We had several adventures on day three, including visiting Anasazi Indian State Park in Boulder and also driving over Boulder Mountain. More family connections there as well, because my grandfather, who was a pioneer in rural electrification efforts in this area, helped start the power plant in Boulder. It is in large part because of my grandfather that most of the small towns in this part of Utah got electricity back in the 1930's and 40's. We had a wonderful time stopping at the visitor's area along the mountain road where an elderly Forest Service host couple delighted my kids (well, mainly Sariah) by giving them sacks of information and activities about Smoky the Bear. Sariah says that was her favorite part of the entire trip.
But the main part of our day was spent travelling the Burr Trail. We spent some time during our lessons talking about ranching. After all, we have been learning about the land and the econimics that are tied to that land. The Burr Trail began as a cattle trail back in the late 19th century. It was blazed by my great-grandfather's older brother, John Atlantic Burr. His cattle grazed in the high mountain valleys during the summer, but needed a warmer climate in the winter. He needed a way to get them to the deserts lying to the southwest. However lying in the way was that geologic feature, the Waterpocket Fold. He spent a significant amount of time trying to find a way through the canyons of the fold, and he finally was able to find an opening requiring him to carve a steep trail of switchbacks through the cliffs. His trail has now been turned into a road that has only been paved in the past 25 years or so (and some of it is still unpaved and unpassable in bad weather). The Burr Trail road is 66 miles long. We only went about 45 miles. I travelled this with my family as a teenager when the entire 66 miles was dirt. The scenery is some of the most spectacular in Utah, perhaps even in the United States and is part of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
This is Dallin's painting of Long's Canyon which he did before our trip.
More rock climbing--this girl makes me SO nervous!
We stopped in this spot for lunch, and then when we got back in the car, found that the battery had died. Luckily we didn't have to wait too long for someone to come by and give us a jump. This is far too desolate an area to want to be with a non-running car!
I believe that the "switchbacks" were not too far beyond this bend. We didn't have time to go further, and the kids were burning out on seeing more rocks--and we had to turn around and travel back the 45 miles we'd come.
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