The Final Leg to Bryce City

Day 8 – Travel as I Have Envisioned It Could Be!

We spent two nights in the KOA Campground in Grand Junction.

Today is a focused day of travel; rest, fuel, and meal stops only. We will continue out of Grand Junction to Bryce City to arrive at Ruby’s Campground for the opening day of the Sisters on the Fly (SOTF) Southwest Gathering—the motivation for the entire trip.

Our route took us 207 miles along I-70 from Grand Junction to the intersection with US 89, running south to Bryce City, an additional 120 miles. The objective was to arrive at the campground around 4:00 PM (Mountain time).

We were soon leaving Colorado and headed into…

Had we not been focused on this route and schedule, there would have been many potential diversions to several national and state parks. For example, shortly after entering Utah. we could see the mountains of Arches National Park from I-70, and later Capitol Reef. This section of I-70 requires some care in fuel planning. There were one or two stretches of road where there were no services for more than 60 miles.

Utah!

This drive offered a preview of what we were to see in Bryce Canyon: there were rich earthen colors, striking formation rising out of the desert floor; sculpted by wind, rain, and time; and seemingly left behind—abandoned—by the geological and environmental forces that removed the surrounding materials.

We saw several monoliths standing in the open plains with no hint of what they had once been part of.

A red stone monolith approaching Red Canyon

The gallery provides a visual record of this leg of our trip.

We arrived at Ruby’s Campground on time, and set the camper up in the SOTF area, and shortly thereafter, my hardscrabble tent site was converted into home, such as it was, for the next three days.

Peggy documented her SOTF activities directly to Facebook.

Tomorrow, the real, planned adventure begins.

Previous: Atwood and Denver to Grand Junction

Next: Our Camps

Next: Bryce Canyon-Day 1

Gallery
Click on an image to open the Gallery and read captions

Rugged and colorful landscape

Textbook example of tratification

A red stone monolith, Utah

More jagged rock formations

Approaching Red Canyon in Dixie National Forrest near Bryce City

Red Canyon, near Bryce City–A preview of Bryce Canyon

The Entrance to Red Canyon on US 89

Good information for high-profile vehicles, including campers

Rugged mountains

Jagged rocks and rugged country were visible all along the route.

The highway dives through this natural break in this stone formation.

Utah!

We were soon leaving Colorado and headed into…

The Utah sign at a highway rest rest.

We saw several isolated stone monoliths along the route.

Another monolith.

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