17 April 2021 Montezuma Canyon

 We looked at the weather and saw there was some rain and snow in the area. So we decided to push our canyon hike for a day since we don’t want to get caught up in a flash flood in a canyon. Instead we decided to explore some of the back roads in the area. One of the other folks in the RV park recommended we try Montezuma Canyon road which starts just a little south of Monticello and ends in Blanding. We also thought we would drive the Valley of the Gods dirt road which is south of Blanding. David thought Montezuma Canyon would only take an hour or so, so we planned to get lunch in Blanding. We headed into Montezuma canyon and were very surprised by how beautiful it was. The road is gravel and dirt, narrow in a few places, but quite drivable. It has been very dry, so the road was dry and the creek running through the canyon was mostly dry, which was good for the low water crossings. Not sure we would drive this road in the rain. We saw two beautiful homes that had been built into caves in the sandstone like modern day cliff dwellers. We also saw a trailer parked back in one cave! As we went down the road we came across a rancher and his family driving a small herd of cattle down the road, moving them to a different pasture. So we came to a stop and shut down the truck and let them drive the cattle around us. The rancher stopped and talk with us for a while from horse back. The drought the region has been experiencing for the last two years is hitting him hard since he is not able to grow his own hay. Things in the canyon are greening up, but not as much as it should. As we worked our way back to the main highway we could see rain clouds building. By the time we got to the highway, there were storms all around. The drive through Montezuma Canyon had taken 2.5 hours, so we were starving by the time we got to Blanding. We went to The Patio restaurant again. As we were waiting for our food it began snowing/sleeting. With the storms spreading, we canceled our plans to drive the dirt road in Valley of the Gods since we really did not want to get stuck in mud. So after a very late lunch, we headed back to the Wanderer. The weather looks good for our hike tomorrow.

Montezuma Canyon

RV Parking Idea

Modern Cliff Dwellers

Steak on the Hoof

16 April 2021 Potholes and Slickrock

 David worked long hours the last four days and worked on our federal income taxes in the evenings, so we slept in a little before heading back to Canyonlands NP. We have of list of trails that we want to hike in the park during our stay in the area and two of them were fairly short. The weather was cool but sunny, perfect for hiking. Our first stop in the park was Pothole Point Loop trail (0.8 Miles, 30ft of elevation gain, 600 Calories Burned). The trail takes you across a stretch of slickrock with lots of potholes, some filled with water, that have formed in the rock. It makes the trail a bit rugged since you have to make sure you don’t trip on a low rock ridge. But the views on this trail are INCREDIBLE. You can see all the way to the horizon with beautiful buttes, mesas, and rug canyons. We also had fantastic views of the Needles formation.  We took our time and wandered around to take in the views before heading back to the Behemoth. 

Our next trail was Slickrock Foot Trail (3.5 miles, 292ft of elevation gain, 1709 calories burned) near the end of the road in the Needles district. The trail runs along the edge of Big Spring Canyon, and like Pothole Point Loop, offers incredible views of the canyons and buttes. Between the two trails, we got our muscles warmed up and our hearts filled with the beauty of canyon country. Slickrock had a few interesting scrambles but was a fairly easy trail to walk. The hard part was keeping track of the cairns when moving across the large stretches of slickrock so we could stay on the trail. There were several times we had to stop and backtrack to the last one we saw and then look around for the next one. We really enjoyed both these trails and it gave us an idea of what to expect for the longer hike we had planned for the weekend. 

Needles formation from Pothole Point

Melted Cupcakes

David on Potluck Point

Views from Pothole Point

Canyons Galore

Wooden Shoe Arch

Canyons

Caprices

David walking across slick rock

Cliffs in the distance

Shadows in the Canyons

Beautiful

Goes on forever

Butte in the distance

Swirl in the rock

Little Spring canyon

Leslie on the rock

10 April 2021 Canyonlands NP

 We awoke in the morning, maybe feeling a little bit more tired than usual, but nothing that would slow us down. We headed for Canyonlands National Park. There is a side road out of Monticello that takes you up through Manti-La Sal National Forest. We were surprised to find snow was still on the road in a couple of places, but nothing that was a issue. The road connects into Utah 211, which takes you to the Needles District of Canyonlands NP. There are three Districts in Canyonlands, Needles (south of the Colorado River), The Maze (west of the Green River) and Island in the Sun(north of the Colorado River and East of the Green River). The Maze can only be reached by some very technical four wheel drive roads, something we would not be able to do in the Behemoth. There is also the Horseshoe Canyon Unit to the west. We plan to visit the Needles District from Monticello, Island in the Sky District from Moab and the Horseshoe Canyon unit from Hanksville). 

