Tag Archives: Goosenecks State Park

Travel, United States

Can a goose’s neck really do this?

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Monument Valley, AZ.
Monument Valley, AZ.

At 7:30am, Wooly and Raeski left Phoenix and started their journey through the state and national parks in Southern Utah with a couple of national monuments tossed into the mix.  Getting up early and beating the heat allowed us to start our trip topless.  With the occasional pit stop along the way and a few photos of Monument Valley, the trip to Goosenecks State Park, Utah took almost 7 hours.

Twisted and folded earth
Twisted and folded earth

The Goosenecks are an out of the way, I mean you really have to go out of your way to find it, state park without much to offer except a single exceptional viewpoint.  After turning off the main road and then turning off to an even narrower road and driving a few miles you reach the end of the road and the park.  You can keep going if your names are Thelma and Louise and care to go ‘car diving’.

Goosenecks State Park, UT
Goosenecks State Park, UT

While on this drive you are treated to views of earth that has been uplifted and twisted.  Wooly thinks this is cool because there is a bit of a geology bug in him.  At the end of the road you reach the park and find a couple of picnic tables, an outhouse and nary a tree.  And yes, it’s a hot 100 degrees or about 38C.

Goosenecks State Park, UT
Goosenecks State Park, UT

However what you do find is a spectacular view of the San Juan River meandering and cutting its way through 1,000 feet of sandstone.  We were even able to watch a couple of rafters running the river.  Capturing them gives a sense of perspective of what Wooly saw while teetering on the edge of the cliff.

Goosenecks State Park, UT
Goosenecks State Park, UT

We hope you enjoy the photos.  But I have one question.  Can a goose really bend its neck that much and live to see another day?

Travel

Topless it is!

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We’re going topless! Why? Because it’s more fun!

Raeski found this seat removal kit for Minis online and ordered it. Wow, what a difference it makes. After installing it the choice was simple. There’s an amazing amount of room in that little car once the back seats are gone.

Tomorrow we take off for a three week adventure. The first day will be a long one as we will be driving over 500 miles. I’m looking forward to it because we are escaping the heat. Today it reached 109F or for those living in most of the world, 43C.

Our first side trip tomorrow will be a side trip to Goosenecks State Park to catch an outstanding view of the San Juan River a few miles upstream before it flows into the Colorado River. It’s 10 miles of dirt road that’s going to really mess up a clean car. I’m curious to see if we get much dirt in the car while driving with the top down. My guess is we might end up having to put the top up. In the past when on dirt roads the back of the car got quite dusty.

After the Goosenecks we head to the Moki Dugway which has a couple of great viewpoints overlooking the Valley of the Gods. From what I have seen and read the valley is like a miniature Monument Valley. After that we head to Blanding to check into our hotel.

But we’re not done yet. Tomorrow night we are going to Natural Bridges National Monument. Why at night? Because they have some of the darkest skies in the lower 48 and Wooly wants to try to photograph the Milky Way.