TRIP TO THE UTAH
NATIONAL PARKS
May 27 - June 10, 2015
Although this blog was written in 2015, I'm just getting around to publishing it today, September 2, 2017. It forced me to re-read it and to appreciate the value of blogging our trips.
Day 1. May 27, Wed.
We took the Uber to the airport for free! Flew to Las Vegas on SW
Airlines. Once in Vegas we upgraded our reserved rental car because
Yoyi is so demanding. We got upgraded to a Jeep Patriot, supposedly
a better car for driving on dirt roads. Because the car was dirty on
the outside when we got it, Yoyi asked for it to be washed. They
took half an hour to do so, and consequently discounted $25 from the
total fee. Doing good so far!
Our itenerary:
Zion National Park
Canyonlands National Park, Islands in the Sky District
Arches National Park
Canyonlands National Park, Needles District
National Bridges National Monument
Capitol Reef National Park
Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument
Bryce Canyon National Park
Cedar Breaks National Monuments
Outside the Parks attractions: Negro Bill Canyon near Arches, Slot
Canyons in Escalante, Frontier Homestead State Park Museum in Cedar
City, Petroglyphs near Arches and Capitol Reef.
We drove to St. George, Utah, about a 2 hr. drive. We got there late
and checked into our hotel. We crashed. This was just a way station in order to get to our tour of the parks in a reasonable state of mind and body.
Day 2. May 28, Thurs.
We started the day by going to Walmart to buy water and hydration
bottles to carry in our backpacks as well as food supply for picnics.
It took us about an hour and a half to get to Zion. We went
directly to our accommodations, Zion B&B. It was too early to
check in, but they let us leave our luggage; they would put it in our
room later. They gave us a tour of the building, which was gorgeous,
decorated with southwestern art, artifacts and antiques. In the large
yard, they had chickens, a rooster named Marianna, dogs, a pig, and
beautiful plants, such as hollyhocks, which they said reseeded
themselves each year. We parked our car in their lot and hopped in
the free Springdale City Shuttle, which took us to the entrance of
Zion
National Park, arriving at around 11am.
We walked through the entrance with our Senior Lifetime National
Parks pass. Zion canyon follows the course of the Virgin River and
there is a free shuttle within the park, as private cars are
prohibited after a certain point. We took the shuttle from the
entrance, directly to Zion Lodge, where we picked up the Emerald
Pools trail. We took this 1.2 miles round-trip hike to the lower
Emerald pool, which was fed by a dripping waterfall from the upper
Emerald pool. Total elevation change for this trail was 69 feet.
When we returned to the start of the trail, we took time to sit on
rocks by the river near the footbridge.
It was time now for lunch, so we went back to the grassy area in
front of Zion Lodge, which was built by the Civilian Conservation
Corps in the 1930s. We broke out our picnic stuff, only to find out
we forgot our can opener for our tuna can. We tried to borrow one at
the restaurant and they didn't have one. Ed went to the lodge and
they lent him a multi-purpose tool, which had a strong knife-blade in
it, which he used to saw off the top. Lunch was yummy; we were
hungry and it was a beautiful afternoon under the trees, and perfect
weather. Yoyi then lay in the sun for a few minutes.
From the Lodge, we took the Grotto trail. This was an easy one-mile
trail with no significant elevation change. Along the trail there
were informative posters describing the Civilian Conservation Corps
and its work. When we got to the end of the trail we asked one of
the rangers how to get to the grotto, only to be informed that the
grotto had been closed by a landslide 18 years before. Bait and
switch, if you ask us!
We got on the shuttle to the next stop and took the Weeping Rock
trail. This was a 1/2 mile climb, ascending 98 feet to a rock alcove
with a spring dripping across its mouth. Coming down from this hike
we boarded the shuttle again to the end of the shuttle route at
Temple of Sinawava. We hiked the riverside walk, a 2.2 mile scenic
hike with a moderate climb of 57 feet, following the Virgin River.
As we hiked, the canyon became narrower and narrower. At the end of
the walk begins the so-called "Narrows." The only way to
continue is to walk in the river towards the top of the canyon. At
this hour, about 3:30 or 4:00, some hikers were already returning
from their hikes up the Narrows, many of them wearing rubberized
shoes and leggings to protect them against the cold water. Some kids
were hiking in bare feet and shorts!
