Daily Didactic
Our day began in easily one of coolest camp sites we've ever had. Our "cave arch" had a great view on the perfectly overcast hiking weather that would get us out of Coyote Gulch without baking in the sun. We're walking a fine line here. Sun could roast a couple of Alaskans and rain potentially brings a lot of water down the gulch and makes getting the bus out the Hole In The Rock road iffy. It took us about three and a half hours to return to the the Red Well trailhead. The sun started to peak out at the end of the hike, but more prominent were thunder clouds all around. It began raining just a bit as we drove another hour and a half back out to the highway.

We doubled the five miles back to Escalante to grab a snack and some gas before heading east on another couple of Utah's truly great highways. From Escalanate, Route 12 travels up and over another high pass, switches back and forth over 20 mile an hour hairpin turns, and then runs across a thin fin with no shoulders and monumental drop offs. In Torrey, the road heads east on Highway 24 through the Capital Reef National Monument which begins with amazing red rock cliffs and rock formations and segues into similar cliffs without any color other than gray. After Hanksville, Highway 24 assumes that "straight as an arrow" approach that roads can when they have no obstacles, until it hits I-70 which heads east with similar enthusiasm. After about 30 miles of gusty Interstate driving, Theresa took the Moab exit and we aimed for the thouroughly forgettable Moab KOA to take advantage of some laundry, electricity and showers.

Perhaps the most epic morning shot in three road trips		No rain fly necessary
The elegantly crafted kitchen table		The trail out
Also the trail out		Erosion, we're pro
A wrong turn up an old meander		Sunflowers
The mud is mighty red 'round here		We saw a lot of deer and cow tracks, but only one set of these. We think muskrat
Almost back to the bus, with ominous clouds forming all around		Rain or no, pretty dry country
Ruts in the Hole In The Rock road		Poseys or Hell? Choices in Escalante
Hairpin corner on Route 12		A meadow at 8000 feet on the summit before Torrey
Lot's of steep		We slowed down last trip, this time just a drive through
Red cliffs		Grey cliffs and some really uniformally placed deposits
Vacancy		Hanksville art
When no obstacles impose roads naturally flow straight		Late afternoon bus shadow
We're shooting for Arches		Moab, kids and stickers
The Moab KOA. there's a theme implied here, we're just not sure what

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