Blanding, Utah, Natural Bridges and Anasazi ruins

May 10 - 12, 2018:

Our ride today from our campsite on route 24 and through Capital Reef National Park was one amazing view after another.  At the rustic town of Harksville we head south on an equally scenic wonder, route 95.  The claim that route 12 is the second most beautiful road in the world may be incorrect, it could just as easily be route 95.  It was a windy day with many steep up and down hills and plenty of distractions to make the RV wobble a few times.  All the way along route 95, I was thinking;  forget about all those crowded, bucket list places loaded with tourists rushing around such as Zion - Bryce - Capital Reef - Canyonlands and Arches.  That amazing terrain is all here in a less developed, more wilderness state with lots of free BLM camping available.

The road ahead

The terrain was wild ahead

Looking down at Glen Canyon from the highway

Interesting downhill view and ride

I arrive at our destination, the Blanding RV Park in Blanding, Utah about 2 PM and into a full hookup campsite as we need to get cleaned up, to restock our cupboards, get a phone signal and use WiFi.  After getting settled, I go to the visitors center for local information and find a small museum there.  It has some interesting exhibits especially on the first settlers, Albert R and Mary Ellen Lyman, who came from Bluff in 1905.  Albert R Lyman became a self taught scholar, a passionate history enthusiast, a newspaper editor and a prolific writer.   There was also interesting stories on a couple notable Indian leaders.

Albert and Mary were a good looking young couple

Albert went on to write several historical books

He did his writing in a stone cabin he called the
Swallows Nest

I’ve been in the mood for a good diner breakfast spot for a while now and haven’t found one until now.  I read the reviews for Yak’s Center Street Cafe and liked what I heard.  It looked somewhat dumpy from the outside, but that’s OK, it could give it more character.  I’m just looking for the  basic eggs, bacon, home fries and toast breakfast and that’s what I got, the service was quick, the decor inside nostalgic and the food just OK.  You’ve got a Navajo group at one table speaking a mix of Navajo and English, a local biker couple at another table and another table of tourists, I fit somewhere in between this mix.

Yak's Cafe

   

Afterwards we take off for an adventure, back northbound on route 95 to a turn-off for the Butler Wash where they is a short trail to a viewpoint for Anasazi Ruins.  This area of Utah is loaded with Anasazi ruins in these remote canyons.

  

Butler Wash

A closer view

The cliff dwellings were in a green protected area

View from the trail with pockets of water in the rocks

A long slender snake was encountered

Next stop was another pull-off for the Mule Canyon Anasazi Ruins, where there is a trail that takes you into a canyon where they are located.  We looked for a trail sign or information, found nothing, rode around a while and then left.  A short distance away is a road side Anasazi ruin site with interpretive panels.  Later, I found out we were right there, but time was short and we were focused on going to the Natural Bridges.

A reconstructed pueblo and Kiva near the road 

It was an extremely windy day with 25-35 MPH winds and gusts to 50 MPH and so many, too many, people told me to watch my hat.  My hat chin strap that Twinkles says looks dorky, (actually it does), saves the hat several times.   

The Natural Bridges National Monument was the first National Monument established in Utah by none other than Theodore Roosevelt in 1908.  There is a visitors center and a loop drive with several canyon view points and trailheads down to the three Natural Bridges.  These are huge bridges, some of the largest in the country and are located down in the canyon from 180 to 500 feet below the canyon rim.  I went part way down the trail to the largest bridge, the Sipapu, which is the second largest Natural Bridge in the country.  I then went all the way down 400 feet to the Kachina Natural Bridge, quite a steep hike, but the view under the Bridge was totally worth it.  Twinkles and I then did the last Bridge, the Owachomo, which was about 180 feet down.  It is the most eroded Bridge, but is still a massive size.  There is also the 700 year old Horsecollar Anasazi ruins in a remarkable state of preservation at the canyon bottom.  The best way to see it all is to go down at one of the Natural Bridge trails and then take the loop trail to the other Bridges and then back up to the rim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Bridges_National_Monument

A view looking far down at the  Sipapu Bridge

Looking down at the Horse collar ruins, there are two people there

Looking into the canyon, note the smooth eroded shapes

Very nice blooming cactus

On the exposed trail down to the Kachina Bridge in the gusty wind

Water pond down at the sandy bottom under the bridge

The Kachina Bridge is huge, the people walking add some perspective

Looking up at the massive thickness of the bridge
 

A good example of the sand bedding patterns in the sandstone rock
 

The Owachoma Bridge is a very long span but looks to be getting thin on top
 

The ride back to Blanding takes you up this steep climb where you
make a shark hairpin turn just before the last rock

Needing a break from hiking we went to the highly regarded Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum in Blanding which is at the site of an Ancestral Puebloan ruin inhabited from about 825 to 1225 AD.  This museum was excellent, loaded with artifacts and information, a huge collection of bowls and baskets and information about the ruins.  There is one room detailing all the Archaeology done at the ruins with artifacts labelled and displayed from each room.

