0 PHOTOGRAPH PARTICULARS 0 The “goblins” of Goblin Valley State Park in Utah, are made up of Entrada sandstone - and the formations owe their unusual shape to the action of an ancient shallow sea. There is a nice covered overlook where you can see all of the goblins, which stretch across a shallow valley, in one glance. But to really enjoy them, you need to hike down the slope and then wander around among them. Many appear like cartoon characters and change in appearance as the light reaching them changes. It can be quite windy here, but once you get down among the rock goblins, you are protected from the wind and can enjoy the goblins, up close and personal. There are no trees around Goblin Valley State Park, but they do have a modern well kept camp ground about a mile or two from the goblin valley itself. 0 ACTIVITIES DAY ELEVEN OF TWELVE 0 I got up before dawn as usual (anxious to get going on the next day’s adventures), as did Ed. We stepped outside our motel rooms at the Circle “D”, in Escalante, Utah…at about the same time to the same scene. Unbelievable. Snow. Neither of us had heard a hint of a forecast for this, so it was a total and complete surprise. Our plans for day 11 had included a considerable number of interesting dirt road routes in the Escalante area, particularly suited to Ed’s Jeep Wrangler. That was not going to happen. When signs in the area state “Impassable when wet”, they aren’t kidding. Nothing slicker or more apt to clog your wheel wells than “Utah mud”. So we had no choice but to change plans. We filled up the gas tank and had breakfast at the Escalante Subway (same place). The women working there told us that they had already seen the snow plows arriving, and that we shouldn’t worry about crossing the high point on to Torrey on highway 12. Well it snowed heavily on the route and wind was blowing it across the road and starting to drift. Nothing to keep the Jeep from moving on through it, but I was worried that officials might close the road until the temps warmed and the roads were properly plowed. We stopped several places on our drive from Escalante to Torrey, as the snow storms and breaking blue spots in the sky, between storm fronts, made for some spectacular scenery. By the time we reached Hanksville, the weather was looking much better, lots of heavy wind, but out of the snow and for the moment, any rain. We drove on to Goblin Valley State park. I had been here three or four times before and each and every time, the weather and conditions for photographing the “goblins” were poor. So now on this day with such a stormy beginning, Ed and I found lots of sun breaks and the conditions (other than the wind), were excellent for getting some goblin photos. In 2010 I experienced a true hail and then mud storm in the same area when I took my wife and two Flickr friends for a hike up to the Twin Windows Caves in the area. After Goblin Valley along the San Rafael Swell, Ed and I had come very close to closing the large loop we had made on this road trip. When we drove past the Head of Sinbad rock art on I-70, the loop was done, and so were we. It was time to head home. We drove on to Ogden, Utah and got rooms for the night for the last time on this road trip. Then next day (day 12), would bring us one more snow storm to drive through, then it was on to my home in Eastern Washington. 0 3,875 MILE/12 DAY ~ 4 CORNERS ROAD TRIP OVERVIEW 0 At the start of year 2011, I made tentative plans to take a two week solo “road trip” through the Four Corners area (The Colorado Plateau), during the last half of March. Then, if my wife could get the time needed off from her part time job, I also planned a “road trip” vacation to the Southwest, in April with her. When I put the plan together for the March trip, I decided to see if an old friend of mine, Ed (Flickr’s: OldWrangler), might be interested in joining me. I volunteered to take my old four wheel drive pickup truck and split the gasoline expense with him. We would each get an inexpensive motel room on the road to serve as “base camps” to hike, photograph, and explore back roads in the Four Corners area. Not only did Ed accept but he also proposed that we take his brand new 4-door Jeep Wrangler instead of my old pickup truck. That didn’t take any thinking on my part. I LOVE Jeeps and Ed and I have always got along well (decades ago, I worked for him and we had taken a fun road trip together back in 2008, along with my friend John and my youngest son). The deal was sealed. We left my house in Central Washington early Monday morning on the 14th of March. We returned 12 days and 3,875 miles later on Friday evening March 25th. We spent a lot of time drinking Diet Pepsi from the ice chest and keeping the hits of the 60s (and occasionally the 70s), cranked up high on the Jeep’s Sirius satellite radio sound system. Sing along music! “Road trip” tunes. Weather often dictated changes to our proposed route and activities. We sta

Bements arch in Davis Gulch. Near here, Everett Ruess, the young artist who disappeared in 1934, carved one of his peculiar "NEMO" messages in the rock. UPDATE: It now appears that Everett Ruess's body and artifacts have been found on the Comb Ridge over on the Navajo Indian Reservation west of Bluff, Utah. Read David Roberts story in the April issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine. If the story holds, then Davis Gulch was not the last "campsite" of Everett and his two burros. OMT May 1, 2009 UPDATE - REVISED: Back to square one. Upon additinal tests run on the remains found on the skeletal remains found on the Navajo Reservation, it has been determined that those remains are NOT those of Everett Ruess. The article corrected the earlier findings appeared in The Denver Post 10.23.2009 and was written by Tom McGhee. Perhaps it is better this way, after all, it how he lived and not how he died, that is the most important story. OMT 25NOV2009 (Thanks John for keeping me up to date). I left my Ecalante, Utah motel room (The circle D) at 5 am (Washington time) and made it the 52 miles of bone jarring miles on the Hole In The Rock road by around 7:45 am. At 8 am, parked below fiftymile point, I shouldered my day pack and heaed N.E. cross country well back from the side canyons of Davis Gulch (to avoid contant detours). I followed rock outcroppings to the cairn marking the way down into Davis Gulch. There is brush and beaver dams along the floor of Davis Gulch and I decided it would take me too long to hike down into the canyon; up to Bements arch; then retrace my route. So, I decide to take a leisurely hike along the west rim of Davis Gulch and view and photograph it from the canyon rim. The slickrock hiking was a pure pleasure compared to the soft sand hiking I had done on the way in. My motivation for this hike was historic as much as a desire for scenic desert beauty in a remote location. The stories of Buzz Holmstrom; the disappearance in the Grand Canyon of Bessie and Glenn Hyde on a sweep boat trip down the Colorado River in 1928; and the disappearance of a young romantic and artist named Everett Ruess in November of 1934 in Davis Gulch - - have always fascinated me. I wanted to see where their stories took place. The hike along the rim was wonderful and when I got back to my pickup truck below fiftymile point it was actually a warm day for November. I had an ice chest full of cold IBC root beer waiting for me at the truck. I didn't look forward to the 52 mile rough washboard road route back out, but I took it slow. Then over halfway back I ran into a young couple from Holland who had buried their rental vehicle in the soft sand of the Spooky canyon road. Working hard together we were able to free their rental pickup truck in about an hour of hard work. They were a really nice young couple and it felt good to be able to help them out. I made it back to my motel room a little after dark, quite tired and content. The next day I left before sunrise and made it back to my wife and home in Eastern Washington by 9:30 Sunday night. OMT Here are three books that I highly recommend if you want a sense of the fascinating history of the Colorado and Escalante River area: THE DOING OF THE THING by Welch, Conley and Dimock. SUNK WITHOUT A SOUND by Brad Dimock EVERETT RUESS by W.L Rusho