NW Montana has been enjoying record high temperatures, as has many of the places we have visited this summer. This bin contains firewood for sale, but the sign conveys an unintended, but equally relevant message
Monday, July 30, 2007
Photo of the Week
NW Montana has been enjoying record high temperatures, as has many of the places we have visited this summer. This bin contains firewood for sale, but the sign conveys an unintended, but equally relevant message
Down By the River, Kalispell MT
Thursday July 26
Today we puttered around the camp for most of the day. We went into West Glacier to visit some gift shops. We also went to the Alberta Province Visitor's Center. That made us wish we had another month so we could go up to Waterton, Jasper and Banff National Parks in Alberta Canada. Maybe next time.
Friday July 27
Today we hiked from Siyeh Bend over Siyeh Pass and down to the Sunrift Gorge.
This 11.5 mile trail circles Going-to-the-Sun Mountain and offers good looks at Piegan Glacier and Sexton Glacier. It climbs almost 2400' feet to the the pass. The trail starts in sub-alpine forest with spruce and fir and climbs above tree line into the tundra before descending back into the sub-alpine zone. At the pass we saw a large heard of 24 bighorn sheep. It is unusual to see such a large heard. It was also unusual because they were chasing each other and playing in a snowfield. They were much more active than any we we had seen them before.
After the hike we enjoyed another event in the Native America Speaks series in the park.
Someone had told us about Jack Gladstone, a Blackfeet tribe member, who sings and tells stories, and who is an outstanding entertainer. We weren't disappointed. Actually, he looks a little like Chevy Chase with a ponytail. We were lucky and got seats on front row center and had a grand time.
Saturday July 28 - Another Big Move: 35 miles, Kalispell MT
Today we moved to Spruce Park-on-the-River, a private campground on the Flathead River in Kalispell. We will stay here two nights, then they will store the coach here until we come off our backpack trip. $1.00/day for storage, including electric to keep the batteries charged is a great deal. Our friends from home flew in today, and we ate dinner in town with them
Sunday July 29 - Packing day
Today was a packing day. Tomorrow we will put on in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area for a 6-day backpacking and fishing adventure. The cushy camping is over, at least for a while. We dragged out all the backpacking gear and flyfishing tackle that we have been hauling around for the last 11 weeks. After all that time we couldn't remember what we had packed and what we may have forgotten. Thankfully, it looks like we had most everything we really needed. We went to town the get a fishing license and the last of our groceries. In the evening our friends came over and we grilled steaks and had a big time watching the rafts and float tubes come down the river by our campsite. We got everything packed up and got the coach ready to roll. We will leave here about 7:00 to go to the Meadow Creek access in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area.
No more updates here for at least a week. Signing off!
Today we puttered around the camp for most of the day. We went into West Glacier to visit some gift shops. We also went to the Alberta Province Visitor's Center. That made us wish we had another month so we could go up to Waterton, Jasper and Banff National Parks in Alberta Canada. Maybe next time.Friday July 27
Today we hiked from Siyeh Bend over Siyeh Pass and down to the Sunrift Gorge.
This 11.5 mile trail circles Going-to-the-Sun Mountain and offers good looks at Piegan Glacier and Sexton Glacier. It climbs almost 2400' feet to the the pass. The trail starts in sub-alpine forest with spruce and fir and climbs above tree line into the tundra before descending back into the sub-alpine zone. At the pass we saw a large heard of 24 bighorn sheep. It is unusual to see such a large heard. It was also unusual because they were chasing each other and playing in a snowfield. They were much more active than any we we had seen them before.After the hike we enjoyed another event in the Native America Speaks series in the park.
