The ”Grand Staircase” of Utah encompasses some of the most rugged and remote country in the United States. Much like a five tiered wedding cake, the land descends in five distinct plateaus from the Aquarius Plateau (around 10,000 feet) in the north to the Kaibab Plateau in the south, ending at the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
Somewhat controversial, the heart of the staircase is now protected as the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The monument, roughly the size of the state of Delaware, is largely road-less, we are going to skirt around the western edge of the staircase from Page, AZ, to Hanksville, UT.
Just north of the town of Page, AZ, Hwy 89 crosses the Colorado River Gorge into Utah at the Glen Canyon Dam. Trees on the horizon shelter the town of Page.
Glen Canyon Dam is the second highest concrete arch dam in the US, second only to Hoover Dam. The dam, 726 feet tall, was completed in 1966 and holds back the Colorado River to form Lake Powell. The current drought in the southwest has led to Lake Powell being lowered in an effort to provide more water downstream. The pale “bath tub ring” is quite evident.
Views from farther up the hill show how dramatically the loss of water has impacted the lake.
Once out of the river canyon the Kaibab Plateau stretches in the distance with the Chocolate Cliffs of the next step in the Grand Staircase lining the horizon to the north.
Past the Paria River Canyon (virtually dry this time of year) the land really opens up west with the stair “risers” continuing along the north.
About 50 miles later the road climbs and now we are on a slightly higher step and the risers to the north change color and form the Vermillion Cliffs.
Kanab Canyon drops down from the north, temporarily dividing the Vermillion Cliffs and the small town of Kanab sits at the mouth of the canyon.
The Kanab area was a favorite location for the filming of movies, particularly Westerns, in the 30 years from the late 1940’s to the 1970’s. A small museum preserves some of the sets built for these movies behind a simple façade that is all gift shop!
The highway turns north and climbs up Kanab Canyon before we take a brief detour to the west, heading towards Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. Emerging from the canyon our path crosses a plateau of grass, sage brush and juniper. This is open range and vehicles make way for the livestock.
Dropping down into a small valley, a quirk of geology creates an unusual landscape. Pink sand, originating from the red colored sandstone cliffs to the south, piles up along the base of Moquith Mountain in waves of color.
In the 1950’s a number of movies were shot here but today the sand dunes are a favorite place for dune buggies. Look closely at the crest of the sand dune and you and you can see a column of dune buggies parked while their drivers cavort on the sand.
Turning around and driving back to the main highway the leading edge of the next higher “step” of the staircase is clearly visible, this time a line of pale gray steps stretching to the east.
The edges of the Grand Staircase are home to some of the most striking geological settings in the United States. Famed Zion National Park is just 30 miles to the west, the eastern ridge of Zion Canyon is visible on the horizon. I am not stopping by Zion on this trip but if you are interested check it out in Vol. 8, Chap. 3 at The Lunch Box Journals.
Instead of turning west to Zion National Park we drop down to the Virgin River Valley and follow it north climbing up Hwy 89.
A brief detour west takes us through a patchwork of aspen in fall color and lava fields, climbing all the while.
It’s cold and drizzling at the crest of the road near the entrance to our next destination, Cedar Breaks National Monument. The entrance gives no hint of the drama just over the horizon.
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Once again we have the Civilian Conservation Corps from the 1930’s to thank for the roads, trails, overlooks and structures within the national monument. Sitting at an elevation of 10,000 feet on the western edge of the Grand Staircase, conditions were extremely harsh for the workers. Here the Markagunt Plateau plunges over 2,000 feet in an amphitheater that is approximately 3 miles across. Sunset View Overlook is at 10,354 feet with views to the south, west and north.
Further along the rim is Chessmen Ridge where the overlook is at the end of a narrow finger of land.
The drama of the precipice is hard to catch on camera but contrast the view of the amphitheater with the view from the same spot turned around and taking a picture east across the plateau.
The clouds are very low, obscuring the top of the amphitheater.
