Friday, May 30

We departed Bryce this morning. I opted to go around to the south rather than go through Zion or take the northern route. (One way or another we had to get to the western side of Zion because that is the way home!) The southern route looped down through Arizona and we stopped to see Pipe Springs National Monument on the way. It is a natural spring the Paiute Indians used for years – until the white man arrived. Mormon settlers built a “fort” over it, the US government tried to regulate the land and it was all a big mess. Anyway, it is in a Paiute reservation now.

We are in Hurricane, Utah now at Willowwind RV Park. Tomorrow it is Zion!

I think the wi-fi connection is going to be slow so I posted the last several days in segments. And not too much for each day. Enjoy.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Thursday was an overcast day. I think that made for better pictures – it certainly was cooler than it could have been. We drove through the Park rather than take the shuttle. Parking was only a problem in one spot. We drove to the end of the road – about 17 miles. The best views are near the beginning. At the end of the road you can see some odd rock formations but it is mostly views of the distance.

Bryce is awesome. I’ll simply post some pictures. You can ogle them and wish you were there. Or maybe you have been.

See those people hiking down there? See the trails winding along way in the distance? I could have done that. Only problem is I would have had to hike back UP. It seems the escalator wasn’t working that day.

Beauty beyond imagination. And to top the day I went to a rodeo. It was very “small town” but kind of fun.

Wednesday, May 28

Our trip to Bryce National Park was a lot of up and down. We topped one summit at 9,600 feet but it was an easy climb. We started from a high elevation but I don’t know what it was.

On the way we stopped at Anasazi State Park. Anasazi is a name for the people who lived in this area from about 100 AD to 1200 AD. This is a Navajo name for them. They are also known by other names. This is one of their houses. They also had baked earth houses above ground.

We arrived at Ruby’s Inn RV Park late in the day. It is close to the visitor’s center so I drove up to get some literature and we planned for the next day.

Tuesday, May 27

I may be giving you more information than you want to know but part of the reason for this blog is for my own record.

We left Sliprock and Moab about 9:30 Tuesday morning. It was a great week. The drive to Capitol Reef National Park was fairly quick and uneventful. The Park Ranger admitted that Capitol Reef is the most inaccessible of the National Parks. A 4-wheel drive is necessary to see very much of it. We drove to the end of the road (about 12 miles) and saw steep cliffs and some interesting shapes.

We found a camping spot in Fruita Campground near the visitor’s center. The campground is located in an area that was settled by early Mormon pioneers. They planted lots of fruit trees (hence the name) and developed a small community there. This has been my favorite camping spot so far. No hookups but only $5 for us Senior Citizens.

John Wesley Powell mapped this whole region in the middle of the 1800s. He referred to the canyons, arches, towers, and ridges as a “most improbable landscape.” Yes, it is.

Sunday, May 25

Sunday was rainy until early afternoon. We attended worship at a Community Church in Moab. As visitors they gave us metal water bottles even though they knew we were from out of town. Kind of special.

Later in the day the rain stopped and we did one last thing in Arches. I hiked most of Park Avenue, so called because the rocks on the sides look like big buildings.

Speaking of the rain… It really didn’t effect us much. The dirt in Slickrock RV Park was more like sand so it dried out quickly.

Saturday and Monday, May 24 & 26

Canyonlands National Park is divided into three areas. One is the Maze which is on the west side of the Colorado River and accessible only by 4x4 or hiking. The other two areas are south and north of Moab. We went to the southern one – Needles – on Saturday. It was a 140 mile trip round trip. I’m not very impressed. To see very much you have to hike quite a ways.

Newspaper Rock was before entering the park. Lots of petrographs left by very early peoples. No one knows why or what they mean.

Monday we went to the north part of Canyonlands called Island in the Sky. Only about 70 miles round trip. More impressive.

About 10 miles from this park is Dead Horse Point State Park. We were told it was very impressive at sundown so we stayed. Wow!

Yes, that is the Colorado River winding around down there.