Someone had told us about Jack Gladstone, a Blackfeet tribe member, who sings and tells stories, and who is an outstanding entertainer. We weren't disappointed. Actually, he looks a little like Chevy Chase with a ponytail. We were lucky and got seats on front row center and had a grand time. Saturday July 28 - Another Big Move: 35 miles, Kalispell MT
Today we moved to Spruce Park-on-the-River, a private campground on the Flathead River in Kalispell. We will stay here two nights, then they will store the coach here until we come off our backpack trip. $1.00/day for storage, including electric to keep the batteries charged is a great deal. Our friends from home flew in today, and we ate dinner in town with them
Sunday July 29 - Packing day
Today was a packing day. Tomorrow we will put on in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area for a 6-day backpacking and fishing adventure. The cushy camping is over, at least for a while. We dragged out all the backpacking gear and flyfishing tackle that we have been hauling around for the last 11 weeks. After all that time we couldn't remember what we had packed and what we may have forgotten. Thankfully, it looks like we had most everything we really needed. We went to town the get a fishing license and the last of our groceries. In the evening our friends came over and we grilled steaks and had a big time watching the rafts and float tubes come down the river by our campsite. We got everything packed up and got the coach ready to roll. We will leave here about 7:00 to go to the Meadow Creek access in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area.
No more updates here for at least a week. Signing off!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Long Travel Day: 2 miles, Glacier NP
Wednesday July 25
We have stayed the maximum seven days at Fish Creek CG, so we packed up and moved to Apgar CG for three more nights, a distance of about 2.5 miles. On Saturday we will move to Kalispell to meet our friends. We have made reservations at Spruce Park on the River and will stay there until Monday when we leave for our backpacking trip in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area. They will store our coach until we come out. This afternoon we drove to the Two Medicine area of the park. Two Medicine Campground looked very inviting. It is in a relatively remote area of the park on Two Medicine Lake, an intimate little lake that looked awfully fun to paddle. We caught an evening program "Native America Speaks" celebrating the Native American heritage in the park. Kenny Eagle Speak told Native American stories and gave some history of the Blackfeet nation.
We have stayed the maximum seven days at Fish Creek CG, so we packed up and moved to Apgar CG for three more nights, a distance of about 2.5 miles. On Saturday we will move to Kalispell to meet our friends. We have made reservations at Spruce Park on the River and will stay there until Monday when we leave for our backpacking trip in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area. They will store our coach until we come out. This afternoon we drove to the Two Medicine area of the park. Two Medicine Campground looked very inviting. It is in a relatively remote area of the park on Two Medicine Lake, an intimate little lake that looked awfully fun to paddle. We caught an evening program "Native America Speaks" celebrating the Native American heritage in the park. Kenny Eagle Speak told Native American stories and gave some history of the Blackfeet nation.
Hidden Lake??? Logan Pass, Glacier NP
Tuesday July 24 Hidden Lake???
Today we took the shuttle to Logan Pass and hiked to Hidden Lake. Actually they didn't hide it well enough, because way too many tourists found it. Logan Pass is at the top of the Going-to-the Sun Road and the most popular destination in the park. Many folks hike up the boardwalk and gravel trail 1.5 miles through the meadow to the Hidden Lake overlook. 
Fewer folks actually continue down the other side of the pass another 1.5 miles to Hidden Lake. Along the way we got many good looks at hoary marmots, ground squirrels, mountain goats and big horn sheep. We ate lunch at a rocky point 1/2 mile around the lake. I fished a bit but didn't catch anything. I was at a good place; the fish were here. One 20" cutthroat trout kept swimming by me, but he wasn't interested in anything I had to offer. I could have dropped a rock on him or grabbed him with my hands, but that didn't seem very sporting.
Tuesday evening we grilled steaks for some folks we met hiking. This was our first attempt at entertaining on the road, and I think it went OK.
Today we took the shuttle to Logan Pass and hiked to Hidden Lake. Actually they didn't hide it well enough, because way too many tourists found it. Logan Pass is at the top of the Going-to-the Sun Road and the most popular destination in the park. Many folks hike up the boardwalk and gravel trail 1.5 miles through the meadow to the Hidden Lake overlook. 
Fewer folks actually continue down the other side of the pass another 1.5 miles to Hidden Lake. Along the way we got many good looks at hoary marmots, ground squirrels, mountain goats and big horn sheep. We ate lunch at a rocky point 1/2 mile around the lake. I fished a bit but didn't catch anything. I was at a good place; the fish were here. One 20" cutthroat trout kept swimming by me, but he wasn't interested in anything I had to offer. I could have dropped a rock on him or grabbed him with my hands, but that didn't seem very sporting.Tuesday evening we grilled steaks for some folks we met hiking. This was our first attempt at entertaining on the road, and I think it went OK.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Photo of the Week
We were watching this marmot watch the tourists watch the bighorn sheep. "What's all the fuss about?" he said.
