Gallery (25 images): 2019 Grand Canyon Trip - To Mexican Hat
Okay, now back to blogging about my 2019 trip to the Southwest with my father! Working on these photos again, more than a year after posting the previous gallery from that trip, fills me with a longing to spend time in the desert once more, but unfortunately I'll have to wait until COVID-19 is thoroughly under control before venturing south again.
The drive to Mexican Hat was lengthy and we took a completely different route than originally planned. I had wanted to drive the Burr Trail, in from Boulder, Utah, like we had the day before, then drive south through the Strike Valley / Waterpocket Fold area, taking the ferry across Lake Powell to Halls Crossing. Two things kiboshed that idea completely: firstly, there had been a lot of rain and the road south was apparently very muddy. I have experienced Utah mud in that area, and even with a real 4x4 with proper off-road tires, the mud can clog treads almost instantly and make driving nearly as bad as if you were on ice. My Outback had mere all-season tires, which I felt were certainly not up to the task. In addition, even if the road hadn't been muddy, I found out that Lake Powell's level was so low that the ferry was grounded and wasn't running at all. There are some shots of the nearly empty lake with more descriptive text in the gallery.
Link to: All the blog posts from my 2019 Grand Canyon Trip
In the end, after driving through Long Canyon, then wending our way down into Strike Valley, we headed north instead, exiting Capitol Reef National Park to the east after spending a bit of time the park. Driving to Hanksville we turned south, eventually crossing the Hite Crossing Bridge, then finally down the crazy switchbacks of the Moki Dugway before arriving at Mexican Hat. That evening, we drove towards Monument Valley near sunset, and we happened across a heard of wild horses, which I carefully stalked and managed to frame with the Monument Valley spires and mesas in the background. The shot in the gallery was the best one, and also the last shot I got in before they finally had enough of me and galloped off...
I shot a number of panoramas that day. Firstly, a near 180 degree shot in Capitol Reef National Park...
The next shot is just outside of Capitol Reef, en route to Hanksville. There were yellow wildflowers carpeting the desert, just beautiful!
South of Hanksville, there was a gorgeous view with red rocks in the foreground and some snow covered mountain peaks in the background, quite a nice combination...
Lastly, there are two views from the top of the Moki Dugway, looking east towards Mexican Hat...
