Zion National Park - Day 2

Today was set aside for touring the high ground at Zion.  We actually wimped out and hiked the middle ground at Emerald Pool Trail. It is only a two mile trail with less than 500' elevation gain.  The top of the sandstone cliffs are closer to 3,000'.  It was another gorgeous day ranging from 45F to 85F,  We still got to cross the high ground in the Squirrel coming in and leaving.  We also splurged on some fossils and rocks at the local Ordersville Rock Shop and got a lesson on how the federal government under Slick Willie (Bill Clinton) stole the Mormons land.  Each park is usually surrounded by those that detest federal presence, be it OBX, Utah, Glacier, or Alaska.  Another nice day followed by supper out at the Thunderbird Inn.  Bird feeders hanging outside at the inn, along with petunias and Jimsonweed, drew a multitude of jays, sparrows, and hummingbirds.

Zion National Park- The Narrows

At daybreak today two things occurred, the temperature had dropped to 41F and our donkey of a neighbor was rather vocal. I believe he was looking for HeeHaw.

After breakfast we drove the 30 mile to Zion.  The last 15 mile of this road is switchbacks and tunnels and has been under construction all summer. Hence the trip took over an hour, but no complaint about the scenery.

We parked at the visitor center and took the shuttle to the end of the line, The Temple of Sinawava. From there it was a one mile walk along the Virgin River and then another 1/2 mile in the river.  They call this the Narrows because the river bed is about 100 feet wide with a 700 ft. shear cliff on both sides.  After about 1/2 mile it was 50 feet wide and the water was getting above our knees. You can continue on for 5 miles, depending on the water conditions.  It is cold water with a sand and large rock bottom. Rough going even with hiking poles but what an amazing place. The cliffs are so high and the canyon so narrow you need to take about three vertical pictures to get the whole view.

The prerequisites for this hike are, clear skies, low water level, no flash floods, hiking boots or heavy duty water shoes, and hiking sticks to maintain stability on the slippery rocks and to probe for deep spots in the silt filled water.  The cliffs above are the tallest calcified sand dunes in the world. Another great day, tomorrow we hit the high ground.

Lake Powell -Glen Canyon Dam

Sunday morning we visited Grand Canyon Desert View on our way north to Glendale, Utah. The day consisted of a 250 mile drive with plenty of time for the Moose to learn about mountain driving. After overheating the transmission once on Friday he now has the hang of it. Travel in the Moose is somewhat different than a car. I find my concentration on the road versus the scenery and Karen finds the higher view somewhat disconcerting, especially when drop offs are present. A stop at Lake Powell  let us view the gorge bridge, dam, and lake; and $10 got us a tour inside the dam.  This dam is almost as large as Hoover, making it the second largest in the US.  It only has eight turbines, half that of Hoover, and it's main purpose is water control with the electric as a bonus.

We are now in Glendale, Utah for three nights. Bauer's Canyon Ranch (a nice small park) has about twenty spaces, is half full, and four rigs are from Ohio.

Grand Canyon

Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday morning was spent at Grand Canyon South Rim.  The Moose and Squirrel stayed at the Trailer Village and we used the park service shuttle. The Trailer Village was pretty nice and not crowded. They had cable but no WiFi.  The south rim was fairly busy with the usual large concentration of Old Codgers,  Japanese, Indians, Germans, & Frogs.  We hiked the rim for about four hours, then with a thunderstorm rolling in we retreated to the Moose for supper.  By 7PM it was cloudy, but dry, and we went to Yavapai Point for Sunset.

Saturday we got up for the 6AM sunrise at Yaki Point ,which was good but not great, and after eight hours of walking only about four mile we again broke for supper, followed by another sunset viewing at Hopi Point. Overall a pretty fantastic weekend.

Flagstaff

This is our third day in Flagstaff and our tenth on the road so we dialed it back a bit and rested.  We did travel to to far side of town to visit Flagstaff Arboretum.  It was three mile down a washboard country road and the squirrel doesn't like washboard.  The arboretum is billed as a mountain garden and is a bit rustic by Kingwood standards but it was an enjoyable 3 hours.  As a finale we attended their raptor presentation and had owls and hawks flying within three feet of our heads.  A nice place and it was free due to our Kingwood membership.