Quote of the Week
The national park is the best idea America ever had."
- James Bryce, British Ambassador to the U.S., 1912
Montana Update, Glacier National Park
After almost a week without internet I find myself in the position of making another massive update. We have seen and done a lot of exciting things in the park so far, but I will be as brief as possible. Our decision to by-pass Wyoming and spend more time in Montana was a good one.
Wednesday July 18 - Finally Arrived
We pulled into Glacier National Park
late on Wednesday afternoon and made camp at Fish Creek CG, near West Glacier. There are a very limited number of RV-sized sites in the park, but we squeezed into a pretty nice one near the banks of Fish Creek. We can only stay here 7 nights before we have to move, so we signed up for the max. Next Wednesday morning we will move, probably to Apgar CG, about 2 miles away. It was a long travel day and we were bushed, so we didn't try to do anything in the park. Eat, drink and crash.
Thursday July 19 - Glacier NP Orientation
Today we began exploring the park.
We visited the Apgar Visitor Center to get oriented and poked around Apgar Village. We went just outside the park to West Glacier to look for internet access. No luck. Actually we did find one place that offered two hours of wireless access for three dollars. We didn't bite. It's not the money, it's the principle. Right. Then we began working our way up the Going-to-the-Sun Road. We stopped at all the overlooks and exhibits. We didn't get past the Lake McDonald Lodge, not far at all, before we called it a day.
Friday July 20 - Pizza and Brew
Today we struck out with the objective of hiking to Avalanche Lake. The trailhead starts at the Trail of the Cedars Nature Trail, a very pretty short trail through a grove of old growth western red cedars. We continued on through Avalanche Creek gorge and on about two miles to Avalanche Lake. A ranger had said there was good fishing there, so I carried my spinning rod. I was rewarded by catching a very nice 12" cutthroat trout. Dorcas was happy because I caught it on a purple lure. We did a little wading and the water is COLD!!! After about 30 seconds my feet were numb from the meltwater from the remnants of Sperry Glacier. We hiked all the way around the lake, about two miles, before we realized there was no good way to cross the outlet of the lake to get back to the trail. A-wading we went again. We saw several white tail deer along the trail back to the car.
Our camp host had told us about Polebridge, a tiny community on the North Fork of the Flathead River, just outside the NW corner of the park. At Polebridge is a general store that has a bakery and the Northern Lights Saloon, which has good draft beer and makes pizzas on Friday nights. That sounded good to us, so away we went up 25 miles of gravel Forest Service roads. When we arrived we found a pretty happening place. Everyone was sitting outside at picnic tables drinking beer and waiting for their pizzas. The crowd seemed to be mostly locals who all knew each other. They ranged from scientists employed by the NPS or the NFS doing various research products (they kept asking one guy about his woodpeckers; I assumed they were talking about birds), to dried up hippies and flower children who just wanted to be as far away from civilization as they could get. Everyone had a dog. If you didn't bring your own dog, they loaned you one when you came in. We drew a huge sad-faced black and tan mutt I called Butch. They had a band warming up at a makeshift concert hall out back. There was one old guy playing an antique silver accordion on the porch who was very good, playing Mozart and show tunes. One of the band members joined him with his toy squeezebox. It was a grand time. After the pizza, we hit the bakery and had a huckleberry bearclaw and a cinnamon twist.
Saturday July 21 - A Wild Mother's Day in July
Today we hit the road and drove to the east side of the park. We left the park at St. Mary and re-entered at Many Glacier. Many Glacier is said to be the heart of Glacier NP, with the many glacial valleys that converge there and the Many Glacier Hotel with its Old World Swiss charm. Unfortunately, most of the best trails in the area were closed due to high bear activity. We did hike up to Red Rock Lake and Bullhead Lake, an easy walk of about 6 miles.
Today was a day of extraordinary wildlife sightings, particularly of mother and baby. In a field we saw a whitetail deer with two spotted fawns. At Logan Pass we saw a mountain goat nannie and kid and a bighorn sheep ewe and lamb. We later realized that both were very common in that area. At the St. Mary Visitor Center we saw an osprey on her nest with at least two chicks. On Swiftcurrent Lake at Many Glacier we saw a moose cow and calf running along the edge of the lake, before turning up a creek into the woods. Dorcas saw a merganser hen and chicks on Swiftcurrent Lake. After our hike we saw a grizzly sow and cub on a hillside near the Swiftcurrent Motor Lodge. In addition to these family sightings, we also saw tons of mountain goats and bighorn sheep.
