2005 05 12 Kanab to Delta
This morning I did make it out to the Coral Pink Dunes State Park.
These dunes really are pink, or really more of a salmon color. It the slanting low light of sunrise and sunset the color is quite intense and unlike the color of any other dunes I have been on. Here are a few shots.
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You can tell that off dune buggies and ATVs are permitted on part of the dunes.
After getting off the dunes I was not sure what I wanted to do. Since I did not want to be in any of the National Parks and since the weather to the south didn't look inspiring enough for the long drive out to Toroweap, I decided to drive north from Kanab to Delta, in the east center to Utah. I had never been to that part of Utah. Delta UT is the first city of any size that you run into as you leave Nevada on US50 and pass the Great Basin National Park.
The drive to Delta starts out on US89, which is a beautiful drive, to UT 20 west to I15, north for a bit to Beaver UT, and from there I decided to take UT 21 east and then north to Milford UT, then UT 257 to Delta. Leaving Beaver UT you quickly see that you're back in the Great Basin and not in the high red rock country of southeast and south central Utah.
This is no longer the "beautiful" Utah of red rock and Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park and Cedar Breaks National Monument. It's the sage covered basin and range that you find in Nevada, complete with junk in the desert.
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The junk in the sage above is near Black Rock, UT, which is one of a series of "settlements" along the Union Pacific tracks as they head south along UT 257 from Delta. There are indicators about every 15 miles on the maps - each one used to be a water stop in the days of steam.
It's a long drive from Kanab to Delta. I thought I might have time on this trip to go all the way to Wendover, up on I80 right on the Nevada UT border, but once I got to Delta I was done with long drives for this trip.
In the triangle formed by UT 21, UT 257, and US 6/50 there is a very large semi-dry lake, Sevier ("severe") Lake. I stopped to take a few panoramics here late in the day, after going into Delta. The best access to the lake is right on US 6/50 about 40 miles southwest of Delta. When I say the lake is semi-dry, that's what I mean. You can walk on it, but you'll very slowly sink. There are also signs around the access point telling you that it will be at least $500 to get someone from Delta to drive out and fish your vehicle out of the very smooth dry looking lake if you get stuck. I was told by someone in Delta that not long ago that a plane attempted a landing on the lakebed, and it did not work out well.
I did walk out and take some panoramics late in the day. It's got sort of the same feel as the Smoke Creek Desert in Nevada, although not as dry.
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