THE Trip, Driving the La Sal Mountain Loop, Manti-La Sal National Forest

CABS for Reflections From the Fence

After lunch, Man and I climbed back into Big Butt and headed up the mountain, driving into the Manti-La Sal National Forest.  This is one of the first signs we see, followed by signs that also said, "Slide Area", "Steep Grades", you know, normal stuff when you are driving around mountain sides.  In about 2 minutes of drive time we climbed over 250 in elevation.  Yep, we were surely going UP!  This next photo was taken at 7,356 feet.  You might recognize some of the formations from yesterday's post.  But, we were closer to them yesterday!  LOL

Not far up the road, we made a turn, and everything changes, the red is gone, green and grays are in.

And, this lovely stand of trees, so close to the road, elevation 8,332, the outdoor temperature was now 48 degrees.  This was about as high as we would get on today's ride.

Every time we round a corner the views change, finally had to stop and try to capture it all with a panoramic,

Below:  Stunning, even with the clouds behind all that snow on the mountain.

Our descent was filled with wondrous views as well, but the sun was blinding and Sony and I could not capture the beauty real well.  Got some good glare tho!  LOL

The descent was very steep in places, and quite curvy, Man took it nice and slow so I could hold on to Sony and not be totally white knuckled.   (You know that it was ole Carol that was on the outside looking over the long drop offs with just a foot or two from the side of the road to the D*R*O*P*O*F*F! )  This photo only partially captures how steep the roadway was.

Below:  As you can see from this photo, there was some haze going on.  This is looking down at southern Moab, we are still up a ways in the mountains.

It was somewhere along in here that I missed a photo op of the only wild cat we saw the entire 8.5 months of THE Trip.  It ran from the left side of the road to the right side and up a hill so fast you barely caught sight of him, or her.  It was a large cat, maybe a cougar.  Not real sure, about all I saw was a flash of movement, size, as in LARGE, buff color, and the tail disappearing behind the rocks.  Ahhh, for the missed opportunities, one of the few regrets of THE Trip.

And, it is still a LONG way back to Moab, but, I keep taking photos, 'cause it is sooooo beautiful.  And, way, way, way off in the distance, another snow covered mountain, sorry, I cannot tell you the name.

Another panoramic of the La Sal Mountains:

Any number of these hair pin turns to "entertain" us.  Steep too!

If you look close in the following photo, you can just see a body of water, doesn't that blue look wonderful?

Said it before, will say it again and again for weeks to come, the contrasts, textures, colors, size, shapes, leave me stuttering, WOW, again and again.

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THE Trip, Driving the La Sal Mountain Loop, Tail Gate Lunch and Killer Views

CABS for Reflections From the Fence

As we turn off of 128 and onto the La Sal Mountain Loop Road the road begins to climb and becomes a little more narrow and a bit more rugged.  That is not to say the road is bad, just that you will not be going fast on it.  That said, it is steep in places, and very curvy, and why would you want to be going fast anyway??

The drop your jaw beautiful scenery is still drop your jaw breathtaking - -

There are the mountains, May 2, 2011, still snow up there.

And, still there is more red:

And, a bit of green:

We are starting to climb in elevation now, does this formation look familiar??  We have come quite some distance and are now starting to look down on the valley and the formations.

We are at about 6970 feet and the temperature is 51 degrees, yes, 51.  And that was the view from where we had our lunch today.  Not a picnic table or rest area to be found, so we use Big Butt for a table, and manage quite well, thank you.  We only see a handful of other cars or trucks up here, so, I'll let you use your imagination about other necessities.  But, look at this view!

Tail gate party on the La Sal Mountain Loop.  A bit of a drop off if you go too close to the edge, fresh, crisp air, quiet except for the wind whispering through the brush and trees.  And, we are not to the top yet!


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THE Trip, Driving the La Sal Mountain Loop, The Beginning (128)

CABS for Reflections From the Fence

On the recommendation of MOC friends, including Steve and Vicki, and the Moab Information Center, Man and I decided to spend a day driving what is called the La Sal Mountain Loop.  You can see a great map of this trip on this web page.  The brochure the Information Center gave us states that this is a 4 hour round trip, generally open from May through October.  We drove it on May 2nd, and yepper, there was still snow up there!

But, first lets have a look at the spectacular scenery on 128, which is north of Moab east off of 191.  Much of this stretch of road runs along the Colorado River with towering walls of stunning red rock.  This is part of the Colorado Riverway Recreation Area, there are small campgrounds tucked in along the river.  There are hikes

So, I invite you to sit back, let Man do the driving, and enjoy the slide show!



Next we will climb up the mountain roads, and find a very special place to have lunch.


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