Greg is a VMI ,MCV and Ohio State graduate. He is a retired prosthodontist (a dental specialist) who enjoys traveling in the Airstream, fishing, national parks, photography and just being outdoors. He rode horses most of his life and loves being around them. He is married to the lovely Martha. Greg and Kelly have been friends since we were 15 years old.
Disclaimer: I get no money, kickbacks, rewards or any other favors from anyone.
On our last day with Karen, Josh and Melissa, we drove north through the tunnel to hike the Canyon Overlook Trail, the shortest hike in the park that provides a view of the canyon. It has some unique features that keep it interesting, but the views are spectacular.
People were lined up to come up as we were going back down. It’s a very small parking lot, so a lot of people park along the road, which makes driving hazardous.
Martha asked me recently what my favorite park has been on this trip. I don’t know that I have a favorite. They are all spectacular in their own way, or they wouldn’t have become a national park, but Zion has to be the most photogenic!
Back at camp, Karen and the kids packed up, and we drove to St. George Regional Airport. It’s a small, but very modern airport. Karen said no one was at the counter when they went in, but it all worked out, and they arrived home the next morning safe, but very tired.
Much has been written about Angel’s Landing Trail; how difficult it is; how scary it is and how dangerous it is. There is a narrow section to cross at the top where two steel cables give you something to hold onto. I told Karen I would give it a go, but reserved the right to turn back at any time. We couldn’t get tickets to take the last part, but we could hike to an Scout Lookout just before the crazy part, which was fine with me.
An excellent, paved path wound up and around the mountain, gaining 1,100′ in altitude. I had to stop to catch my breath a number of times, but we made it to the Lookout along with a bunch of others. I was surprised to see bathrooms up there! It is, however, the most popular and highly-rated hikes in the southwest. the views were spectacular, but I was happy we weren’t going the rest of the way. My legs were shaky enough from hiking up, and cliffs and steep fall-offs scare me to death! If I made it, I’m sure Martha could have made it too.
It has been hot, very hot, in Zion National Park. Temperatures soar over 100o in the middle of the day. Our air conditioner can’t keep up, often tripping the 30amp breaker to the Inverter. Makes us all a bit grumpy mid-day. Our routine is to get out early and hike, come back for lunch, quiet hour, then an afternoon hike.
The afternoon hike was The Watchman, for which our campground is named. The trail winds around a canyon and to the top of a mesa. Two REI tour guides were giving a tour, so we got to listen to the comments. The mountain is called The Watchman because it is the last in line and looks back up the valley at all the other mountains that make up Zion National Park.
As we stood admiring the scenery, a man in his 60’s came for his afternoon run, jogging past the people, down the mesa, back up, then down the trail! It is a beautiful spot and well-worth the effort.
You cannot drive on the Scenic Drive, so we took the bus. They come every five minutes or so, and are very efficient and polite, often giving the weather report and offering advice for the each stop. Zion is a very busy park, but they do a wonderful job of managing it.
We got off at the Court of The Patriots, where magnificent mountains surround a small cove. Then we set out to hike the Emerald Pools Trail. The pools weren’t in their full splendor, but the scenery was magnificent. I took a video of a showering, 200′ waterfall, but it requires more data than I have on my phone to upload. I put this on my “Favorite Hikes” list. With a waterfall (and another when it rains), pools and spectacular scenery, what better way to spend a couple of hours!
We drove north from Cannonville, through Tropic and Bryce on Rt. 12 and turned south on 89. I read an article called “Everything’s Fine on 89”, which I can’t find now. From https://usroute89.com: “Tour seven National parks, fourteen National Monuments and three Heritage Areas all on one road. It runs north/south from Canada to Mexico, named #1 Drivers’ Drive in the World by National Geographic.” There is a Road Trip Map Book on US Route 89. We have driven it several times on this trip, but I may have to make a point of driving all of it.
