Odometer: 51,554

Time: 08:30

The sky is still not totally clear, but the heavy clouds are gone. As we don’t feel like hanging out at the lake we choose another day-trip up into the Smoky Mountains, hoping the weather would last today. So, as usual, first destination is Big Water and then from there we take the road to the Fish Hatchery. Some of the maps we have show a road from there up into the mountains, we give it a try. Nipple Creek Road indeed exists, kind of, mostly in a river bed or steep up the hill on a very rocky narrow trail, a real challenge for Jeep and driver. But, as Marco is a master of dirt and gravel roads we manage to get all the way to the top and back down again on Tibbett Canyon Road back to Smoky Mountain Road after rough 22 miles. The tour leeds us first through gray hills (the surface of Mars probably looks similar), then later we pass some Cottonwood trees in a the creek seemed by sometimes edgy, sometimes round sand colored mountains. The passage over the plateau is short and doesn’t offer much for the eye. The way down through Tibbett Canyon is similar to what we saw before, either round or edgy sand colored hills and mountains, still fascinating though. To our surprise we find thousands of tadpoles (Kaulquappen) in the left over ponds of the creek – we ask ourselves: are there any frogs or toads in the desert? 

The weather indeed lasts and we have sunshine until we are back in Page.

Overnight Stay: Debbie’s Hide A Way

Dinner: American size (one pound each) chicken legs from the BBQ at Debbie’s Hide A Way