As we were leaving the Many Glacier area, we saw a solo male grizzly coming down the hill, foraging for berries. As we watched him, he actually came pretty close, probably less than 50 yards from us. We probably should have been concerned that he was coming so close, but we weren't. First, there was a road and about a dozen cars between us and him. Second, and more important, there were about a half dozen squealing, excited kids between him and us, who I figured he would find more interesting and appetizing than us. We watched this big guy for almost an hour before we left. Later we learned that a ranger had been dispatched who would shoot him with bean bags and rubber bullets, "spanking" him to discourage him from coming so close to the road. Finally a black bear crossed the road in front of us near the Avalanche Creek CG. A rewarding wildlife day indeed.
Sunday July 22 - THE HIKE
Today we did perhaps our most challenging hike since we left the Grand Canyon.
We hiked the Highline Trail to the Loop Trailhead, a distance of about 13 miles, with a side trip. This trail starts at Logan pass and traverses some very narrow ledges cut into rock cliffs, before passing though some meadow valleys. This was a naturalist-led hike with about 24 participants. With the number in our group and the high number of other hikers on this very popular trail, there was some interesting passing encounters. We saw many mountain goats, hoary marmots and ground squirrels and a few bighorn and ptarmigans. At one point two ground squirrels playing in the bushes fell out and bounced off Dorcas' and my boots. It was a little startling until we realized what they were. We passed a wolverine den, but there was no activity. 
Shortly before reaching Granite Park Chalet, there was a spur trail to a pass and the Grinnell Glacier overlook. Since the only other trail to Grinnell Glacier from Many Glacier area was closed, this overlook provided the only opportunity to view Grinnell Glacier, and the best chance to see a glacier so close. The trail was 0.6 mile one-way and 1000' gain. I took it, but Dorcas decided to continue to the chalet. It was a tough hike, but I had no regrets. The view of the glacier and its lake and icebergs was spectacular. We met again at the Granite Park Chalet, a rustic stone inn, not unlike the Mt. LeConte Lodge in the Smokies. The Chalet and a nearby backcountry campsite was the the site of two fatal bear incidents 40 years ago, made famous by the book "Night of the Grizzlies". We descended the remaining 4 miles to the Loop trailhead. This last stretch was through a burn area and was prime bear habitat, but we had no encounter. Dang.
Monday July 23 - Going to Town
Today went to town to get some groceries, gas up the car, use the internet and research some motorhome storage options. We ate lunch at a nice little deli, Gresko's, that also had internet access. They were great folks. We stayed there for about four hours answering e-mails, paying bills and researching the future campgrounds. On the way back to camp there was a tremendous thunderstorm. The rain was refreshing; unfortunately we had left the windows open in the coach. Luckily it hadn't rained very hard at camp and there was little damage.
Wednesday July 18 - Finally Arrived
We pulled into Glacier National Park
late on Wednesday afternoon and made camp at Fish Creek CG, near West Glacier. There are a very limited number of RV-sized sites in the park, but we squeezed into a pretty nice one near the banks of Fish Creek. We can only stay here 7 nights before we have to move, so we signed up for the max. Next Wednesday morning we will move, probably to Apgar CG, about 2 miles away. It was a long travel day and we were bushed, so we didn't try to do anything in the park. Eat, drink and crash.Thursday July 19 - Glacier NP Orientation
Today we began exploring the park.
We visited the Apgar Visitor Center to get oriented and poked around Apgar Village. We went just outside the park to West Glacier to look for internet access. No luck. Actually we did find one place that offered two hours of wireless access for three dollars. We didn't bite. It's not the money, it's the principle. Right. Then we began working our way up the Going-to-the-Sun Road. We stopped at all the overlooks and exhibits. We didn't get past the Lake McDonald Lodge, not far at all, before we called it a day.
