Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

Today’s adventure is a hike up The Narrows, perhaps the most famous trail in Zion. There are only a couple of cars lined up at the gate so we are quickly in, parked, and on the shuttle. Today we ride to the last stop on the line, Mt. Sinawava, and walk up the paved Riverside Walk.

   
    
 

We wade into the river and make our way up the canyon. There is no trail, we are simply working up the Virgin River – alternating between crossing exposed rock beds, hopping across boulders, or wading through the water. We’ve paid extra attention to the weather – with the 1,000′ canyon walls on either side there is nowhere to go but up or downstream and any bit of rain can bring about a flash flood.

   
  

We pass by Orderville Canyon and find a downed log on a sandbar. What a fabulous place for lunch! The canyon alternates between spectacular cliff walls and vertical gardens growing on the stone. The river provides water for the whole valley, turning this area from a desert to a veritable Garden of Eden.

      

After a couple more miles we stop for a snack and decide to head back. On the way we detour into Orderville Canyon, scrambling up a short waterfall and enjoying a smaller, less traveled canyon. A few people we pass describe it as a long obstacle course. Thus far we’ve stayed mostly dry and hope to remain so. When it becomes inevitable that we will get wet it’s time to turn back and head on down.

We try to rinse off the bulk of the sand from our shoes before leaving the river and returning to the Riverside Walk. Along the Walk we pass a woman with her easel set up, painting the river.

  

Back at home we shake our boots out and I put them up on the roof, hoping they will catch more wind and sun there and dry out faster.

We eat and read before bed.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

Though it was warm when we went to bed, the night cooled off and we both slept well (and late, to make up for our night at Walmart) and the morning temperature was perfectly comfortable. We enjoyed breakfast then hopped on the bike and headed into the park. We found a spot at the Visitors Center and grabbed a seat on the shuttle.

After a few minutes we arrived at The Grotto, our stop. One last water and bathroom stop and then we headed on up to Angels Landing. A couple miles of switch backs (including “Walters Wiggles”) lead up to a stone ridgeline that juts out for half a mile into the canyon. The rock varies beteen 4-20′ wide with sheer 1,000′ drops on either side for that last half mile. There are chains bolted to the stone as handholds.

The trail itself was not too challenging, except for the number of people trying to pass through. Lots of mini-breaks so that one-way traffic could pass at wide spots.

   

        
    
 

We ate lunch up on the Landing, taking in the view. It’s like a natural Christmas! Green trees cover the canyon floor and dot the red stone cliffs that rise 1-2,000 feet, with a sandy ribbon of the Virgin river winding through the trees. Almost a surreal view – beautiful and majestic.

   
    
    
    
   

Eventually we head back down, top off our water bottles, and hike up to visit the Emerald Pools. We check out all three: the Upper, Middle, and Lower. The Upper is our favorite, a garden of Eden tucked in at the foot of a cliff, surrounded by fallen boulders and lush trees.

   
    
    

    
 

Continuing on down the trail we return to the Lodge and catch a shuttle back to the Visitors Center. We are really enjoying the shuttles, though we didn’t expect to – they’re readily available with short wait times. More parks should employ them.

  

We hop back on the bike and head home, exploring a bit further up the road we’re parked on. There is a decent amount of traffic passing by us, so there must be great hiking, biking, or something up there, though we didn’t go far enough to find out what it is.

After supper we read until bed time.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

After a lazy breakfast we start calling around. No one seems to have either a tire or tube in stock, so we set our sights on the next town, Washington, UT. A shop there does have some tires available and can fit us in after lunch. We head down, drop off the bike, and eat lunch.

Since we’ve got a few hours we head over to a nearby mall to pass time. End up in the bookstore, reading and catching up on journaling. Once they call to tell us the bike is ready we wrap up and head on back. I settle the bill, go for a test ride and we’re on our way to finish errands. We fill up gas, drop off the used oil at AutoZone (that we’ve been carrying around for a month) and drop off our donations bag at Deseret Industries (ie: LDS Goodwill). Then a quick stop at Home Depot for a few bolts for one last project and we’re off to Zion!

