We're finally getting back into the swing of things since getting back from vacation. My long to-do list is shrinking. After being gone for 8 days, it was a bit daunting to come back to piles of laundry and mail, not to mention my work at the office. When we drove in the driveway, our yard looked like a jungle and the bushes had become quite bushy. There is still lots to do, but we're making progress.
We left for vacation on Monday, May 2, taking pretty much all day to fly from Philadelphia to Las Vegas, then drive the rental car to our first national park at Springdale, Utah. It was dark when we got to our hotel, but in the morning when we looked out our window, this is the scene that greeted us:
This is Zion National Park. No one is allowed to drive in the park because of pollution and for ecological reasons, but shuttle buses are available at the Visitor Center and they run quite frequently. So we took a bus up into the canyon that follows the Virgin River. There are lots of stops along the way and we got out at one that looked interesting, but it was very cold and windy, so we decided to leave, do something else and come back in the afternoon.
We drove up to the northern end of Zion to the Kolob Canyons. There was a trail there that we found, hiked in about 1/2 mile, then back out. It was at 6,080 feet in elevation so we were gasping for breath. We're not used to that kind of hiking, being from NJ where we always hike on even ground at sea level!
By now it was warming up so we drove back down to our motel, rested a bit, then resumed our exploring back on the shuttle bus. The scenery is amazing with high canyon walls on either side of the Virgin River. The cliffs and rock formations are quite awe inspiring with such names as: The Towers of the Virgin, Altar of Sacrifice, Court of the Patriarchs, The Great White Throne, Angels Landing.
We stopped at 2 places to hike: The Grotto - a 2 mile hike on the Emerald Pools Trail and The Temple of Sinawava, another 2 mile hike along the river. The Emerald Pools Hike was somewhat strenuous, especially since it was up and down. The hike later along the river was easier and more level because it followed the river. It was also easier because it was paved (handicap accessible).
Pictures of Zion National Park
Wherever there's water, Andy has to test the temperature. And this time, he had a good excuse because of his sore foot. He said it was freezing. I took his word for it.
After our breakfast on Wednesday morning, we drove on out to Bryce Canyon National Park. The whole trip was scenic with red rock formations and sandstone rocks.
Pictures along the way:
We got to Bryce Canyon fairly early, then spent the day driving to all the interesting points in the park. We'd get out at each scenic overlook, take pictures and do a little hiking. We didn't really do any long hikes this day - we were a little stiff and sore from the day before.
At Zion the cliffs and rocks were enormous as we looked up at them from the canyon floor. At Bryce we were up on a plateau looking down on the rock formations in the canyon. Being so high made it difficult to do anything very strenuous. Most of the places we stopped to look were well over 8,000 feet in elevation and the highest was 9,115 feet! It was hard to catch enough breath and our bodies felt like lead!
The weather was cool. We saw quite a bit of snow in the highest places, but the roads and trails were all clear.
Pictures of Bryce National Park:
On Thursday, we drove scenic route 12 east from Bryce Canyon to Torrey, Utah, making some stops along the way. One of those was at Mossy Cave and waterfall. It was a fairly easy hike along red rocks and pines that led to a cave and waterfall. One hundred years ago, men had dug twelve miles (all by hand) to allow water to provide for the town of Tropic, Utah.
The other place we stopped was at the Kodachrome Basin State Park. We had to take a dirt road back to see Chimney Rock, then another dirt road to a hiking trail. That trail was a very nice hike - 1.7 miles - that looped, going by Shakespeare Arch, a large natural arch. This trail also gave "magnificent views of the Grand Staircase - Esacalante National Monument, which surrounds the park." (from the park literature)
My calves were really sore from all the hiking we'd done in the last several days, but it was good to get out and get the exercise. The weather was so nice: the sky was brilliantly blue, the air was cool and the sun was warm.
On the way to our hotel, the road wound around rock formations of all colors, ascended high mountains and descended again. At the top of one mountain, a sign said we were at 9,000 feet. The vistas from up there were so gorgeous. There was still quite a bit of snow in spots. Some of the descents had signs saying it was a 10% down grade!
After breakfast on Friday morning, we drove to Capitol Reef National Park. On the way we stopped at a hike called Hickman's Bridge. The sign said 1.7 miles one way, so we did it. It was a moderate hike with ups and downs that took us past incredible rock formations, enormous cliffs and finally ended at a huge arch.