 

Today is Thursday

We are in Bryce National Park – actually at an RV Park just before the Park. We have been Wi-Fi deprived and the upload here is very poor so I am not going to put much on.

We left Moab Tuesday morning and drove to Capitol Reef National Park. We stayed in the Fruita Campground for five bucks. Wednesday we drove here, toured the Park today and tomorrow we leave for Zion.

I’ll think my connection will be better there and I’ll post some pictures.

Blessings.

The Upper End of Arches

Friday we slept in and I recovered from my big day. Then it was do a little grocery shopping and fill the truck with diesel ($3.99 a gallon).

After lunch we went to the far end of the road in Arches and worked our way back. Our first stop was hiking to see three different arches.

Joyce even went part of the way.

Tunnel Arch

I was surprised how many people were on the trails. It was like walking in the mall! I estimated there were 250-300 cars in the two parking lots.

This is Pine Tree Arch.

This is the one I really wanted to see – Landscape Arch. In 1991 a portion on the right side fell. Now they won’t allow anyone to go under it. It is the longest arch in the world. By the way, it found out that to be called an arch 1) light has to shine through it, 2) it has to be at least 3 feet by 3 feet, and 3) it has to be naturally made. There are over 2,000 arches in Arches National Park – and more outside the Park.

Just to prove I was there. I also have a selfie.

Skyline Arch

Sand Dune Arch

The way in and out to see Sand Dune.

Broken Arch. This was as close as I was going to get. By this time I was tired.

Thunder and lightening was predicted for Friday and Saturday. As we were completing our day the storm began to move in.

Before too long there was lightening in the distance. I would have loved to capture some with my camera but that was impossible. On our way out of the park we were in the middle of it – hard rain and lightening. Back at the RV Park it HAD rained but had stopped by the time we got there. The “dirt” around here is not too bad after a rain – just don’t step in a MUD puddle.

And that completed our Friday – back to the RV about 6:00. Tomorrow will be… well, we’ll see.

Blessings.

A Exciting Day

Thursday was a exciting day for me, laundry day for Joyce. Since she didn’t want to do these things she was okay with staying behind and taking care of some household chores.

First off, I went on a half-day 4x4 offroad excursion – with Melissa and Old Blue. Here they are.

There were two other people with us – supposed to be 2 more but they didn’t show.

We went to part of Arches National Park that 98% of the people never see. The reason is the road getting there. Our main destination was Tower Arch. After we turned off the paved road it wasn’t too long before this road…

…became this road…

…and this road…

…and this road…

You get the idea. I had lots of fun letting another driver bounce someone else’s car over huge boulders. We never bottomed out but the tail did drag a few times. An interesting side note: this is a 2000 Ford Excursion with 1,000 miles less than my 2000 Ford F250 – 169,000 to 170,000.

This is what we went to see – along with too many other odd shaped rocks to post their pictures here. Tower Arch. The arch is in the middle of the picture with the tower behind it.

These are the March Men.

And simply wild back country. God’s creation is so varied and interesting.

After the 4x4 trip I was dropped off for a raft trip down the Colorado River.

To raft the Colorado has always been a dream. Now understand, this was NOT the Grand Canyon or a lot of big rapids. It was a half day with a couple class II rapids, but it was the Colorado. We were in an oar boat (meaning our guide rowed, we road). But our guide managed to make it interesting. As we approached the first rapids I decided to take some pictures. After all, what could go wrong? I grabbed the safety rope with one hand, my camera in the other and knelt on the bottom of the boat so I wouldn’t be thrown out. Here is the first picture I took.

Just to my left was a big roller (wave) that was bigger than the guide anticipated (maybe 4-5 feet high). We hit it head on. The front of the raft went up with water pouring over everyone including me (and I was in the back). If I was a professional photographer I probably would have snapped a couple pictures of the deluge coming at me. But me being me, I hung on tight and wondered if were going to flip. We did not flip the raft but we did flip a lady out. She hung onto the safety rope and the guide hauled her back in. Everyone was throughly soaked including me. My camera was wet so I didn’t try to take any more pictures until we stopped for lunch. But it seemed to be okay. Here is lunch set out on a rocky beach. Joyce will be happy to show you the rock I took back to her.