Our first stop was Newspaper Rock. The rock panel at Newspaper Rock is covered with Petroglyphs dating back from 800BC to 1300AD as well as some graffiti from the 1800s to 1950s. The number of images are amazing. It’s a shame we have not figured out what they mean.

The road into the NP was amazing. We stopped at the visitor center for the Needles District of Canyonlands NP. The visitor center was closed for COVID, but the shop was still open. But somehow we hit it during lunch time again! So we got our passport stamp, talked with the rangers and picked up or park maps. We decided to eat lunch while we wait for the shop to reopen following lunch. While we ate our lunch in the Behemoth, we plotted our strategy. Being a bit more than 24 hours after having our COVID vaccine shot, we decided we should not push it too far. So we decided to do Colorado Overlook primitive road. The reviews suggested the first 6 miles were sandy but the last mile was climbing over “slick rock shelves”. David went up and talked to the ranger about the road conditions and decided it sounded “doable”. After perusing the shop and picking up our “usual”, we headed out on the Colorado Overlook Road. After about ½ mile we hit our first deep sand and after plowing through we dropped the Behemoth into 4 wheel high in order to handle the deep sand. We made it about 6.5 miles, including crawling over some really rough and technical rock sections when we came around a corner and David stopped. One look was all it took for us to decide that was as far as the Behemoth should go. So we backed up to where we could make a 9 point turn with the Behemoth on the narrow road. We found a place to park and hiked the last mile to the overlook where the Colorado River has carved a series of gooseneck canyons. With the Needles on the far side of the canyons, the view was incredible. After taking the view in and shooting lots of pictures, we headed back to the Behemoth. The road past where we had stopped was not something the Behemoth was built for. Several, foot or more, tall ledges to climb over and lots or rough slickrock. We watched one truck crawl past us and the poor passenger was hanging on for dear life. Were glad we walked it. We took the longer route back to Monticello and stopped at the Church Rock for a few photos before arriving back at the Wanderer.

Later that evening, Leslie spiked a low fever from the vaccine, but shook it off with a hot shower!

Newspaper Rock

Newspaper Rock main panel

Elk hunting from horseback with Bow and Arrow

Canyon bottom leading to Canyonlands NP

Entrance Sign

Entrance tot he store at Canyonlands Visitor Center Shop

Sandy operation of the Colorado Overlook Road

The Colorado River goosenecks

The Colorado River in the canyon

The Needles from Colorado Overlook

Part of the Colorado Overlook Road we did not drive

9 April 2021 COVID and Bridges

 When we arrived on the 7^th, David began checking on our ability to get our COVID vaccines in Utah. After contacting the state health board, we were able to score a couple of Johnson and Johnson vaccine appointments at the San Juan County health department in Blanding. We were really hoping for the Pfiser vaccine, but that is not being offered in rural Utah. Plus, the J&J only requires one shot, and since we don’t want to have to travel back for a second shot, we decided the J&J would be good enough. They called Thursday and asked if we would mind getting our shots at the same time and we said that would be great. Our appointment was for 11:00 am in Blanding. After researching the J&J vaccine o line, it appeared any adverse reactions occur in the first 30 minutes and longer term symptoms/reactions would not occur until the evening. So we planned so site seeing after our shots. The shots were painless and quick. The nurse that administered them at the public heath department was very nice. We waited our 30 minutes and were cleared to leave. We headed for the Post Office to mail some of Leslie’s post cards before heading over to Patio Dinner to have lunch. The Patio Dinner is a burger joint and the burgers/fries/onion rings were excellent. We will have to stop there again on our way through Blanding. After lunch we drove along the northern border of the Valley of the Gods on Utah 95 to Natural Bridges National Monument. We checked in at the visitor center and collected our passport stamp. The Visitor Center was closed due to COVID but the shop was still open, but we were there at Lunch, so we decided to stop on the way out. We drove the scenic loop road through the NM and stopped at all the overlooks to see the three bridges (Sipapu, Kachina, Owachomo). We learned the difference between a Bridge and and Arch is that a bridge is cut by water and an Arch is free standing and cut by other natural forces. We also hiked out to the Horsecollar Bend overlook (0.5 miles) to see the ruins down in the canyon. The hikes down into the canyon were tempting, but we did not want to overdo it having just gotten our vaccines.  

