PAHREAH.
Day 148 – Beginning of Week 22. We got up at 7:30 a.m., anxious to get out and see more of this incredible scenery. 35 degrees, mostly sunny. Decided to take a drive west on Route 89 to a couple of dirt roads into remote areas.
We dropped by the campground office on the way out & reserved another night, then ran into town. Rob got a much-needed haircut, then we had breakfast at a cute little place called, “Canyon Crepes Cafe”. Excellent haircut and excellent breakfast! We both had breakfast crepes, his was vegies & eggs rolled up in a crepe; mine was mexican – black beans, tomatoes, eggs, potatoes, onion & cheese in a crepe. If you’re ever in Page, AZ, give this place a try. Unique.
We stopped on the way out of town at a dirt road leading to a hiking trail and an overlook near the Glen Canyon Dam. Walked around, took some pictures, gorgeous rocks. Then heading west on the 89 we drove into Utah just beyond our campground, then out of the canyon & lake scenery to some flatter areas. Then the landscape changed yet again and it became ruggedly beautiful with deeper red hills, cliffs, and rocks. This area was called the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Click on any picture below to see a slideshow.
We passed the Paria River which only had a little water in it, but obviously got a lot more water at other times of the year. Then we took a dirt road, Old Paria Road, and stopped at some signs at the turn-off. Very interesting. The signs talked about this settlement from the 1800’s called, “Pahreah”. Of course, the Indians were there first, then the settlers came in, fighting ensued, and the Indians were forced out. Then the area was discovered by the Mormon/Latter Day Saints, later in the 1800’s – paradise found – and a large settlement was built. Brigham Young visited & after seeing the beautiful area, warned of the possibility of flash flooding. (If you’ve read the excellent book, “Under the Banner of Heaven”, by Jon Krakaeur, this will make more sense.) His warning was ignored. The town grew and thrived with farms & livestock. Later, sure enough, here comes the flood & wipes out the town. Fast forward to the mid 1900’s. This becomes an excellent setting for western movies, the most recent being “The Outlaw Josie Wales”. The movie set remained until 2006 when vandals burned it all down. Isn’t that just wonderful. The dirt road leads to what they call, “The Pahreah Ghost Town”, although all that remains is some old fencing, a restroom, and a couple of picnic tables.
After reading this story on the signs, of course, we were intrigued and drove into this canyon area on the dirt road. Beyond every bend in the road, the scenery became more beautiful, indeed paradise found. We’ve never seen anything like it and likely will never forget it. Colors we never would’ve dreamed would exist in a landscape, not a piece of artwork. Incredible!
Click on any picture below to see a slideshow.
We returned to Route 89 and headed back towards the campground, turning off on another dirt road towards an area called, “Buckskin Gulch – Paria Canyon”. This was a much rougher road and we only made it 2 ½ miles before turning around and going back to the 89. Pretty area, though. We stopped to take a few more pictures on the way back to the RV, including one from an overlook just before the campground. The high today was 69 degrees with clouds increasing in the late afternoon.
Click on any picture below to see a slideshow.
Still warm out when we got back to the RV, we sat outside and enjoyed watching the clouds rolling in over the hills. The rabbit visited, we both chased a roadrunner to get a picture but were not successful (he was faster than us), birds flitted around, particularly a dove that wanted to let us know we were in his territory, and we still didn’t get a picture of the black-tailed rabbit. We made fish tacos for dinner, then back outside for sunset pictures, which were incredible due to the clouds.
Click on any picture below to see a slideshow.
Gorgeous!!!!!
these sunset images are incredible.