We stopped at the Zion Mt. Carmel Tunnel so the tunnel could be cleared for us to drive the 1-mile tunnel right down the middle. Having ripped off the air conditioner from my trailer on a covered bridge, I am a bit sensitive about tunnels and bridges. This one is pretty cool though, and an incredible engineering feat. Zion’s mountains are breath-taking.
Zion, Mt. Carmel Tunnel
Overlook for lunch
Ford Bronko
Watchman Campground
Pa’rus Trail
Watchman Campground
Virgin River
Visitor’s Center
We stopped for lunch at an overlook, taking pictures on both sides of the road. I talked to a man who parked his brand new Bronco behind us. It’s a pretty car with some great features. He said he had waited seven months to get it, but it was worth it. He loves it!
We wound our way down the valley walled by incredible, towering mountains on both sides. We turned into Watchman Campground and backed into a nice site, B20 and set up. It was hot, very hot, so we walked down to the Virgin River, a beautiful, clear stream and stepped in. There is a toxic Cyanobacterium Bloom in the river, so we are warned not to submerge your head or drink the water.
Upstream, people sat in chairs in the water while their dogs romped up and down stream. Too bad because the stream is a great relief from the heat, and we want to hike The Narrows, which follows the river up a narrow canyon.
Our air conditioner can’t keep up with this heat. It trips the 30 amp breaker to the Inverter, which gets very hot. I have to let it rest a while before trying it again. Between cell phone reception and heat, our guests’ nerves are getting tested. The kids have been on a number of trips with us, so they are pretty familiar with the Airstream. This is the first extended trip for Karen, so she has a lot more to get used to. I admire her resolve. Our routine is to do a hike in the morning, come back, have lunch, take a nap and another hike in the evening.
We set out the next morning to hike The Narrows. I went in my fishing boots, while Martha and Josh rented wading boots. We all rented walking sticks. It’s a cool hike, not unlike trout fishing where you wade from one side to the other, or along a path on the side as you navigate upstream. The man at the rental center said it gets up to your chest in places, so I didn’t bring my camera. It never got up to my waist. especially coming back down, Melissa happily walked right down the middle of the stream, enjoying the cool waters.
picture by Karen
picture by Karen
picture by Karen
picture by Karen Human
Karen and I commented on the crowds not being so bad, but as these things go, around the next corner, the hoards came upstream, carrying dogs and babies.
It’s a cool hike to where the stream splits. Going further would eliminate 96% of the crowd, but we turned around at the fork.
Karen set up an ATV self-guided tour at Bryce Wildlife Outfitters. Martha opted out for this one, because they only seat four in the vehicle. Jeff got out a map and asked who the navigator was going to be. Josh said he was the navigator. Jeff has a great way of explaining as well as keeping the attention of a boy. Josh has always been good at directions, and he was paying full attention. I guess they have had all kinds of experiences over the years. He showed a picture of a recent wreck when someone was going too fast. We had two hours to do our tour, go up this road and say hi to the prairie dogs, then go up here and hug some of some very old trees. Come back and visit the prairie dogs. “At the reservoir, you can take the short way or the long way around, but watch your time.”
Jeff and another man led us up a gravel road to the first turn and wished us well. Karen drove very well, and I was surprised how well it took the bumps. Sure enough we stopped at the prairie dog village admiring the cute little critters. On up the road Josh hugged an old tree
After the tree-hugging area with a view, Karen let me drive. I have never driven one before, and I liked it. All the wheels can move up and down, smoothing out the ride. These are Honda machines with good engines. I think Jeff said they go for $13,000. I can see how people get attached to them. They just make too much noise. Maybe when they make electric ones.
Whenever we came to a turn, Josh looked at the map and made the right decisions. We saw a few deer and some cows and took the long way around the reservoir. I gunned it a couple of times for fun, but quickly remembered my precious cargo. We made it back to the outfitter with the red roof a little late, but not bad. It was fun, and I thank Karen for handling everything. It was a nice change.
It was late for dinner at the campground, so we stopped at Rustler’s Restaurant for dinner. I called Martha to see if she would like to join us, but she had already eaten. They do an outstanding job with good food and good service. I had a nice red trout, whatever that is, and good vegetables.
