After a hearty breakfast at the Moab Diner, we struck out for the trail. Just north of Arches NP the trail heads off to the west to a place called Gemini Bridges. This is a twin natural bridge formation out in the desert. To get there from the Moab side is not easy nor for the feint of heart. Steep climbs, bare rock, ledges and deep sand. The FJ took it all in stride. I worried about the no name tires that were on it when we bought it, but so far they are doing well. Today was no exception. We stopped at the trailhead for the Bridges and walked the 300 yard trail to the formation. It was pretty interesting but we didn’t stay long. Today was to be a long day.
After leaving the area, we wanted to take a side trip to Deadhorse Point State Park. It was a short drive off the trail and we had always wanted to visit. We arrived to find the pay booth closed but if you had exact change you could use a fee envelope. We didn’t have exact change so we turned around and left. This park is where they filmed the scene where Thelma and Louise drove themselves off the cliff.
So, we turned back north and headed for the trail. Soon, we were out in the desert all by ourselves in a stark and harsh environment. There was a strange beauty to the scenery but it made us feel very small. The scale of the area is very large. It is almost overwhelming. After about three hours we reached Green River, Ut where we filled the tank and headed back south on the other side of the canyon.
The road started out wide, smooth and fast. Some of the best gravel roads we’ve been on in the last two weeks. This wasn’t to last. The road gradually degraded and soon we were driving in deep sand. Some 25 miles of sand ranging from a few inches deep to a foot deep. Maintaining speed was not a problem, but trying to control direction was tough at times. After what seemed like a very long time we finally reached the end of the sand. It stopped just as fast as it started.
Before long we had reached I70 just a few miles west of Green River. It was definitely worth the trip, we saw some amazing sites. But nothing compared to what was coming up!
The road north of the interstate improved dramatically and we were able to maintain a nice 40 mph. We meandered through towering rock formations of the San Raphael desert. We crossed the river twice today, once in the east and once again in the west many hours later. We saw sand dunes, pictoglyphs, and even some goblins!
Pretty soon we were closing in on our destination for the day. Boy, we were tired. It was a fun day though and it looks like tomorrow will be even better as we head to Delta, Ut.
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