Out West Adventure: Part 2--Bryce and Capital Reef National Parks, Days 5 & 6

Mon. May 13: Monday dawned sunny and bright and it quickly warmed, eventually to the low eighties. We broke camp and drove over to Sunset View to take a hike down into the rock formations. By combining parts of Rim Trail, Navaho Trail, and Queen’s Garden trail we could have a nice nearly 3 mile hike before we left Bryce. The Navaho Trail descended steeply with many switchbacks but we stopped often for pictures and taking in the beauty. 350 feet down the trail levels off some and we wandered among the formations and large butterscotch-smelling Ponderosa Pines. It was wonderful to be at the base and look up at the hoodoos and beyond to the rim far over our heads. There were lots of people on the trail speaking all the languages, some doing the trails clockwise, which would have been harder. We exchanged taking pictures with a man from Calais, France with very little English but he was very pleasant and I managed to understand his mixture of French and English. When we joined Queens’ Garden Trail (named for the hoodoo which looks very much like the picture they had on a sign of a statue of Queen Victoria that is in England) the trail gradually ascended back up to Sunset View. It is nearly as high as where we joined Navaho Trail but, while still very strenuous, not as steep as our descent had been. It felt very good to have completed the 2½ hour hike and then set off for Capitol Reef.

Down, down, down......

Taken by our French buddy

Queen Victoria riding (backwards) on a camel

Yep, that's where we came from!

Finished before lunch!!

With a stop for lunch in Escalante for lunch at the Circle D café, where they smoke their own meats, it took us about 4 hours to drive to Torrey, Utah. Scenic Routes 12 and then 24 follow the route taken by Major Powell who surveyed and mapped this last uncharted part of the 48 continental states. The road took us up 9600 feet over Boulder Mountain, where there were many large patches of snow remaining. And then we descended into the Fremont Valley and the towering Capitol Reef.

 “A giant buckle in Earth’s crust stretches across south-central Utah. This vast warping of rock, created 65 million years ago by the same great forces later uplifting the Colorado Plateau, is called the Waterpocket Fold. Capitol Reef National Park preserves the Fold and its eroded jumble of colorful cliffs, massive domes, soaring spires, stark monoliths, twisting canyons, and graceful arches.” (from the National Park brochure) It is the longest monocline on the Colorado Plateau. We found a campsite in a nearby RV Park and just dropped off the camper to have some time at the park. After stamping our passport and watching the video we purchased a CD to guide us on the three scenic drives at the Park. We took the longest first through the park to the end. The narrator guided us through the historic district along the Fremont River where pioneering Mormons established an orchard in conditions that allowed them to grow both northern fruits like apples, cherries and pears, and southern fruits like peaches and apricots. They also grew pecans and walnuts. The town was later named Fruita and though it had no more than 12 families at a time, they had a school and many orchards.  We stopped at the original homestead that now serves as a small museum and store where I had a homemade strawberry sorbet and Marv had a personal size blackberry pie. Then the CD took us through the park to marvel at the formations along the reef.  At the end of the drive we hiked about a mile up Capitol Gorge, far enough to see ancient petroglyphs and the Pioneer’s Registry, where passing pioneers as early as 1871 scratched their name and the date in the rock cliff of the gorge. The sun was setting by the time we returned to the camper, which we still had to set up. I managed to piece together a dinner from our dwindling staples and we both showered and got all ready to dry camp for a few days in the Moab Desert.

near Point Powell

Point Powell

Capitol Reef

Scenic Road

Ancient Petroglyph

Capitol Gorge

The Capitol, for which the area is named

Sun. May 12: Happy Mothers Day! We had Cheerios for breakfast and made a pretty quick getaway from Zion. We had been told by two Rangers that we would need a special “one way” permit for $15 to go through the narrow 1.25 mile tunnel to the east entrance of Zion. Built in the 1930s, it isn't big enough for today’s campers and RVs. But the Ranger at the gate assured us that he had been here for a long time and we were undersized—he didn't even measure us. So we were on our way. One climbs up, up, up (our mileage dropped to 6.9mpg) to leave Zion through the east entrance and it is amazing how different the scenery is after passing through the tunnel, which we fit through without a problem. On the other side we made a couple of stops for pictures, and we even got some of a small herd of desert bighorn sheep browsing on the side of a mountain. We took a few pictures to compare to our 1976 pictures of the famous “Checkerboard” hillside. After climbing our way out of the park, we descended for many miles and our mileage improved dramatically. We drove in and out of the Dixie National Forest and passed amazing and awe-inspiring scenery. 

