October 1st, our last day of a way too short vacation took us from Arches National Park 375 miles to Kanab starting off with a slow drive to Hanksville.
After camping along the Colorado River at Big Bend Beach we returned to Arches National Park so I could get my Junior Ranger badge. Waited in line at the entrance station probably 10-15 minutes. We turned and drove right back out and now the line was clear to the main highway. I fear we are loving our National Parks to death.
Headed north on US191 but stopped in only a few miles at the Dalton Wells CCC and concentration camp. All that remains of what started off as a CCC camp between 1935-42 is the cottonwood trees planted by the enrollees of Camp DG-32. Then WWII gave these young man a different mission and the camp became a place for “troublemakers” from the Manzanar California Relocation center, yet another concentration camp for Japanese-Americans. I think the land still cries for these people. I took no photos.
Got off I 70 at Green River to be greeted by these metal sculptures of a pack train coming into town. Can’t find any information on these.
Made a pit stop at the John Wesley Powell River History Museum but knew we didn’t have time to explore it so jumped back in the truck, crossed the Green River and headed south at noon on some gravel back roads through the Green River and San Rafael Deserts.
Colorful, carved and contoured, a barren yet beautiful landscape.
A long and lonely drive.
Three hours later we pulled into Hanksville, not much of a town. Bill once lived and worked here for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). There is the historic Wolverton Mill built in the early 1900s by Edwin Thatcher Wolverton who searched for gold in the Henry Mountains. Although the mill did process some ore it was abandoned in 1929. It was a unique creation because it combined the functions of wood cutting and ore crushing.
And there’s the abandoned service station that was featured in the 1991 movie Rubin & Ed. The tagline is “As soon as Ed saves Rubin’s life, he’s gonna kill him.” Watched the movie later, kind of dumb.
In 15 minutes we were done with Hanksville and continued our journey home via Capitol Reef National Park.