We returned to the shuttle stop and took the shuttle to the Zion
Visitor Center where we watched a half hour movie about the park. We
then left the park and went back to the B&B. When we got back to
the hotel we sat in the balcony outside our room enjoying the cool
evening and the scenery. Our neighbor joined us and we introduced
ourselves, and that was the last word we got in for another half
hour!
We went out to dinner and came back, and sorted through our things to
put them in order for tomorrow's drive.
Day 3, May 29, Friday.
Our breakfast was gorgeous. The table setting looked like that of
royalty. We started with a yogurt with granola and fresh berries,
decorated with mint from their garden. French press coffee followed
and huge slices of bread with two holes cut through them, with two
eggs fried in the holes. One was topped with salsa, and the other
with pesto.
We then left for our longest drive of our vacation. We took off to
the north following I-15 and then I-70 through spectacular scenery.
We stopped at overlooks, and then for lunch, where we stole mayo and
mustard packages for our future picnics. It was hard to find an exit
with food services, since there were almost no exits on I-70.
We exited I-70 towards Canyonlands National Parks, arriving at
Islands
in the Sky district at about 3pm. The park is very large and
primitive. There are no toilets with running water even at the
Visitor Center.
Most of the trails, even the easier ones, are somewhat difficult
because of the irregular ground and slippery rocks. The overlooks
are impressive.
Our first stop was Mesa Arch. This 1/2 mile round-trip walk brought
us to an arch on the edge of the cliff, and overlooking through the
arch, we saw the LaSal Mountains in the distance and the so-called
Islands in the Sky 1000 feet beneath us.
We then drove up to Upheaval Dome first overlook, and went on an .8
mile round-trip hike, following a moderate climb up to the edge of a
crater. We returned to Green River Overlook where we saw the expanse
of the so-called "islands' 1000 feet beneath us. The islands
are an illusion created by the river erosion of the mesa top beneath
us into what looked like separate islands. Here we saw a wedding
party, planning their wedding. They were standing around the edge of
this canyon, very close to the edge! They bypassed the railings to
go up there, and we were very worried for them! Hope the wedding
went without incident!
BTW, this park is around 6000 feet elevation.
We went to Grand View Point overlook and you could see the Green
River to the west and the Colorado River to the East. On the way back
we stopped at the White Rim Overlook. Below us we saw the outline of
the islands in white and the very faint 100-mile rim road following
the edge of the canyon.
We were standing on the top of a huge mesa a thousand or 1500 feet
above the tops of the so-called islands which were themselves a
thousand feet above the level of the rivers that cut through them.
Driving from overlook to overlook was like driving any sea-level road
until you came upon an overlook which made it clear that we were 6000
feet in the air.
We drove back to the entrance of the park, stopping at various
overlooks.
We left the park at around 7pm and drove to Moab, where we stayed at
the most expensive hotel of our trip, even though it wasn't even a
fancy bed and breakfast. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant,
where we sat outside and took home the leftover cannelloni to have
the next day for lunch.
Day 4, May 30, Sat.
We entered Arches
National Park at about 7 o'clock in the morning, before the
ticket-taking booth was even open.
First place we stopped was Balanced
Rock. It was a huge boulder balanced at the tip of another huge
pillar, defying gravity. It was a .3 mile path loop trail at the base
of the picturesque rock formation. We didn't want to blow or sneeze
close to it.
Then we visited the double arch, .5
mile round trip, relative flat, sandy trail, leading to the base of
two giant arch spans joined at one end, the configuration being two
arches at right angles to each other.
Afterward we drove to the top of the
park and took the Devils' Garden Trail, where the parking lot was
practically full by this 8am hour. The first part of the trail was
labeled "easy" and the second part "moderate."
We followed the 1.6 mile round-trip trail as far as Landscape Arch,
first visiting Pine Tree Arch and before the large Tunnel arch,
continuing on the trail to the Landscape Arch. This is a very skinny
and delicate arch, spanning more than 300 feet. It became skinny
when a huge rock portion fell off of it only a couple of decades ago.
