I have a confession to make. The reference to the Dirty Devil River is really marginal; 90% of the post will be about Moki Dugway, but let me explain. A couple of years ago I stumbled across a blog written by an outdoorsman with all that implies. He was describing a cross-country kayak trip down the Dirty Devil River. He had me right there with the name of the river. Even though the river's lack of depth wouldn't float the kayak for a considerable portion of his run, in the back of my mind (with all the cobwebs, etc) I wanted to see the Dirty Devil on one of my trips to Utah. This is it.
The bridge is at Hite Crossing, where the SR-95 highway bridge spans the Colorado River. And the Dirty Devil? Where the Colorado is hidden by the orange foreground feature on the left, go upstream a wee bit and you'll see a sandy beach on the far side of both rivers - this is the confluence of the Dirty Devil and the Colorado Rivers. But, since the bridge is there, I might also mention that Hite Crossing is often referenced as the upper extent of Lake Powell.
Alrighty then! On to Moki Dugway. Driving south on SR-261 you perhaps shiver once and drive on - slowly. Five mph, 10% grades, narrow gravel road? But only one mile to change your mind? They could have mentioned this 23 mi north - I'm just sayin'.
Oh, great! Try to keep from sliding off a steep gravel road to your death
and worry about falling rocks too?
I think of this as the point of no return - where quite a few travelers apparently use various stickers to make their final statements before the descent - just in case the vehicle goes ballistic at some point.
If you get through this, that's your escape route (SR-261). Its fairly straight, really level, and not too heavily traveled. You can make a quick getaway and never have to come back. The 3 mi, 1100 ft descent road was constructed in 1958 by Texas Zinc, a mining company, to transport uranium ore from the mine in Fry Canyon to the Mexican Hat processing mill.
The view from the top. The meandering gravel road below and the valley trying to contain it share the name Valley of the Gods. I've not explored the valley but I understand many make comparisons between Valley of the Gods and Monument Valley - you know, John Wayne and John Ford, and the Seventh Cavalry?
The switchbacks. That doesn't look so bad. They are narrow though, and don't forget those falling rocks! Hey, does that look like it can handle opposite direction traffic? Surely no one in his right mind would drive UP this road. Right? Oh. . . I never thought of that.
Oh, sh. . . my worst nightmare! And look at the rocks around the rim - some are as big as a car! Let those guys pass. . . then get back down to the real road.
Valley of the Gods - right. I'm only half way down. . . if that butte were made of chocolate, it could be a Hershey's Kiss. It already looks kinda like it's melting. . . never mind. That ridge behind the butte looks interesting.
Ah, the escape route. It looks clear, no traffic at all that I can see. Looks like I'll make it out of here yet. Good luck if any of you ever decide to descend Moki Dugway.
Now wait! This isn't RIGHT! Nobody said ANYTHING about the escape route being guarded by GIANT CLAMS!
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