April 20 - 22, 2023
Bluff, Utah
Despite our tighter quarters, it's wonderful to be back on the road, exploring the natural beauty of Utah, feeling blessed to have this opportunity. The kitchen is snug and I can't access the washer and dryer, but otherwise living is pretty much the same without the big slide.
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| The beautiful red rock bluffs are just out our window. |
We've been in this area a couple times and have always missed visiting the Four Corners Monument. Time to remedy that! The drive isn't as dramatic as other routes here, but the wide open spaces and clear skies make for an enjoyable 110 mile round trip.
If we had arrived two weeks later there would be a new laundry room here at the RV park, but their new construction is not yet completed. The laundromat in Bluff is a large building, and when I walk in I'm impressed at what appears to be 50 washers and 20 dryers. Reality is that none of the top loading washers work, and only five of the front loaders work - each with a different cost from $2-$5 per load. Nothing to do but use what's there. The clothes do get clean, the dryer does eventually get everything mostly dry. First world problems......
It drops below 26 degrees our first two nights, Spring coming a little slower "up here". While it's breezy during the day, the lack of high winds under sunny skies make for wonderful day trips.
Friday we check out Natural Bridges National Monument - taking a look at Hwy 95 which we'll take to Torrey on Wednesday. This is the first national monument (1908) in Utah, and is surrounded by one of the newest (2016), Bears Ears National Monument. The park has three natural bridges (not surprising) accessible by trails leading from overlooks along the nine mile interior loop road. The road, parking areas and paved overlook trails are well maintained. It starts out cold enough for coats but by the end of our visit we're in shirt-sleeves.
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| I was impressed by this formidable beast on the slick rock above the trail! |
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| The park is full of beautiful formations in addition to the bridges. |
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| Kachina Bridge is challenging to capture from the overlook, and is the smallest of the three. |
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| Owachomo Bridge no longer spans an "erosion valley", also known as a body of water (a requirement for a bridge versus an arch), but it did when it was formed so it gets to keep its status! |
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| La Sal Mountains in the distance. Again. |
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| The namesake buttes that give the surrounding area its name. |
I have seen Moki Dugway in several blog posts over the years, but I have completely forgotten to add it to my list of things to see here. So it's a wonderful fluke that at the last minute I decide to take a different route back to Bluff. This route takes us to the incredible steep, narrow, dirt road with the most amazing views! Lots of wows and OMGs and other explanations as we attempt to absorb the colors and textures and monuments below us, and then around us as we descend.
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| The monuments in Valley of the Gods. |
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| The road drops 1200 feet in 3 miles of 11% grade. A large gorilla guards it here. |
To wrap up a great day we stop at Sand Island to check out the petroglyph panel. We're surprised to see a lot of vehicles in the boat launch parking area along the San Juan River. Looks like personal and guided rafting. Too cold for me!
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| Hundreds of glyphs have been dated between 300 and 3000 years old. Now protected by a chain link fence there are signs of vandalism from before it was installed. |
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| These are in a shaded overhang about 200 feet up the wall. |
We're here another four days with more beautiful places to explore so I'll save those for the next post.
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| M & M get the giggles with their folks. |
I was in awe the morning we drove the Moki Dugway…all that beauty in all directions. Your post is like a trip down Wonderful Memory Lane. I love it! I was in awe of the hundreds of glyphs at Sand Island spanning all those hundreds of years. Natural Bridges is still on our list to return…it was freezing when we were there and I so wanted to hike to at least one of those wonders. Great eye to capture the stick beast on the slick rock…so cool!
ReplyDeleteAwe is exactly the word!! This is such an amazing place. That stick beast was a rare sighting :-))
DeleteWe had a popup camper before the RV. We towed it up the Moki Dugway from Garden of the Gods, still very awesome views. But I bet the views coming down were better.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures of the area
I'm glad we found Moki Dugway from the top! It didn't look like much fun making that climb, but several were doing it.
DeleteLove your red rock views and laughed at the woman laying on the ground. How cool to have driven through all 4 states and have a picture of each. I’m thinking that I’d like to be there with you until you mention 26 degrees. You guys are more open weathered than I am. What fantastic petroglyphs. Who in the world could want to damage them. Off with their hands! Sweet picture of mom, dad and the boys.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like we're outside when it's that cold :-) The days have been absolutely perfect between 55 and 75 degrees. Would love to see all these gorgeous places with you. Agree those vandals need severe penalties!
DeleteI do love that area. Now I wish we had included in this trip. Oh, well, another time. Thanks for taking me back to a very favorite area of Utah. Glad you got drive the Dugway!! That rock really does look like a gorilla!! Good catch! Looking forward to the rest of your trip!
ReplyDeleteI always wish I'd added additional places when we get close by! Hard not to include every national park and monument when in Utah :-) We both laughed at that gorilla guard.
DeleteWe love Bluff and that whole area, too. So many magical places there! :-)) So glad you enjoyed the Moki Dugway, I was a little nervous at first about driving it, but it really wasn't too bad. I just didn't want to meet any big trucks along the way!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of shelf roads, especially washboard dirt ones! I was also glad not to meet anyone too big coming the other way. We're loving the never ending magic of this area!
DeleteOne of our most favorite areas ever in our travels. But, we've never done the Moki Dugway--next time! We love Natural Bridges and that entire Bluff area. Will look forward to the next post--brings back great memories!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I almost missed it this time! It's definitely a view point like no other.
DeleteDave always says if you see everything the first visit you won't get to return.....and he's right! We've been to Bluff many times and always find something new to see. We finally did the Dugway and didn't find it as bad as I'd imagined. A good thing! We did find another shelf road that turns off just before the lower portion of the dugway and that one was definitely worse than I'd expected....so bad that I moved into the back seat so I couldn't see as well! No chance of passing another, absolutely no room. A place we'll NOT return to!
ReplyDeleteDave is so right - of course :-) Glad I didn't happen upon that other shelf road! Sounds like the nightmare that was Spokane Mountain for me. The Jeep always feels twice as wide.
DeleteValley of the Gods, Bridges, 4 Corners and more! It is so beautiful down there. Utah is our favorite state to travel and you are doing it before the masses appear, even better!
ReplyDeleteIt is on the top of our list as well. While all the RV sites filled up fast this week, we've been fortunate to not find crowds on our explorations. The weather was also perfect when here in October a few years ago, but there were more peeps then. I'm really happy with our week :-))
DeleteWe really liked Bluff, Jodee. It was pretty obvious when we pulled in as to why it was called that! We never made it to 4 corners though.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a great little place with those towering bluffs all around!! Nothing we'd need to do again, but 4 Corners was a must-do for me :-)
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