Tue, April 27, 2010

Woke up to a gorgeous morning… starting point Gallop, NM and our destination is Defiance House Lodge on Lake Powell!   To get to our motel we have to cross Lake Powell on the ferry which means we have to be at the ferry landing at least 30 minutes before the last run which is 2:00 pm.  We left Gallup just after sunrise and a quick trip to the grocery store to stock up on our picnic supplies.  Since we had a deadline to meet we opted to keep our usual stops to a minimum with the only lengthy stop at the Moqi Dugway. The Dugway  is three miles of unpaved, but well graded, switchbacks ascending 1100 feet to the top of Cedar Mesa.  It was built in 1958 by a mining company to transport uranium ore.  We have made this route many times but this was, without a doubt the prettiest view we have ever had.  It was a little earlier in the day than usual and there was little or no haze which is always a problem when you have the vast expanses available in the southwest.  Today, however, it was as clear as we have ever seen it and the red rocks just popped against the blue skies.

We arrived at the ferry landing with about an hour to spare and had a nice visit with a young couple from the Bay area of California.  They had never ridden the ferry or taken the Burr Trail so we pulled out our maps and showed them some things to look for on their drive.  They planned to camp somewhere up the road toward Escalante UT.  They fell in love with Dodger and Paris and by the time we all boarded the ferry and were  underway they were looking for Aussie pups on the internet.  I laughed and told Charles later that I was thinking when we met them that they were about our age and then I realized we were probably old enough to be their parents… I’m afraid I still see myself much younger than I am! ;-)

We checked in at the Defiance House Lodge which sits right on Lake Powell and is one of our favorite stopover spots.  The manager said he had just received weather information that we might possibly see some very strong winds during the night and the next day might see more of the same with rain.  If that turned out to be true we would not be able to take the Burr Trail as it would be impassable if wet.  So we decided to take a ride up the Burr Trail to Thompson Seep.  It is a spring located in the high desert area near Capital Reef Natl Park with a huge cottonwood tree (always a sign of water in the desert) growing in a small canyon.  It’s an old Indian camp site and there are unlimited amounts of beautiful chips and flecks from the many arrowheads and spear points they must have made there.  It’s a great place to rest and walk and the dogs love playing on the rocks and searching the sage brush for rabbits. 

We spent a couple of hours wandering and then sitting before deciding it was time to head back so we could eat supper and watch the sunset over the lake.   The sunset was not the most spectacular we have ever seen but it was gorgeous and it is so peaceful and quiet… only the hum of a work boat doing some buoy work on the lake.  With a good cup of coffee in hand, it was pretty much a perfect ending to another great day on the road.

We hope you all are well tonight. 

Peace,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodgers

Comments

[Dottie]

I really like this new way of sharing. It seems it allows for more pictures also.