What a Difference Elevation Can Make


Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Today was a day to drive North but not directly.  We were in no hurry, so we decided to take a drive up into Kolob Canyons.  Kolob Canyons is an area in North West Zion that no-one uses.  It is a five mile scenic drive to a high plateau that has a panoramic view.  This drive was relatively easy after all the interesting mountain routes that we have driven on this adventure.  We had become cocky…that cockiness was about to get knocked out of us.

The second detour was on another scenic byway, Highway 143.  This highway is an extension of Highway 12 that we described over a week ago (See ‘The Hogsback’ posting).  That should have been the first warning of what we might be in for.  So should the elevations and the ski resort that we observed on the map while planning today’s route last evening.  But as I said before, we were getting cocky…I doubt that mistake will be made again.

About 2 miles after leaving the Interstate, we saw a sign, “Towing Trailers Not Advised”.  I thought, what the heck, after all we are towing what one Park Range had described as ‘a little guy’.  The next sign started to be a concern…”13 % Grade for the Next 10 Miles”.  But of course, we always relate grade signs to cycling.  13 % would mean we would be pushing the bicycles, but heck we are in a truck that is less than a year old...piece of cake!  The 3rd warning should have been the “Construction Ahead” sign.  But of course, we had dealt with lots of Construction Zones on this adventure.  It became apparent that the construction was brand new pavement…my confidence was back.  What I had not taken into consideration was that the 13% would be an average over the 10 miles.  That could mean grades much steeper in places…and remember the warning about “Towing Trailers”…there was a reason.  We experienced a switchback that when we turned, we faced a wall…the bloody thing was straight up!  It took every bit of horsepower that the Tacoma could muster just to keep moving.  This grade seemed to go on forever.  We have no idea what the % was but it was steeper than anything that we have ever saw let alone driven up before.  Next thing we knew the highway deposited us at a Ski Resort complete with a village.  Snow was still visible around us.  We had climbed to 11,000 feet…and this road is used in the Winter by skiers.  The Temperature at the bottom was 29 degrees.  The temperature at the top was 17 degrees…insane!  The drop down the other side was much gentler, but we know that most people probably use the route we had come up as most of Utah’s population is on that side…I always knew that downhill skiers were nuts!

The rest of the day was quite uneventful.  We have found a gem of a Park, Fremont Indian State Park.  This campground only has 8 sites.  It has hydro and showers.  I doubt we have ever camped in such an amazing place.  We are in a canyon completely surrounded by rock walls…what an amazing find!

Distance Traveled = 294 km.  Wildlife Sightings = Eurasian-collared Dove, Black-throated Hummingbird, Lesser Goldfinch, Turkey Vulture, Spotted Towhee.


Hanging Garden, Kolob Canyons


Kolob Canyon


Kolob Canyon


Driving through the snow on July 2...that is what 11,000 feet does!


Petroglyphs at Fremont Indian State Park...this one is called 'the hunt'


I guess the 'Martians' visited the Fremont Indians!

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