Photos from Utah roadtrips

In summer 2004, I had a chance to travel through Utah twice. The scenery there is almost too amazing to believe. Driving through Monument Valley is probably as close as I'll ever come to exploring another planet:

Southbound US 163

If you're a "Calvin and Hobbes" fan, these formations might remind you of the hostile alien worlds where Spaceman Spiff always manages to crash-land when his ship's freem drive malfunctions or when hideous scum-beings shoot him down with a bolt of deadly frap ray.

Northbound US 163

All photos on this page are from my trips, except where otherwise noted. From U-95 near Natural Bridges National Monument, you can go south via U-261. It starts out as a flat drive along the top of Cedar Mesa. But after about 20 miles, some warning signs appear, the speed limit drops...

...and suddenly you find yourself about to drop off into the Valley of the Gods:

Jim Teresco, Sep. 2003

After the dizziness subsides, you proceed down a nearly vertical cliff face via a tortured series of switchbacks:

This segment of the road is known as the Moki Dugway (despite the spelling on the sign above). It's not paved, but any passenger car should be able to handle it, and it's well worth the drive. Here are a couple more shots from northbound U-261:

(That yellow sign is basically the same as the one shown heading the opposite direction.)

Driving that direction, it's hard to believe there's a road that can actually get you to the top of that mesa.

When driving on interstates, I usually don't expect much in the way of scenery. But through Utah, even I-70 can be pretty amazing:

I-70 was built as a more direct connection between Denver and Los Angeles, and it was constructed along a route where there had previously been no roads. There's a 100-plus mile stretch with no services, but there are dozens of scenic turnouts along the way. Below is a series of signs along I-70 that I found pretty amusing:

Utah is a big recreation destination - even dust storms like to come here. Note to the state patrol: I didn't stop to get these photos - they were taken out my windshield while in motion...

...but if the guy in front of you stops, then you're faced with having to choose which law you'll break.

Dust storms, please observe the speed limit while blowing through Utah.

No dust storms allowed past this point.

I also noted, while both US 6 and US 191 are signed from westbound I-70...

...the same exit for eastbound traffic is signed only as US 6:

Strange. Only explanation I can think of is maybe there's a lot of eastbound traffic heading for Moab - they'd want southbound US 191 (which is exit 180, about 24 miles further east from here). So maybe if there was a 191 shield at this interchange - even though it's northbound - you'd still have a lot of people exiting here and getting confused.