I am not alone on my trip across the alpine meadows as I head east back towards Hwy 89, had LOTS of company! Note that I am not exaggerating about how cold it is, look at the steam rising from the flock of sheep as they pass around the paused Lunch Box. Joey (my dog) was going crazy!
As I head northeast, descending towards the Sevier River Valley, the highest step in the Grand Staircase, the Aquarius Plateau, rises to the east.
The Sevier rises in the northwest corner of the Grand Staircase, providing a path into the interior along the river and canyons formed by the seasonal creeks that run into it from the Paunsagunt Plateau. At the town of Panguitch we turn east on Hwy 12, which in the 130 miles from Panguitch to Torrey crosses some of the most spectacular, rugged country in the entire United States. Immediately in front of us is the Red Canyon, climbing east from the Sevier River up to the Paunsagunt Plateau.
Once up on the plateau our next destination is just to the south, hiding behind a pine forest.
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce Canyon is a misnomer as the national park is not a canyon but a series of amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsagunt Plateau. In 1850 the Mormon Church in Utah had a number of “serial homesteaders” who helped open up the land to settlers. These first pioneers would move from place to place, helping establish communities in remote areas and, once having accomplished their goal, moving on to new territory. Ebenezer and Mary Bryce settled in the valley just east of what is now the national park in 1876. Bryce built a rough road into the base of the amphitheater to harvest timber and locals began calling it “Bryce’s Canyon.” The Bryce family only stayed four years in the area and in 1880 moved on yet again to Arizona, leaving their name as a legacy which was then used in 1928 with the establishment of Bryce Canyon National Park.
I have scheduled two days to visit the park but as I arrive around in the early afternoon on the first day the skies are gloomy and the clouds low, obscuring the views. The primary attraction is Bryce Amphitheater but, due to the crowds of visitors, all of the viewpoints are closed to motor homes. However, just as I saw at Grand Canyon National Park, there is an excellent shuttle system so I can park at the visitor center and ride the free shuttle! There is more to the park than Bryce Amphitheater so I decided to drive the approximately 20 miles to the end of the road at Rainbow Point and save the Bryce Amphitheater until the next day in hopes of having better weather. Sounds like a plan so I set off south to Rainbow Point. Most of the drive is through pine forests that line the western rim but occasionally a glimpse of the glory east beyond passes by. The clouds come and go…
It’s afternoon and the park is crowded with most of the turn-outs full, certainly not much room for the Lunch Box! I reach the end of the road and can find no parking at Rainbow Point, which is somewhat disappointing but not too much as the clouds are so low that you can’t see much anyway. Turning around I am now heading north back up the road. To the west are rolling hills and remnants of a forest fire.
The road drops a bit in elevation and now I am below the clouds AND manage to find a parking space at the Agua Canyon viewpoint (still pretty high at 8,800 feet.) Agua Canyon is a small canyon slicing west into the plateau with great views north and south from the viewpoint.
My luck continues as I continue on and find a parking spot at the Natural Bridge viewpoint.
That’s pretty much all I can see the first day outside of the shuttle bus area so I leave the park and head to the small town of Tropic down in the valley to the east for the night.
It’s a new day and we set out early, the weather is much better this morning but the forecast is not good for the afternoon. After heading back west the 7 miles to the park entrance, I park the Lunch Box at the shuttle bus parking lot and, grabbing my mask, head off. Just as at the Grand Canyon, the shuttle bus follows a loop with great regularity, with only 15 minute intervals between buses. The first stop is Bryce Point on the southern edge of Bryce Amphitheater. At elevation 8,300 feet it’s a bit cool (i.e. cold!) this morning but the clouds have temporarily lifted so I can get some great pictures. The point thrusts out from multicolored cliffs and is already crowded.
Looking north, the amphitheater floor is a carpet of green surrounded by vibrant hues.
To the northeast I can see the town of Tropic on the valley floor beyond.
To my right multi-hued shades decorate the cliffs.
To my left the glory of the main amphitheater glistens in the morning sun. Bryce Amphitheater has the greatest concentration of “hoodoos” (which is what the rock spires are called), in the world.