About lunchtime we arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park. We had made a last minute decision to camp at Bryce if we could instead of going to Capital Reef. Luckily there were plenty of sites available and we even found a site in a loop that doesn’t allow generators. (Or vehicles over 20 ft. We found out from a volunteer that we probably didn’t qualify but because we could set-up and park the truck without hanging in the road, he said he didn’t care if we stayed.) Our site, #100, was really beautiful; up on the crest of a hill, we overlooked forest on two sides. Like Zion, very few people are in the campground during the day. But Bryce is very different from Zion in many ways. At Zion one looks up from the river level at the canyon. At Bryce one is looking down from the rim at the fairyland of formations that are in a natural amphitheater, not technically a canyon. Zion is at about 3000ft. elevation and, at its highest point, Bryce is 9116ft. elevation. It is cooler (it got down to 38° that night) and it is not as busy as Zion. There was plenty of room in the campgrounds and not as many people in general at the lookouts and stops. Bryce has a shuttle service but it only started running in early May (their radio information said the shuttles weren’t running yet) and it is voluntary. Like every place out here we felt like our speaking English made us a minority. There is a huge mix of languages including Italian, French, German, various Asian dialects, and only a little Spanish. As usual most people seem to be our age; that may change when we get into June and schools are out.

We set up quickly and then drove to the Visitors Center to watch the film, stamp our passport, and get brochures and trail guides. Only two shuttles a day go all the way to Rainbow View at the end of the scenic drive. We could have made the afternoon shuttle but chose to drive ourselves so we could stop as long as we wanted. Since all the views are to the left (east) as you go south on the drive we followed the recommendation and drove to the end without stopping. We passed a Utah Prairie Dog village and several groups of antelope grazing along the roadside. After admiring the amazing view at Rainbow we started hiking the short Bristle Cone Pine trail, but then joined the trail to Yovimpa Point for another spectacular view that had hardly any people. We slowly made the return drive, stopping at pretty much every view point to marvel at the arches, bridges, windows, and hoodoos carved in the varied colored sandstone. Several seemed to have resident ravens looking for a handout and one was very cheeky, walking right up to me as I leaned on the wall. There was a Ranger led hike along the Rim Trail that started at 5:00 that we hoped to join but we couldn't remember if it started at Sunrise or Sunset Points. We went to Sunrise and didn't find them, then went to Sunset and still didn't find them. So we walked along the Rim Trail on our own reading interpretive signs until we came upon the group and finished the walk with a tiny, young, enthusiastic and very informative Volunteer Ranger. Along the way we saw a beautiful Stellar Jay that seemed to be preening and posing for the many people who gathered to take pictures. Since it was quite late when we finished we bought a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream at the general store and took it back to the campsite to enjoy as an appetizer as we read and relaxed back before we ate leftovers for dinner. We talked to Sarah for Mother’s Day, went through pictures and went to bed as the temperature slipped down to 38°.

Quoth the Raven, "Where's some food?"

Out West Adventure: Part 2--Zion Days 3 & 4

Sat. May 11: We had the perfect plan for Saturday to see Zion that we're surprised no one had written up or thought of before. After a quick bowl of oatmeal we rode our bikes over to the Visitors Center. We had pre-registered for a Ranger Ride at 9:00. Although two Rangers we checked with said no one had ever asked or done it before, as far as they knew, we managed to put our bikes on the carrier on the front of the one car Shuttle bus we were taking. The Ranger gave a very informative two hour program, stopping to get off the Shuttle at four stops as she explained more about the geology of the Canyon. It was very different information than the recordings on the Shuttles. At one stop, the Ranger had to compete with a very determined male turkey that was displaying himself and gobbling loudly in an attempt to lure a completely disinterested female who turned her back on him and walked away. It was pretty comical! The Ranger used a clock to effectively demonstrate the passage of time in Zion, beginning with midnight 270 million years ago and then going through the day with what the park topography, climate, flora and fauna would be at different times. It was pretty mind-blowing to be told that the Great Wall of China would have been built at 7/10s of a second before the next midnight.

The Shuttle took us up to Sinawava Canyon and the Ranger’s talk was finished. We got our bikes off of the shuttle carrier and then proceeded to bike back down Canyon, which is a breeze! There is the lovely road to bike and the only traffic is from the Shuttles, and they only come every 10 minutes or so. They can’t pass a moving bicycle so the agreement is that bikes pull over and stop to let them go by. But we timed our own stops so that we never had to deal with that. The sky was brilliantly blue and the temperature slowly rose into the seventies and then eighties. The road is almost all downhill, with the only climb being a rather steep hill just up canyon from The Grotto. Before that we stopped to take the Weeping Wall Trail up the east side of the canyon to see the hanging gardens that develop everywhere the wall “weeps” water that siphons through the sandstone above. We ate our lunch along the riverside at Grotto and tarried a bit before getting back on our bikes. From the Court of the Patriarchs on, the road is strictly downhill and we coasted at 22+ mph. We again took the Pa’Rus Trail and relished the quiet and grandeur of the canyon and river. Locking our bikes under an overpass we hiked up to the Human History Museum and watched their 22 minute film on Zion and looked at their displays. Then we continued our ride back to the campsite. It was one of the most pleasant 7½ miles we had ever enjoyed.

