![]() ![]() In the dining room pumpkins, braids of garlic and all sizes, shapes and colors of winter squash decorated the ceiling beams and room divider, celebrations of the fall harvest. Several friends had praised the restaurant, one writing: “I think Debby would be interested in their menu and philosophy.” When we arrived for dinner mid-way through our travels, a sweet, handwritten “From our Farm” sign at the restaurant entrance listed vegetables that would be on the menu. Since 2000 Blake Spaulding and Jennifer Castle, the owners and chefs of Hell’s Backbone Grill in Boulder, Utah have been creating breakfasts, lunches and dinners from this garden and from local beef, lamb and pork, eggs, cheeses and fruit, all with the help and support of the Boulder community. Amid all the wonders of this dry high desert, yet another wonder emerged in a gentle valley next to walls of gray Navajo slick rock, a thriving kitchen garden producing vegetables enough to supply a restaurant, Hell’s Backbone Grill. There is no cell phone coverage.We took a road trip to the canyon country of southeast Utah for several weeks in October, making our way from one park to the next, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Grand Staircase/Escalante, Bryce and Zion, hiking up close to the hoodoos and fins, slot canyons and whimsical spires of this fascinating red rock country. Map apps may not show this route during winter or bad weather closures. This road brings you back to Highway 12 near the town of Escalante. The road runs halfway up Boulder Mountain to connect with the Posey Lake/Pine Creek Road. Getting there: Pull off of Utah Highway 12 about 5 miles south the town of Boulder and drive west on Hell’s Backbone Road (FR-153). The Escalante River was the last region in the contiguous U.S. They shop for Boulder-raised grass fed beef and lamb. The Grille grows its own organic vegetables, raises its own bees for honey and chickens for eggs. Inspired by both Buddhist and Native American cultures and cuisine, it is part of the growing slow food movement. Hell’s Backbone Grill is Zagat-rated and worth the drive. ![]() Check for weather conditions before attempting this road, or you may have to overwinter.īoulder may have been the last outpost to civilization in the 1930s, but today it offers a unique blend of isolation and sophistication. In the fall, extensive stands of aspen turn lemon yellow. Posey Lake and its campground are as pretty as you will find. From there the mountain views stretch for miles with nary a sign of human inhabitants. Hell’s Backbone Bridge is another heart stopping stretch that seems to perch precariously at the pinnacle of the mountain. At one point it seems to flirt with the sky as it follows a narrow ridgeline that barely separates the sheer drop offs on either side. It lies like a serpent along the spine of the Aquarius Plateau, skirting the edge of The Box and Death Hollow and soars to over 9,000 feet. The primitive road reaches into primal mountains that once were thought to be impassable. Built to connect Boulder, the last frontier town in the state that still relied on mules to deliver the mail, with Escalante, made famous by its tortuous Hole-In-The-Rock Expedition. Hell’s Backbone was another Civilian Conservation Corps engineering marvel that linked two of the most isolated communities in the country with that modern marvel– a road. Hell’s Backbone may not the last road ever built, but surely it was the last one that seemed nearly impossible to build. ![]()
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