We went back to the Moose in the early afternoon but not before visiting the Snowbowl which is Flagstaff's winter ski resort.  It sits at about 10,000 feet so the Squirrel got a workout. Tomorrow he can rest while the Moose finds Grand Canyon.

Sedona Arizona

This morning we headed south 50 miles for a visit to Montezuma Well, Montezuma Castle, & Tuzigoot National Monuments and the Sedona Red Rock area. When we left at 8am the RV park was at 65F and rising. By the time we traveled 20 mile and from 6600' to 5000' it had risen to 86F and by noon we were at 1,000' and 100F.  We had traveled this area before but had never stopped at the monuments.  It was definitely a good day.  The ancients had settled here around 1000AD but vanished before the Spanish got here in the 1500s.  Montezuma Well was a limestone sink with a major underground water source.  It appeared to have everything you need: water, food, and shelter.

Flagstaff Area

Today was spent in the Flagstaff area visiting three National Monuments.  We were the first on the trail at Walnut Canyon this morning.  This mile loop circles the cliffs of Walnut Canyon about 200' down from the Mesa and let's you see the cliff dwellings which were inhabited by the locals about 1100AD.  A nice cool walk this morning but then the sun warmed up and a bus load of Japanese desended on the place.

After a brief stop at our Moose for lunch, we continued on to Sunset Crater Volcano NM to climb a 300' cinder cone and take a stroll through the lava flow.  This area is well covered by Ponderosa pine so it was nice to sit in the shade and just enjoy the day. The NPS gate attendent was a cute youngster from Ft. Wayne.

The adjacent park to this is Wupatki NM.  It is about 500 to 1,000' lower elavation and the day was growing later so the temperature had climbed to 96F.  The cool mountain breeze still kept the conditions nice so we did the short hikes to Wukoki Pueblo and Citadel Pueblo.  These are some pretty neat dwellings and the area is green due to the rains this summer.  It was quite easy to see how this area could have potentially been inhabited by large groups of natives if just a little more water was present.

By five o'clock it was time to return to the Moose for Margaritas and a lawn chair siesta.

JH RV Park Flagstaff

After a climb from 5,000 to 6,500 feet we have arrived at our home for the next four nights.  This appears to be a nice small park.  Our lot is volcanic cinder and a walled concrete patio and a large cottonwood should make a comfortable place to relax and contemplate past and future adventures.

An NPS volunteer noted today that due to the time of year the kids have disappeared and have been replaced with old kids.  So true, it's pretty gray out here. But not as old as below.

Grants NM to Flagstaff Az

Today was a short 250 mile drive to Flagstaff with a four hour stop over at Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park.  It was sunny all day but we started with pants as the 55F morning was a little chilly. Our first stop at the park had us being photographed by a group of tourists. Turns out they were from Venice, Italy and had not seen a monster like our moose and squirrel.  That lead to a conversation and a tour of our bus. The park was as interesting as usual but the shorts were needed almost immediately to match 85F and desert sun. 

New Mexico Lizard

This little guy was curious about his Ohio visitors

El Malpais & El Morro National Monuments

Today, being our second day in the Grants NM area, we drove into Grants on old Rt. 66.  This town has seen better days since the uranium mine closed.  Picture the movie Cars.  We traveled out to the East part of El Malprais to see the LaVentana Natural Arch (largest in NM), the lava field overlook, and then took the 3 mile loop trail to see several collapsed lava tubes, a bat cave , and a cinder cone.  Not terribly exciting, but a nice walk on a cloudy 75F day.  For the afternoon we went back to walk the two miles at El Morro again. We had hoped to spend a little more time on top of the mesa but instead encountered a summer rain storm with wind, heavy rain, and a little thunder just after we reached the half way point and the top of the mesa.  Not the best place to be but a unique experience. Still an excellent day overall. Wildlife of the day was a raven that begged my fig newton and an 8" lizard that was curious.

