GC Day 2: Moab to Monument Valley

October 16th

After breaking camp, I headed down the road to Dead Horse State Park and waited for Clayton's arrival. Found a couple of good vantage points, and even saw one of the local boat tours going down river on an early morning trip.

We headed south on US-191 re-fueled in Monticello, and veered west at Blanding on UT-95 towards the Natural Bridges Nat'l Monument. At the intersection with UT-261, we had to decide if we wanted to dedicate the time to the monument, or head south to the gooseneck overlook area of the San Juan River. After consulting Clayton's photography guide book we decided to leave the monument for another day when a day could be spent, and go south. As is the case with a trip like this, sacrificing one location to allow for more time at another was a common decision.

Just before UT-261 takes a small "dip", Mule Point Road goes west for a few miles. By no means does the road provide a smooth ride, but it's worth a bit of jostling to view the goosenecks of the San Juan River.

Getting back to that "dip" in the road I mentioned where Mule Point Road turns off of UT-261, the road we took is an impressive switchback road that decends down the Moki Dugway and trails off to the Mexican Hat area at US-163.

We got down to just north of the Arizona state line and got a sandy campsite at Gouldings, west of the highway. Went back across the highway and entered the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park for a 17 mile drive at sunset. We left the park just after darkness settled and had another headlamp dinner.

While exploring the radio dial trying to find something to listen to, came across a frequency with The Fan 960 broadcasting the Flames-Canucks game that night, much to Clayton's enjoyment!

GC Day 1: Denver - Moab

October 15th
Day of the trip finally arrived. Clayton and I had been planning this for probably a year. Our attempts to do an early spring trip fell through, so the fall plans were made and finally we set off. Clayton was departing Calgary the same morning with the goal that we'd be able to meet up somewhere in the Utah canyons area the next day.

My day started with a very positive parent-teacher meeting with Sarah's kindergarten teacher. After that, topped off the petrol, picked up a copule of cold items for the cooler and hit the road by 9:30am.

Great weather in Denver when I left, but it didn't take long to be in winter driving conditions. I-70 from Georgetown, past Loveland Pass / Eisenhower Tunnel and all the way into Vail was blowing snow, some icy sections, and less than ideal visibility.

From Vail thru the I-70 "banana belt" and all the way to Grand Junction there was still some very vibrant fall colors along the highway. Despite a few stops for pics, got to Grand Junction at 12:30 and stopped for enough time to refuel and a bite for the road.

Continued on I-70 into Utah, and then turned off and took UT-128 from Cisco. This ended up being one of my two favorite roads on the entire trip, as this road fell down into the canyon created by the Colorado River and followed it all the way to the Moab / Arches Nat'l Park area.

At the end of UT-128, I hopped north to UT-313 which goes to Canyonlands Nat'l Park. Made a quick stop at Horsethief Campground to establish a home for the night before running down to the Canyonlands park for some late afternoon exploring and photos. Hiked out to Mesa Arch and then drove down to Grandview Point for sunset.

The next 2 photos you can make out the 4WD road along the white rim of the canyon. Would be an interesting drive - make sure you start with a full tank of fuel!

Realized that I had a mismatch between the tripod I brought and the shoe, so wasn't able to take any long exposure shots, but managed to get a good one handheld.

As for the tripod issue, that would be dealt with later in the trip.

Returned to the campsite at dark and enjoyed an Asian flavored noodle dinner. Was in the tent by 8 and fell asleep listening to my camping neighbors playing around with an Australian didgeridoo.