Gribblenation

After leaving Canyonlands National Park I returned to Utah State Route 313 and headed towards the overlook of the Colorado River at Dead Horse Point State Park. This blog post serves as Part 15 in the Fall Mountain Trip series; Part 14 can be found here: 2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 14; Canyonlands National Park and the Island in the Sky As stated in the previous blog UT 313 was approved in 1975 and was built over an existing Grand County Highway to Dead Horse Point State Park.  UT 313 essentially replaced UT 279 which was never completed as intended.  UT 313 is a 22.5 mile north/south State Highway stretching from US 191 to Dead Horse Point State Park.  UT 313 also serves the secondary purpose of providing access to the Island of the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park.  From Island of the Sky Road I took a right turn on UT 313 southbound towards Dead Horse Point State Park. Dead Horse Point State Park is one of my most frequently visited State P...

Back in the early 2010s I frequently visited Gila County Arizona.  Often my travel took me up Arizona State Route 88 (usually for fun) and Arizona State Route 188.  The junction of AZ 88 and AZ 188 holds what was two significant bridging structures of Roosevelt Lake; the Roosevelt Dam and Roosevelt Lake Arch Bridge. AZ 88 is one of the oldest State Highways in Arizona dating back to 1927.  While the highway was originally intended to be signed as AZ 66 the designation of AZ 88 was ultimately chosen due to US 66 being assigned over what was intended to be US 60 in Arizona.  As originally signed AZ 88 stretched from US Route 80 in Apache Junction east to the first US 180 in Globe.  By 1927 Roosevelt Dam was long completed since 1911 as it was the signature structure of the Salt River Project.  Roosevelt Dam was used as a bridging structure from AZ 88 north to the road to Payson.  This 1927 highway map of Arizona shows the location of Roosevelt Da...

Back between 2010 and 2012 I frequented all the National Monuments in Arizona.  In 2012 while in Flagstaff I traveled northbound on US Route 89 to Coconino National Forest Route 395 to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Sunset Crater Volcanic National Monument is a small National Park site surrounded by Coconino National Forest.  Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument is named after Sunset Crater which is youngest volcano in the San Francisco Volcanic Field.  Sunset Crater is located 8,042 feet above sea level and rises about 1,000 feet in prominence above the surrounding landscape. Sunset Crater emerged sometime between 1064 AD to 1085 AD.  The lava fields forced the evacuations of nearby tribes which occupied Wupatki National Monument to the north.  The largest volcanic lava field produced by Sunset Crater is the Bonito Flow which is 1.6 miles by miles.  While Sunset Crater is considered extinct it has been subject to scrutiny as late as 201...

Back in 2015 I was visiting Moab, Utah for some hiking.  On my way out of town I was heading eastward into Colorado.  Conventional fair travel would have me on US Route 191 north to I-70 east into Colorado.  I was in the mood for something a little more remote and took Utah State Route 128 from Moab along the Colorado River through the Dewey ghost town to I-70. UT 128 is a 44.56 mile State Highway located entirely in Grand County running eastward from US 191 to I-70 near the ghost town of Cisco.  UT 128 largely follows the narrow canyons of the Colorado River before splitting away towards Old US 50/6 near Cisco to I-70.  UT 128 is often cited to dating back to being created in 1933, the highway can be seen on this 1950 Utah State Highway Map. 1950 State Highway Map Heading east from Moab UT 128 follows the south bank of the Colorado River.  The Fisher Towers can be seen from UT 128 at the junction of Fisher Towers Road.  The Fisher Towers is f...

Over the past three years I've had the opportunity to drive the entirety of the California State Route 99 Freeway from Interstate 5 north to Sacramento several times but rarely took many photos until this past month.  The saga of US Route 99 in California being dropped to a State Highway no later 1967 is well established at this point.  The point of this blog series is to focus on the actual active CA 99 freeway itself rather than the history of US Route 99. This blog is the first of a two-part series regarding the CA 99 Freeway.  The segment part of this blog series covers the CA 99 Freeway south from US 50/CA 51 in Sacramento to CA 145 in Madera. California State Route 99/Old US Route 99 Freeway Part 2; US Route 50/California State Route 51 south to California State Route 145 This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out ...