The La Sal Loop Road was named for the La Sal Mountains, with peaks reaching as high as 12,700 feet. The mountains would normally be visible from a large portion of the drive, but they were shrouded in clouds. We did climb to well over 8,000 feet giving us spectacular views of the surrounding area.
We crossed over a ridge and gained a view into the valley to the east of our campsite. It looked dramatically different. The loopy road had us confused about direction most of the time, but we were on the lookout for Parriott Mesa and decided that must be it on the left in the picture below.
Castleton Tower (middle) and Parriott Mesa (left) were visible for about half of the drive.
Our attention was split between the mountains to the south and the fantastic desert valley to the north. We could see the fall color just starting on the mountain slopes and caught just a glimpse of the recent snow crowning the peaks.
Approaching Parriott Mesa from the east.
Taken from the foot of Parriott Mesa.
Circling around to the view from the west of Parriott Mesa. (I think that about covers it! Oh, there could be a view from the top of Parriott Mesa, but that's not going to happen.)
The Colorado River looked like it was more mud than water, but these intrepid kayakers didn't let that stop them!
You can see the river splashing up on the white kayak and it is nowhere near clear. Yuck!
We drove past Big Bend Recreational Area and many other camping opportunities on Hwy 128, all right on the river.
The loop drive took less than 3 hours (a lot less time than we expected). After stopping in Moab for a late lunch, we settled back into the coach for a lazy afternoon. Retirement can be very demanding at times!
No comments:
Post a Comment