Lone Rock Beach, Part 1, Lake Powell, Utah

Friday, October 27th

Left Coral Pink Sand Dunes SP by 8:30 am. Not much to get ready as we did only a minimal set-up yesterday. On the way to meet up with Steve and Dianne at the Lone Rock Beach at Lake Powell, we stopped at the Johnson Canyon Road, unhooked the car and drove up the 10 mile paved section to have a look at the bottom end of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Beautiful. I posted these pictures with the ones we took with Dianne and Steve on Sunday.

We hooked the car back up and arrived at Lone Rock Beach by lunch time. Steve and Dianne had reserved a spot for us ahead of them right on the water's edge. Sweet ... as Steve would say. They had arrived yesterday and apparently the place was packed. Fortunately a bunch had left earlier this morning so they were able to grab a little more real estate for us. lol

Once we set up (thanks Steve for crawling under the coach and putting the blocks under the jacks!) and had a bite to eat, we spent the rest of the afternoon catching up enjoying the views.

Picture by Steve

Dianne graciously provided us with hamburgers for dinner so I did not have to bother on our travel day. I set up our "dining table" and we ate dinner as the sun was setting. Ray and I had saved a bunch of wood for a campfire so we sat around that to stay warm until about 8 pm when we all called it quits. A beautiful day, with great company and fantastic views.

Here are some pictures Ray took at sunset.

Other campers down the beach from us.

The "Lone Rock"

Saturday, October 28th

This morning bright and early, Dianne and I went into Page to get some groceries and try to get a pedicure. We were unsuccesful regarding our "toes". There were not too many options and the one we liked best, they were out of the store until next Wednesday! Oh well we shall see next week. We had breakfast/lunch at Denny's, who were very short staffed and took forever!!!! to bring our food. Oh well, Dianne and I did not run out of anything to talk about. lol

Back home all of us spent some time enjoying the sun and view although Ray was giving Steve some lessons regarding Lightroom, a photography editing program. Another great day.

Sunday, October 29th

Once we were up, showered and dishes done, it was time to leave for our day's adventure with Dianne and Steve. with Freya tucked into the very back of the car. Ray wanted to take them to see the Johnson Canyon Road, which tours through the bottom end of the Grand Staircase Escalante Staircase National Monument that we had seen on Friday on our way to Lone Rock Beach. This area has beautiful cliffs and colours. The paved portion is only 10 miles long but I had to stop numerous times for the guys to get out and take pictures. We also pointed out places to camp if they decided to come and ride their quads in that area another time. Steve pointed out, that one of the staging areas said that there is over 800 miles of trails.

Eagle Arch

Flock of wild Turkey's, the male kept coming closer to check us out.

Unnamed arch

Vermillion Cliffs

No Steve is not peeing! He is adjusting his camera!

Old homestead.

The pink cliffs in the distance is Bryce Canyon National Park

Once back on Highway 89 we decided to check out the Historic Pahreah Townsite and the old western movie set for Sergeants 3. It is not a very publicized tourist destination but Ray noticed it in the Benchmark Atlas and as it's a short distance off the road,  he thought it would be a great place for our picnic lunch. All we all can say is Wow Wow Wow! Who knew this canyon would have the best colour we have ever seen in one spot! A photographer's dream. Unfortunately the old movie set was burned down by vandals some time ago but it was a great place for lunch. They have 2 picnic tables with firepits and the typical state park hibachi's set up there. The road in is in pretty good shape although quite narrow and windy. You drop pretty fast going down into the old townsite.

This is an exerpt from Steve and Dianne's Blog - I stole it! Ha Ha

Paria (rhymes with "Maria") or Pahreah, is a ghost town on the Paria River in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in central Kane County, Utah. The area was first settled in 1865 by a Mormon group led by Peter Shirts. This early settlement was named Rockhouse, for Shirts's strongly built sandstone house. After the end of the Black Hawk War in 1867 settlers began to arrive at a rapid pace.
Farming produced good crops for several years, but irrigation was very difficult; each spring the surface runoff water was absorbed into the desert soil too quickly to properly water the fields. In 1870 the residents agreed to move the settlement. They divided in two groups; half the people went about 5 miles (8.0 km) upstream and founded the town of Pahreah.

In later years the film industry became interested in using the picturesque ghost town, with its canyon vista background, as a location for making Westerns. Several scenes for Buffalo Bill were shot here in 1943, but crews were in a constant struggle against the flooding Paria River. Producers of other movies and television programs used Paria more or less throughout the 1950s. Then in 1961 the old ghost town was used as a major location for the Rat Pack film Sergeants 3, the largest western ever filmed in Kane County. Not satisfied with what remained of Paria, the film's creators constructed an imitation Old West town about a mile to the west. Visitors often confused this movie set with the real Paria, as it fell into disuse after the filming of The Outlaw Josey Wales in 1976.

Vermillion Cliffs on the way into Paria Canyon (pronounced pah-ree-uh)

Note: These pictures do not do justice to just how colourful it was for our eyes.

Shows the lumpy dirt road but the view is getting even better!

Then the view opens up to this. All of our jaws dropped!

Dianne hanging onto Steve for "dear life", as she does not like heights!

Ray "hamming it up"

Down, down we go. Where the grassy area is below was where the townsite was.

Time for lunch.

This is where the Sergeants 3 movie set was.

Going down the wash to the Paria river.

Paria River

The rocks look like underwater coral, all porous.

Like popcorn!

Back home at the coach, Ray had to go in and lay down, his back is hooped probably for the next 2 days but he said it was "one of the best days he has ever had and will not forget!", so I guess it was worth the back pain. :)

Dianne, Steve and I enjoyed the rest of the afternoon outside. For dinner, I had Steve watch my baked potatoes on the fire that he made and I showed Dianne how to use my Instant Pot. Ray came out and joined us later and once everything was ready we sat down to enjoy BBQ'd ribs, baked beans that I had made previously, and loaded baked potatoes. Yummm. 

Dianne took a picture of her dinner.

As we were watching the sun set for the day around the fire, a family of German's with their kids came down the beach and Ray offered the kids some halloween candy. He sure was a hit! Of course Ray being a "fountain of information" and with the Arizona Benchmark Atlas in hand, he gave them some suggestions for the rest of their trip regarding places to stay, etc. That ended our day nicely and it was time to go inside, Ray to bed and I stayed up to watch a couple of my shows. Thanks for joining us for a fantastic day Steve and Dianne.