Wednesday, May 14, 2014

May 14 – Notom Road and Burr Trail

Today we did an almost all driving trip, looping south around behind Capital Reef.

 

The Notom Road heads south from the park and follows a long valley.  We were always in sight of those great snow capped mountains to the east that we saw yesterday. The first part of the road is paved. This whole trip could easily have been done in any car as even the dirt parts were very smooth.

IMG_1010240

IMG_1010258h

After a short while we were onto the dirt.

IMG_1010276

Which was very smooth courtesy of this guy.

IMG_7821

The back of Capital Reef is called The Waterpocket Fold which shows how the land was tilted and now all the rocks lie angled  upwards.

IMG_1010402

IMG_1010421

On the east of the valley was a long ridge.

IMG_1010345h

IMG_1010366

Another bit of bentonite hills.

IMG_1010445

After going south about 30 miles we turned west onto the Burr Trail. First you have to climb up the Waterpocket Fold. We are going to climb that red wall in the picture below.

IMG_1010469

IMG_1010468

You can see a silver car coming down.

IMG_1010481

This set of switchbacks is much prettier than the one at Moab because it is enclosed in a high walled valley. It took us a long time to go up because we stopped so often.

IMG_1010491

IMG_7914

p1

p2

There was a geology class on a field trip walking down the road, examining everything.

IMG_1010525

Near the top we stopped a pullout and had lunch with this view.

IMG_1010526

Just after the top there is a side road that goes to the Strike Canyon Overlook. You can walk about 6 miles round trip from the main road or if you have a high clearance vehicle you can drive in and only hike about 1/4 mile. It turned out that I think you only need about 5 inches of clearance so a lot of cars could do it.

The road followed what is called Lower Muley Twist Canyon. It was very narrow and a lot of fun to navigate. There were just a few high rocks to watch out for.

IMG_1010562

We had seen the window, in the above picture, previously as we drove up the valley on the other side.

IMG_7875

IMG_7952

IMG_7955

IMG_1010600h

IMG_1010584

 IMG_1010690

We noticed what looked like an arch up on a wall.

IMG_7990

It turned out to be a double arch.

IMG_1010677h

We parked the car and headed a short distance up a wash.

IMG_1010608

And then up some slickrock.

IMG_1010619

To a truly amazing view of the valley we had just driven.

IMG_1010626

IMG_1010638

I couldn’t stop taking pictures. The next set works its way around from the north to the east and then south.

IMG_1010644

IMG_1010645

IMG_1010646

IMG_1010648

IMG_1010650

IMG_1010652

I stared for a long time.

IMG_7982

The cliff was a bit too much for Jennie so she studied the rocks and plants.

IMG_7985

IMG_7961

IMG_1010527

I tore myself away after about 1/2 hour and we headed back out the side road.

IMG_1010706

IMG_7996

Back on the Burr Trail, we climbed up for one last look at the valley.

IMG_1010709

IMG_1010712

Another nice smooth dirt road.

IMG_1010713

And then back to pavement.

IMG_1010717

After a while we climbed up next to this set of spires.

IMG_1010734

Jennie wanted a picture of this very thin rock.

IMG_1010744

IMG_8000

We then descended and drove for about 10 miles along the bottom of Long Canyon.

IMG_1010752h

I never got a very good picture of both side while we were in it. We were both getting a bit burned out. This picture is from the switchback as we climbed out at the end.

IMG_1010759

IMG_1010775

The view, far off in the distance, of the 9600 foot high mountain pass back on Highway 12 we will have to take to get home.

IMG_1010768h

Getting closer to Boulder.

IMG_1010778

Back on Highway 12, up we go.

IMG_1010780

Just outside of Boulder another deer ran across the road in front of us but it was far enough away not to be a problem.

We left the RV around 10 am and got back around 5 pm, a bit overwhelmed by everything we had seen.

1 comment: