The La Sal Loop Road, from Moab to Castle Valley, Utah - 2008

The La Sal Loop Road, from Moab to Castle Valley, Utah

Driving the La Sal Loop Road is one of the highlights of any visit to Moab, Utah.  Talking to the natives, I heard that it is best if one drives first to the foothills of the La Sal Mountains, then over the pass to Castle Valley and finally to return downstream along the Colorado River.  By traveling this counterclockwise route, all of the major sights appear in your front windshield, rather than to the side or behind you.

 

Although most guidebooks will direct you south, along Spanish Valley Drive, then up Geyser Pass Road until it connects to the La Sal Loop Road, there is a better way to go.  If you have four-wheel-drive, you can start in Moab at the Sand Flats Road.  By indicating that we were “traveling through”, rather than planning to stay and play at the Sand Flats Recreation Area, we were waved through at no charge.

 

If you take the Sand Flats route, be sure to have an accurate map or Utah Road Atlas, as you might want to verify landmarks and directions along the way.  Still, for an alert motorist, the road is not all that challenging.

 

Along the way, we met only two vehicles, so plan for self-sufficiency in case of breakdown or weather delays.  If you take the Sand Flats Road all the way to its terminus at the La Sal Loop Road, your rewards will include views of some spectacular slickrock formations, a relict forest of Aspens and Pines, Indian caves and close-up vistas of the snow-covered La Sal Mountains.

 

Once you reach the entrance to the Manti La Sal National Forest, you will find an abundance of great places to stop along the road for a romantic picnic or just a walk in the woods.  Although several bicycle trails intersect the road, we saw no cyclists on our visit.

 

With the peaks of the La Sal Mountains still bathed in snow from a late June storm, we elected to stay on the Loop Road, rather than venture into the high country on muddy or impassable forest roads.  With our altitude hovering at 7000 feet, or more, the air temperature along the road can be a relief from the heat of Moab or it can be downright cold, so plan accordingly.

 

Traveling north, then west along the Loop, one soon descends down to the upper reaches of Castle Valley, a well-watered and idyllic retreat for latter-day hippies, ranchers and those who like to live “away from it all”.  Among the benefits of living or visiting in that valley are the sandstone towers, made famous by Chevrolet ads in the 60s and by filmmakers since the time of the earliest Westerns.

 

If you are expecting full services in Castle Valley, think again.  Although there are bed and breakfast establishments, we could find no general store, post office, restaurant or gas station.  In other words, be sure you have a full tank of gas and enough food to carry you through until you get to the resorts and restaurants along the Colorado River.

 

Although you can race around the La Sal Loop in three hours or less, plan to spend an entire afternoon exploring its many wonders.  You will not regret the time spent in its desert and alpine environments.

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By James McGillis at 04:27 PM | | Comments (0) | Link

An Afternoon By The Colorado River - 2008

An Afternoon By The Colorado River

On Saturday, May 24, 2008, I traveled west and north from Hovenweep National Monument to Moab, Utah, a distance of 120 miles.  Once I got past the ancient Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) roads, the trip north on US Highway 191 was easy, even with while towing my travel trailer.

 

Arriving at the Moab Rim Campark, just south of Moab a day earlier than expected I found that there was no RV space available that night in all of Moab.  Thinking that the remote Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Horse Thief Campground would surely have space, I drove thirty miles up Utah Highway 313, only to find that there was no vacancy at any campsite within fifty miles of Moab.

 

With gasoline right at four dollars per gallon, my sixty mile sojourn to Horse Thief and back cost me around forty dollars.  Although high gas prices are supposed to be a deterrent to travelers this summer, it seemed like everyone within driving distance of Moab had decided to give it one last gasp before mothballing their camping equipment.

 

With nowhere else to go, I drove back to Moab, then south on Spanish Valley Drive to the Pueblo Verde development, where I have a deposit down on a residential building lot.  That night, I camped by the curb at Lot #7, where I plan to build my dream home in the next couple of years.

 

With only six of the twenty-eight lots currently occupied, the setting was tranquil and quiet.  Since my coach is self-contained, I had everything I needed to “dry camp” on the street.  The added bonus was to wake up and see the 360-degree view of the Spanish Valley as it will look when my house stands on that site.  To me, there is no better residential view in America, centered as it is between the Moab Rim and the peaks of the Manti La Sal Range. 

 

For those who are interested, there are one-third acre lots still available for less than one hundred thousand dollars.  If you come upon this entry in later years, do not blame me for not telling you sooner.  The window of opportunity might last into 2009, but after that, prepare to buy at the higher rates that baby boomer retirement purchases will inevitably dictate.  As my father used to say, “Get there early and get a good seat”

 

On Sunday, I moved to my reserved site at the Moab Rim Campark, where I spent the next six nights.  Meanwhile, my love flew from Burbank, California to Grand Junction, Colorado, known simply as “Junction” to the locals.  Picking her up at Walker Field Airport in Junction, I noted that their parking and traffic circulation upgrade was still not completed.  To my dismay, it features a main access point that few if any large RVs or buses could negotiate without overriding the curb.  This is what we in America used to call “Progress” with a capital “P”.

