Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

Our time at Mystic Hot Springs was great. We managed to get some serious weeding done in exchange for free camping and use of the hot springs. The girls especially liked the cooler, shallower pool that was designed with kids in mind. Meanwhile, the warmer, deeper adjacent pool seemed to uncurl hidden knots in Doug and Denise. A few travelers had suggested we include Capitol Reef National Park in our southern Utah itinerary. We had initially planned to skip it in favor of more time at Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. Our 9-month anniversary of being on the road fell on Memorial Day (May 25) so we elected to spend 1 night at Capitol Reef National Park and take it easy. To our surprise and delight, a "feature" inside the park was an historic cottage that sold homemade fruit pies - in keeping with the tradition of those hardy (and arguably quite insane) Mormon families that carved a fruit orchard and farming land out of a harsh, barren desert environment that is today's Capitol Reef. The park is beautiful because of the fruit orchards -- a soothing and mellow green in the stark redness of the hard rock canyon walls all around -- where the campgrounds are located. We splurged on 4 small pies and munched happily as we reflected on our last month since being in Grand Canyon and hiking 1.5 miles down the Bright Angel trail below the south rim. An early night to bed was matched with an early start as we headed out of Capitol Reef toward Bryce Canyon at 8am this morning. While a relatively short driving distance it took us a good 4-5 hours to reach Bryce Canyon. Our scenic journey took us over 9,600 foot mountain passes where quaking Aspen trees intersperse with pine and open meadows are carved with clear running brooks, before plummeting once again into dry desert canyons along roads that offered little shoulder and steep drop-offs on either side. Along our route we stopped in at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and were surprised with the strong science focus of this park. In what has become an almost reflexive reaction both the girls took up the challenge of completing a Junior Ranger equivalent package and are now Junior Scientists of this great national monument. Bryce Canyon greeted us with a warm afternoon and a pleasant sprinkle provided by nearby thunderstorms. Because of high elevation we might dip down to freezing temperatures overnight. But tomorrow we plan to do a morning hike -- along the rim and into the canyon -- in hopefully 55-65F sunshine.

Monroe, Utah - Mystic Hot Springs

We had to leave Moab because the town - and all RV sites - were booked solid for the Memorial Day long weekend. (A lack of planning foresight on our part).

Opting for a reprieve from desert life - even through our Moab visit was a real treat with Arches and Canyonlands NP visits, and a family morning outing on the world famous Slickrock mountain bike trail - we found a small place called Monroe about 180 miles mostly west of Moab to escape to.

The Mystic Hot Springs in Monroe were listed in our WWOOF booklet ("Willing Workers On Organic Farms"). We called ahead and arranged 2-3 hours of work each day for free camping and unlimited access to the Hot Springs.

We took a soak after dinner this evening and loved it - especially since a cold rain storm had blown in.

We're close to a snow capped mountain - meaning cooler days and nights. This fairly basic, quiet campground has lush, green grass... and we're delighted to be living with grass again instead of grit!

More adventures and exploration to follow.

Moab, Utah

It’s been a dry, dusty and hot few days since leaving Mesa Verde. A small heat wave seems to have washed over southwest Utah and we’ve been caught in it. Amidst the beauty of canyons, arches, bridges, spires, mesas, needles and other water and wind-worn rock formations -- and a side trip to the Four Corners -- we had two unusual experiences. The first was ascending the Moki Dugway. In the 1950’s Uranium mining companies built a road down the side of a steep Mesa so their trucks could reach the valley floor below and their processing plants located there. The plant was just outside the amazing Monument Valley and Valley of the Gods. Leaving those areas to head toward Natural Bridges National Monument, the Moki Dugway is the most direct – and most exhilarating route – up onto the Mesa. Road signs warn of vehicle size, weight and towing limitations. Additional warnings tell of unmaintained roads and speed limits of 5 MPH. The approach to the Mesa is a frontal assault with the road leading directly toward the base of the Mesa. Then the road commences a steep, narrow, winding climb making the 1,200 foot ascent in just a few miles with 4 major switchbacks, two minor ones and a steep drop-off for failure to stay on the road. There is no turning around and limited options to pull-out to let traffic by. What a ride! We were buzzed to be on the road and to successfully make it to the top. In contrast to our delight were a lot of frozen faces on the people we passed who were about to drive DOWN the road. Another incident happened in the late afternoon while camping in the Needles section of Canyonlands. The temperature had soared to 96 F and the baking sun had forced us to take cover under the shade of a nearby tree. We put up the van awning to maximize our shade then set out some maps and papers on the picnic table to study Utah route options. There was a slight shift in the faint breeze that was blowing but we paid no attention. Suddenly, a dust cloud appeared behind the van traveling fast toward us. It was swirling, picking up tumble weeds and sucking fine, red dust high into the air. Before we could react the outside edge of the awning was whipped skyward – like a giant sail - rising high above the level of the van. It only stayed in place because of being attached to the van. But the extendable legs on the outer edge of the awning were now bucking and kicking wildly in mid-air. The violent dust cloud moved over our campsite. Doug quickly grabbed for the flying awning legs to anchor it down and was soon enveloped in sand blasting red dust. Denise, trying to secure the papers on the picnic table by pinning them with her hands and body, was also being sand blasted as the mini-tornado whipped through. We were forced to close our eyes and stop breathing as we could feel dust being blown in our ears and nose as we held on. It was brief but intense. Within 20-30 seconds the awning settled down. The “dust devil” had passed through. In cleaning up, Denise noticed she had as much red sand INSIDE her sunglasses as she did on the outside. It was a short but humbling beating we’d taken from mother nature demonstrating how she can carve and shape the landscape. We had lost three papers in the blast. We quickly scouted around and found one caught in scrub near the campground. But two others were missing. We looked directly skyward. Two loose leaf papers were doing a dance of sorts, flying upward gently and gracefully above our campsite – their whiteness made all the more stark against the clear blue sky. We sat for nearly five minutes watching them as they soared higher and higher – easily reaching 500 feet and probably higher. Two black crows even flew by to check them out. The strange part was their vertical ascent. It was in a somewhat fixed position. They did not drift around in the sky but continued straight upward. There was no red dust to outline the shape of the mini-tornado but it was clear the force was still at work. Eventually the papers seemed to plateau then began a slow drift downward – eventually landing just 100 yards from our campsite. Quite bizarre. To cap things off, that evening at around 2:30am another dust storm hit us. The van rocked and buffeted in the wind. We looked out to see nearby tent-campers securing their sites. As a way to manage the oppressive heat we had left the side window open on our van, next to our bed. In return we were treated to an unwelcome light dusting of fine red desert soil that covered our window ledge, sleeping bags and bed.