We started driving down from the top at
about 11:15 and noticed that while hundreds of cars seemed to be
coming in, nobody was leaving yet and we had already been in the
park for 4 hours. We stopped at the ranger station to see whether
there was someplace for a shady picnic and also to see if there are
any programs or other things that we should be planning in the park
for tomorrow.
We ate at the picnic table on the grounds of our hotel and rested for
a few hours.
| Visited the Potash Trail starting at about 6 pm . The entire
trail follows the Colorado River in a big gorge and it's shielded
from the sunlight by the walls of the canyon. On the way to the
Indian writing petroglyphs there were scores of people scaling
the walls of the canyon, some very close to the bottom and some
others very high up. The Indian
petroglyphs were very interesting. There were several
petroglyphs some 20 feet off the ground of various subjects.
We drove on to find the path for the Corona Arch and began the very steep path. A family returning from the walk said that it was extremely interesting. They wrote "awesome" in the log book. The path crossed over the railroad tracks and began into the canyon after the steep introductory section. After walking about 15 or 20 minutes we came upon what looked like a rock slide and couldn't determine where the path went from there. There were no cairns in sight. I scrambled up the embankment and eventually found where the trail picked up but the ascent was too dangerous and the footing was very precarious. We went back down to the car and drove further on the Potash Road to enjoy the River Canyon. Returning to Moab, we drove through some of the back streets to see how the locals live. There were many trailer parks, many very small homes in various stages of disrepair and a small handful of homes that we would ever consider living in. We parked downtown and walked to find an ice cream parlor where we got an ice cream cone. |
Forgot to mention that the local press pointed out that for the first
time in recollection the Arches Park was closed to traffic on on
Memorial Day weekend due to the volume of cars. They would wait for
one car to leave to admit another car.
Day 5. May 31, Sunday
It's supposed to be 97 degrees today; therefore we've planned a hike
through a Canyon early in the morning so that the shade is to our
benefit. The plan proceeds such that we will be in the cool altitude
of the LaSal mountains during the hottest part of the day.
We started today by getting off early
again. Drove off to the Negro Bill Canyon, arriving at 7:30. It was a
4.5 mile round trip following a beautiful, gurgling stream to the
bridge. The bridge at the end -- not an arch -- is 243 feet long.
After a while on the long trail, Yoyi asked when we would see the
tunnel (bridge) at the end of the light. Wait a minute; that's my
job.
In order to get to the bridge we had to
cross the little stream a number of times and there were always
stones in the right places to step across without getting our feet
wet.
We spent four and a half hours on the
trail including about a half hour turnaround at the end to rest
watching people rappel down the side of the canyon from the bridge.
We saw one woman who appeared to be 7 months pregnant hiking the
trail and no fewer than a half a dozen families with babies in
backpacks on the trail. One family was carrying the baby in the
father's arms. We had to ask ourselves "how wimpy are we?"
By the time we were leaving at 11:30 the sun was already quite high
and the only shade in the canyon was under the trees by the stream..
on the way out, Yoyi took off her shoes and dangled her feet into the
stream. The water was freezing cold and felt good on her feet.
Everybody is very friendly on the trail and hardly anybody passes
without a greeting.
After our hike we took off down scenic
Utah route 128. About 10 or 15 miles down the road we started looking
for a restaurant that we had heard about and couldn't find it even
though we had passed one interesting-looking restaurant at a
vineyard. No grapes growing, by the way. Since we couldn't find the
restaurant we drove down the road to the next town, Castle Valley,
which was barely a town. I flashed my lights at the first car I saw
coming towards me and the driver stopped to ask if we needed
something. We asked the woman if there were any restaurants anywhere
nearby and particularly a place we could buy barbecue. She looked a
little inebriated and couldn't think of any restaurant except that
she makes great BBQ. She was on her way to pick up her mail at the
bank of mailboxes at the entrance to this little town. We got out at
a building that had the town name on it, possibly city hall or the
post office or maybe the Tourist Bureau. It was closed on Sunday. By
the time we were getting back into our car the woman was coming back
from picking up her mail and suggested that the Vineyard would be a
good place to eat. We scored an all-you-can eat restaurant attached
to a resort Lodge. For $10.50 per person we could have grilled
chicken, hamburgers, what they call sloppy joe and what mom called
picadillo, potato salad, macaroni salad, and corn and bean salad
along with several vegetables for garnishment. In addition there was
fresh fruit and cookies. The food was delicious especially the
hamburger and we sat overlooking the Colorado River while we ate.