At the campsite the temperature was in the mid-eighties and a few clouds came by, sometimes sprinkling a bit like the days before. The campground is extremely quiet, nearly deserted, during the day as people are off exploring. As we sat and read, a small herd of mule deer browsed right in our campsite. While we had a signal, we called Jen to hear about their announcement of the coming baby to the Hansen Family Mothers Day gathering at Coral Gables. Now we are able to share the exciting news, too! After relaxing for a little while, Marv took the empty propane tank off the camper and we had a bit of an ordeal finding a place (10 miles away) to fill it. But having it full makes our plan to do some dry camping in the next few days a little easier. We had a chicken-rice mixture for dinner, began putting some things away in the camper, and then rode our bikes to the Watchman Campground Amphitheater for a program on “Capturing Zion”, a photography presentation by a Ranger from Lansing and Michigan State! Back at the camper we did as much as we could to prepare for an early departure in the morning. Since we hadn't talked to Ken about their announcement I called him and was glad that I did because he was a little miffed we hadn't spoken earlier. Then it was time for bed.

Ranger with her Geologic Clock

Male turkey in full display

Peggy & Marv by the river

Marv biking down the hill out of the canyon

Angel's Landing Trail (there are people walking the ridge out there!!!)

Court of the Patriarchs with Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob 

A friendly mule deer

 Fri. May 10: First thing in the morning we drove with our coffee to the Park and got a campsite for the next two nights. One drives around, looking for a campsite without a registration tag and puts a new one on the post. We took the first one we found, with two German women who were leaving around 9:30. We returned to the RV Park to eat breakfast, take showers, and take down camp. We were set up in site #22 at South Campground by just before noon and so we made lunch and ate it at the campsite. Then we took a variety of layers of clothing and our water bottles in a backpack and hopped a shuttle up canyon to The Zion Lodge, where we took the 2.2 mile hike to the Emerald Pools. It was fun knowing that we hiked this trail in 1976 when we were here, but we didn’t see much that matched our memories. On our way, it rained hard for a brief time and we were afforded a couple of spectacular waterfalls high up on the cliffs that would disappear as quickly as the rain shower passed. The trail to lower Emerald Pools was paved and relatively easy with some ups and downs. There were loads of people walking it, including many families with little kids. It made us wonder what it must be like when school gets out. The further we hiked, the more rugged the trail and there were somewhat fewer people, but still it was a pretty busy trail. None of the pools had much water in them and there wasn’t much water coming over the cliff from Middle Emerald Pools as we walked behind the waterfalls next to Lower Emerald. It was cloudy most of the way and rain sprinkled down off and on. The temperature was in the high sixties but the hike kept us plenty warm in our rain hats and jackets. Along the way there were wild flowers in bloom and a mule deer browsing next to the trail. At the Upper Pool there were quite a few people and the rain began to fall in earnest for a while so we didn’t stay a real long time. When we got back to the Lodge we treated ourselves to their one-size soft serve cone, which was expensive but HUGE.  From there we took the Shuttle down canyon to “The Junction” where we hiked on the really nice Pa’Rus Trail, which was added about the time the Shuttles were put in to get people off the road and closer to the river. Zion is a semi-arid climate that gets 12-15” of rain a year. There are lots of desert plants like yuccas and cactus, but we had at least some rain every day we were there. Therefore, we were treated to a gorgeous display of wild flowers and cactus in bloom, including claret cup and prickly pear cactus. We walked about a mile or so on the trail and then followed a spur trail up to the Human History Museum, which was closed, but from which we could take a shuttle back to the Visitors Center to walk back to the campsite. We had walked over 3 miles by then and we were feeling it. So we relaxed for a while and then made grilled pork chops and red beans and rice for dinner. Afterwards we rode our bikes a short way up the Pa’Rus Trail to see this end of it. After working on pictures and the Blog and reading about the area we got to bed.

