October 12, 2011

Colors of the Grand Staircase



The story continues through the grand Staircase Wilderness....
After we made it relatively easily through the puddle, we had another 15 miles to Escalante. We had climbed canyons, crossed rivers and plowed our way through muddy puddles - nothing could stop us now.

That is when we saw a big white Dodge Ram truck coming towards us, the first car we had seen along the 74 miles. The driver of the truck was signaling for us to stop. I figured he wanted to know the road conditions. We both rolled down our windows. It was the ranger wanting to know where we came from and when. We gave him a brief description of our adventure and expected to continue driving on our merry way when he said, "You can't go any farther." I laughed, didn't he realize all the obstacles we already past? He suggested we go back which was impossible since we knew we couldn't go up the steep wet sandy river bank we slide down into the river bed about 20 miles back.

That is when he offered to help us go through the 10-12 areas of quick sand that we had to pass through in the wash. I again thought it couldn't be that bad. The first area we came to needed a little digging out so we didn't bottom out as we drove through the rutted road. We also need to stay right away from the undermined wash out on the left side of the road. Piece of cake!

A mile or two later we came to a long deep rutted area of wet sloppy sand. Lots of digging need here. The ranger suggested we try another road. So we followed him to another river bed. This area was wetter and deeper. Hummmm!!! He then drove his truck back and forth trying to dry out the river bed for us. He was doing a fine job until he drove a little to the left and buried the truck up the the axle as he tried to maneuver out of the hole he got himself in.

That is when we decided it would be much smarter to spend the night in the wilderness again and hope the wash dries out a bit.

So we set up camp on a flat rock looking down valley to a gorgeous view and built a camp fire.

The next day the ranger arrived and we had to dig out a bit and drive through another large mud puddle but pretty much we drove out relatively easy. The car is dirty up to the windows and we both needed a shower but we were 'rescued'!!!


iPhoneography Classes Available Now! - next class starts November 21st - only six student per session. FYI - prices will increase in 2012.

If you would like to learn how to capture and process iPhone images beyond a basic snapshot take an Online iPhoneography Course with Teri Lou. Two courses are available iPhoneography 101 and iCreativity. Click on the direct links in the upper left hand column of this blog for information, pricing and schedule.

3 comments:

  1. Glad you got out of there!!! Photos are beautiful and I'm sure you have many more to share ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've been walking forty miles of bad road
    If the bible is right, the world will explode
    I've been trying to get as far away from myself as I can
    Some things are too hot to touch
    The human mind can only stand so much
    You can't win with a losing hand
    Feel like falling in love with the first woman I meet
    Putting her in a wheel barrow and wheeling her down the street People are crazy and times have changed I'm locked in tight I'm out of range Bob Dylan

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love Stan the man's poem. Great one. And the photo is amazing. Such vivid colours coming off the rock.

    ReplyDelete

What do you think?