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The River Road in 1973...Route 128
The River Road, from its junction with old
US Highway 6 near Cisco, to the
Castle Valley turnoff was still a dirt road
in 1973. But the new pavement from there into
Moab was a portent of things to come.
By 1978, the entire 41 miles of State Highway 128 was covered with asphalt.
UPPER SPANISH VALLEY...1986
When this photograph was taken in the spring of 1986, the golf course still had only nine holes and there wasn’t a hint of condominiums to be seen.
Today this view does not exist. If you were to hike to this location today, the only ‘green’ you’d fund would be the expanded fairways of the 18 hole golf course.
The developers, of course, have done their best to landscape the multiple residential projects, but not so long ago, standing at the foot of these cliffs still allowed you to feel you were in the middle of nowhere. Today it feels like you are standing in the middle of A bunch of fake stucco condos.
THE COMB RIDGE DUGWAY
Until 1973, the only way to get from Blanding to Hanksville was via the old State Highway 95. To do that you faced a perilous but unforgettable ride down the one-lane Comb Ridge Dugway. The traveler had to wonder just what he would do if he encountered on-coming traffc. But it seldom happened.
Construction on a new road which completely bypassed the old dugway began in 1972 and was completed in 1976. Thus its name: The Bicentennial Highway.
And I’ll sing about an emptiness the East has never known,
Where coyotes don’t pay taxes and a man can live alone,
And you’ve got to walk forever just to fnd a telephone.
It’s sad, but the telling takes me home.
* “THE TELLIN’ TAKES ME HOME” By Utah Phillips
Photos by Stiles
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