Day 5...
Plan was to finish off the "Burr Trail" and hit the ferry across Lake Powell, then down through Kayenta with hopefully enough time to eat at Oregano's in Flagstaff. I was already getting hungry.
Famous "Burr Trail" switchbacks. Windey little suckers:
Saw a trail head... and had to hike it. The approach to "Surprise Canyon" (37 50'17.83"N, 110 59'19.68"W):
Very, very tall walls:
Back on the road, views of the scenery continually astound. Then a canyon which in some ways rivals the Grand Canyon opens up on your left.
Looking into and across "Clay Canyon":
Interesting cap stone pillar erosion way down at the bottom:
This entire area had been ravaged by recent rains. Creeks had overflowed their banks by considerable margins and left mud and debris everywhere. Much of the designated camping spots at Lake Powell were closed. We were lucky we hadn't come a week earlier, as the main road had been shut down from damage.
Finally at Powell, we learned the ferry left on every odd hour. It was 12:30, so we lucked out and drove down with 15 minutes to spare.
Waiting to board:
One of these trucks is not like the others
:
Trusty GPS says we sailed at 9.2 miles per hour... :
Once across, we found a high mesa for lunch:
Dog... was... done...
:
... and so were we... basically. After lunch it was on through Mexican Hat, then Monument Valley... Kayenta and into Flagstaff. Oregano's was slammed as usual, but for some reason a table for 2 was open and we just walked right in. Perhaps the Gods of the Road where smiling upon us with respect for our travels.
1,200 miles, at least 225 in dirt... and never broke out a single tool.
Was a good trip. I've got GPS routes and waypoints of hikes and camping if anyone is interested. Every time we go to Southern Utah we find something even more amazing. Highly recommend others make the trip.
See you on the trails.