  

It’s been a full day. We pass through one small town after another. How unexpected! Our previous parks have  been off on their own in the wild. We turn around just before the park entrance and backtrack to a gravel road that the GPS says heads up into BLM land. A mile walk to check it out leads us to a camping spot just next to the road, tucked into a curve and backed by cliffs. We drive up, settle in, and relax for the evening.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

After a quick meal, cooked on the JetBoil, we head in to town and load up the motorcycle and head to Home Depot in Cedar City. Along the way Ashley reads through our journal entries, approving and editing. We have to slow down for a herd of sheep crossing the road, that’s not a sight we expected!

  

Arriving at the Depot we buy tubing, fittings, and tools to replace the whole leaking section. How frustrating, having to buy yet another tubing cutter and flaring tool – I can add them to my collection back in KY eventually.

It ends up that I don’t need any of the parts, as there is enough slack that I can cut off the end and reflare it and still reattach everything. Horray! We can return half of what we bought!

There’s definitely something to be said for being able to do projects in the store’s parking lot. I can run in and easily pick up the little pieces that are inevitably forgotten and then return un-used items after wrapping up.

Reassembled, we smell no propane and head to a nearby coffee shop to pass time and use some wifi. Ashley finishes proofing our journal entries and I get them uploaded. Nothing to do the rest of the day (we’ve made a list of places to call in the morning) so we’re pretty comfortable people-watching at the shop.

Eventually we head back – still no propane smell. Huzzah! Only cost about $30 to fix and now we have the tools to do a complete replacement of a section down the road if we ever have to.

  

We move over to Walmart for the night and go in to pick up a few items for a decadent supper – we feel like some comfort food has been earned. Creamy cajun chicken over bowtie pasta with a crusty round bread loaf – delicious and filling!

I get some emails drafted up for tomorrow and we decide we’re craving dessert. The custom, make-as-you-watch ice cream shop across the street is closed so back into Walmart we head, emerging with cheesecake. Oh so tasty!

Thoroughly full, we start winding down for the day. Ashley finally catches her mom on the phone and they chat for a bit. We pull the blinds back and watch the lunar eclipse out our window – not quite the darkest-sky-in-the-US over Bryce Canyon we had planned on, but still quite a cool sight to watch.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

After breakfast and last long showers we prepare to head back into the woods for the weekend. I lead on the motorcycle and Ashley follows in the RV. She parks at the entrance to the park while I head down the gravel road. The first campsite is 0.2 miles away and I plan to park and walk back to drive in our home. It’s occupied, so I head back and leave the bike at the entrance. We drive 1.1 miles back and set up home. Argh, the propane smell seems to be back! We walk to the bike, ready to head in and hike. Alas! Our back tire is flat.

We head in to town and stop at the service station to air up, but it doesn’t hold. They are out of tubes and don’t carry bike tires but recommend the closest Harley-Davidson shop, a couple hours away.

I was pretty annoyed about the tire and LP and snapped at Ashley. She remains mad at me until supper. We hike separately most of the day. 

We hike the Figure-8, two loop trails that are connected by a little trail. As usual, my description won’t do the views justice. Though a couple of the hills were steep they were more than worth traversing! Every turn brought a more spectacular view than the last, whether the trail went over, around, or through a hill!

   
    
    
 

Wrapping up our hike we catch the shuttle back to the motorcycle to grab our helmets and then, since the shuttle can’t make unscheduled stops, walk back home.

   
    
    
   

Leaking propane, flat tire, and everywhere is closed until Monday morning. We plan for tomorrow – about an hour away is a Home Depot in Cedar City, along with a couple of bike shops. It’s on the way to Zion National Park, our next stop, we can fix the propane there at the Depot and stay overnight nearby till the shops open on Monday and call around to find our best option for a new tire. Sounds like a plan.

   
   

With signal available I fix the bug on our website and finally get all of our journal entries from the last month or so ready for Ashley to edit during the drive tomorrow.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

I crawl under and through the RV, tracking down the propane lines and doing sniff tests to narrow down leak options. Our primary suspect is the joint by the new fridge and, using a soap solution, find a slow leak there. I ride over to the Ace Hardware in the next town and pick up some gasoline specific teflon tape to help seal the threads. Hopefully the fix will be that simple (and cheap!)

