White Cliffs of Johnson Canyon

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah

After a failed attempt to secure a permit to hike to the Wave, the BLM visitor center staff recommended I go out to the White Cliffs of Johnson Canyon to find some off trail hiking and an area without many people. I turned off onto a side road that looked promising and started climbing up this little bump. Turned out to be a bit bigger than it looked at first.

Along the way I saw just about every color of sandstone imaginable. And not all of it was as stable as I would have liked.

Eventually I made it to the top and then just followed a ridge that went along behind the highpoint for miles. Never saw another person the whole time I was back there. Made a great place to camp for the night as well.

 Sometimes there were little weird shapes. Don't know why they stood out differently than the rest of the area but they sure did.

After a great night I headed out in the morning and had some finds along the way. First was the old set from Gunsmoke back in the 60's. Once Marshall Dillon and Miss Kitty left the place fell apart. I would have liked to go into the old buildings but they are on private land.

Would have been nice to have a drink in the Long Branch saloon, but it had some issues as well.

Found some advertising on the rock walls, just modern versions of the old paintings of animals I suppose.