The first leg of my journey – through Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks – was epic in scale, and while it ventured through a lot of desert, there was still plenty of greenery around. There were other cars on the road and plenty of people in the towns and parks. My next leg was through a section of Utah that a lot of people skip past, and I felt it.
The first few days I was awestruck by incredible scenery, but it was on the journey from Bryce to Moab where I felt a great sense of freedom as well. As I made my way to Torrey, the trees thinned out, the horizon retreated further away and flattened, and the weather got wilder. There were sections where I had to compensate for the strength of the wind blowing on the side of my car. The landscape was different every half hour, and I passed towns and communities with populations lower than my age.
I rolled into Torrey just before sunset, checked into the motel, dropped my things and went to head out to find dinner. I got in the car and made it ten metres to the driveway and immediately realised it wasn’t going to happen. My car felt like it was going to roll over just sitting in the motel parking lot. I swung that car around, parked it again and went back inside.
“Bit windy out” I said to the girl at the front desk.
“Yeah, it’s monsoon season” she replied. Oh, great. Maybe I should have known that. In the twenty minutes from checking in to heading out again the weather had rolled in and I watched it unfold from the window in my room as I downed microwave noodles. It cleared by morning.
Capitol Reef National Park
Capitol Reef was a real surprise. I wish I’d had an off-road vehicle as most of the good trails and scenery was hidden deep down long dirt roads, and my hired car was restricted to sealed roads. Nevertheless I did the scenic drive, which was spectacular, and did a couple of hikes off the side of the road.
I also stopped in at a place called Gifford Homestead – an old farmhouse which sold home made pies and ice-cream. I floated inside like a cartoon character carried by the scent of berries, and bought a mixed berry pie “for later” which turned into “I’ll have just a bite now” and five minutes later that entire pie was in my stomach.
Goblin Valley State Park
“Is this the right intersection?” I thought to myself as I took a turn off the highway down a nondescript road. I’d been soaring along on cruise control blasting tunes, passing a car about once every ten minutes. I wish I’d been able to photograph the areas I drove through as it was full of all sorts of bizarre scenery.
Soon enough it became apparent it was the correct turn. I saw the weird bulbous rocks of Goblin Valley getting closer. Of all the stops on my trip, this was perhaps the most alien. Giant alien turds littered a sun-drenched arid landscape as dark storm clouds flashed in the distance.
I wandered about and saw a spot named “The Goblin’s Lair” on the map, and hiked my way over, climbed up a wall of rock, and down into a cavern. It’s rare in life that you find yourself in a place of complete silence. Every movement I made was audible. I spent about ten minutes taking it all in, and cooling off. It wasn’t until I went to climb back out that it struck me just how alone I was. The climb out was relatively easy, but the fact I hadn’t considered my exit when I entered the cavern scared me a touch. One slip, one wrong foot placement and fall, and I’d have been screwed.
Deep dark clouds encircled the area
The drive from Goblin Valley to Moab was cool. Thanks to the large flat plains, I watched wild storms play on the horizon like a screensaver as I drove through relatively calm weather.
Moab + Arches National Park
Moab was a really pleasant town. Clearly catered to tourists, but only so much that it helped – not so much that it took away from the experience. I could have spent twice as long here, with plenty of adventure sports on offer, and Arches National Park right next door.
Arches wins the prize for most descriptive national park name. There’s small arches, wide arches, double arches, and arches within arches. I spent a whole day covering it all, the scenic drive and a bunch of trails. The red soil and large rock formations reminded me of the Northern Territory back home, specifically Uluru and Kata Tjuta, and even a little of Kakadu.
This took me back to Kakadu 
Next, I would venture into the classic scenery of the wild west – dry landscapes and mesas…