Jacques visits Southern Utah. Continued from Death Valley.
I am awakened before 6am by the construction site across the street, and the trash truck picking garbage at the RV park. Disgusted, I pack up (especially since there is no way to get into their locked bathrooms). I stop at a Dennys (Natalie won't like me) for an early breakfast, use their bathrooms, and catch up with this log.
The University of Nevada no longer lets me use their wi-fi without registering, so I seek another one, and find one next to a coffee bar where I try to answer the most pressing emails from UCSC. I feel bad that my coworkers end up stuck with my problems.
I drive through the LV strip with mixed emotions. Actually it looks really drab in the daylight, quite the opposite from all the shiny lights at night which makes it look glamorous and exciting. The people don't look much better either in the unflattering morning light. But all the hotel/casino structures are still an amazing sight: so much effort expanded for such trivial pursuits. I am glad to leave on I15 north. After over an hour in Nevada, I cross into... Arizona (for a short while). Then it looks like the highway disappears into the mountain side, and it really looks like there is nowhere it can possibly go, but then a narrow canyon opens up, and the road winds back and forth into the Virgin River canyon (it reminds me of the Colorado river canyon above Glenwood Springs in Colorado), and suddenly I am in Utah.
My stop for the day is St. George in Utah. I do another quick email check while in town, with the same issues lingering on. Then on to Snow Canyon (named after the Snow family, nothing to do with the fluffy white stuff which hardly ever falls here) 12 miles away. I get there just as the sun is setting; I forget that Utah is on Mountain time. I get a site with electricity to recharge all the gadgets, and to keep the food cool. I just squeeze in a short nature trail called Hidden Pinyon before it gets dark. I take some long exposures, many hand held, so most are likely to be somewhat fuzzy. Natalie would love it here with the red rocks all around, and the paths covered with Navajo red hourglass dust. The only drawback: no climbing on the rocks except in designated areas. Then I take time for a hot shower, update this log, and turn in.
Snow Canyon State Park is unreal. The camp sites are some of the very best I have ever seen. The view I have from my "front porch" overlooks the canyon in all its red glory. I just walk around the campground taking pictures: there is no need to go elsewhere! I sit in one of the Adirondack rocking chairs on the deck of the visitor center, and think about life.
Eventually, I drive down to take two short hikes: first Jenny's Canyon, then Johnson's canyon. Jenny's canyon is a crack in the rock face no more than 3 ft wide in places, but 100-150 ft high with light peering from above and a few boulders wedged in on high. It is maybe 200-250 ft long. Johnson's canyon is much wider compared to Jenny's, but still fairly narrow at its very end. There is perennial water with grasses, willows and cottonwood trees everywhere. I see lots of small birds and some short lizards. There is supposed to be an arch, but I don't see it.
I drive down to St George (named after George, a Latter Day Saint, not a saint in the catholic sense), and park next to my favorite Marriott. There are more troubles with the server not restarting itself when it looses its tokens. I write a quick restart routine as a cron job. But after answering my mail two hours have gone. I eat a quick dinner, gas up, then head up for Zion which is no more than an hour away. I arrive at the campground in the dark. I'm barely parked that the camp host comes by telling me that I better pay, but they require exact change (or a check, but I left mine at home). Apparently there is a small commercial center across from the river which can make change. I walk there through a maze of parking lots, buy some postcards and stamps, and a yellow Zion T-shirt. I go back to the entrance station, and put in my $36 for 2 nights. It is really dark here, so I should be sleeping well, but the leaves are rustling all through the night.
While I'm having my breakfast, the guy next door stops by. He's from California too (La Honda), and he has a VW van as well, so we compare notes. I write the two postcards for my folks and Pierre which I end up mailing later at the Zion Park Lodge. I wonder if they will get to Toledo before I do.
In a nutshell, Zion valley is like Yosemite valley: it is a big valley with monstrous rocks on either side. In Zion it is sandstone instead of granite. They both have a fancy lodge. They have the same problem with being a very popular park, and they run a bus shuttle during the busiest months (until October for Zion), so I get to drive in the valley itself, instead of parking at the entrance. Otherwise I'm going to follow the guidebook pretty closely to pick what is worth doing in about a day.
So first, I stop at the Court of the Patriachs, it is not much more than a viewpoint for the three massive sandstone peaks on the other side of the road.