There was a special exhibit on a most interesting woman, Louisa Wade Wetheril, known to the Navajos as Slim Woman.  She lived in Oljato, (Moonlight Water) for the rest of her life with the Navajos, spoke the language  and was so highly regarded that they adopted her into the tribe.

https://www.azwhf.org/inductions/inducted-women/louise-wade-wetherill-1877-1945/

https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/edge-of-the-cedars/

Louisa gained much fame

She documented native medicinal plants

She recorded Navajo stories and language

A grouping of artistic pots from the region

The really good stuff is locked away in this room

The Edge of the Cedars ruins in front of todays suburban development

Blanding, Utah is a very strange town, it has the Mormon culture and influence coupled with a large Native American population.  There isn’t much to do in Blanding, there are very few restaurants, only the most basic shopping, no night life and simply not much to do.  There is a small movie theater and what appears to be the hot spot, the Bowling Center with convenience store and an A & W Root Beer restaurant.  We went inside for lunch at the A & W Root Beer and were surprised how nice and clean the seating and bowling areas were.  It was somewhat of a culture shock, like something from 1960 and to me the Root Beer never tasted better.  The Blanding RV Park campground is behind the 7-11 convenience store which seems to be another hot spot, always busy with the locals, a mix of Indian and Anglo, mostly overweight and rough looking, buying junk food and enormous “Big Gulp” drinks.

The San Jose Theater in Blanding

A couple of coffee shops in Blanding, strange for a Mormon town

The A & W Restaurant with a classic mural

The Bowling Alley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanding,_Utah         

Our next stop is a few miles away at the nearby Devils Canyon campground for a couple of days,

Twinkles and Slick

Torrey, Utah and Capital Reef National Park

May 6 - 9, 2018:

It’s an amazingly scenic drive from Escalante to Torrey, Utah on Byway 12, but not an easy one.  Many steep uphill climbs, tight curves and steep descents over this 75 mile route along with the scenic eye strain will wear you out.  Twinkles drove the Jeep as it’s not a good road for towing and she was a little nervous until I reminded her that she had driven it before in 2014, she was still nervous.  Arriving in Torrey, Utah, I stopped to get the propane tank filled and then hoped to find Twinkles as there was no phone signal.  Our plan was to meet at a BLM dispersed camping area a few miles down route 24 and it worked perfectly.  She had stopped at the visitors center first and the attendant recommended the second dispersed area (BLM) that they call the Capital Reef overflow area.  We did that and found a beautiful scenic  spot with a view.

We start out in red rock wonderland

Climbing up into a Aspen and pine forest

Cruise America is everywhere

Some of these motorcycle riders are nuts !

At the scenic overflow area

The town of Torrey mostly exists these days on tourism with several public campgrounds, restaurants, a good general store, guide services, coffee shops, but this being Mormon country, no bars.  In Mormon country they sell beer about everywhere, but you do your drinking at home, they are closet boozers.  We looked around town, basically Main Street, testing our memory for what has changed since our last visit 4 years ago.  I can’t believe it was 4 years ago, time is going way too fast !

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrey,_Utah

We then drove into Capital Reef National Park stopping at the visitor center and then going into the Fruita Historic District and campground to fill a water jug and check out the small store with the great baked goods.  The woman at the counter told us the cinnamon buns were sold out by noon, it's everyones favorite, I expect she was tired of answering that question.  We settled for a couple of cookies and some chocolate ice cream.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Reef_National_Park

Fruita was a small Mormons settlement started in the 1880's where they developed an irrigation system, planted crops and started an orchard.  It was very remote, isolated and mostly self sufficient in those days.  It’s situated in a protected valley between the mountains with the Fremont River running through it. The small settlement of Fruita has more than 2,500 fruit trees, some planted by the original Mormon pioneers.  In season, you are allowed to wander around and eat the fruit fresh fruit off the trees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruita,_Utah

They have a small pasture with horses and farm equipment

A very nice setting

View of the orchards

Our first hike was the Chimney Rock Trail with a 690 foot elevation gain to a rim overlooking the Chimney Rock.  It seemed even higher when looking down at the winding entrance road into Capital Reef National Park.  The trail followed the the canyon rim for a while and then went downhill for a great view of another series of huge colorful rock formations.  We eventually went down into another geological strata with much exposed petrified wood.  The geology is really great on the hike.