It appears to be a quick fix! We hop on the motorcycle and head out to find a campsite in the forest that backs up to the national park. There are a handful of good options less than a mile off the road so we feel confident in our chances of finding a spot tomorrow morning.

On down we go, into the park and down the scenic drive. Following our guidebook’s advice we head straight to the end of the road and check out the sights there – quite worth the trip to see! The rock towers (hoodoos) are fascinating and their colors are magnificent!

   
    
 

Working our way back toward the entrance we now stop at every overlook we pass, thoroughly enjoying the views!

After an enjoyable and productive day we head to bed to enjoy a movie before bed time. Ahhh… unlimited water and electricity!

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

We wake early and head in to the park for a quick visit to the visitors center for post cards and then to an orchard for fresh apples. Turkeys wander around, avoiding us as they hunt for food. We sample a few and fill our bag before heading home.

  

At home we finish loading and head out, bound for Bryce Canyon. We stop for lunch at a roadside pull-off and enjoy a private view of yellow flowers in a field framed by mountains. The 25 mph speed limit makes for slow going but we reach the town of Bryce in the early afternoon.

  

We look for a campsite and settle on paying for a spot so we can empty and fill our tanks while enjoying the electricity. Also, it’s past time for laundry so we can get that done.

Since we’ve paid and also haven’t taken a break in at least a week we opt to stay home instead of going for a hike. Laundry, cleaning, and food prep ensue. Black beans soak, cold brew coffee is prepped, and energy balls are mixed up. We lavish in the available cell signal and catch up on some digital chores.

The downer for the day is the noticed smell of propane. Ashley looks up options. Tomorrow we’ll crawl under the RV and see if we can find a cracked or loose fitting that can be replaced from the nearby hardware store.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

Woke up early and hit the road. We’re at the visitors center just a few minutes later, reading about the park, checking out the 3D overview model of the reef, and picking up some maps. Just down the road we pass some U-Pick orchards – free if you pick and eat among the trees – so we stop and sample an apple each before heading on to the trail head for the Hickman Bridge, Rim Overlook, and Navajo Knobs trails.

   
    

What amazing scenery! It definitely feels like we’re in the west now – brownish grasses, yellow and red cliffs, even cacti! The bluffs, hills, and cliffs are all amazing, each one different than the last. We pause and take in Hickman Bridge, head on to the Rim Overlook, and then on to Navajo Knobs. It’s a tiring trail, more uphill than we expected, but the view is more than worth it! 360 degree overview of the canyon and mountains from up on our rocky perch. We have it all to ourselves (passed one couple heading down as we went up) and enjoy a midday snack while there.

   
    
 

Eventually we head back down, passing at least four more couples on their way up. We beat the rush and the worst of the heat. So glad we didn’t come during the summer – it’s hot enough now!

Back to a nearby picnic area for lunch and then a stroll through an orchard to pick some fruit for a fresh dessert. Delicious!

   
 

There is one more hike that we really want to do and it’s through a canyon so we hope it will be shaded. We head down to the “Grand Wash” and hike up the dry creek bed. No rain in at least a week and no chance today – it’s still a bit intimidating to walk through a canyon carved by water after reading about flash floods in so many western novels.

   
 

Only part of the trail is in shade, which is a comfortable temperature. The rest is pretty warm. It’s very humbling to walk down a narrow canyon, with stone walls looming a few hundred feet on either side of us – we are very small, really. The walls have pock marks, water streaks, undercuts, and many other fascinating features.

   
 

At the other end of the trail we debate taking a side trip to visit Cassidy Arch (an extra 3 miles) but decide that would be too far for today. The Grand Wash is 2.2 miles each way and it was 4.8 miles each way out to Navajo Knobs – that’s a healthy 14 miles, plus detours and orchard trips. So we head on back, exploring the canyon a bit more closely now that the sun is at our backs.