Friday July 20 - Pizza and Brew
Today we struck out with the objective of hiking to Avalanche Lake. The trailhead starts at the Trail of the Cedars Nature Trail, a very pretty short trail through a grove of old growth western red cedars. We continued on through Avalanche Creek gorge and on about two miles to Avalanche Lake. A ranger had said there was good fishing there, so I carried my spinning rod. I was rewarded by catching a very nice 12" cutthroat trout. Dorcas was happy because I caught it on a purple lure. We did a little wading and the water is COLD!!! After about 30 seconds my feet were numb from the meltwater from the remnants of Sperry Glacier. We hiked all the way around the lake, about two miles, before we realized there was no good way to cross the outlet of the lake to get back to the trail. A-wading we went again. We saw several white tail deer along the trail back to the car.
Our camp host had told us about Polebridge, a tiny community on the North Fork of the Flathead River, just outside the NW corner of the park. At Polebridge is a general store that has a bakery and the Northern Lights Saloon, which has good draft beer and makes pizzas on Friday nights. That sounded good to us, so away we went up 25 miles of gravel Forest Service roads. When we arrived we found a pretty happening place. Everyone was sitting outside at picnic tables drinking beer and waiting for their pizzas. The crowd seemed to be mostly locals who all knew each other. They ranged from scientists employed by the NPS or the NFS doing various research products (they kept asking one guy about his woodpeckers; I assumed they were talking about birds), to dried up hippies and flower children who just wanted to be as far away from civilization as they could get. Everyone had a dog. If you didn't bring your own dog, they loaned you one when you came in. We drew a huge sad-faced black and tan mutt I called Butch. They had a band warming up at a makeshift concert hall out back. There was one old guy playing an antique silver accordion on the porch who was very good, playing Mozart and show tunes. One of the band members joined him with his toy squeezebox. It was a grand time. After the pizza, we hit the bakery and had a huckleberry bearclaw and a cinnamon twist.
Saturday July 21 - A Wild Mother's Day in July
Today we hit the road and drove to the east side of the park. We left the park at St. Mary and re-entered at Many Glacier. Many Glacier is said to be the heart of Glacier NP, with the many glacial valleys that converge there and the Many Glacier Hotel with its Old World Swiss charm. Unfortunately, most of the best trails in the area were closed due to high bear activity. We did hike up to Red Rock Lake and Bullhead Lake, an easy walk of about 6 miles.Today was a day of extraordinary wildlife sightings, particularly of mother and baby. In a field we saw a whitetail deer with two spotted fawns. At Logan Pass we saw a mountain goat nannie and kid and a bighorn sheep ewe and lamb. We later realized that both were very common in that area. At the St. Mary Visitor Center we saw an osprey on her nest with at least two chicks. On Swiftcurrent Lake at Many Glacier we saw a moose cow and calf running along the edge of the lake, before turning up a creek into the woods. Dorcas saw a merganser hen and chicks on Swiftcurrent Lake. After our hike we saw a grizzly sow and cub on a hillside near the Swiftcurrent Motor Lodge. In addition to these family sightings, we also saw tons of mountain goats and bighorn sheep.
As we were leaving the Many Glacier area, we saw a solo male grizzly coming down the hill, foraging for berries. As we watched him, he actually came pretty close, probably less than 50 yards from us. We probably should have been concerned that he was coming so close, but we weren't. First, there was a road and about a dozen cars between us and him. Second, and more important, there were about a half dozen squealing, excited kids between him and us, who I figured he would find more interesting and appetizing than us. We watched this big guy for almost an hour before we left. Later we learned that a ranger had been dispatched who would shoot him with bean bags and rubber bullets, "spanking" him to discourage him from coming so close to the road. Finally a black bear crossed the road in front of us near the Avalanche Creek CG. A rewarding wildlife day indeed.Sunday July 22 - THE HIKE
Today we did perhaps our most challenging hike since we left the Grand Canyon.
We hiked the Highline Trail to the Loop Trailhead, a distance of about 13 miles, with a side trip. This trail starts at Logan pass and traverses some very narrow ledges cut into rock cliffs, before passing though some meadow valleys. This was a naturalist-led hike with about 24 participants. With the number in our group and the high number of other hikers on this very popular trail, there was some interesting passing encounters. We saw many mountain goats, hoary marmots and ground squirrels and a few bighorn and ptarmigans. At one point two ground squirrels playing in the bushes fell out and bounced off Dorcas' and my boots. It was a little startling until we realized what they were. We passed a wolverine den, but there was no activity. 
