Moments in Dirt and Ink

Kaibab National Forest Click for map. The map says simply "Steel Dam Fishing Site", but the geocacher says it's the oldest and largest steel dam in the world. I resolved to go and see it and sorted out a looping route from exit 149. This does let me wander a piece of "Route 66", but I really should have used exit 148 for my starting point. The geocache description even says as much. From there, the dam is drivable in a sufficiently sturdy vehicle although all bets are off once the road gets wet as it is now. I wouldn't be driving it anyway. A piece of what was once "Route 66". Is it everything you expected? The desert is taking back US-66. Flat Mesa and other points southeast. There's supposed to be a mountain bike trail along this segment of US-66 with a second piece that drops off it near the edge of the forest, but I don't see that segment. Maybe they just like riding the old highway to bother with the other pie...

Kaibab National Forest Click for map. The weatherman was promising a day of possible rain followed by another of definite snow. I scuttled off and stopped 700 feet below the predicted snow level while the snowplows were mobilizing into position to be useful. I'm not sure how my position might be useful, but I'll at least get the nearby benchmark. I'd like to go up Bill Williams Mountain, but that's 10 miles back and 2700 feet above predicted snowline. And how did getting below the snow work? Well, when the sun went down, the rain turned to snow. Not as much as there will be for the second wave of storm, which will be a blanket of a few inches, but it's sticking a little. The road south off mile post 151 has had some improvement, at least this far. There's a road of sorts heading up my way, but it is just someone's camp site. It hasn't been used much and the dirt isn't compacted enough to make walking through the mud any easier. The m...

Kaibab National Forest There are a few places to try to take in the Grand Staircase of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It is, in a word, massive. One might even go so far as to say Grand. A few of the steps get a bit lost in the distance. It is all staircase as far as the eye can see. Trying to recover the steps from the distance. Red (vermilion), then white, then pink for the major ones. ©2015 Valerie Norton Posted 8 Nov 2016