New Mexico- El Morro NM

This morning started with a 250 mile trip from Dalhart, Tx to Grants, NM.  By 2pm we were setup in the Grants KOA, a nice quiet stone lot with a 20' cottonwood tree, a picnic table, and full utilities.  We then turned our attention toward El Morro National Monument.  This is one neat park tucked away on the continental divide at about 7800' elevation. It consists of a 200' shear wall sandstone cliff and was known for a small pond which provided a watering point for travelers.  The ancients also had a large number of stone dwellings on the mesa.  A two mile trail leads past the cliffs and pond, up the lower cliff wall, across the top, past the dwellings, and down the other side.  Petroglyphs included inscriptions by ancient villagers, Spanish explorers, early settlers, and members of the US Army Camel Corp.  Early August rains had the landscape ablaze with white, yellow, red, blue, and pink flowers. One nice place on a comfortable cloudy 85F afternoon and early evening.  The park only had a half dozen visitors on site while we were there so most see saw no one while on top of the mesa. It was so quiet that a crow flying overhead responded with a "caw caw" when the Olympus SLR made it's unique double clicking sound.

RV Adventures

We are finding that driving a 34' Bus with a car behind it presents some challenges compared to auto touring.  The unit does a good job but you do have to be cognisant of some major issues. First of all, something this large loves fuel, second just because you can get in somewhere doesn't necessarily mean you can easily get out, third dim wits on on ramps have no idea how dangerous a monster you are.  Today we got our first minor taste of mountain driving; only short grades of 4% but it gives you the basics for 7% long grades. We keep it between 55 and 65 for the most part and up can be almost as interesting as down hill. The thrill yesterday was loosing a hub cover at 60mph.  This cover is about like a 3 gallon pail and when it left the rig I at first thought it was a bucket.  A road side rest several miles later confirmed it wasn't.  We back tracked in the G6 and were lucky enough to find it and it's attachment screw assembly within 50' of each other.  Turns out that the screw loosened as the outside temperatures approached 100F.  The other side was loose also.

Kansas-Oklahoma-Texas

Today was a drive from Wichita, Kansas; through the Oklahoma Panhandle; to Dalhart, Texas.  Rather uneventful for 400 miles.  One dead Amaradillo,  lots of dragonflys, sage, sorghum, and about 20 large wind turbines and grain elevators.  Traveling through Greensburg, Kansas; it looked like they may have been leveled by a tornado several years back. With no real pictures today we want to regress to Tall Grass NP for a bit.  The stone barn and house built in the 1880s was quite unique for anywhere but especially the Flint Hills area of Kansas. The stone chicken coup with sod roof, and a three holer outhouse with cross ventilation windows was also unique. The prairie also suprised us with a bevy of quail which we spooked during a short hike, a prairie chicken, and also night hawks which are rather tern shaped and fly very fast.

Tall Grass Prairie National Preserve

 This morning was a visit to 11,000 acres of native tall grass prairie in Strongville Kansas.  This location has a magnificent ranch which was developed in the 1870s. Today it is a Kansas Trust, part of the National Park Service, and home to 14 buffalo including one new born this spring.  The 1-1/2 hour bus tour was great.

Later in the day we were in Wichita to visit Botanica Gardens.  The 100F temperature cooled down a little as the sun set. Another good day on the road.

Kansas here we come

Tuesday had a good middle but the start and end was questionable.  A series of issues delayed our start from 8am to 9am. Four hundred mile later we reached our overnight park in Mulberry Grove (east of St. Louis). Timber Trails is a nice quiet park in a wooded area next to several ponds and a bean field.  The bad part of the day was a stone hit to the co-pilot window. (Sure I want to drive the Alcan, I cann't even survive Illinois roads!) It shattered the outer glass like a bullet but the film and inner glass look like they might hold till we get home.  State Farm says they will repair but if we do it may take a week of downtime as the whole double window needs to come out.

Wednesday we progressed another 400 mile reaching Emporia Kansas. Highlights were the traffic in St. Louis and Kansas City.  The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers are still flowing. Just glad we are north of the 14" of rain that hit north of New Orleans last night. Now we can start to slow down a little since we put the east behind us for now.