Trip to Utah: October 2010

Monday, October 4

Sunday afternoon we arrived at Jacob Lake. As soon as we reached the RV park to check in, it starting pouring with lightning, thunder, and hail. We were told that we wouldn't be able to see a thing at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The next morning the storms returned, and we beat a hasty retreat off the Kaibab Plateau and on into Utah.

We stopped at a rock shop in Orderville, and there the rain and wind caught up with us. When we got to Bryce Canyon there was fog and cold as well as rain. I took these pictures with Mom's camera.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Tuesday morning we had more cold temperatures and almost constant rain. Kodachrome Basin State Park and Grosvenor Arch were inaccessible, and it looked like we would be driving through the storm all the way on our planned route to Capitol Reef National Park. I said "screw this", went back to Highway 89, zipped up to I-70, and stopped at Green River where we could enjoy the evening in warm sunny weather.

Wednesday, October 6

It's a beautiful, mild, sunny morning, and in Flagstaff tornadoes were ripping through Bellemont. At Bryce Canyon we were on the western edge of the storm, and as we drove to Goblin Valley State Park we approached the eastern edge. The wall of black clouds, full of lightning, looked like something out of Lord of the Rings. I finally got my own camera out for the first time this trip.

Goblin Valley State Park

The road to Wild Horse Canyon was washed out, so we continued south to Hanksville. There we hit the edge of the storm, and were dumped on for several miles. After that the rain lessened, but all the rest of the day we encountered signs of flooding and piles of hail.

Hog Springs Picnic Area