We had an encounter with the cutest little lizard of the way back to our room. When Michal crouched down to photograph it, it tried to take cover by hiding under his heel and he almost crushed it.
We bought rocks, T-shirts and postcards at the gift shop and then went to the post office to buy stamps. Torrey is a quaint, tree-lined village of less than 200 people so there wasn’t much of a grocery store. We planned to spend most of the day on back roads far from any highway or town so we bought a couple bananas, a package of dried mangoes, two samosa-sized ham and egg croissants and two large bottles of water on the off chance we might be stranded. We would not pass any other towns before we reached tonight’s destination, Escalante.
We sped off NE to Capitol Reef NP where the Fremont River cuts a narrow canyon through the giant reef that runs 150 miles from Cathedral Valley to its southern tip. Its tall cliffs and domes stood impressive and colourful on either sides of Hwy 24 which follows the winding river. We made a brief visit to the Visitor Centre and the ancient Fremont Indian petroglyphs before following the scenic route south along the base of the western edge of the “reef” and explored the stunning Grand Wash and Capitol Gorge. I had hoped our jeep could make it through the tight canyon of Capitol Gorge to the east side of the reef, the route used by Mormons in the 19th century to cross the Reef, but the passage was blocked to prevent imbeciles n RVs from trying to go through.
We returned north to Hwy 24 and followed it east to the Notom-Bullfrog Rd, a dirt road that runs south outside the park boundary along its east side of the Reef. It follows the valley floor of a broad fold as long and impressive as the Reef itself, called the Waterpocket Fold. I was concerned that it might be as rough as the service road we had used the night before, but for the first half hour it was paved and we made excellent time. The steep sides of the Fold were far away at this point and we passed several ranches and the occasional irrigated field. 
The paved road ended but the dirt road was in good condition. We reached a fork in the road where there was no clear indication which way to turn. Michal’s GPS didn’t give us much assistance. We tried the right fork first which led to private lands. A second fork led to another private estate, Sandy’s Ranch, so we tried the east fork. For the first few miles it looked right as it followed the east side of the Fold, but then it turned into a rugged canyon and climbed the steep cliffs. I knew it was the wrong road then but wanted to see the canyon. We climbed to the top hoping to get a view of the Fold for our efforts, but the road turned east across the broad, featureless desert. Michal continued to follow it in spite of my complaints that it was heading in a completely wrong direction. Finally, out of worry and frustration, I told him I would not navigate if he continued. It would have been more appropriate to say I couldn’t navigate the route wasn’t showing up on GPS and I had not researched anything east of the Fold, but Michal didn’t like my tone and sat in a silent huff for an hour hundred miles away on the other side of the jeep.
The correct but unsigned route was through Sandy’s Ranch. The “private property” signs had deceived us at first. The ranch was set on top of a small plateau in the centre of the Fold and afforded us some compelling views of the valley ahead, which helped ease some of the icy tensions inside our car. We dropped to the valley floor as the road continued south. The canyon walls of the Fold closed in around us and the landscape became surreal. On our immediate left were a rolling series of grey clay-like humps about 50 ft high, streaked with bands of burgundy-coloured soil. Next to us on our right, jagged 30 to 50 ft ridges of harder, gold-coloured rock jutted up diagonally away from us, like pressure ridges of Arctic ice. Behind these formations the steep cliffs of the sides of the Fold rose a thousand feet on either side.
Forty miles south of Hwy 24 (not counting our unexpected detours) we finally reached the intersection with the Burr Trail that leads 40 miles west to Hwy 12 south of the village of Boulder. After half a mile, it climbs a series of narrow, harrowing switch backs the full height of the tall cliffs. Near the top it became increasingly scary. Suddenly, an unfamiliar signal light came on and Michal stopped the jeep. We checked the manual and it told us there was a leak in one of our tires. I was silently freaking out as Michal walked around the jeep as the edge of the unguarded drop off checking the tires. The left rear tire was half flat. Michal was hesitant to proceed to the top of the cliff for fear of damaging the rim of the tire but it was too dangerous to try to change it where we were.
We continued on half a mile to the flat top of the mesa. Neither of us were experienced at changing tires. Michal fiddled with the jack while I read the manual, being useless at doing much else as I was unable to get down on the ground and back up again. The desert wind was strong and filled with sand, but our situation soon improved. Two local men in their 50s stopped their car and came to our rescue. A few minutes later the spare was on and we were rolling westward again.
Our mini-crisis melted the ice between Michal and I and we chatted like happy friends again. The flat tire warning indicator light came back on and caused us concern but it was a false alarm. Just in case we hurried towards Hwy 12 in case we might need to be towed. The scenery along the Burr Trail, especially around the Circle Cliffs and in the Long Canyon, was spectacular but we didn’t want to stop long for photos.
It was a great relief to reach Hwy 12. The smooth surface and increased traffic was reassuring, given our malfunctioning indicator light, but there was still no sign of a second flat. We were now in a region called the Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument, a high plateau of whitish rock carved up by streams and rivers. At one point, the highway followed the crest of a ridge that separated two deep canyons.
Michal was silent again, this time out of tiredness. We rolled into Escalante and into the Circle D Motel where I had booked a cheap room for the night. It was nothing classy. The toilet was gurgling and there were cracks in the bathroom paint. The proprietor showed us menus for the restaurants in town and couple of them looked very interesting, but Michal was over-tired and fell asleep right away. I didn’t want to disturb him as he really needed the rest. It was my itinerary that had exhausted him. He woke up after the last restaurants were closed so we went without dinner.
PHOTO 1: Scenic drive, west side of Capitol Reef
PHOTO 2: Waterpocket Fold overview
PHOTO 3: surreal landscapes, Waterpocket Fold
PHOTO 4: Burr Trail approaching the switch backs
PHOTO 5: in Long Canyon, Burr Trail
PHOTO 6: Hwy 12, Escalante Grand Staircase
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