Hiking in Bryce Canyon

We arrived in Bryce Canyon City, of the infamous Ruby's Inn, early enough to head into the National Park for an evening stroll. Our goal was to get to Inspiration Point. We ended up near to Rainbow Point, which is the southernmost tip of the park, before heading back north to our actual destination. Their signs are more useful on the way down than the way up- their plan is that you head to Rainbow Point and then stop at all the overlooks on the way north, thereby avoiding any cross traffic turn offs. Great in theory- not so much in practice.

 We were told at check in that there was a free tour up to Rainbow Point (if you had either an annual pass or a receipt for the 7 day entrance fee). We signed up for that, too, hoping that we would get
more information. This little tufted titmouse was trying to feed its babies as we waited for the bus. The nest was in the bus stop- the pair of them would fly out of the nest and then wait on the branches for a clear shot at the nest... you can see the bugs in its beak, though.

Have to say, the scenery is as amazing as I remembered from our 2004 trip. This time, we planned on many hikes since the kids are old enough to be able to manage them. We were also glad that the temps here are about 20 degrees cooler than in Zion- so even in the midday heat, it was considerably cooler for hiking (although we tried not to be out in the rocks in the heat of the day!).

Inspiration Point was spectacular. The colors of the hoodoos, the depth of the crevasses, the view into the distance- simply phenomenal. The ravens hang out at the view-points, hoping for handouts.

 The Natural Bridge- which is actually an arch (since by definition bridges have to be over water) is totally awesome.

 We headed back to Inspiration Point for sunset that day- not Sunset Point (which is strange, but all the people that know said go to Inspiration Point for sunset and Bryce Point for sunrise.)

 On the way up to the highest viewpoint, there was a Clark's Nutcracker sounding off from a pine tree.

And so we end our first whole day in Bryce Canyon- my family in the sunset.

The Zion Tunnel

Last night, we went to one of the social events they hold at the Zion River Resort. While we were enjoying the snacks, we chatted with a couple from San Diego. They described driving through the tunnel and the hike they took at the end. We told them about hiking the Narrows. Off they went to rent water equipment and we had our plan for today. We were up and out by 8:00!

The drive out HWY 9, through Zion National Park is simply beautiful. The tunnel was pretty cool, too- with the periodic view windows to provide the only light in the whole 1.1 mile tunnel (carved through the mountain in 1930!).

We also did the hike at the end- which has more amazing scenery. It was a bit freaky (because of the heights and sharp drop-offs) in a few places; I had to hug the rock face.

There was one part of the path that was 4 x 6 planks out over NOTHING! Obviously, they have no fear!

 (There was one poor guy hiking up with a companion- obviously he had a major fear of heights, because as we passed him on our way down, he said he hoped it was a loop and that they wouldn't have to come back down. Then we could hear as he was hitting one of the more severe drops [along a narrow rock path with a iron fence] and making noises of distress. Shortly after that, his companion came past us going down in a hurry (huff?)  and we saw the poor guy sitting in a shady corner in hat over his face and sobbing; apparently he just couldn't do it. I felt for him!)

As you can see, Joe doesn't have any fear of heights. I have to resist the urge to pull him back from places like this one- eeek!

Some other shots from the path up and from the top of the trail. It was completely worth the patches of anxiety!

Since today was our last full day at Zion, Joe also wanted to do a short hike that his reading had indicated was "not to be missed". We spent the heat of the afternoon in air conditioning and headed out at 7:45 pm. There were only a few of us on the shuttle bus. The "hike" turned out to be a walk of less than 5 minutes. We decided to head to the Museum of History to watch the 22 minute video. The shuttle we ended up catching was full of large adolescent boys. Luckily the shuttle driver was a match for them.

We saw a nice mule deer buck- and heard that the museum was closed. We also listened to information about the Pa'rus trail- and decided to get off at the museum and take the .6 mile hike back to the truck in the evening heat. It was a lovely way to end  our visit to Zion.

Hiking in the heat of the day

Today, we (well, really me- because Joe asked what I wanted to do today) decided to do some of the hikes that were rated "easy". Two were called Upper and Lower Emerald Pools (and involved a waterfall in the description)... and then there was a more strenuous one that ended at the Virgin River in the Grotto.

Sadly, we got a later start today- so we didn't hit the Visitor Center until 9:30. There was parking (though not in the shade) luckily, and the shuttle wasn't very full at the beginning, so off we went to the Zion Lodge. By then, it was after 10:00, so the heat of the day had already started building... and lots of the trail was in direct sun, though there was some shade.