Cannonville and Tropic are nice, little towns outside the park, with good stores, gas stations, food and ice cream. Nice! I like it here! I also like our Bryce Canyon RV Resort, that used to be a KOA Journey, but has been recently bought. They are doing a great job. My air conditioner continues to trip the breaker though. I have to baby it!
We took two hikes through Kodachrome Valley State Park. It is described as a basin within a much larger basin. Once filled by the Cretaceous Sea, these basins were filled with water when the seas receded. So many of the southwest’s unique rock shapes, colors and forms were created by these seas and sometimes raging rivers. It is hard to imagine now in these dry lands, but it was much different 170 million years ago.
It was overcast, which made for a perfect day for hiking, but the colors don’t show up unless the sun is shining. Still, it was cool. We were surprised to find two campgrounds, a visitor’s center, and even a laundry! The park was named by a National Geographic expedition that photographed the area in 1948 and published an article.
At a crossroad, we read a sign pointing the way to Escalante National Monument, 45 miles on a gravel road through the Grand Staircase on a gravel road to Rt. 89.
We were all a bit worn out, so we took a break the rest of the day. I finally had time to fix a small leak under the sink and looked into the drive to Zion National Park tomorrow and through the Zion
I drove Karen up the mountain to the entrance of Bryce Canyon National Park for a half-marathon, which goes down the mountain ending near our campground, Bryce Canyon RV Resort. The race would start at 6:00. I went back to camp and did some work. I was surprised to see the winning male runner flying down the road about an hour and a half later. Unexpectedly, this is a popular race for several reasons. It is very well organized from the sign-up, the dinner, water and toilets all along the route and police helping everywhere. The kids joined Karen as she came by the campsite. We walked down to the finish line where food and drinks were being served. The second reason it is popular is the scenery is beautiful. Karen said it took her mind off running. Third, it is all down hill – mostly.
Bryce Canyon RV Resort
Two hours later, she had showered and we were hiking The Hoodoos. Bryce Canyon National Park has the largest collection of hoodoos (Pillars of Stone) anywhere in the world. We went to the Visitor’s Center, looked around, and asked if Josh’s AirPods had been found. Karen filled out a form in case they were turned in.
We retraced our stops on the Scenic Drive to see if we could find them. Josh was tracking their location with his phone, and I was surprised how closely it could be tracked. It put us at one overlook, which we scoured. A big raven sat on a pillar and let me come right up to him. I once had a crow, and I know how intelligent these birds are. I talked to him face-to-face, and he looked a little guilty. Tracking put them across the street from the overlook. I looked for a nest, but didn’t see one. We might have walked around in the woods, but it was a steep drop-off.
Since the AirPods weren’t turned on, they could only track the last known position. If someone had taken them, they would have turned them on. My guess is the guilty-looking raven took them. They love collecting things, mostly shiny things. Well, we did what we could.
We hiked up a beautiful stream to Mossy Cave. People were stopping to walk in the cool waters, but it was a comfortable day at approximately 8,000’.
Back at the rim, we hiked down into the hoodoos to find trees and shrubs growing amongst the hoodoos. It was very cool….until we had to hike back up. These hoodoos are like amphitheater’s.
At sunset, we returned, casually walking around the rim to a pretty overlook. People were sitting with their dinners or drinks enjoying the peaceful beauty.
In Capitol Reef National Park, Karen and I got up at 6:00 to hike the Golden Throne hike at the end of the Scenic Drive, then down a gravel road to a parking lot in Capitol Gorge. I had some big concerns, too many to list, but I knew we had to hike up a very large mountain. How vertical would it be?
I was glad to see it wound its way around the cliff, deep into a canyon, across the other side, winding again. It could not have been made any easier, and it was very pretty. I stopped to catch my breath several times, as Karen let me set the pace until I took a wrong turn. Then she took the lead.
