Noah's Excellent Adventures: Hell's Backbone

September 23-26, 2022

The kids had a couple days off of school so we decided to have a little adventure. We loaded up the cruiser and headed south. Our or at least my ultimate goal was to drive the Hell's Backbone road and hike Willis Creek Slot Canyon. We of course got a late start and hustled down through Moab stopping off at Doug's BBQ in Monticello for dinner. Once well fed we were off to Bridges the drive was beautiful as the sun was setting. We set up camp at the same place as a few years ago a few miles away from Bridges. We hurried back to Bridges as the it was getting dark and were able to enjoy a few of the viewpoints as the last of the light was fading. They were having a dark sky night but we were too tired to attend. In the morning we packed up and headed toward Hite. We stopped briefly at Hite to use the bathroom. We also checked at the Hite overlook before making our way to Bullfrog. At Bullfrog we played in the water for an hour or so and filled up with way overpriced gas we were off again. We headed down the Notom road toward Capitol Reef and the Water pocket fold. We hung a left onto the Burr Trail and climbed up the amazing Burr Trail Switchbacks. I wanted to stop and hike a few places along the Burr Trail but we were pushing daylight to get to the Blue Spruce Campground. Though we were in a hurry we enjoyed the spectacular views. Just passed Boulder we turned onto the Hell's Backbone road. The views at the Hell's Backbone Bridge were beautiful. The kids freaked out a little at the steep drops on either side. We arrived at the Blue Spruce Campground and were in a rush to get camp set up and dinner cooked before it got too dark. We just made it and enjoyed chili cheese dogs and tamales. We had a small camp fire before turning in. Out of the seven campsites only two of then were occupied. In the morning Tyke and I went for a stroll and enjoyed the beauty of the mountains. Back at camp we met one of the other campers a cruiser guy named Dave from Arizona and his twelve year old Akita. It ran around and played with Tyke like it was a puppy. Dave and I shot the breeze discussing various locations we knew in common in Utah. We loaded up and with a quick stop to see Posey Lake we wandered into Escalante. After getting gas and some snacks we were headed for Kodachrome Basin State Park. The only campsite they had open was an overflow which worked out ok. I am never a big fan of paying for camping so I was a little annoyed. We did a little exploring and hiked to Shakespeare Arch which we found out collapsed in 2019 ( they don't mention this until you have hiked out there) Greta, Tyke and I hiked the Grand Parade Trail. Jalaine's air mattress had gone flat the night before so I gave her mine. It went flat again so I had a rough nights sleep. Once again we packed up in the morning and headed down the Skutuampah Road to Willis Creek trailhead. We saw plenty of primitive campsites along the road so next time we can skip the state park although Greta took a shower there and was amazed at how nice the showers were. the Willis slots did not disappoint and we had a nice hike. Next we made our way to Panguitch and had lunch at the C-Stop before a quick stop in Marysvale and then home. It was a great trip even if a bit rushed. The weather was perfect and the views amazing.