Thursday 30 September: Boulder City, Nevada to Tropic, Utah

The highway went through interesting countryside, rising in places to 700 - 1220 metres (2000 - 4000 feet). As we got closer to the mountains we could see how rugged and jagged they were. At one point the road went between steep reddish cliffs of rock : it looked like we were going to drive right inside a mountain. Then we started climbing higher and higher, and the low scrub was replaced by towering pines and tall aspens in autumn colours. Against the pinks and reds of the rocks, it was pretty spectacular. This was the Dixie National Forest, which covers a large area of the southern part of the state.

The road took us through Red Canyon, aptly named. The rocks were an amazing red, and were eroded into amazing shapes high above the road. At one stage the road went through two rock arches.

We came down a winding mountain road to the tiny town of Tropic, where we will stay for a couple of nights.