Sunday, April 10, 2011

Finally... a lil' Sun Returns to the High Utah Desert...

Early morning and the Spring Weather on the Escalante wasn't showing much sign of letting up... bein' the wuss I've become... been stayin' close to the furnace the past couple days... while the flurries... flurried through...

They'd quit for a bit...and I'd think it was passin'...and 'bout the time I'd think of stretchin' my legs... whoosh! The mountains would disappear again... and big Ol' fat flakes would be hittin' the window...

So I just kept the coffee hot and waited... only... my waiter... has been gettin' over used and is kinda sore... which inflames my hitch itch... and.... oh hell... you know what that can cause!

Long around mid afternoon... it finally did pass on by... so... we jumped in the truck and made a quick run up to Escalante for some more water from the community park... dropped the jugs at the rig... loaded the dogs... and took a dirt road toot south of camp...

... it was the start of the drive we started to take... last week... when Murphy crawled under the hood...

This Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument country is reminiscent of Ash Fork... in a lot of places...


Junipers, grass... and Far Horizons...

It still has it's own personality though... A ways south of here, didn't watch the odometer... 10 miles or so... is a spot they call Devils Garden...

A place of Hoodos and twisted rock...

*Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Devils Garden Hoodos*


The BLM has put in several pic nik tables and an outhouse... so it's a nice place for a pic nik... if the last of the storm wasn't blowin' a cold wind through the rocks at 'bout 20 mph! :)

It's kind of a peaceful place... at least it was for us... the "other" visitors braved the wind even less then we did... so we had it much to ourselves for an hour or so... and what with the remnants of the past storm still hangin' in the sky... the clouds make for nicer pictures...

*Looking across the top of Devils Garden*
This country is different... you walk through a grassland... and then... you come up to a sharp edge that just changes... like walking through a curtain... grass on one side and torn, eroded wasteland on the other... or crazy rocks just sticking up out of the high plain...

There were places around the fringes, and within the Devils Garden that reminded me of the Sand Dunes National Park back in Colorado...


Though, the trees and bushes here seem to be doin' a lil' better at surviving... barely... amongst all the sand and Stone...



... and if you walk to the right spot... at the right moment... when the sun is just in the right place... you can capture that soft glow on the stone...  which she did...


... and different personalities of the arches...


On our way home we got caught in another back country traffic jam... These guys came out on the road as soon as the truck started slowing... had a lil' difficulty gettin' past 'em... at first I though maybe they were mustangs... but... if they are I could see no BLM brands... I know they used to freeze brand 'em..


... and the way they came to the truck... made me think of ranch stock... that come runnin' for groceries... when they see a "Ranch Looking" truck... which our beat up ol' '99 sure does a good imitation of! :)

The sky today is mostly clear... for a while... if we can summon the ambition, we're gonna run south again... a bit farther to where there's supposed to be some slot canyons...

'cause tomorrow, we're haulin' out... and moving east... aiming to be in Denver the weekend of the 15th... the store is calling for a lil' attention... and other stuff... so... if we're gonna see those canyons, this trip... today is the day!

Welcoming the Returning Sun
Brian

Return to the main site of goin' RV Boondocking or Visit my Sister website Motorcycle Touring on Freedom Road

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Moving day soon and Denver - the view won't be as beautiful compared to where your at but soon the weater will force you out - I remember the head... Rain here with the sun peeking. I think full fledge rain is due later today. Happy Sunday!!

Evielynne

Sue and Doug said...

great photos today!..thanks for sharing them!!

Anonymous said...

Your photos are just amazing. They seem to get better and better. Very nice. I'm looking forward to reading another entry on your "Ribbon of Highway" blog soon. Don't keep that Raider in the barn too long!

Gaelyn said...

Oh how I miss that red rock country. Soon.