0 PHOTOGRAPH PARTICULARS 0 A surprise spring snow storm turns the slickrock canyon country in the Escalante country into an exciting landscape. 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 stayed flexible, and in the end we visited the large majority of places we had hoped to see, when the road trip began. We had sun and clear skies, snow, dust storms, and high winds at times. Ed’s Jeep had an outside temperature display. We drove in everything from18 degree weather to temperatures in the 70s in New Mexico. Here in outline form are the places we saw, hiked, photographed, and visited during the 12 day road trip: Mon 3.14.11 * Interstate travel from my house in Central Washington to Lehi, Utah Tue 3.15.11 * Scenic back roads ( Hwys: 6, 89, & 31) from Spanish Fork to Huntington, Utah * Dirt road travel to “The Wedge” and down Buckhorn Wash to I-70. * Side

0 PHOTOGRAPH PARTICULARS 0 Having topped out on highway 12 between Boulder Town and Grover, the outlook for weather and road conditions brightened considerably. 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 stayed flexible, and in the end we visited the large majority of places we had hoped to see, when the road trip began. We had sun and clear skies, snow, dust storms, and high winds at times. Ed’s Jeep had an outside temperature display. We drove in everything from18 degree weather to temperatures in the 70s in New Mexico. Here in outline form are the places we saw, hiked, photographed, and visited during the 12 day road trip: Mon 3.14.11 * Interstate travel from my house in Central Washington to Lehi, Utah Tue 3.15.11 * Scenic back roads ( Hwys: 6, 89, & 31) from Spanish Fork to Huntington, Utah * Dirt road travel to “The Wedge” and down Buckhorn Wash