A father and son were along on inflatable kayaks (they had a different name for them but I don’t remember it).

I’m writing this Friday but it won’t get posted until Saturday morning.

Blessings.

If It’s Moab It Must Be The Arches

Our journey Tuesday from Vernal to Moab was uneventful (that’s good. “Events” usually mean trouble). We backtracked west about 50 miles and then turned south. The road slowly climbed up a valley, then out of the valley and over the top – 9,114 feet. It was a gradual climb and no problem. It was quite windy around Green River, Utah but we did okay. Our camp here is definitely not a Resort. Most of the RV spots and the road or either gravel or dirt. It will be interesting to see what happens if (when) it rains. But it is okay. We are comfy and warm. Yes, warm – err, how about hot. It is in the 80s but this morning was overcast until about noon as you will see from the pictures. It makes for a more comfortable day but doesn’t give good light for pictures. But with my cheapy camera it probably doesn’t matter.

So let’s get to the pictures. The first thing we did today was Arches National Park. I wish I could post ALL the pictures. What a remarkable place. Those of you who have been here know what I mean. It is like a giant rock pile with all kinds of interesting shapes. So here are some of them.

Balanced Rock from far and near.

North and South Window Arch. And the walkway up to it. The way back – if one chooses to take it and I did – is more rustic. And more fun. It goes around behind the arches.

One of the tourists down by the Wolfe Cabin. He settled here in the 1800s with his son, built a corral, a cabin, a dam on Salt Creek, and eked out a living raising a few cattle and food to eat. Why would someone settle here? Beats me.

This is Delicate Arch – from a distance. It is the one on some of the Utah auto license plates. A personal note to my nephew, Roy. I did not walk up there. I watched the little dots moving up the slickrock and opted for the long distance view. You are a better man than I!

The Fiery Furnace. You can hike in here with a permit or go with a park ranger if you make reservations looooong in advance. You can, not me.

The flowers were in bloom. I think these are Prince’s Plume.

We will see some more of Arches later. Thursday will be a new experience. I may not get this posted until Thursday because I have to go the office to get internet.

Blessings.

Vernal–Walking with the Dinosaurs

This is still a Utah adventure but the title is getting boring so I’ll drop it. We arrived in Vernal Saturday afternoon. Our campsite is right in town. Not nearly as nice as the one on Heber but it serves the purpose, is quiet, and is convenient to what we want to do.

First we went to the Utah Field House of Natural History. They have a lot of reconstructed dinosaurs and loads of information about all the periods and ages and so on. If I was a student of these things it would all have been very interesting. But as it was, it made a good introduction to the rest of the day.

Things like this greeted you as you entered. Notice the tail way back there to the right.

 

Things like this greeted you outdoors. These are three of the wild creatures they managed to capture.

Then it was off to see the bones. This is (actually, was) the site of an actual archeological dig. They call this the Wall of Bones.

Up close they look like this. There are hundreds and hundreds of these on the rock face.

Up even closer they look like this

All this is housed in this building. Because of limited parking, they transport you up in a shuttle.

An interested side note is that Joyce remembers stopping at a place like when she was a little girl traveling with her family from Oregon to visit relatives in Nebraska. Then it was a pole barn and they were actually digging out bones. A guide told us it was probably this place.

So why are all these bones here? According to legend – no, I mean according to the scientists, this was once laying flat. It was a stream bed where animals would go to drink. But a drought came and the stream dried up. The animals died, decayed and left their bones. Eventually the stream began to flow again and the current scattered their bones. There are no complete skeletons here. In some places you can see some leg bones almost connected to each other, or several sections of vertebrae together. There are so many bones in this whole area they decided to leave these for people to see – and none of them are unique.

The rocks are so different around here they are hard to describe. A picture will have to do. At the right of this picture is the Green River (yes, it is brown). This is a take-out point for rafters.

I am going to  break this post into two because I’m afraid it won’t upload if I put too much into it. So keep reading. The adventure continues.