It was good hiking weather, nice and cool. After that hike, we stopped to observe some petroglyphs, drawings on cliffs made many years ago by primitive people. Andy and I were speculating that they were probably made by teens doing graffiti!
The colors on the cliffs are so amazing with lots of red, layers of white, and also gray green rocks. On our way out of the park, we saw a sign for Chimney Rock (a different one from the one in Escalante park), so we decided to check it out. You had to hike out to the rock, and a sign said it was a 3 1/2 mile loop. We decided to go for it. The first mile was very strenuous, mostly uphill. We were huffing and puffing in the rarified air, especially me. I hadn't been able to sleep much the previous two nights, so my legs were so leaden on the ascents. It was a great hike, though, especially on the top of a plateau that we reached. The view from up there was awesome! Well, it was a great feeling of accomplishment to finally make it. Whew!
Saturday was another beautiful day for our visit to Arches National Park. It was the hottest day of our week, getting up to around 90 degrees. I'd prefer not to hike when it's so hot, but there was a breeze going most of the time, so it wasn't too bad. We drove all the roads in the park and stopped at nearly all the overlooks. Again, the landscape was so interesting. We saw rock formations that looked like a sheep at the top, 3 gossips, a courthouse, tower of Babel, etc. We hiked at several spots: Balanced Rock (.3 miles), The Windows, (1 mile, plus an alternate return which made it longer), Sand Dune Arch (.3 mile), Delicate Arch, upper and lower viewpoints (100 yards + .5 miles), and Skyline Arch (.2 mile). Each hike resulted in observations of arches formed in the rocks. Altogether we hiked about 1 1/2 miles.
The 3 Gossips
The Windows
The vegetation turns greener, though, as you drive into the park. Canyonlands is also called "Island in the Sky." It's a high plateau sitting above the canyon floor, that was made by the Colorado and Green Rivers. You get a good view out onto all kinds of rock formations, cliffs and canyons. The weather wasn't as hot this day, but it was incredibly windy. At several spots we were getting sand blasted. We stopped at several look out points and hiked, not as much as the day before, but still got some in. At the Grand View Point Outlook, 6,080 feet elevation, we hiked 2 miles round trip. At Mesa Arch, a short 1/2 mile hike, we were surprised to find a beautiful arch at the end of that trail. I suggested we go to the other side to take pictures, because we were facing the sun. But as we got closer - whoa! The arch opened onto a sheer cliff drop off.
Another place we stopped was at Whale Rock. We started up the trail and got almost to the top, but the wind was so fierce with no handrails on a somewhat hazardous trail, so we turned and headed back. We estimated that hike to be .8 mile since the entire one was 1 mile.
It was a fabulous trip, but our adventures didn't end with visiting the parks. (We crossed 5 more off our list, with only 35 left to go!)
Our plane left from Las Vegas on Tuesday morning. We were going to use all day Monday for travel, then see if we could go visit the Hoover Dam which is only about 30 miles from Las Vegas. Well, the road from Green River, Utah to Las Vegas goes through several passes at pretty high elevations. Our whole week was sunny and nice, but Monday we woke up to rain. We packed up and started on our journey. We drove out of the rain and were enjoying the ride, when we started climbing up into the mountains and the clouds turned dark gray. Then it started to snow. The roads were very slippery and we were both quite scared. The scenery was beautiful but it was difficult to appreciate that beauty because of the danger of driving in such hazardous conditions. We finally drove out of the storm, relaxed and made good time, then drove into another storm. The snow was a little deeper on the road this time, and most of the time, we couldn't see the lines that marked the lanes. We saw several cars in the ditch by the side of the road, one of them even turned the wrong direction. But we finally drove out of that storm, too.
We drove to Hoover Dam, made it after six hours of continuous driving. But then it started raining, with lightning and thunder and hail. So we didn't stay. We did see Lake Mead and the bridge over the dam, but didn't get out of the car. Maybe another time...
This has become quite a tome, and there is more to tell, but it will have to wait for another day. We took a little over 400 pictures. It was another winner of a vacation.
Bloom Where You’re Planted is an expression that’s been around for awhile. It’s really a biblical concept, taken from passages like Philippians 4:11: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”
And so with people. We may be in a dry place and going through a rough time, but if we can keep our eyes on Jesus and display contentment and joy, His beauty shines through.
