Dear Maia, Isaac and Virtual Wanderers,
Utah Highway 12 and Utah Highway 24 are one of the most spectacular drives I’ve ever experienced. The route goes through some of the most iconic geology of the Colorado Plateau. We started today at Kodachrome Basin State Park, drove through Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Capitol Reef National Park to Goblin Valley State Park. Here is our route for today.
And, I overslept. But that’s OK, because it made the day more pleasant to make up the hours of sleep lost the night before when the air mattress came uncorked. I’m 70 and the padding was missed.
But, I digress. I wanted to hike the 1.7 Mike trail that we usually do. Late start, long drive. We only hiked half mile or so before heading back. It’s gorgeous!
I stopped by the Visitor’s Center before leaving and got the girls the cutest State Park hoodies and Bark Ranger bandanas. They are going to look adorable with Kodachrome shirts!
Then, we continued on Utah 12 through the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. This drive across oceans of slickrock is always Frisson to me. Like, I’m shaking.
Then, after passing through Boulder, Utah, you continue up the mountain pass to an elevation of 9k feet. You can see the while Grand Staircase below. This reminds me of the Mogollon Rim in AZ a bit. The trees are turning and I’m still shaking. IDK why. Frisson?
A bit later, we turned off on Utah Highway 24. We passed through Capitol Reef. I had a campsite booked here when Kachina got sick last month on our Frisson I trip and we had to cancel. There was no availability this month, but it would be better to break this day into 2 to allow more time. It is almost too much beauty on this route to take in too quickly. I’m disappointed that we couldn’t stay here.
We continued to Hanksville and onto Goblin Valley State Park. This is Utah Mini 5 State Park #4 on our journey. Goblin Valley where we were when Kachina got sick last month. It was not a fun stop worrying about her. We got here too late for a hike, but our walk-in site is right up in the Goblins. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we can hike for a couple of hours before heading to our next and last stop.
TTFN GM Cathy
UPDATE 9.23: Here is an Instagram reel I made with more photos.
Traveling Grandma and Her Pup Crew 