Shortly before reaching Granite Park Chalet, there was a spur trail to a pass and the Grinnell Glacier overlook. Since the only other trail to Grinnell Glacier from Many Glacier area was closed, this overlook provided the only opportunity to view Grinnell Glacier, and the best chance to see a glacier so close. The trail was 0.6 mile one-way and 1000' gain. I took it, but Dorcas decided to continue to the chalet. It was a tough hike, but I had no regrets. The view of the glacier and its lake and icebergs was spectacular. We met again at the Granite Park Chalet, a rustic stone inn, not unlike the Mt. LeConte Lodge in the Smokies. The Chalet and a nearby backcountry campsite was the the site of two fatal bear incidents 40 years ago, made famous by the book "Night of the Grizzlies". We descended the remaining 4 miles to the Loop trailhead. This last stretch was through a burn area and was prime bear habitat, but we had no encounter. Dang.
Monday July 23 - Going to Town
Today went to town to get some groceries, gas up the car, use the internet and research some motorhome storage options. We ate lunch at a nice little deli, Gresko's, that also had internet access. They were great folks. We stayed there for about four hours answering e-mails, paying bills and researching the future campgrounds. On the way back to camp there was a tremendous thunderstorm. The rain was refreshing; unfortunately we had left the windows open in the coach. Luckily it hadn't rained very hard at camp and there was little damage.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Montana-Bound, Idaho Falls ID
Today was a serious travel day. We left Moab about 9:00, cut over to I-15 and headed towards Idaho and Montana. At Green River, UT we bought fuel. A personal record: 107.4 gallons. The pump shut off at $99.00 twice and then locked up for good. We had to go in to the counter to get them to restart the pump to get our final 42 gallons.
We have just finished eating dinner in Idaho Falls. ID, about 115 miles south of the Montana state line. We have come about 440 miles so far today. It has been a pleasant drive once we got through the traffic in the greater Salt Lake City area. This part of Idaho is rolling hills with green pastures and fields. We plan to drive a few more hours and pull off somewhere in Montana.
We have just finished eating dinner in Idaho Falls. ID, about 115 miles south of the Montana state line. We have come about 440 miles so far today. It has been a pleasant drive once we got through the traffic in the greater Salt Lake City area. This part of Idaho is rolling hills with green pastures and fields. We plan to drive a few more hours and pull off somewhere in Montana.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Montana-Bound, Moab UT
Today we hung around camp and did chores: laundry, coach maintenance, literature organization, trip planning and naps. It was really too hot to do much else, although some clouds did develop in the afternoon that provided a little relief from the heat.
Our original plan (as it were) had us leaving Utah and heading to the Yellowstone area for a while, then going on to Montana to meet our friends in Kalispell on July 28. Upon further consideration, we have decided to go directly to Montana and skip Wyoming. Dorcas and I have both been to Yellowstone several times, but have never been to Glacier National Park or Montana. While we would really like to watch the wildlife in Yellowstone and the Tetons, we felt that we would rather spend our remaining time in Montana.
It is 908 miles from Moab to West Glacier. We will leave Tuesday morning, shoot up I-15 through Salt Lake City and Idaho and get there when we get there, probably sometime on Thursday. We hope to stay in either Fish Creek CG or Apgar CG, both near the west entrance. Both campgrounds appear to have had good availability the past few weeks.
Our original plan (as it were) had us leaving Utah and heading to the Yellowstone area for a while, then going on to Montana to meet our friends in Kalispell on July 28. Upon further consideration, we have decided to go directly to Montana and skip Wyoming. Dorcas and I have both been to Yellowstone several times, but have never been to Glacier National Park or Montana. While we would really like to watch the wildlife in Yellowstone and the Tetons, we felt that we would rather spend our remaining time in Montana.
It is 908 miles from Moab to West Glacier. We will leave Tuesday morning, shoot up I-15 through Salt Lake City and Idaho and get there when we get there, probably sometime on Thursday. We hope to stay in either Fish Creek CG or Apgar CG, both near the west entrance. Both campgrounds appear to have had good availability the past few weeks.
