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.
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.
The Hickman Bridge hike is a 2-mile out-and-back trail to a 133 foot natural bridge with views of the canyon. We had a beautiful day to hike after setting up camp in the Fruita Campground beside the Freemont River. Deer frequent the grassy campground. The hike is a good one, with good scenery.
Goblin Valley State Park is rated #1 in a top ten state parks article. Well-dispersed campsites, cool yurts, great scenery and cute, little shaded picnic tables add up to a great experience. Oh yes, and then there are Goblins!
We were first scheduled to stay two nights in Goblin Valley, but it has been very hot and Goblin has no electric, or hookups. You can get water, and there is a dump station. It’s a cool campground, with views of the Goblins and mountains. It was a little intimidating at first, being so hot, and it is in the middle of nowhere. Once we got used to it, and all it’s beauty, two nights would have been fine.
There are no hikes in Goblin Valley. You just wander Goblin Valley on your own. Karen decided to take a trail that leads to Goblin Valley from the campground, up and over a small mountain, then down through a narrow wash that finally led us to the Goblins, the Three Sisters and up to the parking lot overlooking Goblin Valley Three. Again, it is so hard to imagine this whole, dry area covered by an inland sea, but it was, and what made this area unique is it was a tidal marsh, shallow and rising and falling. This led to some very unusual stone structures.
After drinking some water, we wandered through the valley. It’s very cool, with canyons and corridors leading everywhere. We ended up following a Goblin-surrounded canyon winding through some tall cliffs and interesting “faces” looking down on us. It continued to narrow until we all agreed it didn’t lead anywhere, so we turned around.
Melissa takes a break
Some didn’t seem so happy with us
Thankfully, Martha and Melissa had gone back to get the truck early in the trip, but it was only .8 mile back to camp. They have wonderful covered and wind-protected picnic shelters at every camp site. If you were in the shade, there was a nice breeze, and it was quite pleasant.
Then the winds came. A storm and big, black cloud came over the mountain, blowing sand and raining over the dry valley. We quickly closed the windows in the trailer, but the sand had blown in. As it seemed to subside, I reopened the windows, but it blew again. It was so fierce, the kids hit the floor!
As the storm passed in front of us, there came a very pretty rainbow, the rain and sand extending the rainbow as I have never seen before. We saw the other end of the rainbow was over Goblin Valley, so we jumped in the car and drove up there. We did get some pictures of the rainbow over “The Three Sisters”. It was so cool!
We drove to the other end of the campground to find several yurts in great spots, one tucked up in a little cove up against the mountains, with a porch, a grill and picnic table. What more could you want?
We had a rather sleepless and worrisome night in Moab. For the third night in a row, the winds roared, flapping the awnings. I got up and put the awnings up. Next door, Juan’s awning was really flapping. He and his brothers quickly put it up, but apparently there was some damage. He is a very nice guy from the northern Sinaloa Province of Mexico.
We also have been having trouble with the air conditioner tripping a hot circuit breaker. I got worried and opened the windows and turned on the fans. That would have been OK, but the winds were gusting so hard, I was afraid we might break a window or the plastic tops for the Fan-Tastic fans. That would seriously impair our trip, so I stewed all night, finally closing the fans and opening the front door. It did cool down by maybe 3:00 am. None of us got much sleep.
Two cups of coffee and something to eat and Karen, Martha and I headed to Grandstaff Hiking Trail to Morning Glory Bridge. Karen gave the kids the morning to sleep in. It is a beautiful hike along a small stream, crossing it 10 times. With beautiful views of the canyon, I kept looking for wildlife, but never saw anything. Surely they were there. Cresting a hill, we could see Morning Glory Bridge, the fifth largest natural bridge in the world.
