Dale's Out West Travels: Montrose, June 8, 2016

What a view!

Well I am sure you are all relieved to read that I have completed the first leg of the homeward journey. I know what you are thinking, “Thank God I won’t have to read any more of these travel blogs; my eyes are developing callouses!” Well don’t get to comfortable because I traveled a far piece today and took lots of pictures.

But before we get into the substance, let me lay a little groundwork. For the last few days in Montrose, I was spending a good deal of time looking at the map and wondering if my original plan for the return trip might be rerouted in the name of exploration. Originally, my plan was to traverse the San Juan mountains to the south via US-550 trough Ouray, Silverton and Durango, better known as suicide alley. It is a beautifully scenic drive but it is, as I have noted before, a bit of a white knuckler. Cowardice however, was not the cause for my pause. This route would have taken me to Cortez (been there) then southward through New Mexico to Gallup and the I-40 westbound to Flagstaff. I have nothing against this shadow of Route 66, but I have traversed the real estate so many times the Tumbleweeds wave to me as I whiz by. So I decided on another route.

I left Montrose fully fed at 0730 hrs and headed north to Delta on US-50 until it joined I-70 in Grand Junction, CO. The direction of travel took me west past the Colorado National Monument (a must see by the way, especially if you like western landscapes) and into Utah. Continuing this direction to I-15 takes one through the San Rafael Swell (a geologic feature, not a glandular malfunction) and its haunting starkness. But I have done that a couple of times in the past decade as well. I decided to take the longest, slowest path I could find: UT-24 which runs between the San Rafael Reef and the San Rafael Desert. If you are skittish about traveling alone on secondary highways that offer no services (for well over one hundred miles), this would not appeal to you. It is barren, desolate country. The geological features appear as they might have been sculpted by ancient aliens (eh, Quicksand?) and break into a tribal war dance, but are just a warmup for what’s coming.

Henry Mtn

Ancient Aliens?

At Hanksville, not much of a town, the highway bends a bit more westerly and after forty miles or so enters Capitol Reef National Park (Utah boasts five National Parks. Can you name the other four?). What can I say about the park? I think I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Capitol Reef

The road through Capitol Reef leads to the town of Tobey, where I taught the local deli operator how to make a proper pastrami sandwich (On rye, provolone cheese, 1000 island dressing, coleslaw. She charged me sixty-six cents for a side of coleslaw.) After my repast, I troubled the owner for directions out of town. I suppose his look of derision was because there was only one intersection and I had missed it coming in. Never the less, I successfully navigated myself out of town on UT-12 which lifted me out of the desert and into the Dixie National Forest. This also, as it turns out, is a rather impressive drive. There is quite a bit of elevation gain with the summit at 9,900 ft. The highway then gives up its heights rather rapidly and dumps us into the coup de grace, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. (No, a National Monument is not a National Park so it is not part of the answer to the question above. No, I do not know the difference between a National Monument and a National Park… what do I look like to you, a ranger?)

Dixie Natl Forrest

Dixie Nat'l Forest

I had been through parts of the Monument before it was a monument. It is an other-worldly environment. I will let the pictures tell the story. But the driving experience must be described: for the first part of trek, the road is atop a sort of plateau looking down into a confusion of canyons created by the relentless flow of the Escalante River. The Escalante River eventually joins the Colorado in Glen Canyon (Lake Powell). Some sections of the roadway are just barely wide enough for two full lanes with no shoulders and severe drops of hundreds of feet for both directions of travel. Eventually the road winds down the grade and into the canyon. There are plenty of picture taking opportunities if your trigger finger doesn’t give out. I ran out of film. Wait minute, I have a digital camera!