First we headed toward Lower Emerald Pool (a hike of around half a mile). There were trees, greenery (so not all sand and stones) but an abundance of heat and sun, too. There was lots of whining, too. "It is so hot." "Can't we stop for a minute?" "Do we have to go as fast as yesterday?" (Side note: yesterday, when we got out of the river, we still had the mile Riverwalk to get back to the shuttle. Did I tell you there are no bathrooms out there? All the information said that any human waste needed to be carried out. So- I needed to get to the bathroom and I hustled to do it. Kira kept up- which kind of surprised and impressed me- because she was hot and cranky!) And, yes, all those questions were from Kira.

We ran into a couple and two children (one in a Snugli and the other about 4 years old). They said that the hike to the Upper Emerald Pool was worth it- hot, but worth it. We were going to go anyway, but it was good to hear that someone had thought it worth the trek.

We made it to Upper Emerald Pool- and it was pretty. The waterfall was basically the water that has filtered through the sandstone over months and eventually squeezes out where it can, creating a spring or waterfall. There were some nice drips, though, to catch and rub on hot faces and necks. We stood under it for a while, just enjoying the moisture!

From there, we headed toward Upper Emerald Pool- a more strenuous hike (according to the map information- and definitely true in the heat.

Here we are, just across the gorge from the drips that are a waterfall in the winter. (Love the tripod, by the way- it grips onto things for shots like this one. There is almost always someone willing to take a photo for us, but it is great to be able to do it on our own, too.)

The Upper Emerald Pool was not much to see, really. It was cooler there, and there were squirrels that were begging at your feet, but the steep climb in that heat made it a difficult sell to the girl! There was a pretty awesome cathedral wall behind the pool, though.

 There were tadpoles in the Middle Emerald Pools... all different sizes... Koen said they were probably the tree frog that looks like a toad.

 This was a set of steps that were really cool- and where we decided to take the Kayenta trail back to the Grotto, before catching the shuttle bus for the Zion Lodge and lunch. Notice Kira's happy expression!

 I told her it would be mostly downhill, which it was. It was also partially in the shade, so not as hot in those places.

There were some gorgeous views, prickly pears in bloom, and as I had promised, mostly downhill.            

 Here you can see the valley with the Virgin River meandering through it- hard to believe that it can be so dangerously high when you look at it here!

And at the end, Joe and Koen hit the river just across the road from the Grotto. 

 Lesson learned: when planning a hike in the desert of Zion National Park- GO EARLY!

Zion Narrows- Happy Father's Day!

    Today, we got the kids up at 5:30, hoping to get up to the visitor's center and hit the Narrows by 8:00. As it worked out, we didn't actually get there that early, but we did get parking under a tree (for a bit of relief from the heat of the day) and were on the shuttle by 8:30.

   By the way, both Kira and I had a bit of trepidation about this excursion, but for very different reasons. Kira was concerned that she would be in water that was too deep because of her height. (All the photos of the Narrows, and the video clip that is running on TV for the National
Parks of Utah,  show the water being waist deep; she thinks her waist is too close to the ground for that to be a good idea!) I don't swim, so I was concerned that I would slip on the "slippery bowling ball" river rock that all the details about the river mention and go into the water. Turns out, neither of us had anything to worry about. (I was also thinking about the flash flood issue- but every sign said that there was very little chance of that, so I was reassured!) The water flow, less than 70 cubic feet per second, was listed as ideal, meaning that most crossings would be around knee-deep.

    Once you ride the shuttle bus to the end of the line, the Temple of Sinawava, you have a 1 mile Riverside walk to the access of the Virgin River. Although Kira was not pleased with her walk (swim suits have issues with staying put during anything except swimming), we managed to get there with little complaining.

   After sitting down to swap out our footwear for the rental stuff, we were off.

    The water, which is described as being cold enough to cause hypothermia, was much warmer than the Pacific Ocean. There were no blue legs or toes to be seen! It was mostly a clear aquamarine blue, although when the sand was stirred up, it was a bit latte in color.

   We were not there as early as we had hoped, but the air temps were very pleasant and our rented shoes/neoprene socks and walking sticks made the walk into the river pretty easy; we did lose the advantage of being early and had plenty of company joining us on the walk to the river.

Koen immediately headed off in the center of the river, while Joe was a bit more thoughtful. Kira and I watched Koen take off and people coming out and going in, and went where the water was about mid-shin deep.

