Day 21 – Kodachrome Basin State Park

On one hand it is hard to believe we have been on the road for three weeks.  Then again, it seems like a lifetime since we pulled out of the driveway.  We have seen so much already and we are really just getting started.

Our goal for the day was to drive from Capital Reef National Park to Kodachrome Basin State Park, a distance of about 125 miles.  That doesn’t seem like much of a goal until you drive Utah state highway 12 – considered by many as one of the most scenic highways in the country.

The drive started out around 10 a.m. and I remarked to Dorrie we had five hours to go around one hundred miles.  The check-in time at the state park was 3 - that is were where I came up with the five hours.

We started climbing mountains as soon as we left the campground.  We could see snow on the mountains off in the distance and it looked very pretty.  Soon we were seeing snow in the shade of trees beside the highway.  Then the snow was just not in the shade, but covering the ground.  At some points there was small patches of snow on the road.  At this time the snow on the roadside was from two to three feet deep.

We stopped at a scenic overlook.  The road leading into the overlook was snow covered and there was some snow on the ground at the pull off.  It was a very dramatic sight – the snow surrounding us and off in the distance you could see some of the features of Capital Reef N.P. 

 

We finally reached the summit at 9,600 feet above sea level.  

We went up and down for a while and then started the decline for real.  Interstate highways are limited to a six percent incline, but this is not an interstate highway.  We saw a sign indicating a 13 percent decline for the next five miles.  All I can say is thank goodness for the engine brake on the motorhome.  Using it saves the brakes on the camper for serious slowing down.

The road got real narrow and curvy from that point and the shoulder was about 200 feet straight down in most places.  We took our time and made it safety.

We had lunch at an overlook with a sign explaining the “million dollar road”.  We were still about 40 miles from our destination.

After about four and one-half hours we arrived at the state park.  We thought we had booked sites with electric, but we were wrong.  Tonight will be the second night in cold weather without electric. 

Who knows what tomorrow will bring.