scenic byway, the Bicentennial Highway was constructed in 1976. Kudos to those who made this decision!!! We were mesmerized the whole route with the awesome, changing landscape. Double WOW!!!
At 2:45 we turned south on Rt. 92 to Bluff and on to Mexican Hat and the Monument Valley scenic drive. The temp in the high desert on the way to Monument Valley was 67 degrees. At Mexican Hat we saw a rock formation looking like a sombrero which gave the town its name. After crossing the San Juan River, with the top down, we were overwhelmed by the smell of
diesel coming from the truck in front of us! Phew! We crossed into Arizona 4 PM. In
Monument Valley we viewed the Agathla and the Owl Rock buttes. At that point we decided to put the top up. Ahead of us black sky with rain visible was threatening. As before, it didn't reach us! At 4:45 in Kayenta AZ we checked into a Hampton Inn. Early for us but we were pooped and needed to stop! We actually had room service for dinner! On to New Mexico tomorrow for a visit with Helen and Paul Doane
What a spectacular day: the weather, the drive and our very cool Mustang!
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