Playing in the Garden

There is a place in Grand Staircase Escalante, along Hole in the Rock Road, that they call Devils Garden, but it is not like any garden I’ve ever had. There are some plants there, like the pinyon pines, junipers, and sagebrush that have naturalized, but the main attractions are the rocks. It is much like Goblin Valley, but in a much smaller area with fewer but more defined formations. It was an unexpected surprise, a good surprise. I prefer the varied colors of the lighter stone at top and the reddish stone at the bottom here; much better than the monotone brown of Goblin Valley. I did notice that the Devil does a better job of keeping away the groundhogs and other pests that invaded my garden.

There are no defined trails; we wandered around freely. Mason had come with us. He headed for higher ground, while we took the dogs down the wash to see what we could find. One of the formations looked like familiar cartoon buzzards perched above the wash, as if waiting for dinner to stroll by. After a half mile, we reached a point where the valley became wider and there were no more hoodoos, so we scrambled up the canyon wall and made our way back. I could see Tom struggling on the steepness as his ankle lacks flexibility, but he made it up with a few grimaces. I would like to say we crested a knoll, but it’s all like one massive chunk of slickrock with a few cracks here and there, then finding Mason, looking very chill lounging atop another large boulder. Suki was excited to see her buddy again.

Back among the array of formations, we shared what we saw in the shapes, such as toadstools, birds, Angry Birds, the dancing candy and soft drink characters from the movie theater, dolphins and even an easter peeps ghost. I was excited and intrigued by all these formations we saw, and wish I had more of an imagination to see the images they saw.. We saw sections where windows have formed between the stones. There are also a couple of natural stone arches have developed here. One is very thin and looks like it could disappear at any time. The other is much more stout. All these fun and interesting things in a small area makes this is a fantasic place to explore in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. With so much more to explore, we will have to come back here again.

Today, I worked at getting a few of the smaller problems fixed. Mostly replacing weak double-sided tape to keep things from flopping about the dashboard while in motion. Maybe the compass and tire pressure monitor will stay put for a trip or twenty... we shall see. I feel bad that I haven’t been more active in helping look for a vehicle, or tried to understand why Tom’s been stressing so much over it, but today he explained that not every vehicle can be flat-towed, that some options and features (or lacking of) can prevent it from being towable, and we have to be mindful of weight as it may be too heavy for our motorhome’s rating. I helped research a few things, and we discussed pros and cons of each vehicle we are considering, but neither of us has a strong feeling about one over the others. Tom made us roasted veggies and buttered rice for dinner, using up things before they go bad, and to my belly, it hit the spot. If we get up and get going early, tomorrow may be a day of adventure. It’s looking like Tuesday may be another travel day. Will we make it out of Utah?

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