Kira and I  had a mutual understanding that our goal was not to get in too deep. I watched other people crossing and judged based on where the water came on them- sometimes there were two people, and one was obviously going into the deeper section, so we knew where NOT to go, which made it all good. Koen and Joe didn't worry about it!

The rocks were round, but not slippery for the most part. There were lots of tippy ones, though, which caused interesting rotations of feet and ankles. Scenery was amazing and people for the most part were friendly and respectful of nature. It was something I will remember. Joe truly enjoyed it all- though he fell a couple of times and banged up a knee and a hand- he went into deep pools, swam a bit, trekked up the center of the increasingly narrow canyon and reveled in it all. It was a super way to spend Father's Day.

Idaho into Utah-Bliss, Idaho isn't (Beware the wind!!)

After much discussion about the route to take- with the GPS telling us one thing and the phone navigation a different thing, we opted to head east on 84 into Salt Lake City and then take I-15 south toward our reserved space at the Zion River Resort. Traffic moved along well for the morning (once we paid an even higher price for gas than prices in Oregon!) and we crossed lots of land.

We were heading over mountains- with the new-ish engine in the truck handling the climbs well- and started seeing signs indicating frequent high winds. We were being buffeted from all sides- trucks whipping past us and wind beating on us. Speed limits in Idaho are 80 for cars and 70 for trucks- and they were being exceeded by all involved... except for us. Joe was keeping us at around 70, with the slow climbs up the steeper mountain passes. (I never realized how mountainous Idaho is- and it seems worse when you can feel your vehicle struggling to pull a travel trailer!).

 I was dinking around with my camera and phone, checking the navigation for mileage (since we turned off the GPS- she kept nagging us to go the way she wanted to go!) We were about 2 miles from Bliss, Idaho. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the awning unroll, the arms come down and things started flying off into traffic!

 "Joe! There went the awning!"

 In the time it took to slow the rig down and stop on the shoulder, we were about a football field away from where the awning barrel was laying in the middle of the highway. I took off running up the shoulder, hoping (against hope) that the barrel was undamaged (so we could have it reinstalled). With trucks hauling down the hill at 80 some miles an hour, swerving onto the shoulder to avoid the barrel, it was a bit hairy, but I managed to do one of those tennis ball removal moves- grab the barrel and whip across to the median. Luckily, without the awning (which I could see flapping in the high wind on the travel trailer) it was light enough to lift easily. (Joe said later that I freaked him out doing that... but I was watching for how long it took the trucks to get down the hill and waited until there were none in view before I did it.)

 The barrel was smashed at one end- so much for reinstallation hopes. One of the arms was up the highway (I had seen it fly off) and I started off to look for it, after I returned to the shoulder with the cylinder, until Joe and Koen caught up with me to ask what I was doing. They took over looking for the arm, but it had vanished with the wind.

 Our next step was to remove the awning from the trailer. The cylinder was beyond repair, but we did take the torsion springs out of it. The one arm and the interior of the other arm, we removed and kept. The saddest part of the whole thing? We JUST bought and installed this brand new awning- we hadn't even extended it full length or used it even once. SIGH.

 So, on we went. That was a good hour of our time, trying to reclaim as much of the awning disaster as we could. Not too happy to be heading for the desert and temps in the 100 degrees with no shade, but at least no one was hurt and the trailer was undamaged. Finally got across Idaho and into Utah.

We followed 84 and turned toward Ogden and Salt Lake City. Now, headed south, sun beating on my arm (no air conditioning as the truck was heating plenty in the 96-99 degrees on steep climbs), we had to figure out a place to stay the night. (I know- we have a travel trailer and if we had to do it, we could just stay in a Walmart parking lot... but I like to have a place with actual electricity and water, not to mention the ability to shower!)

 I called the KOA in Beaver, Utah, and they had a space. They also had a pool, which, with the temps as high as they were, was a decided advantage. They said that they usually closed the pool at 8:00, but if there were lots of people, they would probably stay open until 9:00. Our GPS, which finally agreed to take the route we were taking, said we would be getting in around 7:00. Figuring an hour for gas/restroom breaks, that would put us at 8:00- so "probably" wasn't great. One night stays, by the way, at a KOA, are non-refundable. If you can't make it, too bad! You still pay for the space. Next time- won't okay it until we know for sure we have plenty of time to get into the pool- and no "probably" the pool will be open.

