DV to AZ 2022 winter trip

[Daymoth]

I have 1500 photos to go through from our holiday week in the desert so ill do this in installments. 

After a day of boooooring driving, we slept in DV and the next on christmas eve we set up to explore before heading east.

Mormon point canyon had been on my to do list for a while (all fault of Kauri and Bluegreen) and it did not disappoint. 

Fantastic tall narrows that go on forever, kind of a mix between funeral slot and sidewinder, with a small talus cave, a cute arch and several fun side canyons to explore. We scrambled up some dryfalls at the main and a side canyon but the narrows seemed to end so we turned around. 

And the painted ladies were out and about. The weather was pretty toasty.






We then hit the road. Love the area around jubilee pass in the afternoon. We allways say we need to explore around there but still havent gotten to it. 

Made it to St George UT after dark and camped in Red Cliffs recreation area ( we loved this campsite! Its just few minutes off I15 but its cheap, the camping spots have space and total privacy from other camping spots, no obnoxious RVs, had enough reception to check the weather, had a shelter with camping table, water spigots, clean pit toilets and DINOSAUR TRACKS). 

To be continued

[DeathValleyDazed]

Loving this. Keep 'm coming!

[Daymoth]

By the way I have two questions

1. What is that noise they blast from the FC visitor center at night. Sounds like they recorded a generator and they play it on speakers. I wonder if its to keep critters away but its incredibly annoying plus Ive seen a coyote give 0 effs about it and trying to get into the garbage.

2. Anyine know how the Timbisha at FC are doing? Before covid they were selling tacos and they were looking into building a nice motel. Since then they just closed. I hope covid was not awful to them, they have had enough as it is.

[Daymoth]

So next morning we woke up surrounded by red rocks glowing in the sun. Hello Utah.

We explored few hours around the campsite, went up a canyon with nice waterfalls, scrambled up some, squeezed into some cracks and...





HELLO THERE!!!!!!!!




We then packed up the car and headed to glen canyon.

[MojaveGeek]

Sounds like fun so far.  A bit of driving though

Jubilee Mtn out of the pass has quite a lot of view bang for the climbing buck, and once you get on the ridge you find a pretty clear use trail.    Views over the valley and back up toward Epaulet Pk.

[Daymoth]

Sounds like fun so far.  A bit of driving though

Jubilee Mtn out of the pass has quite a lot of view bang for the climbing buck, and once you get on the ridge you find a pretty clear use trail.    Views over the valley and back up toward Epaulet Pk.

Interesting. I think i read Stavs report and he made it sound quite unpleasant and forgettable. But then those things are subjective. 

There was a lot of driving...lots of new places we wanted to scout for future exploring.

[Daymoth]

So we had a beautiful drive and got to Glen canyon were we wanted to check out cathedral wash. Its a fairly popular canyon although we only saw 3 groups.

Its a very striking canyon and very different to any ive seen. The upper part of the walls are classic red Utah sandstone, and the lower parts are whitish and pitted with tafoni. With a perfect horizontal divide between the layers.
Would love some geological explanation on this place. Edit: it looks like the layers are moenkopi formation, kaibab limestone and then below there is toroweap formation.

The last part of the canyon is suposed to be fairly scrambly fun and then you end in the colorado, but we were running out of daylight and didnt want to be doing route finding over 50ft drops in the dark. But it looked so fun we really want to come back and finish it.





We did a quick pit stop at the Navajo Bridge and I spotted what looked like condor under the bridge so I went back for my binos. Sure enough we saw 6 condor getting ready for bed and a peregrine falcon. 

Met a lady monitoring the condor and she pointed us towards a juvenile that had hatched in spring. 






We then did a short detour to get fried chicken in Page ( we allways get fried chicken in Page) on our way to Navajo Nation.  

Logistics in Navajo Nation and Hopi Land can be a bit more complicated (you cant just roll and explore and sleep in the car) since you might need permits, guides and to stay in designated campsites. Many areas are off limits unless you are escorted. They are also still opening up to outsiders since they had to shut during the Plague. 

The Cameron Trading post has an RV park but no bathrooms or water so not useful to car campers. Tuba city has also an RV park but I struggled to get hold of them. 

So we decided just to get a motel room at the Cameron Trading post.

[MojaveGeek]

That looks like a cool canyon! And yes the bridge there is supposed to be a good place to see condors!

[Kauri]

Great photos! Cathedral Wash is fun, glad you got to at least do part of it! And the Navajo Bridge is amazing, I always love visiting it.

[DAW89446]

I've got old 16mm movies (now digitized) my dad took of our family vacation and us looking over the sides of the bridge and the new Glen Canyon dam in 1963.