July 2: Our first day in Utah found us exploring a section of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument along Cottonwood Canyon Road; eventually.

Our first stop was an unplanned exploration of the Pink Ledges trail at Red Canyon. The area is sort of a mini-Bryce Canyon, with a bit more pink in the rocks. Fossil watching near Henryville was next, leaving what we found in place for others to enjoy, and to avoid a hefty fine from the BLM. After a stop at the visitors center in Canonville, we ate lunch at Kodachrome Basin State Park, named for the experimental film being used by the National Geographic Society expedition that first documented the area. Nearby Grosvenor Arch, named by the same expedition for the society’s president, is actually a double arch with a main span of over 60 feet.

Finally we were on Cottonwood Canyon Road, winding our way through the colorful desert scenery. After crossing a rise in the landscape, the “Cockscomb”, an amazingly uniform set of triangular mounds formed as a result of fault activity and erosion lay before us. Cottonwood Canyon Road ends at highway 89 at the far southern reaches of the state, our paved route through Kanab and back to the campground.