Zion National Park, Utah, Day 2 – April 2019
So with the East entrance closed, we moved our home to the Kaibab Paiute Indian Reservation and a wonderful RV park (and inexpensive too!), which got us closer to Zion’s south entrance. The park was in a beautiful location, if a bit windy:
Then it was on to Zion National Park, about an hour and 15 minutes away:
And into the Park, to begin our hikes. Our first was about a mile along the Virgin River:
Biblical figures
Abraham, Isaac & Jacob
Then it was on to the Weeping Rock trail, about a half mile round trip, up then down a steep incline. Soooo worth it:
layers above, they flow out
of the rock (the view in the background is blurred by the water dripping down)
on a great day…
Zion National Park, Utah, Day 3 – April 2019
Day 3 dawned much differently than the previous days; cloudy and windy, but we weren’t going to let it stop us. We had horseback riding reservations waiting for us! So we started off the day with more hiking, this time up to the top of Zion Canyon to walk along the Riverside Trail. This normally leads to the famous “Narrows” hike through an extremely narrow part of the canyon, actually hiking in the Virgin River. You’ll see why we couldn’t do that hike:
Narrows hikers… the National Park Service says, “Don’t do this! It disturbs the natural beauty of the area and can lead to erosion where the stones were removed.”
Mr. DeMille.”
the canyon.
The Riverside Trail is an out-and-back, so we returned back to the shuttle stop just as the skies broke open and the rain hit, the wind whistled up the canyon and the temperature dropped about 15 degrees. So we shuttled back to the Lodge, where we grabbed a quick lunch, waited for the rain to stop, and then crossed the road to the horse stables to check in for our ride. By the time we mounted our mules (essentially required by the stables that day, as sections of the rocky trail were very slippery from the rain and mules are more sure-footed), the rain began again, but we were prepared. It wasn’t going to stop us from the amazing adventure!
We were very sad to leave Zion National Park, but we knew a new adventure was just down the road. Before we could start that adventure, we had to make it through one of the worst thunderstorms we’d ever encountered. We were about 50 miles from the rig when we realized that the skies to the southwest had darkened ominously, and by the time we were 30 miles out, the lightning began crashing and the rain dumped from the skies. The winds were howling like we’d never seen, but we made it to the Beast, jumped inside, and immediately closed the kitchen/living room slides to keep the wind from destroying the slide toppers (awnings that keep leaves/limbs from falling on top of the slides). Sorry, no pictures as we were just trying to handle the situation. We huddled in the bedroom, and as Bubba drifted off to sleep to the sounds of the winds and rains finally dying, I was able to pop the slides back open to get our “house” back.
The next day dawned brightly, and it was our getaway day to our next destination, near Torrey, UT, and Capitol Reef National Park. That tour is for another day, but here are some pics of Grand Staircase-Escalante, part of our drive to Torrey up Highway 9:
Zion National Park, Utah, Day 1 – April 2019
We entered Zion by the East entrance on Highway 9, just about 25 minutes from where we’re staying. The scenery was incredible, including the opportunity to see a herd of big-horn sheep right beside the road! But we kept wondering why traffic was so light on the road; as it turned out, other people were obviously aware that the road was closed a few miles up ahead, making it impossible to access the main road to and through the park! Had we been paying attention, we might have caught on sooner. Below are a few of the shots we had taken before turning back around, but with the South entrance the only park access, and it being at least a 2-hour drive, we thought, “Now what?!”
Click on any pic to view the slideshow:
Deciding to be adventurous, we took a back road towards Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The pics below are along that route, surprisingly traversing from a dirt road through a valley up to an alpine environment, complete with melting snow.
Then, amazingly, we rounded a curve to see something so totally unexpected that we actually slammed on the brakes and went, “HUHHH???” There beside the road was a monstrous pile of… wait for it… LAVA! Yes, lava! It turns out that we were driving on the Markagunt Plateau, one of the plateaus that make up the High Plateaus Section of the Colorado Plateau Province.
According to Wikipedia, “The Markagunt Plateau volcanic field is an area of basaltic cinder cones and blocky lava flows. The most recent flows occurred around 1050 A.D.”
Well knock me over with a feather… that was the last thing we thought we’d see on our drive that day!