It’s an impressive bridge of rock. I was surprised to see a man at the top of it. As we took pictures from beneath, we could see the man again. He dropped a rope. This is a big area for climbing and repelling, so I was interested to see this. There were at least two, as they talked to each other. Then one stood on the edge and inched his way over. He began to walk down the vertical wall. Once the wall cut away from him, it was a free drop, sliding his handles down a pretty thin rope. I thought maybe Bear Grylls might be the next one down, but we didn’t wait to see.
Walking back down was easier. We were back at 10:00 and the kids were just rousing. Karen had found a hike by a clear stream with good swimming areas, so she took them on that easy hike while Martha did a load of laundry, and I washed the dishes, straightened, shook out the rugs and vacuumed.
Terry and Polly passed by the campsite and gave us advice on the air conditioner. Terry said she cleans the filters every day from all the dust we get around here. She also said to unplug everything else. I found one of our filters to be pretty dirty, and washed both. I asked if they saw Mike, to send him our way.
I switched the refrigerator to gas and asked everyone to unplug their devices once charged. Mike, with Mobil RV Repair called. I told him what we had done. He thought it might be dirty power, an improper ground.
20 minutes later he pulled up to our site. Checking both posts, they tested clean. I need one of those devices! Next, he went to the fuse box, which was very hot. There was not enough power arriving at the breakers. He moved on to the inverter, which was also hot; then to the converter, which wan’t getting any power.
He asked if my solar power was on. It was, so I turned it off. He thought that was the problem. I thought the system knew to switch between systems, but apparently not. He said to switch the refrigerator back to electric, which I did. After a few minutes, things started to cool down. He thought the two systems were fighting each other, and all should be well now. I certainly hope so, and I have learned something else that seems obvious, but I certainly thought the two systems would know to switch. Anyway, it’s easy to turn off the solar. I really don’t like plugging into power for all the things that can happen, but In July in Moab, you need air conditioning.
Josh had found a friend to play with – Trevor, a nice young boy. First they threw the football around, then went to play pickle ball. By evening, the gregarious Trevor had gathered eight boys to play tag.
To avoid the heat, we drove 40 minutes to Canyonlands National Park, up a big mountain and onto a giant Mesa that is divided into three sections by two rivers, the Colorado and the Green River. Like the Grand Canyons, the mesa sits above the rivers, carved away by a giant inland sea, the Cretaceous Seaway or the Western Interior Seaway.
“The Cretaceous Sea, also known as the Cretaceous Interior Seaway, was a narrow, rather shallow sea that connected the modern Gulf of Mexico and modern Arctic Ocean. The formation of the sea is rather complicated. Basically, the Earth’s crust is divided into slabs of crust called plates. These plates float on semi-molten rock and get pushed around by rising hotter rock and get pulled towards areas of sinking cooler rock. Sometimes the plates collide and this can result in crumpling of the crust forming mountain ranges. As mountains are pushed upwards, they often pull the surrounding land down making the landscape look like a crumbled rug.” From https://eastern.usu.edu/museum/paleontology/cretaceous-sea/index
Continuing from Utah State University Eastern:
“Simplified, the story began about 170 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic as the North American Plate moving west at about an inch per year, started a slow crashed into the Farallon Plate that was moving east at about the same speed. Over the next 105 million years this slow-motion collision created a series of mountains between the west coast and western Utah. To the east of these mountains, the land was pulled downwards allowing ocean water to flood the center of North America.
This down-pull was erratic and the land surface would alternately bob up-and down very, very slowly over millions of years. The result was alternating times of submergence below sea level and rising above it. During the Cretaceous, the central part of North America began a downwards cycle around 130 million years ago (Early Cretaceous) and the sea reached Utah around 110 million years ago. The landscape began bouncing upwards around 70 million years ago, forming the Rocky Mountains and pushing the ocean off the continent. Much of this up and down motion during the Cretaceous is preserved in the Book Cliffs and in the Grand Staircase National Monument as alternating layers of marine and terrestrial sedimentary rocks as the coastline shifted back and forth. It is for this reason that these areas are famous among geologists.”
