Grand Staircase-Escalante

This morning, we decided to avoid the highway and take the longer and (so we heard) more scenic route along Highway 12 to Moab. This turned out to be a great decision - today's drive was long but took us through a wide variety of incredible landscapes.

Shortly after leaving Bryce, the road took us into the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monent, a 1.9 million acre preserve that is one the largest and most pristine wilderness areas in the US. The road here really has to be seen to be believed: winding in short, sharp turns along breathtaking views of the gigantic, rounded boulders that dominate the landscape. A breathtaking but sometimes nerve-wracking drive. 

Then it all changed. After leaving the National Monument, we entered the Dixie National Forest and began to climb, eventually reaching the summit at 9,800 feet. Within minutes of driving through the town of Boulder (no, not that one), we had left the rocky landscape behind and were driving through a pine and birch forest so green it was almost shocking. After a while, the forest opened up to grassy meadows spotted with yellow, white, red, and purple wildflowers. Also, open range cows. Caroline will explain.

We ate a late lunch (early dinner?) in Torrey then continued on through Capitol Reef National Park. More on that later.