 1 We have a late lunch at Ruby's Inn near the entrance to Bryce Canyon and head for Torrey near Capitol Reef NP. |
 2 We head east through two small towns on our way to Escalante. |
 3 The Henry Mountains, at 11,500 ft, are 75 kms away in the distance. They are with us for the rest of the day and for a couple of hours tomorrow. |
 4 SR29 winds its way along the valley floor, still at about 6000 ft. We've dropped down from 9100 feet in the Bryce Canyon NP. |
 5 The area is one of the most desolate in the USA. The scenery is spectacular. |
 6 The panorama from the lookout. |
 7 The road is a bit dangerous in places and low speeds are in order. |
 8 This is one of the most beautiful, lonely drives we've ever taken. |
 9 10 Miles north of Escalante, we pull into this scenic lookout. |
 10 Sign at the lookout. The mountains are named after Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. |
 11 Boulder Mountain makes up half of the Aquarius Plateau. The mountain rises to the west of Capitol Reef National Park and has over 50,000 acres of rolling forest and meadowlands on its top. It is the highest timbered plateau in North America |
 12 That is Boulder Mountain, 30 miles away to the north of where we're standing. The Aquarias Plateau is an uplift on the much larger Colorado Plateau and it is over 900 square miles in area |
 13 We proceed along SR29 and see some more ruminant mammals. |
 14 This is another reason to watch the speed. |
 15 Our destination is the small town of Torrey. As we get closer, we get better views of the mountain range of which Henry Mountain is a part. |
 16 We're on a high plateau just before Torrey and we can see the wilderness area of which Capitol Reef NP is a part. |
 17 We descend from the plateau to Torrey. There are signs advising that chains should be used. Luckily for us, we don't need them. |
 18 The drive down is somewhat tricky. The temperature is close to zero and there is probably ice around. |
 19 This part of Utah is a land of contrasts. There is a frozen lake in the foreground, the desert canyons and 11,500 ft Henry Mountains in the background. |
 20 Magnificent. |
 21 And here it is - our first ever trip down memory lane; our reason for coming to Torrey. |
 22 Twenty years ago, we had spent three days touring Southern Utah and we stayed at this motel on one of the nights. |
 23 At the time, it was alone in the wilderness but other establishments have since been built. It's not exactly overcrowded though. |
 24 We remembered the extreme isolation of the place and it was a dream of ours to return here one day. |
 25 It struck us as curious that the high point of our trip, our reason for being here, was to stay in an old, slightly dilapidated $40 a night motel. |
 26 Back then, we had enjoyed these views over a simple breakfast in the dining room at the end of the building. It's closed today though and doesn't open for another week. That's our rented Edsel - easily the worst car I've ever driven |
 27 It was nothing special then (or now), but it's location is stunning. In front of the motel are colourful layers typical of the Capitol Reef area . . . |
 28 . . . while the spectacular Henry Mountains are visible from the rear porch. |
 29 This time, we are lucky because the motel has only been open for a week after the winter break. It costs a mere $40 a night. |
 30 The next morning, we get under way at 7:00 am and enter the Capitol Reef National Park. |
 31 Our route takes us east on Hyw 24 after which we head south on Hwy 95. The scenery on these two very minor roads (with no traffic) is mind-blowing. Bloody hell but Southern Utah is beautiful. |
 32 The Henry Mountains are even more magnificent at this hour of the morning. |
 33 The top layer is Navajo Sandstone. Next is the red Kayenta formation, then Wingate Sandstone. The greyish layer is called the Chinle formation laid down during the Triassic, a time when all of the continents were joined together. It sits on top of the Moenkopi formation, a layer in which dinosaur remains have been found. |
 34 These layers, typically pale orange to red in colour, are the remnants of wind-born sand dunes deposited around 200 million years ago when all of the land masses were joined together, but starting to break apart, in a single continent called Pangea. |
 35 As we travel through the park we see some more ruminant mammals. Black deer? Elk Maybe? |
 36 Petroglyphs from the Anasazi - the "ancient ones". |
 37 In the 13th century, all of the Native Americans in this area suddenly left the area, probably because of a long drought. |
 38 Earth's history is laid bare before us - sedimentary layers. |
 39 The domes of Capitol Reef are sandstone and whiteish in colour. Sandstone wears differently to the other rocks and tends to round off at the top hence the capitol-shaped domes. |
 40 The Fremont River flows along the base of the structures and SR24 follows the river for its length. Steps and a wall constructed from sandstone bricks are visible in the picture. |
 41 Probably the best photograph of the trip (and Jenni took it): the Henry Mountains. Beautiful. |
 42 We drive down SR95 and head towards Glen Canyon. |
 43 We're on State Route 95 with not another car in sight. We don't share this scenery with anyone |
 44 I found this really interesting graphic that explains the stratigraphy of the Colorado Plateau, Glen Canyon is next |
