Day 26

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States: Utah
Miles driven: 96
Miles hiked: 5.5
Slept: Sofa surfed in Hall Pass, Glen Canyon Recreation Area, Utah (Lake Powell).
10 words or less: Hike to 126′ waterfall. Burr Trail drive. Both amazing!

Lower Calf Creek Falls

I woke up a little later than planned and by the time I got to the trailhead Jennifer had already left for the falls. Channeling the jogging hiker from Canyonlands, I decided to quick-step my way down the 3 mile trail. I ran for parts of it hoping to get a good workout in – awesome! Now I found all the landmarks on the original map I’d used the day before, even the pictographs (see photos). In no time I made it to the 126′ high falls. Spectacular! I went for a very chilly swim in the clear, cold water and had a nice long chat with Jennifer. She’d been painting the falls when I walked up. We said a sad goodbye to the falls after about an hour of lounging there and snacking on the peaches and apples I’d got from Escalante the day before. On our hike back we had a great talk about travel and nature and even politics. She found some rosehips we could eat – kinda cool – and showed me other edible plants that I now can’t remember.

Back at the trailhead picnic area, we combined our pantries, made lunch together and took another dip in the creek where it rolled past the campgrounds. It was a truly lovely day. We said our goodbyes and went on our separate ways.

Back on the road I was excited to hit the Burr Trail. Holy wow! Now that was a fun road. I came across the Chinese couple again at the beginning of the road and we exchanged happy smiles and waves. I continued on to the gravel section of the road and the incredibly fun section of steep, steep switchbacks. You can see in the photos the angle of the rock in the background – it is the same angle of the road. Yeowza! I popped the Bunny Mobile into 2nd gear and rolled on down. I can’t wait to drive it again some day. In two hours I ended up at the ferry at Bullfrog Marina at Lake Powell. It was the last ferry trip of the day and I made a split second decision to hop aboard, even though I didn’t know what was on the other side, I just knew it was the only way to get homeward. But I didn’t have any cash for the $25 fee. “That’s ok,” the dude said, “you can use the ATM at the gas station on the other side.” I drove on board.

The captain was up in the wheel house, his doberman was hanging out with him and I asked if I could get a picture of her with Pat. Though there were clear signs saying passengers weren’t allowed up top, he welcomed me up. The dog didn’t give a shit about me or Pat, but I struck up a great conversation with the captain. Coincidentally he was thinking about applying to an open position on the local ferry here in Jacksonville. I warned him of the controversy that they were trying to shut it down, despite a grass-roots campaign to save it. Good to know! Once we were docked, the captain said not to worry about the fee. I was friends with the captain now so there’d be no charge. The generosity of strangers on this trip has been truly astounding. We agreed to meet up later and chat over dinner. Before heading out, I jumped in the lake for a refreshing dip and so I could say I’d at least got to swim in it two years in a row. After dinner we went for a walk after dark to the edge of the canyon. If he wasn’t there I may have walked right off an 800′ drop into Lake Powell. It was pretty cool to walk kind of blindly over the sandstone flat top of the canyon in the dark.