Out West Trip: Day 23 (Bryce Canyon, UT to Goblin Valley, UT)

Today’s Highlights: A scenic drive though landscape that changed every fifteen minutes from red to white to gray to tan and from sand dunes to green alpine forests. Driving down the riverbed in a gorge. Scrambling amongst the goblins.

We slept in a bit today, then got up for a simple breakfast of muffins and coffee/hot chocolate. We packed up and tried to use the general store’s wi-fi, but it was too slow. Instead we left Bryce to head towards Goblin Valley State Park. On the way, we drove through Grand Escalante National Monument. The scenery and landscape seemed to change every fifteen minutes as we drove northeast on UT-12. We stopped for coffee and lunch in Torrey; not only did we have a good wi-fi connection, we also could buy additional SmartWool socks! Our next stop was at Capitol Reef National Park. We stopped in the visitors center, then drove out the scenic drive. At the end of the road, we turned left on the dirt road and proceeded to drive on the riverbed through the gorge. Wow.

capitol reef NP - 13 jun 2011

Back out to UT-12, we stopped at the petroglyphs and then headed on to Goblin Valley State Park. We found our campsite then went to wander around in the Valley of Goblins for a while before returning to the campsite. While Camille and I set up the van and got out our emergency dinner supplies (cans of soup), Rob and Chloe explored the small “mesas” that surrounded the campground. After dinner, we showered and then settled into go to bed.

goblin valley - 13 jun 2011

goblin valley - 13 jun 2011

goblin valley - 13 jun 2011

My reviews:

• Yelp review of Castlerock Coffee and Candy
• Trekaroo review of Castlerock Coffee and Candy
• Trekaroo review of Capitol Reef NP
• Trekaroo review of Goblin Valley State Park
• TripAdvisor review of Goblin Valley State Park

Trip Stats:
Roadside Attractions: None. (Total: 20)
States: Utah. (Total: 11 – GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, CO, CA, NV)
State Plates Spotted: None. (Total: 49 – still missing WV and RI)
Miles: 222 (Total: 5616)
Gallons of gas bought: 17.4 (Total: 331.2)
Poptops Spotted: 4 (Total: 30)
National Park Stamps: Capitol Reef (Total: 10)
Miles walked: 2 (Total: 56)
Dollars saved with NP pass: 5 (Total: 160)
Continental Divide Crossings: None. (Total: 3)
Time Zone Changes: None. (Total: 9 – EDT, CDT, MST, MDT, CDT, MDT, MST, PDT, MST, PDT, MST, MDT)
Security checkpoints: 0 (Total: Border. Petrified Forest. Agriculture. Security.)