Looking back down at the Canyon parking lot
We arrived at a plateau looking up at the Golden Throne, which I suppose is golden in the right light. It took us about 45 minutes to get there, and it would be an easy down hill going back. We walked around to see if we could get a better view of the canyon, the only way through this massive 100-mile wall that is compared to an ocean reef. People have been coming through this canyon for thousands of years. Ancient petroglyphs decorate the walls, as well as Europeans who came through in the late 1800’s.
I tried not to take this personally
It was a beautiful morning with great views and an easy walk down. Driving back to our campsite, I let Karen out to run the last three miles. She is training for a 50-mile race.
It was moving day, so we began the process of packing up. Everyone pitched in, and we were beginning to get into a process that made it a lot easier. Melissa was in charge of closing and locking all the windows while Josh put up the stabilizers. Martha got the inside organized and ready while Karen and I hitched up.
We drove north to Torrey and turned southwest on Utah Rt. 12 where a sign declared it an America’s Highway. Martha looked up what that meant. There are Scenic Highways, but an America’s Highway is a step above. It deserves its designation. The changes in scenery were dramatic. First it was green on this side of the mountain and through a valley. Then we began a long climb up another series of mountains that were green, with pine trees covering everything.
Climbing to 9800’, we pulled over to a beautiful overlook. You could take all day stopping at overlooks on this drive to Bryce Canyon. Down the other side, now winding its way through solid, almost white rocks. Then back up on top of a ridge with incredible views on both sides. An Airstream was perched on top on one overlook where they had probably stopped for lunch. One stretch was along the top of a ridge barely wider than the road. I know the views were spectacular, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the road.
Back down the other side, we stopped at Escalante Mercantile for some lunch. A lady was training a young lady the ropes on her first day on the job. It is a very nice store/restaurant/bakery. It took us a while to figure out how to order, what to order and to get it ordered as locals and travelers stopped for lunch or a snack. It proved to be a great, little stop.
Then it was only 35 minutes to our campground at Bryce Canyon RV Resort. It was a KOA, but it now has new owners. It took a while to park in our tiny spot. A nice man across from us was nice in moving his truck so we could wiggle in. We started to level as we looked at some bigger and nicer spots on the other side.
Martha and I went back in and asked if we could move. The very nice ……, gave us some choices, explaining how they had recently bought the campground. I’m sure I had picked a spot away from the highway, but the sites were bigger and had some shade. It was a good move.
Josh was happy to see a basketball net with a paved playing area, so we went over and played Horse. Of course I won every game……NOT! …….came over to take some promotional pictures of the court being used. At 12 years old, Josh’s basketball skills have improved dramatically.
Tomorrow there is a half marathon and a 5K race. Karen signed up in a park in the cute, little town of Tropic. There was a fund-raising spaghetti dinner this evening, so we decided to come back for that.
Half marathon sign-up
Then we drove up to Bryce Canyon National Park to get the big picture. It was busy and crowded, but it was OK. We went to spectacular sunset point. I would have to stay up for another sunset. Then we drove the 15-mile scenic drive atop a grand mesa. Surely we would see lots of wildlife in the early morning or late evening. More pretty views in the land of Hoodoos. Like Goblin Valley, you could go down and walk among the giant Hoodoo maze.
We drove back to Tropic where the crowds gathered for the marathon spaghetti dinner, which was better than I expected, and very efficiently served. We talked with a man next to us about the race tomorrow and about the hike to Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. He said it is a typical government-run drawing for tickets. Everyone lines up at 8:00 or 11:00 for tickets, then they all go for the hike together. Too many people for his liking, but they did it. I think Karen will be the only one to do this.
Josh lost his Apple Airbuds somewhere on the Scenic Drive in Bryson Canyon. All that getting in and out of the truck at different stops. Surely they will be gone tomorrow, but we will go look and check Lost-and-Found.
This is the second time I have been to Capitol Reef, and he first time I have stayed in Fruita Campground. It is a wonderful 100-mile outcropping of steep cliffs with a pretty stream running through it, the Fremont River. There is a lot of history here that goes back 10,000 years or more. Sunset Point is a pretty spot any time of the day, but great at sunset.
