Vernal Trip 2017: Day 3 and 4

The last half of our adventure was really exciting! We saw so many neat things. You can catch up on the previous days here:

Day 1: The Drive Up
McConkie Ranch: Petroglyph Trail
McConkie Ranch: 3 Kings Trail

Day 2: Into Dinosaur National Monument!
Hog Canyon
Box Canyon
Petroglyphs at Cub Creek
Desert Voices Trail

Day 3: Some of the more remote monument areas.

Cool clouds this morning.

We went back and forth on whether we should go north or south today. Both had their plusses and minuses. We finally, last minute decided to head to Jones Hole on the north end of the park.

Jones Creek

Deluge Shelter Pictographs

Ely Creek Falls

It was absolutely one of the most incredible adventures ever! And I absolutely recommend it. A beautiful lush, deep canyon, pictographs, and a waterfall, plus more if you keep exploring. It takes about an hour to get there from town and your hike could be anywhere between 2 – 9 miles so plan accordingly. More information and pictures here.

On our way back into town from Jones Hole I sighted my first prairie dogs! I know a lot of people consider them to be pests, but I think they are stinking cute! So much so I made Landis turn around. We found the mound, but they never popped back out. I ended up seeing them about 5 more times, but always while we were flying by too fast to get my camera up. But, now that I know what to look for, maybe I will capture one in the future.

We decided to see what the Harpers Corner Road on the Colorado side of the monument might have to show us.

After a little bit of trying to figure out how to get that way while bypassing town, we eventually found Brush Creek Road (DBP).

Made it down to HW40 (DBP).

The Green River (DBP).

Little mountain range (DBP).

Crossed into Colorado (DBP)!

Entering Dinosaur, Colorado.

We found this cool stegosaurus statue.

Faint little rainbow (DBP).

We made it to the south section of the monument, on the Colorado side. Also called Harpers Corner Road. Unfortunately the Canyon Visitor Center was closed.

I liked this safety sign.

I think it’s a little silly they have to specify there are no fossils here.

Some pretty (DBP).

Crepuscular Rays at the first little pull out at Plug Hat Butte.

The cliffs above.

The Escalante Overlook.

Panoramic.

Nice low clouds (DBP).

Canyon Overlook.

From the Canyon Overlook picnic area.

Some horses (DBP). I don’t think they are wild as there appear to be some ranches up here.

We decided to return back. The rain was picking up and the lighting wasn’t great. Plus it was super cold up here! As much as we wanted to see the other view points, it just didn’t seem worth it at this point.

Little pond (DBP).

Pretty colors (DBP).

As we reached Dinosaur, Colorado we found a herd of deer (DBP).

Some more fun dinosaur statues in Dinosaur (DBP).

3 in one shot.

All the street names in Dinosaur, Colorado are named after dinosaurs (DBP).

Heading back to Utah (DBP).

This is the best welcome to Utah sign I have seen. But, I am kind of partial to dinosaurs.

The beginning of a sunset (DBP).

Musket Shot Springs Scenic Overlook.

Amazing clouds.

I kind of wish we had hung around the scenic overlook a little while longer as the clouds got even more amazing (DBP).

Split Mountain (DBP).

Green River (DBP). Lets see, I think we crossed this 4 times now?

Dinah The Dinosaur (DBP). Her eyes light up at night and it is a little creepy.

The watermelon eating dinosaur is a little more frightening (DBP)… Yeesh!

The restaurant we had planned on having dinner at was either out of business, or closed for the season. So rather than wasting time driving around town we decided to just eat at JB’s and see if we could figure out why they don’t exist in Salt Lake anymore. You know what, they were pretty good, certainly better than Denny’s. I feel bad we didn’t visit the Salt Lake ones before they closed.

We had a great day of exploration today, but we were happy to get back to our room and relax for the rest of the night.

Day 4: Last Hurrah: The amazing, and incomparable trip into Fantasy Canyon and a little in town exploring, and the long drive home.

We woke up surprisingly early for us, and managed to get packed up and checked out well before check out time without a scramble for once. Yea, I don’t know who we are either. Anyway, our plan for the day was Fantasy Canyon, or if that was not viable, maybe Moonshine Arch.

After stopping by the Bureau of Land Management we decided that we can handle the off the beaten path to get to Fantasy Canyon. Holy crap, I am soooo beyond glad that we did. It was seriously one of the most amazing things we have ever done!

We then did a quick in tour through town.

we stopped by the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum which was a fantastic museum and I definitely recommend stopping by.

I asked them is there was a good fossil store in town and they recommended Full Bright Studios And holy crap they could not have recommended a better place. I am pleased with my fossil purchases, and the owner was very cool and fun to talk to. I kind have wished I had stopped here at the beginning of our trip because he gave some great insight on some of the things we did that I wish we had known before. As always with our first time exploring a new area, you learn more as your experience more and there is always next time.

He was also generous enough to allow us to use his limited parking to check out the crap shop next store. yup, just crap. I am pleased that all of our souvenirs came from the park, the museum and an awesome fossil shop. None of the crap shops got our money this trip.

I had planned on seeing the ‘postal service bank’ a building shipped by the post office, but it didn’t happen this trip. Yet another reason to come back. We had a great trip but it was time to head on home.

Starvation Reservoir (DBP).

Some fall color (DBP).

Strawberry Reservoir (DBP). We had planned on stopping by the Strawberry Pinnacles but the turn off does not appear to be signed rom this direction.

More fall color (DBP).

The Jordanelle Dam (DBP).

Jordanelle Reservoir (DBP).

Quick break in Coalville (DBP).

Echo Reservoir (DBP). Looks like it has filled up quite a bit since the last time we were here.

I think this is the 3 sisters (DBP).

Flag on a hill (DBP).

The Weber Canyon Arch (DBP). I am actually not sure if this is the name, but am not finding any information on it.

Another arch I found not too far down canyon (DBP). I did a little investigating an I’m not sure, but this appears to be The Devil’s Looking Glass Arch. Which, would make sense considering it is near Devils Slide. I am going to have to do some more digging and see if we can get to it. I like finding the closer arches like The Wind Caves and Chinese Arch.

Devils Slide.

The Davis Observatory from the other side (DBP). A prominent feature on the mountains above my house, it is a little weird to see it from the other side. You can see it from almost anywhere in Davis County but probably the best spot is the Baer Creek trail.

The south Ogden water tanks.

Well, that concludes our trip. It was absolutely amazing! We got to explore so many amazing areas and we barely scratched the surface. A return trip is definitely in order. There are so many amazing things to see in Vernal. My biggest regret is not planning a night in a tent to experience the true night sky there. But we had a great time and I enjoyed our little vacation. Plus we planned perfectly and managed to get home between two huge storms.