By Land & by Water

Goosenecks

We then visited the famous Goosenecks of the San Juan River, amazing to behold and imagine how it all formed.

Goosenecks (10:33 AM Oct 11, 2005)

Moki Dugway

From there we headed up the Moki Dugway, where the pavement of Highway 261 is interrupted by three miles of gravel switchbacks, where the road climbs over 1000 ft. A couple driving a little PT Cruiser at the top talked with us about their RV which they left behind in the valley below — not much fun to try bringing that up this road!

Moki Dugway - Sign (11:05 AM Oct 11, 2005) Moki Dugway - Sign - "10% Grades 5MPH Switchbacks Narrow Gravel Road 1 Mile" Looking Southeast (11:17 AM Oct 11, 2005) Moki Dugway (11:26 AM Oct 11, 2005) Moki Dugway - Looking East - Sportsmobile (11:11 AM Oct 11, 2005)

Halls Ferry

From Highway 261, we continued west on Highway 276, crossing Lake Powell by ferry at Halls Crossing. Interestingly enough, just to pass through Halls Crossing on the main road we had to pay a $10 fee, as it was considered Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. No, there wasn't anyone to catch us not paying — just a little booth on the side of the road with a credit card reader. But we did. Damn morals!

We made lunch at the boat ramp while we waited a while for the ferry to let us on. It was just us there, and another truck. As we crossed, we saw numerous kayakers out exploring, and marinas loaded with houseboats. It would be fun to come back and explore this area more, from the water.

East of Halls Crossing - Pink Sand - Yellow Flowers (12:59 PM Oct 11, 2005) Halls Crossing - On the little Ferry - Sportsmobile (2:12 PM Oct 11, 2005) The West End of the Ferry Crossing — Bullfrog Bay (2:23 PM Oct 11, 2005)

At the other side, we left the boat, and drove up to where the lake shore used to be. (The water level has been dropping since 1980.) There we found a really nice Rec. Area bathroom, complete with a fish cleaning station and a very interesting portable toilet dump station. Too bad ours didn't need emptying! Laura played with its flush action for awhile. The bathroom was completely empty of people. It looked almost brand new, as if it had been built in the past couple years, but was far from the lake shore. It's amazing to think how quickly the water level must have declined since it was built.

Bullfrog - Laura - Fancy Portapottie Dump Station (2:58 PM Oct 11, 2005)

We decided to stop for an early night, and camped at Halls Creek Overlook on Big Thomson Mesa, just outside of Capitol Reef National Park.