Souvenirs From The Road

April 17 - Day 25

Where I left off with the last post, we woke up to a flat tire. Ron got the tire changed and we headed to Panguitch to get it fixed. It ended up being a lose valve stem cap. Whew! We stayed in town and did a little laundry. Then decided to do a taste test of barbeque. It ain't like what we cook, that's for sure! Also got a few groceries and some liquor, as it's hard to find sometimes.

It was pretty, just not seasoned enough.

Now to our destination - Kodachrome Basin State Park! It's our second time here. It's a very cool park to visit. You have stunning views of towering sandstone chimneys that change in color depending on the daylight. In 1949, the National Geographic Society, with the consent from Kodak Film Corp., named the park Kodachrome. It's a 9 mile drive off of scenic highway 12.

April 18, 19, 20 - Days 26 - 28

The National Scenic Byway 12 - an all American Road. It is a one of a kind! And very unique. It's length is 124 miles and it winds through the heart of Bryce Canyon going through the Dixie National Forest, Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, over Boulder Mountain and ends at Scenic Byway 24, west of Capitol Reef National Park.

This will be our destination for the next 3 nights. Our electric and water campsite overlooks Wide Hollow Reservoir. A very pretty park. Windy and cool every evening.

I love listening to the loons! They should be migrating soon.

You will have to zoom to see the Loon

There's a carwash in the town of Escalante. We took The Rambler for a well deserved bath. She's all pretty again. We took a hike up the nature trail, the Petrified Forest trail. A 1 mile loop that is moderate to strenuous. Ron continued on the Trail of Sleeping Rainbows. We saw a balanced rock, roundleaf buffalo berry, lichen, a painted desert, and the most beautiful petrified wood. The state park is 1400 acres. There's about 5 1/2 million tons of exposed fossilized wood here.

A lot of geese on the lake

Beautiful blooms

Balanced rock

Roundleaf buffalo berry

Looking down at the town of Escalante

Lizard

Every color of the rainbow

There's The Rambler!

With the great Verizon service, I have snagged us 4 nights at the Fruita Campground in Capitol Reef National Park. Our favorite national park. I'm going to have an awesome birthday week!

Continuing down Scenic Byway 12 from Escalante to Torrey, Utah, we once again got to experience the road differently with the snow. Before the Hwy. 12 was built, travel was very slow, hard work. The CCC completed the Hell's Backbone Road from Escalante to Boulder in 1933 allowing motorized traffic in summertime. But when winter snows closed that road, you had to take a wagon through the canyons. See the picture below and you will see Hwy. 12 winding through the canyon.

Pretty cool to look down and see the road.

In 1935, the CCC began building this portion of Hwy. 12. It is nicknamed the "Million Dollar Road". It took a lot of hard work, ingenuity, back breaking effort, and many tons of dynamite.

The first time we drove this highway, we were pulling our 35' fifth wheel. It will give you a little pucker factor if you travel it in a big rig on this section. There are no guard rails up here, and you pretty much look down the hill.

Taken through the windshield, but you can see that you're on top of a ridge, not much shoulder, no guard rail and a drop off.

Traveling on down into the Dixie Forest, it was getting a little colder and there was snow on the ground. You could also see snow on the Henry Mountains and Boulder Mountain.

No wonder why the Forestry Service hasn't opened the campgrounds yet.

Lower Browns Reservoir. We caught rainbow trout once upon a time here.

The Henry Mountains

We got into Capitol Reef National Park campground called Fruita. Over the week, we will be here dry camping and doing a campground shuffle and camping outside the park a few days. I started looking in January for availability and there was none. But I put myself on a wait list and the few weeks before our arrival I started getting sites. Loop C is designed for bigger rigs and is the only loop you can use a generator in, if needed. We hosted here back in 2016 so it felt as though we were coming back home. And we get to see the park in another different way. The Mormons developed this area and planted fruit tree orchards all around. Hence the name "Fruita". So - instead of being here when you can harvest the fruit, we got to see a lot of the trees blooming! The apricot orchards had already budded, but the apples and pears were still blooming. We ended the day with a campfire and listening to the Fremont River.

Trees behind our campsite.

The apricot orchard on the other side of us.

Our back porch view.

The next day we needed to find a spot outside of the park to camp. But, we started the day right by stopping at the Gifford House where you can buy some really awesome cinnamon rolls and pies. Yummy.

The Gifford House

Big, beautiful blooming pear trees

I love seeing the snow on the Henry's behind the welcome sign.

We found a great boondocking spot on the east side of the park, overlooking just about everything. It's windy though. Very windy. Can't help but get a little grit on you every once in a while.

Looking toward the Henry Mountains.

Can't beat the view. The Henry's in front and the Waterpocket Fold on the other side. Solitary.

The wind did lay later in the evening. We had the best spot for a campfire, right on the edge of the ledge. Enjoyed the sun's reflection over the Henry's.

Campfire spot right on the edge!

You can see a snarling dry creek bed with the Waterpocket Fold in the back.

The snow makes the Henry's very beautiful.

The sun throwing a little color, highlighting a ridge in front of the mountain.

Full moon

We woke up to calm winds but within the hour they cranked back up. Decided we didn't want a second night here. Explored other options but decided on staying in Town at Thousand Lakes. Would be nice to have cell service before going back into the park where it's nonexistent.

We made a stop to look at Petroglyphs in the park.