Part three of day one: some left over random pics
Another shot of a the view from my campsite. This one is towards the north and the San Rafael Swell.
Sleeping quarters. Pretty luxurious compared to what I have when backpacking.
Inside the park on the way to the actual valley for which the park is named after.
Goblin Valley: Named because of the hundreds (if not thousands)of hoodoo's on the valley floor that look like a goblin army. This area was in the news a few years back when some boy scout leaders decided to topple a hoodoo because they felt it caused a safety risk. The buffoons decided to video it and post it on social media to boot. Never mind you could speak to a ranger within a couple of minutes on site if you thought it was a concern. Best time to be here is at sunset if you plan to take pics. in years past after dark parents would put headlamps on their kids and let them run through the valley. Kids love it. Parents are able to watch them from above in the parking lot. Good clean fun and something most will remember for the rest of their life's. Again this pic just doesn't do the little spot justice and surprisingly, I didn't see anything on the internet that was that much better.
This now officially ends day one:
Day two: Hanksville to Bullfrog Marina and Halls Ferry: I folded camp up just before sunrise and headed towards Dukes Slickrock Grill and Campground in Hanksville. I spoke to somebody there on the way back from Notom, Utah yesterday and asked if I could park my truck and trailer there today for possibly overnight and I'd pay their camping fee when I get back. The person said yes and I pulled in here around 8 or 8:15 and unloaded the bike and topped it off with gas at the Hole in the Wall Gas station and parked in front of Blondies and went in and had steak and eggs for breakfast.
The only other people in there was a family of Japanese tourists. I wolfed down my food as I had a schedule to keep. I took off my jacket and put hand warmers in the inside pockets of my vest. I had on a base layer long sleeve shirt, a medium weight hoodie, Carhart vest and then an armored jacket with liner and three buffs around my neck to seal the bottom of the helmet.
On my lower half I had a thermal base layer with thermal sox that came over my calf, Carhart double fronted (chapped) pants, and thick leather chaps over all of it. Feet were ensconced in Fox mid-length warm/water proof boots. I noticed once I started to put on the Iron Man Replica Helmet I had the undivided attention of the young boy from the family. I made it a point to lower the internal smoked visor and dropping the tinted yellow shield with a modest thud while looking straight at him. I gave him a thumbs up and strode out the front door of that greasy spoon with a modified John Wayne swagger feeling pretty buff at that point with the jet black Icon jacket and chaps to set off the helmet.
Standing at the bike the current temp was 19 degrees and the buffness feeling evaporated quickly. Even with the hand-warmers at work I had somewhat of a sinking feeling about that number and what it signified. The fact I had to knock out 68 miles without it getting noticeably warmer was weighing on my mind. Trying to put a positive spin on things I reminded myself that sometime in the past my forefathers fought the Romans on the frozen Rhine wrapped only in fur skins. No hand-warmers, no base-layers, no Iron Man Helmet. It worked. I slung my right leg over the CB1100 Naked Sport Tourer of Justice, fired it up and pointed her south under a low mid-winter sun that was refusing to share it's life nurturing warmth with me. So be it! I left Hanksville surgically threading the fresh track someone left in the slowly receding frost on the road.
Blondies parking lot. I took the pic yesterday pm and that's why the shadows are cast from the west.
The next view pics are on the stretch of road heading to Bullfrog Marina where I would catch the Charles Hall Ferry to get to the other side (east) of Lake Powell.
Handful of miles outside Hanksville looking southwest at the Henry Mts:
The Henry mt's, home to world class mule deer and the countries largest free ranging buffalo herd. A recent local article discussed how researchers were shocked to find that this herd is genetically pure. Zero inbreeding from cattle.
Further down the road: looking west
Mt Ellsworth tops out at a little over 8,000 feet. road elevation is close to about 5,000 feet at this point. On the other side of that is Lake Powell.
The next two pictures probably more than any other typifies the varied terrain of the area. High (mostly) desert, sandstone buttes and outcroppings punctuated by low alpine terrain and ecosystems.
The decent to Ticaboo, Utah. not gonna lie. Hit triple digits. with each half mile of road I was a picking up a degree of heat. It was as if somebody turned on the hairdryer. I was open visoring at this point.
At the Bullfrog Gas station and restaurant. Lots of medium sized rental units out of the water in dry dock for the winter or maint.
I've hit the 10 pic limit again. Next is the ferry crossing of Lake Powell