 With the awning delay, we were now going to be hitting Salt Lake City at around 4:00. We stopped for gas, ate lunch and then headed into the insanity that is rush hour traffic in Salt Lake City (with road construction and accidents to slow things even more!) Again, we had to deal with people thinking that we could stop easily- filling in our cushion of space for the stop and go traffic. I know, people don't want to follow a trailer. I totally get that. What I don't get is the lack of understanding that a truck hauling a trailer can't stop much faster than an 18 wheeler. (Of course, this is Idaho and people seem to all have the same lack of driver training that we have experienced with that licensing area who drive in Oregon.)

 Finally, we made it through the crush of traffic. The long sit in traffic had cost us 3/4 of a tank of gas. Filling up before we got too far south seemed like a grand idea, so we did. (It was a good thing, too, since there are SOOO many steep climbs to get over on the way to Zion!) We (actually Joe) spoke with a different KOA (a bit less of a drive than Beaver) so we would be sure to have pool time. They had a space, but said we would have to cancel at the other KOA- apparently they don't talk to each other or work together! Nope- there would be no cancellation, even if we didn't make it out of the traffic on time. No time was too late; bummer for the possibility of stopping earlier and getting into a pool that actually didn't close until 9:00!

 The closer we got to Beaver, and the more climbs we hit, the less time we would have in the pool. Finally, at about 7:50, I called to see about the pool being open after 8:00 and it was no longer "probably". Whew! Making it to Beaver on our second day also meant that we would only have about 2 hours of driving to get to our first real stop at Zion River Resort, so we would be able to take our time in the morning- have coffee, make pancakes (chocolate chip!), shower and then head south.


Koen and Kira were fascinated by a turtle getting exercised at the dog walk part of the KOA.
Apparently, the owner usually has it turtle-sat, but had to bring it along at the last minute.

From Oregon to Idaho June 2015

On the road by 10:00 AM- the time for which we were aiming! Traffic getting to HWY 22 wasn't bad, though we missed our turn and had to turn around. Interesting how your brain has you go the way you last went somewhere, even if that isn't where you want to go this time. :-) We opted to take the southern route, since Cabbage Hill has a reputation for burning up rigs pulling travel trailers. Also, we didn't want to be the vehicle that was slowing everyone else down- since we have followed those before and it isn't any fun! Not too much traffic to get out of Salem; a few idiots that seem to think a truck pulling a travel trailer can stop on a dime- but pretty much normal.

Heading into central Oregon, through Bend (with a stop at REI for a new floor tire pump for the bicycles) and into the great sagebrush covered desert. We stopped at the gas station/market in Riley to use our trailer for a rest area and headed on toward Burns. About 9 miles out, just before the rest area, we were stopped by a long line of cars/trucks/motorcycles.

There had been an accident (a ghastly one with a motorcycle hitting a 3 quarter ton pickup head on) so there we were. There really isn't any way out of that area except that highway. They said it could be as long as 3 hours. (I was worrying about all of our food in the fridge.) So we sat for an hour- cars turning around and heading back west; hoping to go around, I guess. Finally, Joe had a section of road next to a gravel driveway into the sagebrush. He called the market at Riley to ask if there was any other way east. The Riley guy was very helpful. Apparently, the gravel drive (more like two tire paths) was into BLM land and it could be taken to get around the section of the highway that was blocked, if we were willing to bounce along for about 5 miles. With the other choice being sit still for 3 to 5 hours, we pulled into the driveway and undid the barbed wire "gate". There was a woman with a horse in a trailer that said if we went, she would follow us, so at least we would have company out in the middle of nothing. Luckily, before we got started, the incident guy (who was setting out signs indicating the accident ahead) said that it might only be a couple of minutes before the eastbound traffic could move. So, Joe backed out onto the highway again just in time to slowly pass the accident site. (It was horrible. They had to wait for the coroner to get there from Burns before they could reopen the westbound lanes. Our prayers to the person who lost a life and the pickup driver involved.) So we finally got into Burns and got gas and food, and had time to take a photo of a deer who was waiting out the heat under a tree before heading on east.

Our goal was a small RV park not too far into Idaho. We had called ahead and reserved the last spot for the night. The nice lady that answered the phone was very cheerful. I called when we heard that we would be delayed and she said it would be okay (after commenting that we would have to wait out in the heat!) for us to get in that night- however late it was. I had completely forgotten the time difference- so we were an hour later than I told her we would be- but she was there, all cheerful, as her husband directed some late comers to an adjacent parking area and came to direct us to our spot. (They had lovely showers- hot and private!) We got up the next morning (at 5:30) and were on the road by 8:30, having filled the gas tank for the second leg of our excursion.