Second is the Emerald Pools, just off from the Zion Park Lodge. I cross the river over a bridge, and start following the paved trail which slowly climbs the side of the main valley. There are great views because all the trees on the valley floor have turned a bright yellow which shimmer in the sunshine. Eventually, the trail goes inside a side canyon, and goes underneath some very wispy waterfalls. Underneath them is the first (lower) emerald pool; at this time of the year, none of the pools are very green (caused by algae). The trail continues to the top of the waterfalls, and there, are the other set of middle pools. The water is very quiet which makes for nice reflections of the canyon walls on the opposite side of the valley. The last pitch to the upper emerald pool is much steeper. Once I get there, the water is black and it sits right at the base of very high cliffs hundreds of feet high. There is a small sandy beach, but it is in the deep shade, and the water is not inviting at all (if it were allowed to begin with). I go back down to the middle pools, then complete the loop by going down an alternate way. I cross quite a few people on the trail, but it doesn't feel crowded; I'm sure it would be a different story in the summer.
I go to the Zion Park lodge to mail the postcards and check my email. Their free internet stations are very slow, so I decide to answer my mail later.
Third trail for the day is the Weeping Rock trail, a steep but short trail which takes you below an overhang which drips water. I get a little bit wet as I go behind the falls, but not very wet because the flow of water is currently pretty low. The water is now between you and the bright sunshine which makes it impossible to take good pictures.
The fourth and last trail for today is the Riverside Walk at the very end of the valley. It meanders next to the river for about a mile. Actually the trail continues (for about 12 hours, they say) but a big part of it requires wading through the pretty swiftly flowing river sometimes chest-deep. I see many deers. I meet some Mormon missionaries on the way back, but they are pretty easy going: they just want to chat about cameras. Maybe they were attracted by my Habitat T-shirt. The narrow canyon is now in deep shade, and I get chilled so I'm glad to be back to the car.
I drive back down the main Zion canyon, and admire the yellow trees which blanket the bottom of the valley. I go back outside the park to have dinner and find a wi-fi connection. I modify the afshttpd script so that it can check more than one page. Then back to my camp site. I can hardly wait to have showers at tomorrow's camp.
It's another windy night at Zion, and the van is buffeted through the night: not the best way to get a good night's sleep. I make a cup of hot tea which restores me somewhat. I leave and go back to the end of the valley to see what it looks like in the morning. I stop at many turnouts to admire the views and take photos. It's about noon when I turn east to the Carmel highway. This road goes as far up a side canyon as it can then when it runs out of room, it plunges for over a mile into the rock face. It doesn't go into the rock as most usual tunnels, but goes only a few hundred feet and stays parallel just inside the rock face. Periodically you go past windows (although you don't see much out of them when driving, and you are not allowed to stop); the tunnel is narrow enough that large rigs need both lanes, and the traffic is stopped at the other end. But there is no waiting today. I park at the top of the tunnel to hike about a mile to the overlook above the valley that I just drove up. Great hike and great view. The trail hugs the side of a deep canyon with some metal bridges to go around the tough spots. From the top, I can spot some of the tunnel windows in the cliff face.
The rest of the road winds through some very pretty countryside with reds and whites, and cross-beds all around. The famous checkerboard mesa is somewhat disappointing because it is in the shade. I arrive at Bryce, stop first at the visitors center, then drive to Sunset Point with the idea to wait for the sunset, and catch its lights with all the other photographers. But I'm early enough that I have time to go down the Navajo loop trail (all trails lead down from here, since the road is at the top of the plateau). As I walk down all the switchbacks (some barely 10 ft long), and the many, many steps carved in the red dirt, I know I will regret it on the way back. But it is so amazing, that I have to keep going down. I climb slowly back up the steep grade, stopping whenever I feel the need... it's a good excuse to take photos! I'm back in time to view all the photographers waiting for the perfect light at the end of the day.
I drive out, eat in Tropic, check my mail, then drive down to Kodachrome where I hope it will be somewhat warmer (they predict a low temperature of 25F at Bryce). I get there when it is dark, but set up close to the bathrooms (which are heated), but I'm too tired to take a shower before I tuck myself with extra layers and prepare for the cold night.
I wake up cold in spite of the extra layers, and the showers (one temperature fits all) are not warm enough. But hot tea and hot chocolate do the trick. Once the sun is above the rim, it warms up pretty quickly. I'm making this my "take-it-easy" day, and watch the rabbits hop in the grass (a dozen of them). I call my folks to tell them exactly when I will be arriving; good thing, since they had tried to call me earlier in Santa Cruz.
