Hwy 261 Utah's thrilling drive!

March 2013 vacation: part 8 - We left Flagstaff in the afternoon of Apr. 3, we chose to drive through Sunset Crater National Monument and then towards Monument Valley. We got there as the sun was beginning to set so I was glad we could get some drive by pics.

We were driving on Hwy 163 and drove by Mexican Hat. 

This is the Location that we put in our rafts for our San Juan river rafting trip in 2007.

We then proceeded to take the turn towards Hwy 261, we had been on this stretch of road when it was daylight only once. It was on our return shuttle from the end of the San Juan rafting trip. Well...it was awesome. It was gravel and very steep and curvy for about 3 miles at a 10% grade. I found a blog with pics and descriptions of the road and you can read it HERE if you'd like. 

I also found a couple YouTube videos. Part one shows the road really well, part two shows more of the scenery and may make you a bit motion sick. 

Part one - http://www.youtube.com/watch?=Ri9zMQ6RvW8&list=FL61fQh9zquTrW0_aS4AiX5g

Part two - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqFuJ5pXcwg&list=FL61fQh9zquTrW0_aS4AiX5g

this time we unfortunately did it in the dark and going uphill. No lights but our own headlights. Luckily we didn't meet any cars. I was SO glad when we arrived at the top. 

We drove what seemed like forever in an endless night and finally found the town of Hanksville for a much needed nights sleep.

next post Utah & beyond....