We then continued on scenic route Utah
128 until we arrived at Fisher Towers, a remarkable geologic example.
We continued to the historic suspension bridge over the Colorado
River, which is no longer in use.
We then went back to the LaSal circular
route to go up into the mountains closer to the snow cap and then
back down around to Moab. This turned out to be a white-knuckles
experience for Yoyi, even though I was driving. She wouldn't even let
me pull off for the view and simply wanted to get out of the
mountains as quickly as possible without going over 10 miles per
hour. The views that I saw out of the corner of my eye were gorgeous
and awesome.
As we were approaching Moab, we saw a
rain cloud above the city. It appeared that it was raining but that
the rain was not reaching the ground. As we got closer to Moab it
turned out that some rain was moistening the ground. By the way,
they claim that Utah is the second most arid state, but according to
the literature they get 15 inches of rain a year. Compare it to
Georgia, which gets 49.
We had our cold Italian leftovers for
dinner outside the picnic table at our hotel.
Day 6. June 1, Monday
We didn't get off quite as early today as we have been for the last
few days. As a result, entering the park at 7:50 took us nearly 20
minutes with the cars in front of us either paying to get in or
showing passes. We went directly to see the Delicate Arch, planning
to take the short route to the lower Delicate Arch overview, and then
to the upper view. The description of another very popular route to
the Delicate Arch, listed under "strenuous trails" in the
park bulletin, states that "the trail climbs steadily and levels
out towards the top of the rock face. Just before you get to
Delicate Arch the trail traverses a rock ledge for about 200 yards.
Some exposure to heights and no shade." Just the kind of walk I
thought Yoyi would be interested in. Therefore my plan was not to
take this walk. However, somehow we found ourselves on that trail
inadvertently and ended up taking the trail up to the Delicate Arch.
In the end we were both happy that we had made the mistake because it
was such an exhilarating experience.
We went next to the so-called Sand
Dune Arch. This arch is nestled among fins of sandstone rock hundreds
of feet tall. We had to walk only about a thousand feet to see this
arch. The last arch we visited was the Skyline arch, another of the
iconic arches that are seen in all the Arches National Park books.
By this time it was easily 90 degrees
at about 11 or 11:30, so we headed out of the park back to the hotel.
Picnic tables in front of the hotel might be the only place in town
where there's any shade. We had a picnic lunch on the picnic tables
at the hotel.
Day 7. June 2, Tuesday
We left this morning for points south. We followed scenic route Utah
211 towards the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park,
arriving at about 9 o'clock. There weren't many visitors at this
disctict of the park.
We visited what's called a pothole community. Erosion over the
millennia has carved bowls out of the rock where rainwater collects
and waters the seeds that happened to fall into the bowls along with
sand from erosion. We then visited an overlook of the Needles in the
park -- spires of sandstone looming over the valley below. In
addition there was a Pueblo ruin, a granary situated under the
overhang of a rock ledge. One of our hikes took us past several
overhangs in one of which was the remnants of a cowboy dwelling. In
another there was evidence of wall art from previous civilizations.
On this walk we had to climb up two wooden ladders from one level to
another on top of the rock in order to continue our walk. We had a
picnic at the visitor center overlooking the sandstone mesas in the
distance, enjoying our cold leftover enchiladas.
We drove over the mountains to our next
stop in Blanding, Utah. On the way we saw two unfortunate deceased
deer at the side of the road.
Blanding Utah is a reminder of the
past. Our motel was probably built in 1950. The town has a population
of 3600. We walked across town 2 blocks to the # 1 dining
establishment in town, the Patio Drive In. I had a delicious
hamburger while Yoyi had a grilled chicken panini accompanied by
curly fries which are potato wedges in curls and fried crispy. This
evening we went to the local movie theater where only one film was
playing at a time and the admission was $7. We saw the movie "The
Age of Adelaide." A popcorn the size of a water bucket cost $4.
The town of Blanding has no traffic
lights and the streets are twice as wide as streets in Atlanta and
not a car on them except on the main highway that goes through town.