Hopping on the shuttle I move to the approximate center of Bryce Amphitheater at Sunset Point. Again a narrow promontory of stone emerges from the cliffs to provide a great view.
On the right the amphitheater curls around to Bryce Point.
A close-up reveals the complexity of the shapes and colors of the hoodoos.
To the left the walls of the amphitheater curve around to my next destination, Sunrise Point.
I decide to walk along the rim to Sunrise Point, passing hikers who are heading to explore the amphitheater below.
On the way to Sunrise Point I pass by Bryce Canyon Lodge, built in the 1920’s by the Union Pacific Railroad to boost tourist trade. Set back from the amphitheater rim, 67 cabins were built around the main lodge nestled in the forest.
At Sunrise Point the view south is all the way across Bryce Amphitheater to Bryce Point in the distance, about three miles away.
Paiute Indians lived in this region for hundreds of years and their oral traditions stated the belief that hoodoos are the bodies of ancient people turned to stone as a punishment for bad deeds. Sunrise Point is another popular place for hikers to set off into the amphitheater.
Pictures just don’t do Bruce Canyon justice…
The respite from the weather has ended, rain and wind have moved in as I head east on Hwy 12. The stretch of Hwy 12 from Tropic to Torrey is one of the most scenic highways in the United States and I miss most of it due to heavy rain, strong winds and even a bit of snow. The same day that I am driving east along this highway Bryce Canyon is getting more than a foot of snow!
This is very rugged country, the narrow highway climbs and drops from rock mesas to deep canyons on the Aquarius Plateau, highest step of the Grand Staircase. Grades on the road run 8-10% so the Lunch Box labors through the obstacle course in the heavy rain. The clouds lift briefly just as I begin the descent into the Escalante River Canyon.
Once across the river the highway threads its way up Cat Canyon, clawing up a rock wall to the top.
At the top the highway snakes along a narrow ridge of rock, called the “Hogsback”, so narrow that at points there is only room for the highway with virtually no shoulders on either side, plunging down a thousand feet or so. Past the worst of it, a small pull-off gives me a chance to walk back so I can document the harrowing experience! Note that not only is there no shoulder, there are no guard rails!
Eventually the ridge widens a bit and drops down to a little pocket “valley”, home to the small town of Boulder, population of around 225 people. The town of Boulder was founded in 1887 in the remote Escalante River Canyon by homesteaders. Totally isolated within some of the most rugged country in the west, this small valley was home to Ancestral Puebloans a thousand years ago. Poor soil, rough weather and a short growing season limited the population but the rock walls surrounding the valley soaked up the sun and provided conditions that allowed the Puebloans to grow their crops. Anasazi State Park protects the ruins of their pueblo.
Anasazi State Park
The Ancestral Puebloan community consisted of a combination of small buildings made up of 96 rooms and 11 pit houses.
Just outside the state park building a reconstruction of one of the buildings on the site show how it might have looked when in use.
Pit houses were particularly used because they offered relief from the oppressive heat of the summer as well as retained heat during the brutal winters.
Only part of the site has been excavated and those ruins are protected from further erosion by covers. It was 37 degrees and pouring down rain while I was there so I didn’t linger!
The pueblo walls were constructed using a combination of the two most popular techniques of the day. Exterior walls were laid of stone with a mud mortar while interior walls were built using local juniper and pinyon posts placed upright and the spaces in between first filled with sticks and small stones and then covered with a mud “plaster.”
Even here, on the northwest fringe of the Ancestral Pueblo lands, residents left mysteriously around 1250 A.D. The site was first excavated in the 1950s and christened the “Coombs Site” after Ephraim Coombs, the owner of the land. The weather continues to deteriorate as I leave Boulder and climb over the mountains to Torrey. It’s a mix of rain and snow and the clouds are so low that I can barely see anything but the road as I weave my way through heavily forested mountains, finally reaching the pass at 9,300 feet before descending to the small town of Torrey on the valley floor. The next morning brilliant sunshine dawns. The view from the back of the Lunch Box in the campground in Torrey is of the jagged edge of a plateau, notice that the mountains beyond have a recent cap of snow.
