It was time to jump in the Rogue and drive to Escalante. Starting in the lower left of the map, we continued on 9, hung a left at 89, and then a right at 12. We went through Bryce with no stop, and continued on this scenic drive until we hit our destination in Escalante. I can’t remember the name of the hotel, but we got rooms, T-shirts, and then made a plan to head to Devil’s garden.
Devil’s Garden (1) is southeast of town, along a well groomed gravel road (probably about 10 miles in). Apparently there are many dirt roads out here that are fabulously secluded and super dangerous during winter and when it rains—but potentially worth some exploration on another trip. Also, there are lots of dinosaur bones and tracks in this general area—of course, we weren’t on the lookout for these.
So, we got to Devil’s garden late afternoon. This area isn’t super remote, so there were some groups of kids playing among all these wild sandstone formations just south of the parking area (see below). I skirted along the high ground (the east side below), and eventually made my way to the lonely brown area south of the formations.
Here’s what the formations look like from above. It’s a crazy group of sandstone!
There was quite a bit of vegetation here. Flowers, cactus, yucca, and juniper.
As I worked myself over to this weirdly wonderful rock, I was reminded of the white ‘brain rock’ of White Pocket. This was similar. Softer rock, but still rock (and not mud). It made for a strangely alien environment (I think you can say that for a lot of the wilds of Utah).
Like being on Mars. With an atmosphere, of course.
I could not get over how beautifully lonely this area was.
I believe that I’ve now worked my way down to that wash (the dry ‘river’ on the map). Where I was, it was a 40-50’ drop down into that area, and I wasn’t going to attempt to scramble down. If I had gotten down, I would have had to head south to a point where I could have walked out. Apparently a bit farther down that way is where you can see dinosaur tracks.
The textures and skies are beautiful here.
This is the wash (in the middle). It’s beautifully sandy at the bottom, which was really tempting to me. But there just wasn’t a good way to get down there from where I was.
Now this is a non artistic photo of a little drainage slot where I contemplated trying to make my way down...
Making my way back to the sandstone. Shooting up...
The sun has gotten lower, which is bringing out more color in the rocks. I like this hourglass
I’m guessing that this is the arch (Metate)
Which makes for another nice hourglass shot…
Nice sentinels...
And the final shot for the evening.
This was a really cool area, with some nice challenges for shooting!