 

After driving west on Interstate Highway I-70 back towards Moab, we cut off at State Route 128, which goes through the abandoned cattle and railroad town of Cisco.  Cisco is famous for a nearby uranium ore strike in the early 1950’s.  Today, it is a crumbling wreck of buildings, many built from surplus railroad ties.  It looks too new to be a ghost town, but to old and decrepit to resurrect as a quaint tourist trap.

 

From there, the old two-lane highway wends its way across open prairie, then through ranch land and finally to the Colorado River, near the site where the historic Dewey Bridge was destroyed by fire in April 2008.  It was a classic case of a child playing with matches in a nearby campground.  His “science project” got away from him and rapidly burned the wooden bridge-deck of the old suspension bridge, a now lost treasure on the National Register of Historic Places. 

 

Pyromaniacs of the world take note.  Karma will seek its own resolution, whether here in this life, or at some future time and place, as determined by the confluence of fates.  There is at least one young boy somewhere in this land who will long remember his lack of judgment that windy April evening.

 

After crossing on the new bridge, the subsequent automobile trip down the Colorado River is its own reward.  Entrenched in a deep canyon along this stretch, the river was only a few days past its springtime, 2008 peak flow.  To the delight of the many rafters, there were rapids where usually one found only sandbars.  As the waters slowly receded, rushing water swept the banks clean of candy wrappers and plastic bottles, leaving the river looking much as it did in primeval times.

 

Along the way, we stopped at the Castle Creek Winery at Red Cliffs Lodge for an early and satisfying dinner.  The winery, billed as “Utah’s first and largest commercial winery” produces good, if a bit light wines that are consistent from year to year.  If you stop there, be sure to take a look at their Moab Museum of Film & Western Heritage, featuring “100 years of Cowboy History”.  Because of its undeveloped remoteness, yet easily accessed services in Moab, many classic western movies were filmed here and in nearby Castle Valley.

 

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By James McGillis at 08:37 PM | | Comments (0) | Link

From This Valley They Say You Are Leaving... 2007

From This Valley They Say You Are Leaving...

On Friday September 28, 2007 I will depart from Moab, Utah. After leaving Durango on the Autumnal Equinox, I met Carrie late that evening at the airport in Grand Junction, now touted as the center of Colorado’s wine country. From there, we drove the 110 miles to Moab, much of it in a heavy rainstorm. Upon arrival in Moab, the early storm had passed, so we did a quick setup of the coach and turned in for the night.

 

Having lived in my travel trailer for the better part of the past two years, the sound of rain falling overnight was a comfort to me. In the morning, Carrie was amazed that I could sleep through a downpour of such biblical proportions, but sleep I did. As we drove around town the next day, I was confused upon seeing how much red earth had washed across the roads. Until we arrived at the Colorado River, I was skeptical that the overnight downpour could have caused such a shift in the landscape.
As you can see, by the next afternoon, it was a clear and beautiful day.

 

On our way up-river towards Castle Valley, I was amazed to see how much the river had risen and how turbulent and red its fabled waters flowed.

 

At Castle Valley itself, we found a display of light unlike any I had previously seen. Between the clouds, the late afternoon Sun and the geological features there, it was a sight to behold and to remember.  In this area, it is all too easy to take such breathtaking sights as commonplace.   Still, Mother Nature has her ability to stop you in your tracks and make you take notice.

 

After three days together in this most spiritual of lands, Carrie flew back to Burbank, California on Wednesday. I spent one additional day here in Moab. My excuse for doing so was to clean up some computer work and get ready for a three-day trip home to Simi Valley, California. Moab and the  Spanish Valley are now like old friends. Once you know them, you never want to leave them, but leave I must.

 

On Friday, I will stop at Navajo National Monument for one night of dry camping at 7300 ft.  It is the best free camping in the Four Corners area.  Also within the monument are some of the best preserved Pre-Puebloan Indian cliff and alcove dwellings, dating to around 1250 AD.

 

After a long pull, through Flagstaff, Arizona and Needles, California on Interstate 40, I will spend this Saturday night at Mojave National Preserve, a 1.4 million acre unspoiled desert paradise.  although hot in the summer, from late September until early April it is a wonderful place to spend a night or two during your travels on I-40.

 

I was pleased to discover that on her first trip here, Carrie loved Moab as much as I do. We are looking forward to spending time here each year. 

 

On Sunday, I will pull all the way to Simi Valley, California, where Carrie and I will be together again.

 

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