Day 8. June 3, Wednesday
We drove for about an hour from
Blanding to a turn-off onto an unmarked road that led to the Mule
Canyon Trail Pueblo ruins, the most famous of which is called House
on Fire. The access to the trail was on an unpaved bumpy road in a
bureau of Land Management area. We initially couldn't find the
trailhead and drove about a mile too far. When we returned on the
unpaved road we saw two cars parked off the road and one of the
vehicles had somebody in it whom we asked for advice. Since he was in
the parking area (not a parking lot, but a wider section of dirt
road, where a car is as much dangling at the edge of a precipice as
it is "parked."), he was also looking for the same
trailhead, so we searched together.
We discovered the beaten path down to
the floor of the canyon where an interpretive display stands. The
three of us walked briskly down the trail through Mule Canyon for a
mile and a quarter until we saw the Pueblo ruin. The light in the
canyon didn't illuminate the ruins as dramatically as we had hoped,
because it was still low in the sky, the ruins in the shadows. But
the ruin was still very impressive, with vivid coloration on the
overhang of the rock. The young fellow (AustenDiamond@gmail.com)
with whom we hiked was a photographer, compiling pictures for a tour
book. He took a couple of pictures of us using our camera, and a
couple with his camera. Note: the best photos of the ruin on our
camera were those taken by Austen.
Walking back to our car we noticed
there was a car rusted out at the bottom of the ravine which I guess
proves why you shouldn't park where they tell you not to park.
We hiked out of the canyon, got in our
car, and drove towards Natural Bridges National Monument.
The entire road, Utah route 95, is
designated as a scenic byway and like the other roads we've traveled,
it didn't disappoint us.
We entered Natural
Bridges National Monument and stopped at the Visitors Center to
obtain a hiking guide and suggestions. The first bridge that we
visited was the enormous Sipapu bridge. The hike to the bridge
descends 500 feet into the gorge of the canyon in 3 sections. The
first part descends 225 feet in about two tenths of a mile including
some stairways and a ladder. The second descent is about 40 feet
which is gradual. At the end of the second section we could see the
bridge clearly from a very large and long ledge where we took several
pictures. We decided not to descend another 200-plus feet to get
closer to the bridge since it would have put a lot of stress on our
legs.
The second bridge we visited was the
Kachina bridge. We walked only to the overlook from which we could
see the bridge from the side.
It was now lunch time and we were
starving from our exertions. As it happens, there was a bench at the
overlook so we went back to the car fetched our food and returned to
the bench only to find it occupied by an elderly couple. We engaged
them in conversation and it was clear that if we didn't stop talking
we would still be in conversation with them now that it's nearly
bedtime. Therefore, we left our lunch supplies next to the bench and
went out to the overlook and by the time we returned the couple had
left and the bench was ours. We had one of our delicious peanut
butter and jelly lunches overlooking the gorgeous Utah scenery.
As we were eating we heard machine
noises. At first we thought that it was a truck idling, but found
later that it was maintenance on the toilet at the entrance to the
viewing area in which we were sitting. As we exited the area the
smell was overwhelming, and we hurried out of the area thinking how
lucky we were that the smell had not drifted into the area where we
were having lunch.
The third bridge we visited was the
Owachomo Bridge. The hike round trip was only four tenths of a mile
but it descended quite steeply for a hundred eighty feet at which
point we found ourselves directly under the bridge. It towered over
us, a hundred feet above our heads. We left the park at about 2
o'clock. We drove on to our next stop, Torrey, Utah with a short rest
stop planned at Lake Powell.
Lake Powell was not where we expected
it to be since the drought has caused the lake level to recede more
than any time in history since its filling, which occurred I believe
in the 1960's . We stopped at a remote restaurant in Hanksville,
Utah, a town that couldn't have had more than 500 residents. After
resting for a half hour over coffee we left for Capital Reef National
Park near Torrey. Out hotel was past the park; therefore, on the way
past Capitol Reef, we stopped at the visitor station to get advice
about our visit tomorrow. The Ranger warned us about avoiding canyons
and especially slot canyons on Friday when there's a 60 percent
chance of rain.
We checked into our hotel and went to
have Mexican food at the restaurant next door. We ordered appetizers
which were easily big enough to be a meal. In fact, of the two
tamales that Yoyi ordered, one was left over for tomorrow's lunch.