The Virgin River

Upper Emerald Pool

Run-off/waterfall from Middle Emerald Pool to Lower

Another view of the run-off/waterfall, with people walking behind

Prickly Pear Cactus Bloom

Claret Cup or Hedgehog Cactus? I'm really not sure

Pa'Rus Trail

Great Blue Heron in the river by Pa'Rus Trail

Out West Adventure: Part 2--Zion Days 1 & 2

Wed.-Thu. May 8-9: Jan Bernsten generously offered to pick us up at 6:15AM to get us to the Michigan Flyer to Detroit Metro. We flew back to Las Vegas on Wednesday morning to pick-up the truck and camper from Apache RV Repair. Everything was just as we left it and we were relieved that the truck started right up after Marv reconnected the battery. Both vehicles were really dusty, inside and out. Marv had made a reservation for Hitching Post RV Park on the north side of town and the GPS took us there without a hitch. We set up and immediately flushed bleach and then clear water through the system and vacuumed out the camper and the truck. A swim and relaxing by the pool was supposed to be our reward and then we realized that Marv hadn’t brought his swimsuit. So instead we walked over to the Hitching Post Saloon for $2.95 draft beers (and one was free with a coupon from the RV park) and their wonderful ½ pound burgers with sweet potato fries, eaten on their outdoor patio, which we had to ourselves most of the time. Then we went shopping to restock the camper and get Marv a swim suit. When we had transferred everything from suitcase to camper and extra/winter clothes from camper to suitcase we made ourselves stay up until 10:00, which was 2:00 as far as our bodies were concerned, after arising at 5:15. We slept well and stayed in bed until 7:00 Las Vegas time, when Marv got up to start the coffee. The coffee maker had once again dislodged its valve so it was making a terrible racket. But we managed to get it put back together and enjoyed coffee as we broke camp. We found a really cheap self-wash place where we could scrub both vehicles on the outside and then we were on our way to Zion National Park.

         We traveled the same part of I15 that we had taken in early March to drive to Valley of Fire and continued on to the north and east. As the elevation rose, we were thrilled to see some small Joshua Trees and other yuccas in bloom. I15 cuts across the NW corner of Arizona for about 30 miles. Part of it goes through a Virgin River canyon with spectacular rock formations. It is hard to imagine that what is barely a trickle of water, which one could easily wade across, could do all that eroding. As we drove, the sun came in and out, we drove through some rain showers, and the temperatures varied between 65° and 75°. After a quick stop in Hurricane at the Utah Welcome Center, we drove on to Zion National Park. Along the way we passed an ostrich farm and then through the artsy town of Springfield.

Cut rock in Virgin Canyon, AZ

Part of Virgin Canyon, with the Virgin River trickling below

          Despite searching the truck thoroughly we couldn't come up with our National Park Senior Pass (which we were both sure we had left in the driver’s side door) so we shelled out $10.00 and bought another one—still an incredible deal for a lifetime of National Parks and Monuments!! As expected, because it was after noon, the two campgrounds were full so we drove about a quarter mile south of the entrance and set-up for a night at an RV park on the river. We made lunch and then took the free Springfield shuttle to the park gate. Much has changed since we visited Zion in 1976! There is a new Visitors Center; a lovely building that is full of passive heating and cooling features. We watched a short video about Zion and found that the river that has cut the amazing canyon is the same Virgin River that made the little canyon we had just driven through in Arizona. The scenic drive through the park is closed to cars from March until November. An efficient system of free shuttles, with a main bus pulling an equal-sized “trailer” bus, runs every 7-10 minutes to nine stops along the drive. There is a recorded message explaining the features and history of the park and announcing each stop as the shuttle goes up the canyon floor, along the Virgin River. Travelers can get on and off the shuttles at anytime. We rode to the Court of the Patriarchs and got off there to hike up a steep, short trail to a viewing point for the three pinnacles named Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We caught another shuttle and rode up to Temple of Sinawava, which is the endpoint of the scenic drive. From there we hiked a mile up the Riverside Trail to the gateway of “The Narrows”. It’s a pretty easy, paved trail past spectacular, soaring, multi-colored rock walls and the sun came out for part of the hike, affording some nice pictures. At the end of the trail the canyon narrows to sometimes only 20-30 feet wide and the only way to hike it is IN the river. It would have been wonderful to try part of it in hot weather, but with the temperature in the mid-sixties and the water temperature of 48° we decided against it. After lingering a bit and enjoying our time there, we headed back down the trail in an increasingly heavy rain shower. We saw two mule deer as we walked along. By the time we got back to the shuttle bus we were pretty happy we had worn our rain hats and jackets, because they were dripping wet, while we were dry inside. We rode all the way back to the now closed Visitors Center and walked over to get the Springfield shuttle. But we realized that the Zion Brewing Company pub was right there so we stopped in for a pint of their IPA (Marv) and Stout (Peggy). Then we took the shuttle back to the RV Park, where we enjoyed a $4.00 rotisserie chicken bought the night before. We’ll have enough for two more meals! The light rain continued on and off for a few hours. The evening was spent doing dishes and planning for the next few days at Zion. 

The Watchman, behind RV Park

South Entrance

Court of the Patriarchs

The Virgin River, cutting through Zion Canyon

Golden Columbine growing out of rock face along the River Trail 

Small waterfall just below the beginning of The Narrows