xyz99

The next day we decided to visit Canyonlands. You can get there from Moab the easy way (on paved road) or the hard way (on a 4WD road). We never took a 4WD road before and I was not sure it was a good idea. I think DH had even more doubts, but he did not say anything.
Our B&B host assured us it was an easy road, so we agreed. And if it gets too rough, we can always turn around go back, right?

The first 12 miles or so are paved, and the scenery is really wonderful. We stopped at the petroglyphs and to watch some climbers, then continued on our way. The road became more rough, but not too bad, still wide enough, so we drove admiring the surroundings. We stopped several times to take more pictures and just to listen to the silence. Not total silence, just the wind and desert bugs, but for us, city people that is amazing.
At some point we saw these lakes – in the middle of the desert, amazingly blue, fenced lakes with ‘no trespassing’ signs. Not a soul around, not a sign of what that was, it was surreal, almost creepy. We felt like in an X-Files episode discovering some out of this world ‘something’. We later found out the lakes were part of a potash mining facility (hence the ‘Potash Road’ name, duh!).

Later, the road got really narrow with bigger boulders – but what a view! And I’m not sure you care about this, but I was impressed, so you need to hear about it - at some point, there’s a toilet, right in the middle of nowhere, spotless. I couldn’t believe my eyes, definitely the cleanest ‘outdoors’ one I’ve seen.
Anyway, but that time the road was so narrow we could not turn around even if we wanted to. There was nobody else on the road (except for some motorbikes that passed us earlier) and DH promises that next time we are renting a regular sedan, so I don’t get any more 4WD ideas – even better, we’re renting bikes. But good sport, he keeps driving
We reach the switchbacks – oh my god! And now, of course we meet other cars – but going in opposite direction, of course, which makes the whole thing even more ‘interesting’. But finally, we get all the way up in Canyonlands, and you know what, we loved it.

Utahtea, thanks – you were the first one to mention this road. It was a little bit scary at times but mostly because it was our first experience of this kind and we did not know what to expect, or how much worse it can get.
It never got very bad, we never had to put the car in 4wd, 2wd was ok all the time. And we really enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun. We would do it again in a heartbeat.

We stopped at the Canyonland’s Visitor Center, had the sandwiches we had bought from Moab (can’t remember the place’s name, but great sandwiches – and oh, so yummy oatmeal raisin cookies and chocolate chip cookies) and then we went to visit this other park. More about Canyonlands later.

utahtea

I'm glad you liked the Shafer Trail Road.

Utahtea

Dayle

Hi XYZ, I'm glad too that you liked the Shafer Trail. Yes, the switchbacks are a bit narrow, but you go slow, it's fine. Thanks for writing about this, it's good for other people to hear a first timer's impressions!

xyz99

We liked Canyonlands, but not as much as Arches. The park is vast, with few (or no) short hiking trails, so I’m sure this affected our perception. But the views are fantastic!

We also stopped at Dead Horse Point, and that was amazing, too. Again, no hiking, but you can see down the canyon the past million of years, amazing. And from there, we could also the water ponds we passed on the Potash Road.

That night we had a wonderful dinner in Moab at the Desert Bistro. Outside sitting, candle light table, great food, wine and atmosphere, great service. Highly recommended.

The next day we left towards Torrey. The first detour and stop: Goblin SP. That was a fun place, literally in the middle of nowhere. Being so isolated, we thought we would be the only ones there, but there were quite a few people, lots of kids (of course), but grown-ups too. We walked among the goblins, took pictures, really enjoyed it. On the way to Goblins we encountered some (maybe 6-8) prong horn sheep. Fairly close to the road, they did not seem afraid of the car, we were amazed, that was our first encounter with such animals.

We stayed in Torrey at Skyridge B&B – very nice place, but hard to find coming from Moab, the sign is hidden; you can only see it coming from the opposite direction. Anyway, after driving back and forth a few times, we found it. Very nice place. Our room was huge, had a private hot tub, lots of toiletries in the bathroom, terry cloth robes, satellite TV, tons of video tapes, we liked it there. The B&B is somewhat secluded, outside of Torrey, on top of this ridge, so it has wonderful views all around. Sunset there was spectacular.

xyz99

We had dinner at Café Diablo. We had to wait a few minutes to get a table, but it was full moon so we enjoyed a stroll around the restaurant, even though it was very chilly. The restaurant has a very beautiful flower garden, and right outside, they have this other small building that probably serves as their fridge. Someone would go in every couple of minutes, come out with wonderful cakes, go back in the restaurant. We were hungry and already drooling.

Unfortunately, the meal was not what we expected. I had the ribs and they came in a wonderful presentation. The ribs were rolled and were standing up on the plate, exquisitely decorated. But they were so spicy, I could not eat them. There was a lot of meat on the ribs, so tender it was falling off the bone. But so spicy…I could not believe it. Well, no problem, I had desert instead, not bad at all

At the B&B, we told the other guests about the super-spicy ribs. But don’t forget, I don’t like spicy food. Some other guest declared that she loves spicy food, so the next day they went there for the spicy ribs. The following morning she told me I was right, the ribs were so spicy, she couldn’t eat them, either. So be warned…but if you can take spicy, go for it.

xyz99

The following day we explored Capitol Reef – what a great park. Not too crowded, with wonderful scenery. All those formations and colors….we were speechless. There were no fruits at Fruita, but we enjoyed the shade – it was the first time since the beginning of the trip when we saw trees. We drove the scenic road and hiked the Grand Wash – wow! There was no water whatsoever, but you could see the force of it. It is hard to imagine rushing rivers in the desert, but the signs were everywhere, really nice hike. Even though it was so hot. Lucky us, we did it in the morning, so for the while the high canyon walls kept the trail in shadow.

We spent the afternoon taking it slowly, relaxing – we decided we did not want to drive another 100 miles to do the Burr trail loop. It felt good after so many days of non-stop driving around.

We had dinner at the Capitol Reef Inn and Café – nothing fancy, but good food. And after that, we just walked a little enjoying all the stars and the (almost) full moon. The temperature difference is something we never experienced before – so hot during the day, so cold at night.