After dinner we just relaxed having put in a full day of grueling
travel and exploration.
Day 9. June 4,
Thursday
On the way back to the main part of the park, we stopped at the Fruita Schoolhouse, a one-room schoolhouse which operated until about World War II. We then drove the full length of the scenic drive through the park to the entrance to the graded dirt road that led to our next hike. Capitol Gorge Road was two and a half miles of bumps and curves. We hiked the Capital Gorge Trail for about six tenths of a mile until we reached the so-called pioneer register. In a narrow part of the gorge pioneers from the mid 19th century etched their names in the stone wall of the canyon. Of course there was some 20th century graffiti in addition. Some of the etchings were 20 or 30 feet off the ground. We couldn't help but wonder how they got up the side of the wall to write their names.
Walking through this gorge was difficult enough given the rocks and stones in the path that the surging water had thrown into the path, but it's incomprehensible to us how pioneers could ride through this path in covered wagons with wooden wheels.
Through the gorge we saw metal posts sticking out of the stone walls of the canyon at intervals of several hundred feet. These 2-foot posts were about 20 feet off the ground. Stay tuned for more information.
We walked a bit further to reach the so-called tanks, where water gathers during rainstorms and supports the ecosystem. Reaching the tanks requires a climb of several hundred feet of a steep and treacherous path from the floor of the canyon. While Yoyi sat in the shade resting, Ed scaled the path until the path markings seemed to disappear after climbing at least a hundred fifty feet. He descended without seeing any of the tanks.
On our hike back to the car through Capital Gorge at least 2 of the hikers going into the gorge stopped us and asked if we knew what the steel posts sticking out of the walls of the canyon were for. It seems as if no matter where I'm a tourist, somebody asks me directions. I told both of these groups that while I don't know for certain the purpose of the posts, I have deduced that they must have been to support telegraph wires through the gorge from the late 19th century.
By now it was lunch time so we went back up the scenic drive until we reached the Gifford house, famous for its pies. We broke out our lunch at a picnic table on the lush lawn in front of the house under a pear tree. After finishing lunch we went into the Gifford House and bought pie and ice cream which we ate but couldn't finish.
We stopped at a restored blacksmith shop that had been built by one of the early farmers. An interesting piece of machinery in the shop was a four-wheel-drive tractor from the 1920s or or 30s. There was no seat or steering wheel on the tractor. Instead, the tractor would replace the horse and the farmer would ride his equipment that was made for horse-drawn farming and guide the tractor with reins.
On the way out of the park we stopped at the Gooseneck Overlook where there was a spectacular view of the canyon with a small stream at the bottom more than a thousand feet below.
By this time we were tired and retreated back to the hotel where we collapsed. In the evening we had a small dinner at a small restaurant overlooking the red cliffs in the distance.
Day 10. June 5, Friday
| The weather report for today is clear until noon, after which
there should be heavy rain. Therefore we got off early, since we
wanted to arrive at our destination before the rain began. The
drive from Capitol Reef to Escalante follows Utah state route 12,
a scenic byway . In Utah there's no understatement in using the
word scenic. Roads traverse large mountains reaching 9600 feet.
The multi-colored cliffs, the huge gorges and canyon and forests
of ponderosa pine, spruce and aspen trees took all of our senses
to appreciate. At Boulder , we asked the visitors bureau for directions to a slot canyon. Not marked on the map, was a canyon on the Brewer Trail road. We were directed to measure off 11 miles from the intersection where we would find a turn off for the canyon. There were a few cars in the turn off, and we walked to the slash canyon slots. While it was not as dramatic as the Picaboo Slot Canyon, which we were advised not the visit on a rainy day, it was nevertheless a unique experience. We continued down Utah route 12 and took advantage of any of the scenic turnouts appreciating and enjoying the expansive views. As we were entering Escalante, the rain began. We arrived at our bed and breakfast just in time, as the owner was about to run errands. I recall that he had asked in email that we advise him ahead of time of our expected hour of arrival. As we checked in, the rains began in earnest. After 30 or 45 minutes of heavy rain the precipitation ended and we went out to find a park in which we could have a picnic. We found a city park but it was quite cold during lunch, the ambient temperature being around 59 or 60 at noon or 12:30. After lunch we went to the grocery store to replenish our lunch supplies as rain again threatened. We inquired at the national park service information regarding what could be done in spite of rain. It appears that almost all parks roads that are not paved are closed when there is as much rain as there was today. When we got back to our room it poured rain again. Today is the day that we should update our travel blog. Pies are a thing in this part of the country. After dinner at a bar across the street from our B&B we indulged in another pie, with ice cream, of course. |
Day 11, June 6,
Saturday
We started early on our drive to our next stop, Bryce Canyon National
Park. And it's lucky we did.
