Utah- Incredible Natural Beauty- A Photo Essay

Utah- Incredible Natural Beauty- A Photo Essay

Thank you for reading this week’s post on Utah- Incredible Natural Beauty. The state has lots of prehistory in the form of Anasazi ruins, too. We could easily spend a month here and not see or do everything available. I still haven’t touched those fly rods, either, although I did see a few trout today, small ones, while hiking along the Escalante River.

Susan hikes through a slot on the way to the petroglyphs.

Mesa Verde National Park lies in Colorado, and our week started there with a scary drive to the top of the mesa. We went for a hike on the Petroglyph Point trail, a two-and-a-half-mile loop at 8000-plus feet elevation. I had to take it slooooow; these lungs have problems at sea level. It was a great hike and the petroglyphs were only a small part of it.

The petroglyph, a history of the antelope and raven clans.

 

Susan on the return trip.

 

The famous cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde NP.

 

The remains of a pueblo, with a kiva, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.

Another day, another archeological site. This one was Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, which sits on the state line. This monument was different than others in that the sites were fairly distantly spaced, with private lands in between. We got turned around and ended up at Hovenweep National Monument, lucking out to get the last campsite there. We were now in Utah.

Ruins at Hovenweep National Monument.

We went on a hike before dark, another incredible experience.

Ruins at Hovenweep National Monument.

 

A Susan and John selfie, at Hovenweep Monument.

The next day we drove on Utah 95 through Bears Ears National Monument to get to Natural Bridges Natural Monument. Everyone should experience both the road and the monuments!

Susan examines one of the bridges.

 

That tiny speck under this bridge is Susan!

The sun rose again. We went to the Needles Overlook in Bears Ears. What you look over is the canyon of the Colorado River, upstream of where it’s designated “Grand Canyon.” It’s still grand!

Susan on the edge at Needles Overlook, Bears Ears National Monument.

 

No arch in this shot at Arches National Park.

Then it was off to Arches National Park. We took a number of short hikes, none more than a mile, any of which could be life-changing in the right circumstance. The amazing thing about this trip is every day is better than the previous one, just cake-and-ice-cream scenery day after day!

Arch one and arch 2. This things are huge.

 

The famous double arch. Tiny specks at the bottom are people.

We had a travel day scheduled. We were passing Canyonlands National Park, where the Green and Colorado Rivers converge. We did it too fast, no hikes. Still amazing.

Petroglyphs at Newspaper Rock, Bears Ears NM.

We got on Utah 24 off I-70, headed to Capitol Reef National Park. Sadly, we only could get one night at the campground there. This place so warranted further exploration!

I heard something out the window at dawn. Twenty mule deer were just outside the van. Capitol Reef NP.

 

One of may incredible rock formations, Capitol Reef NP.

Continuing west on 24, we entered the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. I have traveled on mountains roads in Bolivia and Peru. Route 24 through here was the most terrified I’ve ever been on a road. Two narrow, swerving lanes, sheer drops of forever on either side, and no guard rails. YIKES!!!

Not at the terrifying spot, Grand Staircase-Escalnte NM.

We made it, somehow. Today we hiked in Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, seeing more petrified wood than I saw at Petrified Wood National Park.

This colorful fossil tree trunk is 300 million years old.

 

You can see the annual rings in this one.

Whew! That brings us up to date!

Thank you for reading this week’s post on Utah- Incredible Natural Beauty!

Life is great and I love life!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! or take a trip!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide

Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2021. All rights are reserved.

Exploring Escalante

Exploring Escalante

No matter how extraordinary the scenery, sooner or later one must take a break from hiking.

Susan and I visited Kodachrome Basin State Park on Saturday. The park boasts magnificent, majestic scenery and wonderful hiking. However, it’s June and by mid-day it was getting rather hot. We decided to take a ride along Utah’s Scenic Highway 12.

Exploring Escalante

Susan still doing the hiking thing, at Kodachrome Basin State Park.

Ordinarily scenic drives do not excite me. I’d rather be out in the scenery than driving past it. I make an exception for this road, however. It’s extraordinary.

About 2 PM we came to the town of Escalante. Wanting a cup of joe, I parked the car and went on a search mission. The first stop was the Escalante Mercantile, a really nice natural foods store owned by a wonderful woman named Marcie Hoffman. If you need real food and you are in the area this is the place to stop. Marcie directed us to another store a short distance up the street, Escalante Outfitters. She also gave us some other information she thought we could use in order to enjoy her adopted town a little more.

Escalante had wildflower gardens along the sidewalks, in people’s yards, everywhere. Very nice.

So we get to Escalante Outfitters. The have a fly fishing guide there. The sell clothing. They sell jewelry. They sell books. They sell outdoor equipment. They have a topographic map case which is indexed. They play great music. There is a restaurant. I get my coffee, which (at 2:30 in the afternoon) is fresh and tastes heavenly, a really good cup. Susan and I check out the dinner menu and immediately decide to eat dinner there, even though dinnertime is three hours away.

Up the road a mile I had spotted an art gallery. Susan teaches art and will always be interested so we go there. It’s the gallery of David and Brigitte Delthony. He make art that doubles as furniture- spectacular, unique, for those with discriminatting tastes. He has won a plethora of awards and one look is all it takes to see why.

A rocking chair crafted by David Delthony.

A rocking chair crafted by David Delthony.

Brigitte is a potter. Her hands are covered in mud when we arrive. She graciously spends 40 minutes talking with us about her work, how she builds it, how she fires and finishes it. Every piece is absolutely exquisite. Like her husband she has won many awards. It was an awesome stop, well worth our time.

One of Brigitte's exquisite pots, if "pot" can describe something like this.

One of Brigitte’s exquisite pots, if “pot” can describe something like this.

We tear ourselves away and visit another gallery. When you travel and visit a gallery cold, you never know what to expect. Escalante Gallery has outstanding photography, handmade jewelry, pottery, and other very nice gift items. We spoke at length with the owner and photographer, Tracy Hassett. His work makes mine look like chopped liver. He gave us lots of good information- more than we could use!- that he publishes in the form of maps, available on their website.

I tell him I want to go to Bryce and photograph the full moon rising.He suggests I get up in the morning and photograph it setting. He tells me where to park the car in order to get the shot. I follow his instructions, and get the shot below. Stopping at Escalente Galleries was a much more than worthwhile stop.

exploring escalante

Moonset over Bryce Canyon

Escalante sits in the north side of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, almost two million acres of wild, wild country. Bryce Canyon is gorgeous, but it’s a national park. It’s crowded. The national monument was the last place mapped in the lower 48 states. It’s vast, undeveloped, and very, very uncrowded. If you come out to southern Utah and you like solitude and adventure it’s the place you need to visit. The town of Escalante would make a very good base for that kind of adventure.

Nearly dinner time now, we make our way back to Escalante Outfitters and order chicken salad sandwiches. They are nearly heavenly, the first good food we’ve had since leaving Kansas City. Yeah, we had a wonderful time exploring Escalante.

Life is great and I love my work!

Life is short. Go adventuring!

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2013. All rights are reserved.

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