The Grand Staircase, Part Two

 The Burr Trail

This took me by surprise.  Absolutely breathtaking scenery; otherworldly, really.

The Burr Trail connects Boulder in the West with Bullfrog Marina in the East.  Both the western and eastern sides start out paved, but the "connection" is dirt with a series of steep switchbacks.  A few years ago, I rode the eastern section; today, I start from the western side.  There's no contest:  West beats East like a drum.  We have to come back with Nigel and connect the dots.

The dirt portion is the "missing" blue line that would connect the dark and light areas.

From Escalante, I backtrack on Route 12 to Boulder, which is no hardship...perfect twisty pavement, spectacular views.

At Boulder, you turn right, and it starts off innocuously enough.

You quickly enter Escalante National Park

Things turn from white to red and, boom, you're IN it, with ever higher walls.  Photo dump time...

Past this section, it starts to open up and flatten out for a time.

You come to pavement end in about 30 miles, at the entrance to Capital Reef National Park.

"Turn around and step away from the dirt."

The folks in the background are getting ready to tackle the switchbacks.  I'll wait for Nigel...

To give you an idea, they look like this:

As always, heading back provides a new perspective.

As you can tell, there was a bit of weather drama that added substantially to the landscape without contributing any real water.  😎

Dino says, "Happy Earth Day Everyone!"