Utah Day 2 - The Adventure...

Day 2, I woke up to a crystal clear and yet cool morning. I walked out near the rim of the canyon and took ...well a whole lotta photos. As I was walking around I could hear coyotes sing, although I never did see them.

This photo, you can see me standing on the edge of the canyon...whoa.. gave me the willies!

Got back in the jeep and headed to town to get gas and some snacks to nibble on. Only took 30 miles to get to Hanksville. This town has a population of 300 counting cats and dogs. Otherwise, the closest town is Green River to the north, about an hour away.

I drove south and crossed back into Capital Reef NP from the south side of the Henry Mountains. Most of my travels were along dirt roads. One of my stops along the way was Escalante. Just before getting into Boulder, I seen a slab of rock with the weirdest iron deposits laying all over. Some were the size of a pea and others were large boulders. Black and round..it was solid iron laying on top of sandstone. Just plain weird.

The difficult part of this day was the drive through Grand Staircase National Monument. I took the road less traveled of course, but didnt know what I was in for. I took Smokey Mountain road. This road was part of the way dirt, sand rock and solid rock. It took 4 hours to drive 70 miles. I came upon a part of the road that was a solid slab of sandstone at a steep incline. Luckily I had a 4x4.

I reached the south edge of Grand Staircase NM along the rim just before sunset. It was spectacular!! I could see the town of Page Arizona in the distance. With the moon shining bright above, it was a wonderful and quiet evening with no one anywhere near me.