We arrived at Tropic, UT, which -- aside from Bryce City -- is the
closest civilization to the national park. We figured that perhaps
we would get lucky and we might be able to check in early. Quite the
opposite, it turned out that there was no reservation at the hotel.
In spite of emailed confirmations from the reservation agency, the
hotel had no record of receiving a reservation from the agency. In
summary, it took us all morning to straighten out the snafu. The
hotel could get us a room for the following night, and even upgraded
us to one of their best suites. The desk personnel took it upon
themselves to help us find alternative lodging down the street at an
adequate but not quite as nice motel. They even gave us vouchers for
their own restaurant-provided breakfast.
After spending a frustrating morning on the phone with the agency,
which took absolutely no responsibility for the hardship, we were off
to Bryce Canyon National Park. At the entrance to the park access
road through Bryce City, there was a sign at the main intersection
advising of a controlled burn. We hoped that our visit wouldn't be
spoiled by smoke in the air, and we saw no evidence of a burn while
at the park. Our senior pass gave us free entry again, today, but
the line of cars and buses made us wait about 15 minutes in the
queue.
Our first challenge would be the Navajo Loop trail, a descent of 550
feet into the canyon -- about .7 miles down and .7 miles back up.
That's about the height of a 50-story building. Again on this route,
while feeling very smug about the effort we were making on our hikes,
we would run into a pregnant hiker or a father carrying his
3-year-old on his shoulders or a partially disabled hiker.
We left the car, parked, and walked the rim trail from Sunset Point
to Sunrise Point, marveling at the rock formations, called hoodoos,
from vantage points high above the canyon floor.
Since we started so late, it was already early evening by the time we
finished.
Day 12, June 7, Sunday
Not having to deal with a hotel disaster today, we got off early.
We started with the Queen's Garden trail, an in-and-out trail of
about 1.8 miles that leads down into the canyon. A the bottom of the
trail is a formation on top of one of the hoodoos that -- sure enough
-- looks like the very famous seated image of Queen Victoria.
The weather was beginning to get unsettled this morning. We left the
car in the lot and took the long shuttle to the end of the park at
Rainbow Point. After enjoying the overlook, we began the 1.5 mile
hike on the rim trail back to Inspiration Point. The entire hike was
under the threat of rain, while the wind began to increase, the sky
darkened, some rain began, and the temperature dropped. We caught
the bus back to Sunset Point and our car, where it was not conducive
to picnic.
Finally, we decided to picnic in the car while it rained lightly.
The temperature finally bottomed out at 48ยบ
at about 2:00. We went back to the visitor center where we could
stay inside and watch the movie about the park.
After the movie, it was still cold, so we left the park. The sun
eventually came out and the temperature recovered. We did laundry
back at the motel, and it was still early when we finished. Yoyi was
suffering from a headache, but soldiered on nonetheless.
We drove back up the road to a trail entrance outside the park for
the Mossy Cave trail. The trail followed a bubbling stream up to a
mossy overhang -- not exactly a cave. A little beyond the cave was a
small waterfall.
Day 13, June 8, Monday
Having spent a restful night in our upgraded suite, we had breakfast
and left for our next stop. Along the way, we detoured slightly to
see the small town of Panguitch, where we walked around the downtown
and visited an antique shop and a grocery store.
Cedar Breaks National Monument had almost no visitors. We drove
through some areas on the way that had black dirt and black rocks
strewn among the trees. We drew a conclusion that it must have been
volcanic at one time. A ranger greeted people in the parking area of
the park, and we asked about ranger programs. He advised us that he
would be giving a lecture on food chains and we would meet on the
overlook in about 10 minutes.
