Monument Valley and Moab, Utah
270 miles (4.5hrs)
Crossing the state line into Utah, we lost an hour due to the time difference as we passed the red rock towers of Monument Valley and Mexican Hat, with its rock seemingly balancing on top. We slept amid the red mountains in Moab, where we saw a beaver, then headed out as there was a Jeep Festival on.
Flaming Gorge, Utah 270 miles (5hrs)
The landscape changed like chapters in a book. We now found ourselves in cowboy country with large stretches of rugged, flat, grazing plains, Palomino horses and ranches with cattle horns above the gateway. Driving over the snowy 8,000ft elevation of Douglas Pass, we had a heart-inmouth moment when we realised we were horribly low on fuel.
I have never been so pleased to see a petrol station when we crawled into the next town!
The stunning 91-mile Flaming Gorge Reservoir is filled with crystal blue waters and surrounded by red rocks and lush green land. We stopped for a barbecue next to the dam, watching the most extraordinary sight – hundreds of prehistoriclooking ospreys with six-foot wingspans diving into the water to fish. Magnificent.
We booked into a campground here so we could empty the waste, charge using the electric hook-up and refill the water tank in preparation to head into the wilderness. The next morning, we discovered coyote and bobcat footprints all around our RV ! A sunrise walk was spookily fun as we spotted some very large prints along the way.
We didn’t see a bear this time, but it wasn’t long until we stumbled upon a grizzly...
Next time, Zoe and her family explore the wilderness of the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, plus Idaho and Montana...