We followed the Smoky Mountain Road towards Big Sage Junction. We didn't take many pictures of this section because the road became much rougher as we made our way North, and, we didn't feel like getting out to snap any photos. Moreover, the scenery wasn't altogether spectacular; Utah Juniper and sandstone boulders as far as the eye could see.
About two hours later we finally reached Big Sage Junction, which turned out to be little more than a corral next to a fork in the road, and turned right onto Left Hand Collett Road. Big Mistake! Dropping into Left Collett Canyon, I knew we were in for it. The road quickly became boulder strewn, and we found ourselves having to charge through three and four foot high snow banks that blocked the road.
The canyon floor was even more perilous, though. There the road became little more than a narrow, sandy stream bed with two to six inches of water flowing across it. The little creek became an ice sheet several inches thick in the narrower sections of the canyon, where the sun made only brief daily appearances. Really, we had no business trying to get through this place in my Tacoma. Finally, and after much reliance on my locking rear differential, however, we made it out of the canyon and onto the Hole in the Rock road.
The stream bed/road we had to navigate through Left Collett Canyon.
One of the many ice skating rinks we had to cross.
We took the Hole in the Rock road into Escalante, then hopped on highway 12 over Hell's backbone into Boulder, Ut., where we spent the night.
More to come...
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