SCENIC HWY 12 & HELL’S BACKBONE: TORREY TO BOULDER TO ESCALANTE AND BACK

We have traveled many, many of the most scenic roads in the US during our years of travel, and Highway 12, which travels south from Torrey, Utah, through Boulder and Escalante, on past Bryce Canyon to meet with Highway 89, certainly ranks up there with the best. 

We spent a LONG day on Friday exploring the section from Torrey to Boulder over Boulder Mountain;  the section between Boulder and Escalante over the Hog’s Back; and Hell’s Backbone, a long, winding, historic, graveled road looping through Dixie National Forest over Death Hollow.

Hell’s Backbone, Death Hollow, the Hog’s Back… do you see a pattern here?  Colorful – and appropriate - names to describe a section of country that was one of the last in the U.S. to be explored and mapped. 

The drive from Torrey south to Boulder, 37 miles, was a blaze of aspen, even more beautiful that what we had seen around Fish Lake – with the added attraction of panoramic views of the spectacular rock formations of Capitol Reef National Park and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to the east.  The road climbs to a summit at 9,600 feet, with plenty of scenic viewpoints and casual pullouts for leaf-peeping and viewing the panorama below.

Winding down off the mountain through the tiny town of Boulder, we found the turnoff to Hell’s Backbone 3 miles outside of town.  The name alone was enough to entice me onto this loop, but I also was interested in the history – it was the first automobile road between Boulder and Escalante, built by the CCC in 1933 (they built the shorter, all-weather, stretch that is now part of highway 12 in 1940).   The 109 foot Hell’s Backbone Bridge traverses an 800 foot drop into Death Hollow, leading the CCC to give this section of the 42 mile roadway the nickname “The Poison Road”: one drop meant certain death.

We turned on to Hell’s Backbone…	…and began to climb...
… eventually reaching Death Hollow and the chasm…	… where I dared to pose on the bridge.  :)

The historic road was a feat of engineering, and perhaps a quarter of it quite scenic.  The remaining thirty-some miles of the loop were typical of a gravel road through national forest: plenty of bone-jarring washboard, plenty of dust, lots of climbs and descents, and very few views past the dusty pines lining the shoulder of the road.  We were happy to join Pine Creek Road, a dozen or so miles north of Escalante, definitely one of the most scenic sections of the long loop.

After a lunch break in Escalante, we headed back north on Highway 12, towards Boulder.  This 27 mile section was a total knockout!  The Escalante rock formations took center stage, as Highway 12 wound up, down, through, and over beautiful cream and red rocks, sometimes through formations looming on both sides of the road, later on top of the Hog’s Back, a ridge that dropped steeply to either side.

By the time we passed through Boulder again, now heading north, we felt like we’d been in the car for a lifetime!  At a high point on Boulder Mountain, we spied a trailhead kiosk, pulled over, and extricated ourselves stiffly from the Jeep.  Heading up the mountainside, we found a trail amongst the aspen, alongside Pleasant Creek – ahhhhh, refreshing.

There is an ongoing conversation among RV’ers about whether or not highway 12 between Bryce Canyon and Torrey is suitable for big rigs.  Many have driven it, many others don’t recommend it. 

Our conclusion?  We COULD drive it in Scoopy, but would much rather drive it in our Jeep, as sightseers. Lots of climbs and descents – with some of the grades signed as 10%, others as 8%. Lots of tight, 25 or 30 mile per hour curves.  While the posted “scenic vistas” can accommodate big rigs, a big rig driver would miss most of the views, as this road requires plenty of attention. 

As for Hell’s Backbone – never again, in anything!

HIGH COUNTRY ASPEN AT FISH LAKE – NEAR LOA, UTAH

When I mentioned to our knowledgeable advisor in the Torrey visitors’ center that I was hoping to see aspen in their golden prime, he suggested a loop drive outside the park, one popular with the locals but usually not visited by the Capitol Reef tourists.  He warned that the leaves would only last until the next wind or rainstorm, so we decided to drive the Fish Lake loop before the warm, dry weather breaks this weekend.

Aspen at their best!  Yellows, golds and reds, some trees already bare, others still green.  The landscape was a complete change from the enormous red cliffs of Capitol Reef – I almost felt as though we were in Colorado.

We took a picnic lunch with us – chicken sandwiches, grapes, cookies.  We split our usual hike into two parts, a heart-pounding uphill climb (to 9,500 ft elevation), followed by a lunch break and an easy stroll along the shore of Fish Lake.  The colors were absolutely glorious, and we were frequently drenched in a rain of golden leaves, listening to the song of the quaking aspen in even the slightest breeze.

Climbing the strenuous path uphill, I had plenty of time to closely examine the golden aspen leaves!	Walking the easy path along the shore of Fish Lake, I was able to look up to enjoy the view.

Finished with our hikes, we drove slowly along the lake shore in awe.  Odel stopped at all the marked “Scenic Overlooks”, and pulled over frequently when the colors of the aspen were particularly incredible, so that I could hop out and take another couple dozen photos. 

	Aspen still green, aspen golden, and aspen flaming orange… I was surprised to see such variety on one hillside.
	This is the color that knocks me out – flaming golden red atop the tall, white trunk against a clear blue sky.  I wanted to pitch a tent and stay until the leaves rained down!

Today we have another driving tour planned, back into the rocks, this time south of Torrey.  I knew these pictures would be lost in the many hundreds of rock photos I’ll take if I didn’t get them posted!  It was a fabulous day, not to be forgotten – a completely different face of this beautiful area.

STAGGERED! CAPITOL REEF KNOCKS ME OUT – TORREY, UTAH

I’ll have more (much more) to say about Capitol Reef National Park once I’ve gone through the hundreds of seemingly identical photos I’ve already taken, and the hundreds more to come…

It is almost impossible to show, in a photo, the immensity and grandeur of the rocks, canyons, cliffs, gorges, spires and domes in this national park.  It is indescribably fabulous, rivaling Arches National Park as my favorite of the “desert rock” national parks. 

On our hike yesterday, I asked Odel to walk ahead in Grand Wash, then turn and wave at me to provide scale to the canyon walls.  Can you see him here??  (Click on the photo to enlarge it.)  

Look inside the black triangle, twice as tall as Odel (and he just reminded me that you will want to know he is 6’1”, to provide accurate scale).

In our first 36 hours, we’ve driven the Scenic Drive (a total understatement), hiked the Grand Wash and - with Kate and Terry (Travels in Cholula Red), full-timers in a Lazy Daze who are here next to us in Wonderland RV Park (click here to read our review) – eaten at “southern Utah’s best restaurant”, Cafe Diablo. 

We visited the excellent, small Visitor Center here in Torrey, and have so many hikes and drives on our “to do” list that I doubt we will get all of them done.  Not much time (or desire) to be sitting inside on the computer in this wonderland!

For those who asked for the recipe for German Potato Salad cooked in the crockpot, I’ll add it to the blog when I have a chance.  But now, gotta’ run – we’re off to hike among the golden aspen today.