ay 82-83, Thur. - Fri. Aug 25, 26, 2011 Salt Lake City to Panguitch UT to Page AZ

Day 82-83, Thur. - Fri. Aug 25, 26, 2011 Salt Lake City to Panguitch UT to  Page AZ.

Thursday August 25, 2011

It was mostly down US 89 that we went and on some other roads as well.

Leaving Brigham City  and driving the 120 miles (that’s right) through the Freeway construction until we reached the “countryside” near Provo was a “white knuckle” bit of driving. This is not your average 2 lane freeway but at times is five lanes wide and a DOV lane to boot.  One stop allowed us some time to breathe and that was at a
“Flying J” truck wash and that was a miracle. We were in and out in 15 minutes. Just $40.00  and it was a great wash and any attention we needed they provided . The trailer looked great after that.

So we finally emerged from the construction and started to look for the “back road” and found it in order to have a quieter ride to Panguitch (Pron. Pang-’Gwitch). Mainly it is a ride through the canyon country and ranches of the Sevier River which is wide in most paces (the valley) and then we entered the headlands  of the river where it gets narrow and beautiful.  At this elevation therr are only Junipertrees. No pines or spruce (latitude and moisture).  During all of this we ran through “hit and miss” rain showers, that seemed to linger in the air as the air was so hot and dry.  Then between the Nebo, the San Pitch Mtns. and the Pahvant Mountains  where the highest peak is at 11,000’ it created a long ridge of some 30-40 miles on the passenger side. The road continues to gain altitude and hits 6200 feet at one point.   At one time in the day we hit 91 F and about 15 minutes later after it rained it was 63 F.  Talk about a cooling effect!

This road crosses the Old Spanish National HIstorical Trail some 3-4 times. That trail runs through five states from Los Angeles and branches into three parts as it winds through Utah and Colorado on its way to Santa Fe, NM.

We arrived a bit early at “Hitch N Post” RV in Panguitch and were able to do a laundry before supper, That was a treat as some things were running low. 

The campground is small but adequate. Panguitch (pop. 1,623) is a tourist town supply stop  (ATV’s and many off road activities) with some residual agriculture, cattle ranching and logging although the big logging mill is just a shadow of its former self.. Plus the closeness of both Bryce and Zion N.P. adds to the activity.

Friday August 26, 2011

Moving on from Panguitch still on US 89 was generally a very good blacktopped road. This opened up the canyons and sandstone and colored rocks that this part of the country is known for. By the time we passed Kanab (gassed up here) the country was filled with beautiful cliffs, rocks, canyons and even some road cuts that were significant. We stopped in Kanab (pop. 3,564) where the store is called Honey’s Market to shop some (rib eyes on sale for $5.99/lb) and is just across from a beautiful red sandstone bluff.  The store was adding $.15 a gallon rebate on gasoline at their gas station.  Quite a boost for the community. Many films were put together on a set near here . Some of you you might remember ...”Daniel Boone”, “Gunsmoke”, “Windrunner: A Spirited Journey”, “Planet of the Apes”, “The Lone Ranger”, and “Stagecoach”. Then it was downhill all the way into Lake Powell and Page AZ. Lots of picture taking as we made a couple of stops to get it right. The elevation was 6,500 at Mt. Carmel and dropped considerably until Lake Powell.  We stopped for lunch at Pah-raea (today called Paria ) a ghost town that was attacked by Indians in the 1840‘s and later flooded out in spite of the fact that there was community there. It is now a tourist attraction and movies have been made there as... “The Outlaw Josey Wales” and “Sergeants 3”.   Don’t go there is there is water in the area. We missed the turn for the Waweap Campground and Lodge so went through Page (called on the phone) and were able to cross the Glen Canyon Dam two times.  The canyon under the bridge is fantastic! (Not Ruth’s favorite activity!) It was an awesome view. We did get back to the entrance of the Park three miles back , registered and parked our rig. “Plug in the electricity right away, Jim” was the call  for it  was 99 degrees at that point. We settled in, cooled off and made plans for the four night stay. I registered us for the Lake Powell Boat trip to Rainbow Bridge on Sunday and Monday we will see the Corkscrew canyon up close. On Tuesday we plan to drive to Vermillion Cliffs and Marble Canyon and possibly see our first Condor. Tomorrow (Sat.) we will drive to Flagstaff to spend some time with Ruth’s niece, Kerrie, and family.