“Markagunt is a name derived from the Paiute language meaning ‘highland of trees.'” -Wikipedia
Bryce Canyon, UT – April 2019
After our surprising discovery on the Plateau, we weren’t sure what we would encounter in the Canyon the next day, but we were prepared for anything. Or so we thought. We knew that we could cover more ground on horseback than we ever could hiking, so as soon as we entered the park, we headed for the Lodge, figuring that would be a logical place to find a riding stables. Sure enough, a ride was getting ready to depart in 30 minutes, so we jumped on the chance to join it. The pics below document our ride from the rim of the canyon, down to the canyon floor and back up again. I’m still trying to digest the grandeur of what we saw…
drop down onto the trail
to the canyon floor.
way down >>>
Then after riding back out and having a picnic lunch on the Lodge’s deck, we walked over to the Rim Trail to check out the canyon from a totally different perspective:
Then over to Bryce Point and Inspiration Point:
trail on the canyon floor which
we had ridden just hours before.
That ride was so much fun that we’ve decided to do it again, this time in Zion National Park after we move south.
Grand Canyon, AZ – April 2019
OK, so this was a big one on the bucket list… We spent four amazing days enjoying the peace of boondocking (= dry camping, i.e., living off solar/generator power and what water we toted in) on a Forest Service road next to Tusayan, AZ, and visited the Grand Canyon daily. Armed with an awesome camera (thanks, Rob and Stacy!), we took a total of around 140 pics. Yeah, it’s that amazing. Don’t worry, they’re not all posted here.
What boondocking on a Forest Service road looks like:
On to the real show (click on any image to enter the slide show):
of the park before this hit.
amazingly bright and clear.
a good distance of the Rim Trail,
with unbelievable views
the whole way >>>
(his comment)
And after a full day in the park, including a wonderful dinner
at the Arizona Steakhouse (thank you, John and Molly!),
the final shot of the Canyon at sunset… simply spectacular.
a view up the staircase of the
Desert Watchtower, a must-see.
window facing downriver…
The Road to Utah – April 2019
It was tough leaving the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, but leave we must. We headed north into Utah to spend time in the Zion-Bryce-Grand Staircase area (those pics to follow soon!). But there were plenty of great views along the way; here’s a sampling:
northern Arizona >>>
of Marble Canyon
ARCHIVES- 2019
Jerome, AZ – April 2019
Nestled in the hills near Prescott is the little mountain town of Jerome, and if you’ve ever visited the mountain gambling towns of Central City CO or Cripple Creek, CO, this place will feel familiar. Historic buildings, winding streets and quaint shops, with several great restaurants thrown in for good measure. And the drive is gorgeous!
“Built in 1899 and listed on the National Historical Registry, the Clinkscale Building where the Inn is located has been everything from a brothel to a candy store. Like most of Jerome it prides itself on its history and reputation of being haunted, but it’s also a great deal in an excellent location and even has a nice restaurant on site.”
Photo and text courtesy: verdecanyonrr.com
Watson Lake in Prescott, AZ – April 2019
After three weeks of clearing up problems, installing this, fixing that, we finally grabbed an opportunity to hit the water. Watson Lake is one of several lakes in the Prescott area, in an area known as the Granite Dells. The lake was formed by damming Granite Creek back in the early 1900s. Beautifully scenic, and the weather couldn’t have been better!
Winslow, AZ – March 2019
The full-time RV adventure begins! We cleared out our home and sold or stored everything in preparation for this journey, and it began the moment we left Colorado to head towards Prescott AZ. Our overnight in a Walmart parking lot was less than ideal (we had to clear out by 5 AM, yes,5 AM!). But we took the opportunity to swing through Winslow, AZ, for a great lunch (Las Maria’s), then the required tourist photos “standing on the corner …”
Meteor Crater, AZ – March 2019
Then it was on to a place on the must-see list, Meteor Crater — not THE Meteor Crater, or HUGE Meteor Crater, just “Meteor Crater,” because it’s “the world’s best preserved meteorite impact site on Earth.” And yes, it’s huge!
Then it was on down the road towards Prescott, Arizona, our home for the next three weeks. Things didn’t go so smoothly there, as we discovered that a meet-up with a couple HUGE potholes on Flagstaff Mountain lead to 1) a broken closet hanging rod, 2) a broken sliding bathroom door, 3) a broken microwave and 4) a broken slide topper. Good thing we were prepared for it all! We’ve summoned all of our project manager abilities from our former (employed) lives and have gotten everything well in hand. We even managed to install our cell-signal boosting equipment all by ourselves!
Life goes on, and in 12 days we’ll begin our adventure north to Alaska, with stops throughout Utah, Idaho and into British Columbia and Alberta. Stay tuned!