After leaving Natural Bridges, we headed back to Utah 261. We took Utah 261 along the western edge of Cedar Mesa to the Moki Dugway. The Moki Dugway is a three mile stretch of 261 where the road turns into gravel and descends the face of the Cedar Mesa cliff in a series of steep (10%) grades and tight switchbacks. David dropped the Behemoth into low gear, turned on the engine break and we crawled down the Moki with not a concern in the world. Only time he had to touch the breaks was to stop for Leslie to take pictures. The reviews are a lot scarier than the actual road.

Once at the bottom, we continued on toward Mexican Hat. We made a side trip to Goosenecks state park where you pay $5 so you can overlook where the San Juan River has cut a series of tight turns through the rock. Its called an “Entrenched Meanderer”. If you floated the river it would take you 12 miles to float it, but as the crow flies, its only 5 miles. Its actually quite spectacular and worth the $5 entrance fee. We notice several RVs camping along the edge of the cliffs and could imagine the beautiful sunsets they would get to see from their sites (no services).

From Goosenecks, we head to the Mexican Hat rock at the junction of 261 and US163. After stopping to get some photos of the rock, we decided we better head back to the Wanderer and Etta before it got too late. So we cruised US163 to Bluff and then took US191 north through Blanding and back to Monticello. We will be back through this area since we intend to go to Monument Valley when it opens back up and also drive the Valley of the Gods primitive road.

We really did not have any noticeable reactions to the vaccines this first night. We both felt a little flush at times, but nothing we could point to as a side effect of the vaccine. 

Entrance Sign

Sipapu Bridge

Rock Ages

Canyon Country

Horse collar Ruins

Owachomo Bridge

Bears Ears

View from the top of Moki Dugway toward Monument Valley

Cliff Face of the Moki

Switchback on the Moki

Goosenecks State Park Entrance Sign

Goosenecks of the San Juan

Us at Goosenecks

Mexican Hat

7 April 2021 Delores CO to Monticello UT

 The drive from Delores to Monticello is only an hour. So we took our time getting ready to leave and our drive over. We could see the Blue Mountains in the distance as we drove. The wind picked up a bit on the way but was not an issue. We are staying at the Westerner RV Park ($600 monthly rate) on the south edge of Monticello. It’s a small town with very little in the way of services (7 restaurants of which two are pizza, one gas station, one grocery store) but it is surrounded by 12 national parks/national monuments. We also made appointments to get our Covid-19 Vaccinations. 

5 April 2021 Sand Canyon Trail, Canyon of the Ancients

 This is apparently the only major trail in the Canyon of the Ancients NM. The trail runs along the western wall of Sand Canyon and there are a number of Pueblo ruins along the walls of the canyon. The trail is 5.7 miles one way from County Road G to Sand Canyon Pueblo. We did not plan to do the whole length since the last mile is a fairly steep climb out of the canyon. We wanted to do about three miles in which would be a 6 mile hike round trip. We started the hike with temperatures in the low sixties and low clouds. The canyon is beautiful! We hiked two miles in to the canyon which gave us a chance to see the Saddlehorn Pueblo, Corncob House and Double Cliff House ruins along with beautiful views of the canyon. We reached the 2 mile mark and came on a steep drop in the trail through a series of switchbacks, a couple that looked a bit dicey. So before heading down, we stopped and had a snack and water. After talking it over, considering this would be our longest hike of the year so far, we had drank half our water, the sun had come out and the temperatures were rising quickly, and that there were some spur trails we wanted to explore on the way back, we decided to turn around here rather than pressing on. The hike back, taking the spur trails into some interesting formations, was uneventful and relaxing. We are glad we turned back when we did instead of pressing on and possibly getting too tired and hurting a knee or ankle on the way back. 

Entrance to Sand Canyon

Rock Formation along the trail

Rock Formation

Saddle horn Pueblo

Sand Canyon Trail

Rock formation

Sand Canyon with Sleeping Ute Mountain int he background

Double Cliff House

Corn Cob House

Un-named ruin