I made a pilgrimage. No, not a holy one, but an inspirational one for sure. While the snows of the north cover the mountains of Utah, I traveled south to Canyon Country to enjoy the warm Spring temperatures. The scenic land features canyons, plateaus, buttes, and mesas.
This land pops with red and white sandstone rock. The Colorado Plateau is a unique, special place. The warm temperatures and the longer days, offer a perfect time to romp in the desert. We intersected Interstate 70 and headed west for a short time before continuing south on Highway We paralleled the San Rafael Reef. A reef, not at the bottom of an ocean but, rather, towering above red rock country in the desert of central Utah.
We turned off the highway, aired down, and followed a dirt road around the southern end of the reef. The rock, colors, and landscape appeared stark and void of plant life. It was gorgeous in a strange, eerie way! The land beckoned the traveler to explore and discover the secrets of this arid, desert landscape, and we were doing just that.
I shifted into 4-low to drive through a rutted, rough spot. In the distance, Louise spotted an old homestead on the bank of the Muddy Creekβthe first sign of water for miles.
The ranch house was two-stories tall with an enormous fireplace. Abandonment and weathering had taken their toll on the structure, but it stood as a sign of the fortitude and determination of the homesteaders many years ago. We wandered the homestead and noticed that the land was free of debris and absent of relics of the past. Flash floods wash over this and clear the land, which likely forced these ranchers to depart this land for better pastures.
