This is so late it is almost embarrassing to post it up! But I had a free minute, so here is a quick n dirty addition to the Moab Trip from last April.
left us at an unmarked crossroads, from which we headed north to find the mousy little town of Blanding, UT.
 | We pulled into Blanding, UT pretty late, very hungry, a little cold, thirsty, and just plain happy to eat and go to bed. The young and friendly hotel clerk with tracks on her arms informed us that Blanding is a dry town, which dampened our spirits very briefly, but we were happy that the dogs were welcome at Gateway Inn.
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|  | We walked across the street to the Steakhouse, but they couldn't serve us, they said, despite the "special" being "Open!" and the dozen other patrons actually eating. Sidenote: notice that the steakhouse advertises steak no less than three times on the signs. Is it because they aren't too bright, or that they think that their clientele needs clarification?
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|  | Blanding was a small, clean, town. Other than the not eating the Navajo tacos at the Steakhouse, it wasn't a particularly memorable stop for us. They did have some impressive cherry blossoms working along the wide, well-made streets. That was pretty.
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|  | From Blanding, we headed down to Natural Bridges Park. It was blustery and cold, and we only had a little time to make it to the ferry we had to catch, but we did a really quick tour anyway.
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 | wildflowers
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|  | Indian ruins that were several hundred years old along a river in the park. Pretty amazing how well-preserved they are, considering their age and proximity to a river that, presumably, swells once in a while.
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|  | Did I mention it was getting cold?
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|  | Kachina Bridge. Next time, I look forward to doing some of the hikes, instead of just blowing through. But at least we got to just blow through!
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 | This is one of the biggest natural bridges around, Kachina. Much more impressive in real life than it is in this bad-lighting, quickly-snapped-from-the-tournout photo.
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|  | We were a little concerned about the incoming weather, which turned out to be a valid concern as it started to snow on us as we were driving out of the park.
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|  | Fortunately, we were headed towards bluer skies. One thing that puzzled us a little: Now and then the road would make thes relatively tight turns for no apparent reason. I'm guessing it was related to property ownership at some point, but welcome any insight.
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|  | Driving along the highway, we saw these ruins off the side of the road. Just right there, no sign, no fence, just... ruins. Pretty cool.
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 | This shows how close they really are, and how easy to approach.
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|  | We pulled into Glen Canyon Rec area with only moments to spare to catch our ferry. We were actually getting pretty worried.
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|  | Yet another fantastic example of beautiful erosion- note also that the weather had turned nicely sunny again (partly due to dropping several thousand feet)
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|  | The Glen Canyon reservoir. This is one man's worst atrocities, according to Edward Abbey. It does make for an odd oasis in the middle of lots of dry surroundings. Very low at this point, frighteningly low for people who rely on it for water.
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 | We need not have feared missing the boat, they hadn't even started loading when we got there
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|  | As fate would have it- we ran into some friends from California. This is Gary Kardum's very nicely built 45 pickup. They had just completed Hole in the Wall, a challenging and scenic trail.
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|  | The Charles Hall ferried us efficiently to the other side of the reservoir. Had we missed it, we would have been spending the night somewhere nearby as it is a long drive around. Onboar was an ice cream truck who handed out some free ice cream sandwiches. That was fun!
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|  | More scenic erosion
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 | If you don't like stratified rocks against blue skies, southeastern Utah might not be such a good place to visit.
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|  | Great quality on the dirt roads
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| |  | We stopped for lunch on a scenic overlook, and this guy in a sportscar wizzed by- wearing headphones, and waving happily. Looks like fun.
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wildflowers
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|  | more flowers
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|  | Group photo. Steve, Brian (Soop), Seth, Annette (sorry if I mis-spelled)- great view, nice weather
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|  | Back onto great quality dirt roads... we decided to follow the Burr Trail, which is generally considered to be one of the most scenic roads in the West. It did not disappoint.
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 | Burr Trail Scenery
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|  | same same, but different. Lots of pretty formations
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| |  | There is a cruiser in this picture. Massive rocks jumbled together with seemingly random orientations.
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 | Self-environmental portrait
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|  | This is looking down at the switchbacks we had just completed. It must have been back-breaking labor to create this road.
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|  | This gives some perspective on the steepness of the slope. This motorcylce passed us 3 or 4 times going different directions that day.
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|  | Another group photo, more pretty rocks
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 | The road towards Escalante
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|  | Totally different types of rocks. All beautiful.
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|  | There is a campground down there somewhere, in retrospect we might should have spent the night.
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|  | Stopped at this junction (Burr Trail and Hwy 12, near Boulder, UT) to figure out where to point ourselves next. Ignorant of the fact that the grill in the background is purported to be out-of-this-world-delicious... we read all about it tomorrow in a magazine we found. Bummer. We headed south, towards Escalante
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Whoa. 14 degrees for 4 miles? Good place to NOT be towing something.
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|  | Yet another radically different terrain and flora.
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|  | Not only is the hwy steep, but if you are inattentive, you'll run over the edge (no guard rail) and you are only a car-length away from dropping into this canyon. Pretty. But not a good place to lose control.
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|  | More pretty canyon. The sticks in the foreground are the roof of a coffee shop's porch. The shop was closed. We could have really gone for a hot cuppa right about then as the temp was falling with the falling sunshine.
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We rolled through Escalante (which is not pronounced Ess-ka-lan-teh, but rather Es-kal-ant, in case you were wondering) and looked for a campsite. Noting that the temp was dropping rapidly, we went back to Escalante to get a room. Apparently, due to the fact it has dropped to below freezing the night before, everyone else camping was also looking for a room. Nothing. :(
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Our decision to push onward towards the next town seemed like a fine one, until Seth's tranny decided that it only wanted to go in 1st gear. We covered about 75 miles at 12mph, watching the mercury drop and the sunlight fade, hoping to find somewhere to sleep.
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|  | Saw a lot of those hazards blinking. In addition to the cold, our decision to not camp was also influenced by the unsavory nature of some of the... um... meth labs that were scattered throughout the hills.
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|  | We ended up at the entrance to Bryce Canyon at the Best Western Ruby's Inn. BW, by the way, is generally reliable for pet-friendly accomodations. It was nice to be in a room again. A few rums and a room-cooked meal later, we called it a day.
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It was another long day, but we covered an amazing variety of terrain and enjoyed spending most of the day off-pavement and relatively alone.
