Scenic Drive day

 

Along Rte 128

We took Thursday to make the scenic drive into and around the La Sal Mountains near Moab. That connects with Route 128, a wonderful road we found many years ago on a trip here. It is a back road from I70 to Arches. Many choose to drive from I70 to Utah 191, but though this takes longer, it's knock-your-socks-off gorgeous.

The La Sal mountain road is all paved and takes you from desert to mountains to forests to open range (we did meet some cows on the road) to red rock country. In one area, we passed mountains whose sides looked like they had been watercolor painted. It was just the mountainside vegetation that was changing to fall colors. It was a captivating effect, and difficult to capture in photos. The road passed through an aspen forest, and some of the trees were changing, but most were still summer green.

We were surprised by the number of large trucks driving this narrow, winding road, and noted a number of resorts here. We noted that the highway department was stockpiling sand in one area for the coming winter. We stopped at one point at an overlook and joined about 20 ATVers who apparently were rallying there.

Mid-afternoon, we pulled to the side of the road, took out our lawn chairs, sat by the side of the road, and had lunch. This was a nice kick-back day.

Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/apEk8LHwNxuAwmzT7