Canyonlands National Park, Moab UT
Saturday July 14
Today we visited the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park. The Islands in the Sky district is the most accessible of Canyonlands three districts and is about 45 minutes from Moab. It is a high plateau north of the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. All water in the Islands must be trucked into the park. Consequently they are pretty stingy with it. There is a water fountain at the visitor's center, but you cannot fill containers there. They do sell bottled water there. It continues to be very hot, over 100 degrees every day. We have been carrying about two gallons of water whenever we leave camp. We attended a very interesting ranger talk about uranium mining in the the area, before the park was created. During the 1950s there was a high demand for uranium. It was believed that the canyons in southern Utah contained significant deposits of uranium. There was little uranium actually found in what now comprises the park, but the search led to the building of a number of roads that made the park more accessible.
We did a number of short hikes and overlook walks. The Islands normally has exceptional views, but there was significant haze due to the fires and/or air pollution. Later in the evening we went to Dead Horse Point State Park, located one mesa over. Dead Horse Point is a mesa with a narrow neck that made for a natural corral. Wild mustangs would be driven onto the point and a fence set up across the neck, until the cowboys could cull the herd. Legend has it that, for an unknown reason, the mustangs were left on the point and died of thirst, within sight of the Colorado River 2000' below. We attended a scorpion talk by a Utah Wildlife biologist. He had a number of scorpion specimens, both living and not. One interesting trait of scorpions is that they flouresce under black light, making them easy to find at night. After the talk we walked around the visitor's center and found about half a dozen scorpions. Cool!
Sunday July 15
Today we explored the Needles district of Canyonlands NP. The Needles are more remote than Island in the Sky, about 2 hours from Moab. We stopped at the Needles Outpost, a private campground and store just outside the park boundary. The outpost was really neat. They have to haul in all their water. They had a huge solar array, tons of batteries and powerful invertors. They make their own power that runs their air conditioners, ice cream and drink coolers, freezers, etc. Have you ever had solar ice? Pretty cool! We had them fix us a cheese burger with chips and salsa. They operate a private airstrip and sell gasoline for $4.25 per gallon. Actually their prices were not too bad, considering what they have to go through to get their products. Super-nice folks.
The Needles contains more hiking opportunities than the Islands district. Unfortunately, due to the heat, we didn't feel like hiking very long.
We did do about 4 miles into Elephant Canyon to get a glimpse of the unique needles formations. Along the trail we met a father and son from Asheville. We had a big time y'all-ing and talking about grits, sweet tea and that stuff.
We left the park about dusk and saw a large herd of turkeys, several herds of pronghorns and a coyote. There were thousands of rabbits at the edge of the road, and about every quarter mile one would dart out in front of the car. I don't think we hit one, but I don't know how we missed them all.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Roughing It in Moab, UT
I'm playing catch-up again here at A Day in the Life of Myron & Dorcas. The short version is that we are currently in Moab UT. The following describes how we got here.
Monday July 9
We successfully survived the week of the 4th of July, and are ready to deal with plain ol' regular summer crowds. Today was a travel day with our destination being Capitol Reef National Park. We traveled scenic Utah 12. At Escalante we visited Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. UT 12 took us across the northern edge of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (the only national monument managed by the BLM; thats a whole 'nother story), along the Hogback, a narrow ridge with steep drop-offs on either side of the highway and across Boulder Mountain at El 9600'. Dorcas was sucking and hissing at every turn. It probably didn't help that I was taking pictures while I was driving. We by-passed several forest service campsites and decided to shoot for a site in the national park. We found a good site in the Fruita Campground and weren't disappointed. Fruita CG is located in historic Fruita, a Mormon settlement established about 1880. Brigham Young sent settlers out to the remote corners of Utah to "...make gardens, orchards and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations." They certainly succeeded at Fruita. Located in a canyon on the banks of the Fremont River and Sulfur Creek, it is an excellent place to grow fruit. There still exist 22 orchards of peaches, apricots, pears, cherries, plums and apples, now managed by the NPS. Visitors can eat all the fruit they want as they walk through the orchards. If they want to take some with them it's $1.00 per pound or $8.00 per bushel. We enjoyed apricots and peaches.
Tuesday July 10
Today we did some hikes in Capitol Reef NP.