   
 

At the motorcycle we head a bit down the road to see the petroglyphs – carved into the stone walls by the Fremont culture (ancient Hopi Indians) in 1300ish. Ancient graffiti. 🙂

   
 

Finally we head down the scenic drive – a 10 mile curvy road that runs down the valley paralleling the Waterpocket Fold. Beautiful stone structures jut up into the sky.

 

Tired and hungry we head home for supper. The visitors center is closed and we don’t have much cash to use for fresh fruit (it’s $1 a lb if you take it out of the orchard). So we will return and pick in the morning.

  

Porkchops, onions and mushrooms, and potatoes are grilled and then we eat on the roof to enjoy another beautiful sunset.

  

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

A travel day, we wake and eat breakfast and prepare to hit the road. Our little turkey flock wanders through as we are doing so. We disturb them as we pull around to hook up the trailer.

I drive to the end of the gravel road and then Ashley takes over. She covers most of the day on into Utah, up and down mountains and through a couple of towns. We fill gas, stop at Walmart and the Family Dollar and eventually at a ranger station. The ranger tells us of a common dispersed caming spot – their map is huge and also includes BLM lands – it should help guide us for the next week or so.

    

Ashley turns over the keys. I was able to catch up on journaling and typing then do some reading but I’m a better driver than passenger (while Ash prefers to passenge) and we head on. I miss the turn so we circle around in the park entrance and join the dozen others in the camping area. We set up and enjoy supper outside – in shorts!

    

The red mountains and bluffs have been gorgeous and we’re enthralled by the landscapes. We climb up on the roof to enjoy our tea and watch the sunset. Spectacular view!

  
 

Plan for tomorrow and a bit of reading before bed.

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

We sleep till nearly 7, missing the sunrise. Over breakfast we watch a jackrabbit (they’re fast!) and a flock of five turkeys wander through our campsite. We gear up and hop on the motorcycle to head back to the trailhead. Along the way 3 pronghorn run across the road in front of us and through the field.

Today we’re going to summit the mountain – highest in the Snake Mountain Range. From the town of Baker (5,317 ft) to the top of Wheeler Peak (13,063) we will be gaining 7,746 feet – 3,177 of which will be on foot. We’re pretty sure that’s a dual personal record – the highest we’ve been and the greatest elevation gain in a single day.

We start at the same trail head as yesterday but quickly venture on to a new trail. It soon leads us out of the trees – the trail is a gravel path, or a rocky path through the giant pile of rocks that comprise the mountain. The further we go the steeper the trail grows – challenge increased by loose gravel underfoot.

    

Ahead we see ravens, must be more than 100. Eventually we end up hiking above them. While at a sitting break a flock of smaller birds whip by us. A few moments later two birds chase a larger one away, they sound like a jet flying by – they’re moving so fast and pushing the air around so quickly!

Along the trail are stone walls – crescent wind blocks. Patches of plants sprout between the rocks. Eventually we spot clumps of snow. I throw a snowball at Ashley. 🙂

  

Within feet of the summit we stop to take in the view. Craggy rock outcroppings and stacks jut out from the mountainside with the valley below and more mountains beyond as a backdrop.

  

Continuing on to the summit we find two more stone shelters. The first has a mailbox, with flag up, that is filled with notebooks and hikers’ sign-ins. Unexpected and fun to read. We add our visit to the list.

  

We move on to the highest point for lunch, enjoying the view. I find signal and send out a quick photo email from the top of the mountain.

    

Finished eating we walk across the ridge to look down into the valley we visited yesterday – overlooking Rock Glacier from above.

      

Time to head down, we resume hiking – taking care how we place our feet. Good thing there aren’t bears in the area as we’re breathing too hard to talk much and watching our feet too intently to look around often. It’s wierd without our bear spray or signs warning of imminent danger. Good, but something we have to readjust to.

      

Back on the motorcycle we head down the mountains. On the way I recall the Million Dollar Homepage and wonder if we can do something similar with the RV. While stopping for gas I look it up to refresh my memory. I mention it to Ash at home and she likes the idea. Worth a try, at least!

Fish for supper, with spinach and squash. Pretty tasty! We’re both tired – hiking, elevation change, and sun have worn us out. As it darkens we head back to the picnic table to stargaze more before heading to bed.