Day 1 Deer Springs Ranch

We got off to a leisurely start, quite a new feeling for us. We left Logan about 10am and headed to Deer Springs Ranch. More info here. It is located just northeast of Kanab, UT. It borders the Escalante Ntl. Monument and Bryce Canyon. Wildman had attended a Footzone Retreat at the ranch back in September, and made friends with the family operating the "Ranch Headquarters". They offered to let us stay in any of the cabins for a very discounted price. Wildman had two days of vacation to use quickly before he lost them for good, so we decided to pull the kids out of the petri-dish, aka school and get some true fresh air. Though the weather forecast was for cold, snow, rain, and wind...we knew the cabin, though rustic and worn, had a wood burning stove, flushing toilets, and hot showers. We just hoped the weather permitted us to travel on the miles and miles of dirt roads to and from anywhere. We also hoped to get a walk-in permit to The Wave, being on my "bucket list" and all. We traveled down through Panguitch, Long Valley, and then Alton. We arrived at the ranch with only an hour of daylight left, with the air clear, and the winds howling. I don't do wind. We settled in our cabin and had some wonderful stew (I make great stew). Wildkid was very concerned that the winds were going to become tornado-like and rip the cabin off its lofty perch, or at least blow all the windows out. Yeah. We settled down for the night, and prayed for better weather in the morning.

Below: driving to and through Alton...