One of our neighbors said they made the big loop around the park that I had been contemplating on the map. It went east on highway 24 through the park, then south on Notom-Bullfrog road, west up the Burr Trail switchbacks all the way to Boulder and finally, north on highway 12 back to Torrey. It was the best way to see the Waterpocket Fold but I was concerned about the amount of unpaved road on this route (approximately 25 miles)., Our neighbor said it was not bad so we decided to give it a shot - we could always turn around if the road was too rough.
The view on the west side of the Waterpocket Fold...
...looks very different than the views on the east side of the fold.
The unpaved road was pretty good as long as I kept the speed under 30 mph (a few places it was more like 15-20 mph). A couple of times the road passed through a wash. It was clear that on a day with rain you could not drive this road. That got me thinking about how we would get back if there was a sudden cloudburst. I just hoped there were no more washes ahead of us that would have us boxed in!
The Notom-Bullfrog Road loop drive was mostly outside the park. Seems like inhospitable land for a farming, but someone managed!
The layers remind me of growth rings in a tree, only each layer can represent thousands of years of sediment.
We estimated we passed less than a dozen cars and were passed by less than a dozen cars on the unpaved road. It had to be some of the loneliest road we have traveled. At one point while we were stopped for some pictures a nice couple stopped to see if we needed any help.
The drive south was along the fold; heading west we had to climb over the ridge. The Burr switchbacks made that possible. The road was steep enough that a lot of it was taken in 1st gear at about 5 mph. Of course, we stopped so many times I lost count. The view just kept getting better and better as we climbed.
We quickly gained altitude (guessing 15% grade?) requiring many switchbacks.
The quick elevation change made for beautiful views looking back.
Wildlife is sparse in the high desert, but David managed to spot this little guy watching us.
Utah is amazing!!!
I can't help but wonder what event caused the drastic change that you can see between the Kayenta layer (red) and the Navajo sandstone layer above it.
The red Kayenta layer is softer causing it to erode faster until it can no longer support the Navajo sandstone blocks above.
It took us more than 7 hours to complete the 125-mile loop, but then that is to be expected when you stop for nearly 800 pictures along the way. The scenery was beautiful but we were certainly ready to get back home after this long loop.
No comments:
Post a Comment