The lecture was informative, and the view
was spectacular. The monument is in the shape of a mile-deep
amphitheater, facing out to the east and the Nevada desert. In the
meantime, on this day in June, there was residual snow on the ground,
in spite of very light snow cover during the preceding winter.
When we finished at the overlook, we thought we would take one of the
trails at the rim. From the parking lot, our chosen trail began to
rise 10 or 20 feet to get to the rim of the canyon. We made it about
half way before deciding we could not make it. At 10,300 feet above
sea level, we had reached the limits of our stamina. Instead, we
went the other direction, on a perfectly flat trail for about a half
mile back and forth.
We took the car to visit the other overlooks in the park and
eventually stopped to eat lunch at a picnic table.
After lunch, we left the park, descending out of the higher
elevations down to Cedar City, which lies at a mere 5,800 feet
elevation. Arriving at the Big
Yellow Inn B&B, we we duly impressed by our lodging for this
night.
This was, however, the site of our most traumatic experience.
Sitting on the ample and beautiful front porch of the Inn, Ed was
composing this blog for the last 4 or 5 days of the trip. As he was
finishing day 4, a slip of the touch-screen resulted in the erasure
of the entire two hours' work. This caused Ed to go into convulsions
of disbelief. It caused him to stop blogging for the remainder of
the trip and for a couple of weeks thereafter. Thus everything in
this blog for June 6 and beyond, was composed from memory a month
after returning from the trip.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed a long walk around this adorable town, as
the sun was getting lower and the temperature was dropping into the
80's.
Day 14, June 9,
Tuesday
We started the day with a sumptuous breakfast at the B&B,
including French toast casserole, fresh fruits and so forth.
A visit to the Frontier Homestead State Park, a museum of frontier
homes, equipment, outbuildings, and artifacts -- some inside and some
outside -- turned out to be very interesting and informative. While
we enjoyed seeing a frontier home and school, as well as farming
implements both large and small, our most memorable experience was to
pan for gold. Yoyi spent maybe 10 minutes panning for gold in a
small sluice, and ended up with 3 nuggets.
Well, it would be about a 4 hour trip, so we set off for Las Vegas
and the start of our return trip home. There is no evidence of human
life along much of this route. When we decided to stop for lunch, it
took us more than a half hour to find anywhere we could eat. The
temperature hovered around 100°,
and we discovered a small picnic table outside a gas station /
convenience store / bar. Just around the corner of the building
there was a pen with goats, which amused Yoyi while I set out lunch.
Arriving at the Golden Nugget, we
discovered that the place was so huge and spread out, that we
couldn't figure out where to check in. Finally, we were successful;
we parked; and we brought in our luggage. We went out at dinner time
to walk around the newish mall-like enclosure that they created,
called the Freemont Street Experience. The transvestite men in
bikinis, the hustlers trying to get us into betting venues, the
strange people in general all combined for a memorable experience all
right. We ate at a small place on the mall, next to the Heart
Attack Grill that advertised: Eat Free if You Are Over 350 Lbs.
With a scale in front. Little kids and huge adults got on the scale,
and you'd be surprised to see how many people qualified for a free
meal.
Day 15, June 10,
Wednesday
Going home today. Drove to the airport where we turned in our rental
car. We complained that we were told that the car was 4-wheel-drive,
but when filling with gas, I noticed the label on the car
specifically said that it is 2-wheel drive. They refunded our
upgrade charge without hesitation.
The flight home was uneventful, and it was good to be home.
Pointers:
In order to wade The Narrows in Zion, you might want to rent wet-suit
equipment at Zion's Outfitters just outside the entrance to the park.
At least, you might want to carry Crocs or other water-proof shoes
that will allow you to walk on the stones at the bottom of the river.
Or just plan to get your shoes wet.
Always have at least a gallon full of water in your car and a tank
full of gas.
Have snacks in the car.
Late-May to early June is the latest time to take this trip, because
the temps are still moderate and the rainy season hasn't still yet
begun in earnest.
Take hikes and drives outside of the parks as well, such as Potash
Road, Utah 128 scenic drive, Negro Bill Gorge, House on Fire trail,
and as many ice cream parlors as you find along the way.
Confirm all on-line reservations by calling the hotel themselves to
assure that they had received the reservation.
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