Click on a photo to enlarge it.
We drove further along the gravel road into Cathedral Valley and hit quite a few very sandy stretches along the way. We met two rangers at the Wall of Jericho who
were astonished to see a motor home along this road! We only drove as far as a section of zig zags and decided just to walk up for the views across the valley.
We knew that rain was forecast for the next day which would make driving along the road problematic. It would get very slippery and the sandy parts might mean we
would get stuck, so we wanted to get as far back along the road as possible. We managed to get all the way back to the main road but there was the four mile section
that was very rocky and took us quite a while to get through. But Winnie managed it!
It took us almost 4 hours to do the 30 miles and we parked on a former landing strip near the junction with the main road for the night. The next day was very windy
and cloudy and rain was definitely threatening, so we were glad that we'd decided to drive back yesterday.
We drove into Hanksville and went to the library to use the internet. It was very stormy and then it rained quite heavily. We needed to get propane so we stopped at a
petrol station and the woman came out to the propane tank. She asked us if we'd ever done this before which we thought was a bit odd because we need to get propane
every 3 weeks if we aren't hooked up to electricity, so Kirsten said yes.
But then she told Kirsten to switch the handle off that's attached to Winnie when we're full and she went over to the machine to operate it. We raised our eye brows
because we've never been asked to help before and then there was a problem because the motor home gauge wasn't moving but the propane machine gauge showed that we
were approaching 4.5 gallons and we knew we would be about full.
So Kirsten thought there was something wrong and switched off the handle. There was a big bang and the woman quickly switched off the propane machine! Apparently the
machine is supposed to be switched off first but the big bang really shocked us all. The woman had turned white!!
So Kirsten nearly blew up Hanksville! Helen always knew she was dangerous!
We managed to use our wobbly legs to go and get drinking water and pick up a few things from a local grocery store and then we drove out to San Rafael Swell to a
free BLM camping area for the night.
The next day we did a short hike to Wild Horse Window which is a rock formation with a hole in the roof and then we drove out to do a 5.5 mile walk along Little Wild
Horse Canyon. We have done the walk along this slot canyon before and did a large loop that included Bell Canyon. But this time we just wanted to do the first part of
the canyon which is the best part anyway.
There was some water in the canyon this time and so we had to cross some stepping stones but it was worth doing the walk again. We parked up at the BLM camping area
and then tried to clean up all the dust we have accumulated inside the motor home. We found a whole block of Aldi chocolate that had fallen down the back of one of
the cupboards under the sink and had to be thrown out. Kirsten was devastated!
The next day we continued north and went over a high pass and stopped in Ashley National Forest for the nice which was very nice and peaceful. The next day we went
into Vernal, north east Utah and went to various information centres to ask about Fantasy Canyon which is a small canyon with various rock formations. We knew that
the roads to it would be gravel and we needed to find out about the condition and whether it was drivable.
Then we set off for the canyon trying to beat the rain and get there for photos. But we failed miserably because it started raining and we decided to turn around and
go back tomorrow. But the rain was quite heavy and it continued overnight and throughout the next day.
It was still raining on Sunday but the forecast said that Monday would be the best day so we decided to stay one more night and check out the weather. But on Monday
it was still raining and it wasn't worth hanging around any longer.
So we headed towards Wyoming and drove up and over Flaming Gorge. Once we got into Wyoming it brightened up! Typical.
