My Southeastern Utah Travels

Hi, yes a rare photo of me and my camper this year.

Remember my Vandwelling friend Joanne from my 2017 travels.  We hiked into the Grand Canyon to Havasu Falls and then hiked the Wave in southern Utah?

Well, we joined forces again this year to tour and hike Utah.  In the picture above Joanne and her service dog Cafe and I hike down into the canyon to check out Kachina Natural Bridge on the left above.

We had originally planned to go back to Escalante in south central Utah, but after hanging in Page, AZ at the beginning of March and weather was still in the winter pattern, we decided to head to southeastern Utah.

This offered us the ability to tour a new area and pick a variety of places based on elevation to avoid or get out of winter weather.



Here are our two vehicles at one of our Boondocking spots.  We stayed in National Monument and BLM campgrounds where there was a small fee paid, but most times on BLM land like above.  

Our travels took us hundreds of miles on US highways, UT state roads, Indian roads, Forest Service Roads, and BLM roads.

Weather was a big factor for our month in Utah.  Weather forecasts were a daily conversation initially with storm fronts passing every 3-4 days.

One day of storm (snow at elevations about 5,000 feet and rain below). Then the next day of cold windy weather behind the front.  Then a day or two of nice weather.



I don’t use a paper map much as I opt for Google Maps and pin drops to share to get us from one place to another.

This year I needed a paper map to sit with and discuss our next adventure.  There was a lot of sightseeing while driving and not as much hiking that we had wished because of the weather, but it was great anyway.  

About the last week of March the weather pattern finally changed and we were outdoors everyday.

I highlighted the roads we were on on the map in the picture above. 

One adventure was our drive on the Notom Bullfrog Badin Road.  We drove 65 miles from Utah 24 at the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park at the north down to a Bullfrog in the south, which is part of Glen Canyon National Park and Colorado River.  The southern part of the road is called BLM12000.  

Last year we had made it over the Burr Trail Road from Boulder, UT (Utah 12) to this road as part of our Escalante Adventures.  

Joanne is willing to take these treks with her extended Sprinter van and I’m amazed at the places she is willing to go with it, but with high clearance she can go on Roads my Prius could never go.

Hopefully if spring comes in March next year this will open up more roads for us to explore.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com