We decided to go back to Harpers Corner today since the weather looked good. The temperatures were supposed to be in the low 80s and mostly sunny. When we got to the end of Harpers Corner Road, there were only two other cars in the parking lot for Harpers Corner Trail (2.2 Miles, 285 feet of elevation, 577 calories). Since we were planning to be gone all day, we brought Etta along. When we had been at the trailhead a couple of days ago, we saw several people coming off the trail with their dogs. So we took Etta with us since it was too warm to leave her in the truck and we thought it would be ok to take her on the trail. Now last time we took a dog with us on a hike in a NPS park, Leslie’s previous dog Koby, we ran into a pair of park volunteers that made us turn back. Well…. About half way down Harpers Corner trail, along comes a park volunteer that tells us that dogs are not allowed on the trail. But, being a nice guy, he said since we were already half way he would let us go on, but not to do it again. Sigh, why does everyone else get away with taking their dogs on NPS trails, and we always get caught?? But the hike was beautiful with views down into the Green River canyon and the Steamboat Rock formation.
After returning to the truck, we took the dirt road (12 miles) down to Echo Park. The drive down was incredible driving down between sheer canyon walls to the Green River, directly across from Steamboat Rock. After eating lunch, we backtracked to the intersection with Yamba Bench Road. We then took Yamba Bench Road (a primitive road 43 miles) as it paralleled the Yamba River. It was obvious no one had been down this road in a couple of weeks. The truck handled the road with finesse. There were several overlooks that gave is views down into the Yamba River Canyon and we could even see rafters and kayaks on the swollen river. This is a more beautiful part of the park than the fossil quarry. But we were happy to get back on the paved road after bouncing for hours on rough roads.
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| Echo Park Road |
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| Steamboat Rock from Hapers Corner Trail |
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| Green River Canyon looking West fro Harpers Corner Trail |
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| Fault Line at Steamboat Rock |
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| Steamboat Rock from Echo Park |
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| Yamba River Canyon from Harding Hole Overlook. You can see rafters and kayakers on the river. |
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