Friday May 3rd (cont.)

Before Tom and I left home on this vacation, we made our hotel reservations through Thursday (May 2).  We knew we would be visiting Bryce Canyon on Thursday, but weren't too sure how the remaining three days of this trip would play out, not sure of our route, not sure about how many more Parks, Monuments, or Historical places we would have time for. So when we left our hotel at Bryce Canyon on Friday morning, in the crisp, cold, sunny weather, it was a truly gorgeous day for a drive!  We were pleasantly surprised at the incredible beauty of Capital Reef National Park, which before this trip we had really never heard of this Park.  We are headed east on Utah Hwy. 24, the Capital Reef Country Scenic Byway.  Again this is a such a remote section of our country, we see few vehicles on the road this morning, and fewer towns.  Majestic views are plentiful as we travel toward Hanksville, passing thru only one "town", Caineville, on this long stretch of highway.

We finally reach Hanksville, which isn't much of a town, but mainly a highway intersection, where we will head south on Utah Hwy. 95, the Trail of the Ancients Scenic Byway.  At the Highway Junction is the Hollow Mountain Station, complete with a store built into the side of the mountain (completely underground).  How could we pass this up, we had to stop!

We are loving having the Utah Road Atlas which gives us the names of every mountain, gully, mesa, creek, wash, etc.,  and shows all the roads, even the unpaved ones (with these warnings "Roads may be impassable when wet").

This past Tuesday, after we left the Grand Canyon, we went thru Page, Arizona, and across the Colorado River at Glen Canyon Dam, at the south end of Lake Powell, which is one gigantic (long) lake!  Well, today we will be once again crossing the Colorado River, as the Dirty Devil River flows into it, and subsequently both flow into the very north end of Lake Powell, many miles north of where we were on Tuesday.  En route to this, we are traveling along side the Henry Mountain Range, just west of Highway 95.  This will likely be the last glimpse of snow-covered peaks we will see on this trip.

(Sorry about the reflection in the windshield of the car; I am taking these photos as Tom is driving along!)  We still see few vehicles on this road this afternoon.  I would not want to have "car trouble" out here; might be a while before anyone came along to render assistance.  Here is where the Dirty Devil River flows into the Colorado River.

Next we cross the big Steel Bridge that goes across the Dirty Devil River.

Just before we get to the Bridge, we look to our right, up on a tiny, flat spit of rocky ground, this small airplane is taking off! 

We have not seen any kind of a town or small settlement since we left the Hollow Mountain Store near Hanksville this morning.  However, we know from our Utah Road Atlas that we will soon be to Natural Bridges National Monument. We take the Park Road 275 to the Visitor Center, where we pick up a brochure about the Park, and decide to drive the one-way loop (9 miles) thru the Park, stopping at each Bridge viewpoint.

"Million of years ago these sandstones were deposited and then slowly uplifted as part of the Colorado Plateau.  Erosion gradually formed today's canyons and landscapes.  Natural bridges are formed by the erosive action of moving water.  Arches are formed by other erosional forces-mainly frost action and seeping moisture-that also enlarge natural bridges once stream erosion forms them."

Our first stop is at the Sipapu Bridge (220 ft. height, 268 ft. span, 31 ft. width, 53 ft. thickness.)

Our next stop is the Kachina Bridge (210 ft. height, 204 ft. span, 44 ft. width, 93 ft. thickness).

Our last stop on this 9-mile loop is the Owachomo Bridge (106 ft. height, 180 ft. span, 27 ft. width, 9 ft. thickness).

It was a short hike/walk, from the parking area, on a nice pathway to view each bridge. The mighty power of water is truly phenomenal!

We left the Park, and kept going south on Utah Hwy. 95, and saw this. Aptly named, don't you think?  Bears Ears!

Next we reached the Jct. of U.S. Hwy. 163 & 191, just south of Blanding, Utah.  We took the shortest route we could find to get Montezuma Creek where we would pick up Hwy. 162 that would take us to the Colorado border and Colorado Hwy. 41 south to U.S. Hwy. 160 west to Teec Nos Pos, Arizona, where we would head back east again toward Shiprock, New Mexico on U.S. Hwy. 64!  You see, we are trying to get to the Four Corners Monument, the only place where four States actually touch, at one point!  We barely made it to the Monument before they closed and locked the gates!

Tom and I both used our hands and feet to be in all four states at the same time.  This monument is located within the Navajo Indian Reservation, and I'm sure it is a "happening place" on weekends, holidays, and during tribal celebrations, with the many vendor booths that surround the Monument.

It is getting late in the day, we are running out of daylight, and we have traveled a long way today and seen such beautiful sights and enjoyed the remoteness of the awesome beauty that abounds in southeast Utah.  Now we are looking for a place to lay our weary bodies and get some rest, get a hot shower, and a good night's sleep!

Our goal is to get to Farmington, New Mexico tonight, and maybe make it all the way home tomorrow!  On our way into Shiprock, New Mexico (29 miles before Farmington) we see the "Rock" that gave this town its name!

Of course, we are a good ways away from it so we cannot fully appreciate its height, 7,178 ft., but it does resemble a "Ship"!

Homeward bound tomorrow!