The Burr Trail Road

My night at Bolder Lodge was so nice I scheduled two more nights. The lodge is at a fork, so I decided to take one of the back roads to see what I could find... I would not be disappointed.  If you have not heard of the Burr Trail Road you are most likely not alone, I did knot know of it until my GPS announced that I was actually traveling on it. This in itself was not much of a surprise because most roads are poorly marked along the route 12 corridor. What is surprising are the fabulous sites along the trail. I found myself stopping often. The images that follow are representative of the unique formations and vistas that occur along the way.

Portions of the trail are paved and other segments give way to dirt. I am glad for the 4-wheel drive of my trusty Subaru Outback. This car has been a good and reliable partner for me on this trip.

The landscape colors become more red as I wind my way down into what appears to be an ever narrowing canyon, soon I am driving next to steep walls on a bumpy dirt road, to my left is a dry gully.

There is much to see and not another car in sight. The day is warm and sunny and I am beckoned to stop and explore. I don't even pull of to the side as I am truly alone out here.

The next series of shots, I hope will give you a sense of the surreal atmosphere of this place.
It feels as though spirits occupy this land and I want to be respectful of how and where I walk. Prairie Dogs dart from hole to hole, buzzards, drift on currents high above me looking for a meal. This canyon is so quiet I can only hear the noise in my head that occurs when there is no external sound to overwhelm the inner dialogue. I guess it is the result of many years of living in the ever present cacophony of city life. 
Silence, I find, can be surprisingly loud when it is first encountered. However, it doesn't take long before I become comfortable and relax in the bigger quiet of this place. It is after all a joy to be here.

 










As I slowly continue down the road small slot canyons appear across the gully and evidence of torrent flooding is clearly marked in the arrangement of the rocks and the shapes in the walls. I am compelled to stop and explore all the cracks in the cliffs. I am glad I did, as I explore small openings that expand into rooms of color and light carved by 10,000 years of raging flood waters.

The glowing light of the slot canyon offers sublime color and geometric forms that dazzle the eye. I am awed by the extreme values and shapes. The sandy floor has no foot prints and I feel that I am the first human to step into this natural temple.

 In this shot is a series of holes carved by wind and rain create a depth of frail forms in the natural architecture of the wall.

I am aware of the extreme cleanliness of the slot, clearly nature is taking good care of it. I will leave it as pristine as I found it. 


Even in the depth of the slot canyon one finds new life growing, small trees compete for the limited light and water on the canyon floor.

Exiting the slot reveals water stained rocks and a sheer cliff face.

Soon I am back in the car and moving on to the next wonder. Slot canyons give way to rock piles of fantastic form. Towers of stones one piled on the next reaching for the sky.

 Most interesting are the balanced large rocks sitting on smaller ones. This place starts to resemble a chess set filled with interesting pieces.

Continuing down the road, I see the pillars give way to an up hill climb. The steep walls lower and the view opens up to a vista. So much fascinating landscape hidden away on a small road that leads to the southeast corner of Capitol Reef National Park. This is where the dirt road dead ends in a landscape devoid of people, untouched and unspoiled.

Hours are spent walking amidst the monuments to nature. Again I am aware of the deafening silence but for the wind whispering between the rocks and the sounds I am making with my camera. Click on the images to see them full size.

The day passes quickly in this place, I am getting hungry and soon will need to start back.



On my return the road appears different, so much to see coming and going... The lodge is calling me now and I realize that I won't see it all on this trip.

A small stream that was missed when entering offers late afternoon light.

A free range steer makes an appearance, then I am home again to the view of the pond from my balcony. Getting ready for dinner I know a great meal awaits. I could not have had a better day then this one. I feel blessed and wonder what the road will present next?

The Devils Garden

Just a few miles into the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument there is a dirt road going south into the foothills. It is a dusty road flanked by large fields. Long Horn Cattle come close to the road here to see the passerby's as they zoom down main route 12. I take the turn off and drive down the dusty road. I am watching the time and the gas needle as I am going far out into a wilderness area. There are no gas stations or restaurants out here. There are many smaller enticing turn off roads but I am on a mission. I am looking for the famed Devils Garden that is somewhere down at the end of  road.

After what seemed like an hour I was wondering if my GPS was telling me the truth there was no road marked on the screen and it said I was driving on open range.  But then there it was a small hand painted sign on the left side of the road... Devils Garden this way.
Here is the photo essay of that stop. Click on the image to see it larger.