It's early afternoon when I decide to move, and go visit Shakespeare's arch (not named after Will, but after the park superintendent which discovered it only 30 years ago). Then I take the dirt road to Grosvernor's arch (named after the National Geographic founder). This is a true washboard road, and even though it is only 11 miles, it takes close to an hour to get there. The van complaints loudly with all the vibration. Great arches, there is no one else there except for a couple from Missouri. They leave and until the next visitors show up, I am all alone in this place far away from everything. The sun is low enough to show the double arches in all their details. I discover another small arch with the bright blue sky peering through.
I drive back, and eat dinner in Tropic once again, look at my email, and type this. Back at the camp site, I look up in case I can see the Leonid meteor showers which should max out tonight according to Yahoo (although Leo hasn't risen yet over North America), but it's a little bit hazy: will it be warmer tonight? I take a shower before turning in, and this time, the water feels much warmer.
It is just as cold, but I've bundled up better, and except for my face, I'm OK. Last night, I'd picked another campsite in the shade of the Big Stoney, a Viagra ad if there ever was one. I stop on my way out to the small visitor's center to get a T-shirt. While waiting for the ranger to show up, I discover that the park has wi-fi: no cell coverage, but wi-fi! I should look into Skype. I leave for Escalante to take my longest hike yet. On the way I stop several times to admire the views. In one place the road drops down through some white slick-rock sandstone, and I walk in the middle of it; it feels totally alien: we're not in Kansas any more! There is another view stop overlooking the Escalante river. Because of the rocks on either side, I feel I'm looking through a picture window, although a set of power lines also drop down into the valley right in front of us, sigh!
The hike is to the Lower Calf River Falls. It is fairly easy, although it goes up and down as the trail goes over small ridges, then drops back down to the valley floor. It is about 6 miles round trip, but it feels longer. There are some pictographs on the other side of the valley. They are huge, although far away. Eventually, I reach the falls as two other hikers are just leaving, so I have the place to myself. The volume of the water is much greater than I would have expected at this time of the year, and it drops over 100 ft; there are hues of green, red, and yellow (algae no doubt) where the water hits the rocks. I have my snack before hiking back out.
Then I drive and drive to reach my destination: Cedar City on I15. I get there in the dark. I scout the KOA, but they want $52 for the night! Earlier, driving down Main St, I spotted some flashing signs about motel rooms for $33. So I treat myself, and stay at the Best Value Inn: it is nice enough. I watch some TV (not much on) before falling asleep, while the various batteries are getting recharged. I'm able to talk to Natalie on the cell phone for the first time since Death Valley: she doesn't sound very positive about schoolwork.
This is my last day on the road, so I prepare the van: mostly, I purge all the food that will not be eaten, and take the trash out. I drive south on I15, and stop at Kolob Canyon: the western side of Zion with its own separate entrance. I go part way up the canyon on the red topped road, and I stop at one of the numerous turnouts to have my breakfast. With the side door of the van wide open, I can barely make out the series of huge red monoliths that are part of the canyon. I take my time eating and enjoy the view. Later, I get to the end of the scenic road, look at the views (what else?), then decide to hike the 1 mile trail to another overlook. It is really beautiful up here. I take a panoramic series of photos that I will stitch together once I'm home. I also take a self portrait sitting on the rocks.
Early in the afternoon, I'm back at St. George where I gas up and get some snacks for the trip back to Vegas. Once there, I stop at a Ross, and get some dress shirts and dark socks (I have to look nice for the relatives), then I go to the airport to try to get my boarding pass ahead of time (no printer, otherwise I would do it in the van). But Spirit doesn't have any self-serve kiosks. I go back to the same RV park I used last week (I need to get up early, so I won't mind the noise) since it is an easy drive to the airport. I pack my bags, take a shower, and get everything ready for tomorrow.
I wake up before my alarm which I had set for 6am. Less than 25 minutes later, I leave the RV park, and I'm on the way to the airport. I locate the economy parking lot, take the shuttle in, check in, and have breakfast: I have one and a half hour to kill. I check my email, and set up some webhosting requests. It looks like John's group may have resolved the token problem with the web server, but there is no hints as to what it might have been. I nap on the airplane, then write this. I'm two hours away from Detroit.