Heading east from Torrey on Hwy 12 the horizon is dominated by the Waterpocket Fold, a wrinkle in the earth that runs north/south for nearly 100 miles through central Utah and is the centerpiece of Capitol Reef National Park. The formation was caused millions of years ago when an uplift of the Earth’s crust folded on itself. The western edge of the fold has eroded over the years and the Fremont River flows down from the north on the western side of the fold before cutting east across the fold and joining the Dirty Devil River which then flows down the eastern side to the Colorado River.
Capitol Reef National Park
Panorama Point is a small protrusion on the western edge of the national park that gives tremendous views in all directions.
The Fremont River is the only reliable source of year-round water in this unforgiving land. Prone to serious flash flooding, over the eons the river created a small pocket of flat land at the western edge of the fold where Sulphur Creek, a seasonal creek, entered the Fremont from the south. As the Mormons settled throughout Utah groups were sent to more and more remote locations. In 1880 a group of Mormons lead by Nels Johnson settled at the junction of the creek and the Fremont and founded the town called Junction. It turned out that the location was the perfect spot to grow stone fruit trees (cherries, apricots, peaches, pears, apples) and eventually around 300 acres of fruit trees were planted. The name of the town was changed to Fruita in 1904. Hemmed in on all sides, Fruita was never home to more than 8-10 families. Remnants of the orchards remain to this day.
The National Park Service gradually took over management of the orchards and buildings as they became part of Capitol Reef National Monument in 1937, later to evolve into a national park in 1971. Dewey Gifford, the last private resident, sold his house to the National Park Service in 1969. The Gifford House now serves as a store for tourists, selling various fruit products made from fruits harvested in the local orchards.
The Fremont River runs next to the Gifford House. Note that this waterway, so important to the area, is actually not very big.
The only paved road into Capitol Reef National Park is Scenic Drive, which runs about ten miles along the western base of the fold. Just past the orchards the road begins to head south.
I’m heading due south with the sun in my eyes so taking pictures is challenging. Stark rock cliffs rise all along the face of the fold.
The road narrows (which says something since it wasn’t very wide to begin with!) and then ends at a crowded parking lot where hikers embark into a canyon.
Turning around and now heading north the Waterpocket Fold stretches towards the far horizon.
The fold is briefly interrupted by the Grand Wash, a narrow canyon which reaches east across the fold.
Continuing on a narrow line of green marks the orchards and the Fremont River as it continues east through a canyon that cuts across the Waterpocket Fold.
The 1896 Fruita Schoolhouse still stands at the entrance to Fremont Canyon.
The drive through the canyon demonstrates the power of water as this small river cuts a dramatic path through stone.
The cars of people exploring the canyon and lands on either side crowd every possible parking place.
As I near the eastern end the canyon briefly narrows before opening up to a stark desert landscape.
The river fades out of site to the south and we descend to a stark valley floor where little grows and the walls are deeply eroded.
Deeply scarred cliffs and mesas rise up from the sandy valley floor.
A narrow canyon takes us back down to the Fremont River as we continue east.
The river meanders across the desert as we near Hanksville, a small town of around 200 people near the confluence of the Fremont River and Muddy Creek which then becomes the Dirty Devil River flowing southeast to the Colorado River.
Hanksville is the center for those exploring the Colorado Plateau east of Capitol Reef and doesn’t have much more than a store and a couple of restaurants and gas stations.
A wide selection of creative works shows how at least one person spends his time in Hanksville!
The most scenic gas station in town is the Hollow Mountain, carved out of a sandstone outcropping at the east end of Hanksville.
An unusually robust winter storm is about to hit central Utah so I head southeast across some of the most remote territory in the US. 125 miles of rugged desert and jagged canyons lie between Hanksville and the next services in Mexican Hat. The adventure continues…
Next Up: Eastern Utah
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