Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument

Okay, first of all, this was pretty much a perfect day. I woke up at my B & B only to find that I had left my key in the outside door all night, and the door led right outside, and I was not murdered in my sleep. I love rural America. The great thing about staying at B & B's when you're traveling alone is that you get to talk to people during breakfast. I met this nice couple from Orange County, and it was all good.

My plan today was to drive up scenic Route 12 through the Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument, which is a huge area that encompasses many unpaved roads that LDS settlers used back in the day. The scenery is supposed to be spectacular, but there was no way I was going to drive my Accord off-road, and I really wanted to do a recommended hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls, and I was a little worried about my feet. So I was determined to just drive and do that hike.

Well, right out of Tropic, where the B & B is, there's this little town called Cannonville that has a state park called Kodakchrome. My tour book said good things about it, so I decided I'd just drive through. Of course, the ranger convinced me to do a hike, and I'm really glad I did. I now know where Disneyland got some of their ideas for Frontierland because I swear the scenery during this hike looked completely fake. The rocks look exactly like the fake rocks in Disneyland. It really was like walking into a movie about the Old West. Two pictures are to the left. The name "Kodakchrome" was coined by the founder of the park because of its technicolor look, just when Kodak introduced that type of film. The pictures don't do it justice. If you ever go to Bryce Canyon, I really recommend this short detour.

The smartest thing I ever did before coming on this trip was going to REI and buying walking poles and a first aid kit. I don't think I would have made it this far without them. I used to make fun of people who used walking sticks; I have no idea why, it was totally stupid. But in England, everyone used them, and now I see why. They make hiking so much easier, particularly as your feet rebel. I don't know what's going on with these boots. I wore them all over the Lake District in England. But my feet are so torn up, it's a little scary. But thanks to my REI first-aid kit, I've been able to press on. In the middle of my Kodakchrome hike, I felt something bad happen, and I took off my shoe, noticed the blood, and firstaided the problem.

Anyway from there, I was determined to do this hike in Lower Calf Creek Nat'l Rec. Area, which is adjacent to the Escalante. I'd heard that it was amazing. First, I needed sustenence, and the Moon Handbook had recommended this place called the Kiva Koffeehouse 15 minutes east of the town of Escalante. It is in the middle of nowhere, seriously. There it is at the left, alone, perched up on a mountain. The food was doable, the coffee was fantastic, and the view was incredible.

Lower Calf Creek is a mere 5 minutes from Kiva. And this hike, really, lived up to the hype. Basically you walk on a fairly level trail from about 1.5-2 hours through a gorgeous canyon created by Calf Creek. The views are great, and then at the end you're rewarded with a fantastic waterfall, where you can swim. The first picture to the left is of the canyon from about 1 hour in. The second is me and the falls. I was afraid to take off my shoes: I felt like my feet and shoes had melded into an equilibrium that I didn't want to screw up. But the water was cool, and people brought their really little children there. I had a snack and walked out. For the record that's about 4 hours of walking on severely damaged feet. When I was done, I needed to do about 20 minutes of feet maintenance, and I've vowed to give them a 3 day break because I have some more serious hiking to do next weekend. But this hike was definitely worth it.

From there, I was going to drive to my hotel in Torrey, UT, which is right outside Capitol Reef National Park, where I'll be spending tomorrow morning. The views were great, but completely surprisingly, the road began to climb and climb and before I knew it I was on a major mountain. This was completely unexpected and a great reward for the day. The views, as you can imagine, were spectacular, and as I drove into Torrey, I thought, "what a great day!"

But wait, there's more! First, this area is completely barren red rock. I don't have pictures yet, but it really looks like you're on the moon, or maybe Mars. For some inexplicable reason, there is a world famous restaurant in Torrey called Cafe Diablo, so I had to go. To tell you the truth, I wasn't that impressed. Like many restaurants, the food was too elaborate, and the service sucked. I did have an interesting pecan-encrusted trout. The trout was good, everything it came with was unnecessary. Still it's quite a happening scene, and I thought what a weird place for this to be happening.

Tomorrow, after Capitol Reef (no hiking!), I will mosey up to Salt Lake City to spend 36 hours with my friend Renee and her family. Civilization! Yeah!