At the start

Twinkles is checking the view

Almost level with Chimney Rock

Looking across the valley, quite a view

Twinkles taking a break to appreciate the views

Lots of balancing rocks

And petrified wood

It was then back to the Fruita store for an ice cream and a ride on the “Scenic Road” to the trailhead for the “Grand Wash Trail”.  The Scenic Road is eight miles long with great views all the way, it’s a must see.  We have done the Grand Wash Trail before and only did an abbreviated hike this time.

We took a ride in the evening on route 24 to the nearby town of Bicknell, another traditional Mormon town with vast sheep ranch lands and farms.  Along the road we passed one of the nicest roadside historic markers ever seen about the  nearby Nielsen Grist Mill.  The description of the Mill was unbelievable, all the interior workings are still intact and operational, it was never disassembled and sold or junked out as most are.

Beautiful plaque and a scale model replica of the mill

A short ways away is theNielsen Grist Mill

We had dinner at the Capital Reef Inn and Cafe in Torrey with its beautifully decorated interior.  It has attractive wooden tables and chairs, a brightly painted abstract wall landscape mural, lots of Indian art and a really nice gift shop.

The following morning, after getting a wonderful cinnamon bun from the Fruita store, we again travel down the “Scenic Road” to the end of the pavement and then continue another 2.4 miles on the dirt Capital Gorge Road to the end.  The Capital Gorge Road is really a wash that mostly runs between towering rock walls, it's also narrow in places so to see the top of the rock formations you must get out of the vehicle.  At roads end, the trail starts down the same wash which was the actual pioneer road into the settlement of Fruita used by the Mormon settlers and the ingenuous Indians.  The early phone line was also strung along this route and many of the supports drilled into the rock walls remain.  There are also places where the early settlers gouged their names into the rocks from the late 1800’s and up which they call the pioneer register.  We took a short but steep and treacherous side trail up from the wash to the Tanks which are a series of hollow bowls which collect and hold rain water.  It was a great 360 degree view at the top, the Tanks weren’t really that impressive, mostly dry, but the trail and the views along the way were.

The Capital Gorge Road
 

The trail

The pioneer register

Climbing up to the tanks

Nice place for a rest

Over the past month, we have been steadily getting back into decent hiking shape again. On our final day in Capital reef, we tackle the short but scenic “Hickman Bridge Trail” that takes you to the 133 foot wide by 125 foot tall Hickman Natural Bridge surrounded by 360 degree canyon views.  On the return, we take the trail junction for the “Rim Overlook Trail” that traverses uphill across slickrock skirting past a couple of huge rock monoliths to the canyon rim overlook.  From this perch, you have a panorama view of the surrounding mountains and can look down into the green Fruita Valley.  We had a good early 9 AM start when it was cool, but by 11 AM the skies cleared and it became really hot.  At trails end, it was straight back to what seems to be everyones favorite park store in Fruita for those tasty cold $1 ice cream cups, it was a 2 ice cream cup hike for me !

Not sure if this formation had a name, but it should ?

This is the Hickman Bridge for sure

No doubt about that one

  

I love the way these dark volcanic rocks contrast  to the sandstone

Another formation that should be named

A rim view from the Rim Overlook Trail, the oasis of Fruita is the green valley below

A view of the Fremont River from the Hickman Bridge Trailhead

I managed to get out in the evening for the best light of the day for a few photos.

Our, wandering style of trip planning is very short sighted this month due to our Tucson house issue.  Our tenants whose lease expires at the end of June were given the okay to vacate earlier provided they give us a couple of weeks advance notice.  As as result we are sort of in limbo and don't want to venture too far away in case we have to return quickly.  

Next stop is Blanding RV Park in Blanding, Utah;

Twinkles and Slick