First of all was a ride through Capitol Reef National Park towards Hanksville. The road runs the canyon bed and it was cool and comfortable. Then we turned south and headed into the magnificent Glen Canyon with its high red sandstone walls towering over us.
This canyon spills out on to the Colorado River at the far north end of Lake Powell and what a spectacular area that is. Not only the natural vistas, but the engineering feats of carving out the roads and building the bridges were also amazing.
After that it was follow a ridge across to the Natural Bridges National Monument. This is a park which contains a very winding river that has carved it's way not only down, but actually through some of the sandstone. Three large bridges are there for easy viewing and we are told there are many more in the park.
After this visit, we turned towards Blandings and new roads for Charleen and me. There were still great things to see. Another engineering feat where they have cut clean through a rock escarpment. Then a nice hamburger lunch in Blandings, followed by a rainstorm. We were hiding under the service station awning but I could see clear blue sky not far away and decided to forgo the wets for the three minutes. By the time we all got going the rain was pretty much fizzled out and we rode in to hot weather again. I was interested to see how long the others, in wets, would go before the sweltering got too much. They went surprisingly far. Where we stopped was beside Wilson's Arch and while they disrobed I went for a short walk up to the floor of the archway. Short but steep. Still at high altitude I had trouble breathing and had to make several stops, but made it eventually. From up there I could see........ well why should I tell?
I had forgotten to take up a camera so when I got back, a tourist who had joined us offered me a beer to return and take some photos for him. I'll do many things for a beer, but dying isn't one of them. I declined.
After that it wasa short run into Moab where we collapsed in to our rooms and turned the coolers on full. When it cooled down outside a bit, we went for a nice walk downtown for a meal. Nice pasta in an Italian restaurant. Then a browse through some shops on our way back.
Here's piccies:-
An excellent view of Capitol Reef. Click the image to embiggen.
Surreal structures abound
Another one you can embiggen by clicking
Kerry takes in the scenery.
Crossing the Colorado River
Sometimes it takes a bit to see the bridge structure
Same with this one
Where the road cuts through the escarpment
It is deep
The storm was chasing us
Thought it was a haystack at first
Wilson's Arch
Click to see where I really am.
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