Let's Just Go Somewhere: Travel across Utah

Utah has five national parks: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands. Because we were now into late October, we decided we would skip Capitol Reef and go straight to Arches and Canyonlands, both of which were located near Moab, Utah.

With almost 300 miles to travel today, we got away from Cedar City around 9 am. We really thought this would just be a "ho-hum" kind of drive today but as we found out during our drive, nothing about Utah is just "ho-hum."

We headed north on I-15 and could see snow-capped mountains off in the distance.

After we turned east on I-70, those snow-capped mountains came a lot closer.

From reviewing the elevation grades in our Mountain Directory book, we knew we would have several 6% descents to contend with; but as we have found out, so long as we start out slow, we don't have any problems. Our first descent came up fairly quickly on I-70.

Aren't the trees just beautiful?

As we headed further down,

some of the canyon walls and hills were white,

some were red (with a white hill right behind it),

and some were a gray color that looked like limestone gravel.

And some were a mixture of colors.

Throughout our travels out west, we always marvel at how in the world the rocks stay resting on the sides of the mountains or hills, and don't just tumble on down, like these,

or these,

or these (oops...these rocks have tumbled on down the mountain).

We continued heading east on I-70...

...and began entering the area of the San Rafael Swell.

We pulled off at a viewpoint to get a better look at San Rafael. According to the information sign at the viewpoint, we had driven into "a geologist's paradise." Millions of years of earth history can be seen here.

This area was also referred to as Castle Valley. In the 1870's, Mormon settlers came to this area. It was the last place Mormon colonizer Brigham Young called his people to settle. The Indians had warned them not to come. Water was very scarce and life was harsh. Desert cowboys and outlaws survived because they knew where every water hole and spring was hidden in the rocks and canyons.

Below is a video that is a combination of video and photographs. As you are watching it, notice the fall colors in the deep blue sky and the yellowing of some of the trees, look for a "watering hole," and imagine what it would have been like if you were a Native American, a cowboy, an outlaw, or a settler wandering through this area years ago.