As the day moved from late morning to early evening my belly began to complain and road fatigue was setting in. Up ahead a few miles was the Boulder Mountain Lodge, a phone call and I had the last room for the night, lucky me. This is a first class lodge and is often totally booked. My room looked out on a small pond. The last image here is the view from the back deck off my room. This was such a nice place I booked two more days using it as a base from which to explore the back roads. They also have a great home made Elk Sausage.

Route 12 on the Escalante Staircase

Leaving Bryce Canyon and heading toward our next National Park is a remarkable drive filled with vistas of shocking beauty and a long and meandering road past cattle farms and small state parks created to preserve rock formations and arroyos. I found it irresistible to stop and take pictures along the way. Needless to say getting to the next stop was less important then recording the path I was traveling. This post will give you a glimpse into the sights along the way.

 This first image is of the hills just outside of Bryce. The red rock hoodoos are still evident hidden among the trees of increasing density and just as interesting only smaller and less dramatic. I feel sad leaving them I feel that I am leaving old friends. To see them get smaller as I drive by reminds me of the days I spent among them.

Soon The landscape opens up wide and distant mountains mark the snow line and it seems I can see forever.. The forest releases it's grip on the land and scrub brush begins to populate the high range. The colors are soft and varied, the shapes are soft and wave in the breeze as the wind blows.

Fences appear and long horn cattle roam free on wide expanses of landscape. I stop to get a closer look at the cattle that are close to the road. I am carefully watched by the large black and white steer, but soon his curiosity waned and he walked away. 

 The blue sky is dotted with white clouds and one can see the distant rainfall of approaching storms from a long way off. Large for-ground textures become spattering clumps of dotted shapes as they move to the distant horizon.

As I travel further down route 12 the land flattens out. Small trees stand out occasionally, dispersed in the fields, contrasting the wide horizontals as if they were their to watch over the herds of cattle roaming over the range.

Bryce Canyon... Land of the Hoodoos a spiritual place

I have been putting off writing about Bryce Canyon until I finished processing all the 600 photographs I shot while walking the canyon. The difficult process of choosing which images to use on this blog is what has taken so long. So I hope you will enjoy the images and get a feeling for this amazing canyon.

My first impression of Bryce is that it is a classic old lodge set in a nice block of woods that one reaches from SR 12 to SR 63. There is only forest and snow as I drive the road. Spring thaw has had no effect on the grip of Winters cold in this place. I am wondering what sets this place apart from the many other nice looking woods I have seen on my travels? After a few minutes I reach what appears to be a parking lot framing a classic old log building and a group of cabins set in a snowy wood, a Christmas card setting if ever there was one.

Checking in as evening is setting, I go to my cozy room up on the second floor of the rustic lodge main building. The room is really two rooms, one for sitting, reading or just looking out of the perfectly placed window and the other part for sleeping. There is a small no frills bathroom off the bedroom. I am grateful for the second floor location and a warm comfortable bed. I check my photo gear for the next day of exploration before going down for dinner.

Dawn brings the light of day in my window, waking me from a restful night sleep. The smells of coffee and eggs waif their way up the stairs as I go down to the lodge dinning hall for a hardy breakfast, a welcome way to start my day.

Soon I am loaded up with food and gear and ready to experience Bryce Canyon. I walk from the lodge through the woods on a small path in the snow. Then without a hint of warning I am standing at the top precipice of a massive and deep open space full of colorful towers reaching up to meet me. The first experience is shocking and unexpected, even if you have seen pictures of Bryce before. A large gust of wind blows up the walls hitting me in the face with a cold blast of air as if to say wake up and take notice of where you are. My eyes begin to water. After a long pause to take in all that is before me I decide to walk the rim trail above to see the view from all angles. The light is beautiful in the morning, creating deep shadows of reflected red shades. The sunlight adds warm yellows to the towers. The first day passes fast as I return to my room to recharge both my own batteries and that of the camera. I couldn't wait to see how my shots came out. Tomorrow I will walk the steep lower trails.

Day two is met with eager anticipation. A quick breakfast and I am off to the edge and the trails that lead to the canyon floor. As I walk the canyon's up and down trails I can't help but think how time and weather must have diminished the still overwhelming scale of the towers looming above me.

 It is hard to explain the feeling I had the first time I looked out over the rim of Bryce Canyon it was as if it belonged to another planet or to a science fiction film set. Not quite real yet there it is a sight to behold.The red rock of this place is so unreal that you may think that I have adjusted the color of the photos, let me assure you that it is the real color. The consistent rushing wind of the upper rim is clearly missing in the relative quiet calm of the descending trail. I become aware of my breathing and the rising Hoodoo Towers around me. Hoodoos... that's what they call them. They have personalities you know, distinctive features that make me feel they are watching and wondering why I have come among them.

It is a long and winding walk of many hours down as I stop to take pictures. It will be much more difficult on the uphill climb out of the canyon as I will be tired from the long hike. I am grateful for the forethought of a packed lunch and several bottles of water I brought along with me. Turkey jerky never tasted so good.

At the bottom, the Hoodoos of red rock reach to the sky as if standing guard over some unseen treasure. The treasure though is the beauty of the spires themselves. The towers are like nothing else I have yet experienced on this journey through the Parks of the Western United States. Now the land flattens out a bit in front of me and the trees take hold as the forest starts to regain a foothold. Small animals scurry around. An incredibly bright blue bird lands on a branch near me, my wife tells me (she is a bird watcher) that the bird is a Western Bluebird. It is a fabulous bird that is disappearing from many ranges that it once inhabited.

Noon passes and the day wares on as I cross the canyon floor, Soon I start the long slow climb back out of the canyon. I am glad I took my time getting to this point, my back pack and camera begin to feel like lead weights as the trail steepens. I am now using my tripod as a walking stick and have to rest at each turn of the switchback trail.

The shadows begin to grow longer and the temperature starts to fall marking the need to start the long climb up. There are many climbers marching up the trail, I am passed by several young folks that seem to not even realize the steepness of the path they are walking. I feel my age as they go by me with a big "Hello".

Undaunted I press on shooting and climbing the steep trail. An hour passes, and then another, now I can see the top of the path. This has to be one of the most strenuous hikes of my trip, but I will do it again the next time I return to Bryce it is too good to miss. As darkness falls I am back at the lodge, a shower, a rest and a well deserved dinner with friends ends the perfect day that I will long remember.

The Long Road to Zion

Leaving the South Rim of the Grand Canyon behind, I headed northwest toward Las Vegas. There I would meet my wife and some friends for the next part of the journey. It wasn't long before I was back in civilization. There is a lot of road work being done all over the area and I was caught in the grip of this road development with many other unfortunate travelers. It would be slow going for several hours.

I can't say that Las Vegas is an ideal stopover after the tranquility of the open desert. It's more like a dunk into ice cold water after baking in the Sun. On one level it is revitalizing and on another just shocking to the system. Thankfully this would be a short layover.
 
I picked up my wife and the next morning we were off on route 15 to the open spaces of the Colorado Plateau and the next major location of Zion National Park. Along the way it is worth stopping at St. George, for gas and food before the route 9 cutoff as there is not much between there and the small town of Springdale which marks the entrance to the Park.

I'd herd a lot about Zion and how beautiful it is and was looking forward to the experience. The bad news is that we arrived at the gate late in the evening and the road into the park was very dark. All we could see in the darkness as we drove the winding road for the several miles to the Lodge were the trees lit by my headlights. Also, just a word of advise at this point, you need a reservation at the Zion Lodge to drive your car into the park. All others must use the shuttle buses that run during open hours. 

Night hid any chance of seeing the grandeur of anything but a few rodents caught in the headlights as we drove to the lodge. Soon a sign announced that we have arrived. We checked in quickly and were so tired we went directly to our room to get some sleep. The lodge is rustic and the rooms are nice and without frills, but the bed was soft and soon I was fast asleep... Zion will have to wait for morning.

The morning sunlight brought the first view of the valley and it did not disappoint.  The red cliffs formed bands of strata layers revealing  the history of 225 million years of erosion from the Virgin River, earthquakes and volcanic activity. I strained my neck to look to the top as the peaks rose to meet the blue sky.  

Over the next days as I walked the trails and photographed this valley I could not help but be awed by the majestic scale and color of this spiritual place. It is clear why and how Zoin got it’s name one feels the energy of a higher power here it is a vortex of energy, a place of contemplation and self awakening.

It’s at this point that I become lost for words. Yes... you heard me right... I became speechless. I have been sitting here thinking what I could say that would add to the images that follow but the story is in the images so I think I will let the images speak for me. I hope the pictures that follow do justice to the experience of Zion National Park. 

My first view of the Canyon.

Emerald Pools Trail "The Falls"

Emerald Pools Trail the path along the pools.

Emerald Pools Trail water etched rock face

Trees along the edge.

Towers of the Virgin

Looking south over the Virgin River

The wide view looking south