Our first hike was from the Grand Wash up to Cassidy Arch a strenuous hike of about two miles. Cassidy Arch is named for Butch Cassidy. Local lore claims that Butch Cassidy and his gang hid out in the area, although there is no evidence to support this fact. Later we hiked on out into the Grand Wash to the Narrows, a slot canyon in the Grand Wash. This was a relatively easy hike except that the surface is deep sand. Finally we hiked into the Capitol Gorge, another hike along a slot canyon with a wash bottom.
Capitol Reef is so-named because 1) it encompasses the Waterpocket Fold, a one hundred mile long buckle in the earth that represented a formidable barrier for early settlers and travelers, as a barrier reef did for early mariners and 2) the large monolith dome of white Navajo sandstone, that resembles the nation's capitol building in Washington. We had almost decided to skip Capitol Reef NP, because it was not on the most direct route to Moab, and I had not heard much about it. Ultimately we decide to visit here, primarily because we wanted to drive UT 12. I'm glad we did. It was a pleasant surprise.
We set out a humming bird feed at the campsite and were very successful at attracting hummers. At one point there were 8 hummers on the feeder. This was pretty exciting since the feeder had only three feeding stations. Kinda like musical chairs in fast-forward. Humming birds can be pretty testy. We saw some hummers that are not common in the east, including the broad-tailed, black chinned and the rufous.
Wednesday July 11
After spending two nights at Capitol Reef NP we traveled to Moab. UT 24 is a stark change from UT 12. It is straight and flat. We actually drove on an interstate for about 30 miles, for the first time in about 2 weeks. At Moab we are staying at a private campground, Moab Rim Campark, about two miles south of town. It's pretty cushy camping: full hook-ups with cable TV and wireless wi-fi. 50A electrical service means we can run both A/Cs, the microwave and the coffee maker all at the same time. Not bad for $13 per night. I spent some time in Moab 18 years ago, and it has changed quite a bit since then. When I was here before it was a small town with little development. Then you could cross the street without looking and not worry about getting run over. Now the main drag is five lanes. Like many other places, it has grown up and gotten commercialized. They are building a Wal-Mart.
We hiked up to Delicate Arch,
the trademark arch in Arches National Park. On the way up we saw some folks huddled around a man on the ground who was obviously in distress. There was a park ranger about 50 feet away, but she was doing nothing to help the poor guy. Something was not right here! As we got closer we saw the cameraman. It turns out they were shooting an educational video on safety in the desert parks. The man, who was decked out in the gaudiest of tourist garb and a pork-pie hat, was feigning heat stroke. Or maybe he twisted his ankle and fell, I couldn't tell. When we arrived at Delicate Arch it was overcast, but the sun broke through just before it set, allowing for some good photos of the arch. The film crew arrived and we learned that the cameraman did not have enough water and was becoming dehydrated. About this time a thunderstorm was approaching from across the La Sal Mountains. We got some really good views of horizontal streak lightening and decided it was time to get off this mountain. Ironically, the guys shooting the safety video stayed behind and kept shooting, even though the cameraman could hardly stand up in the strong wind. Maybe they were improvising and shooting a scene about thunderstorms. That evening it rained lightly all night, the first rain we have seen in weeks.
Thursday July 12
Natural arches are not unique to Arches NP, but it does posses one of the highest concentrations of arches in the world, with over 2000 cataloged arches. Today we did a number of short hikes in Arches National Park, visiting several of the more popular arches. Later in the afternoon we took a three-hour ranger-led hike through the Fiery Furnace, an area of fin-like ridges and slot canyons. This area is closed to hiking, except when accompanied by a ranger.
Friday July 13
Arches NP is a very charming park. Everywhere you go there are wonderful features and sights.
We drove the length of the park road three times and never tired of it. Every time we saw something new and wonderful. It is one of the most primitive parks I have ever visited. Water is only available at the visitor's center at the entrance to the park and at Devil's Garden CG, about 18 miles into the park. The only electricity in the park is at Devil's Garden CG, and it is produced locally via photovoltaic array with generator back-up. The solar arrays feed banks of storage batteries that can power the campground services through four sunless days. Today we hiked the Devil's Garden loop trail, a primitive trail about 6 miles long that goes to some of the more remote arches. It also goes by Landscape Arch, one of the longest natural arches in the world, at 306 feet long, and only six feet wide at its narrowest point. Early on we saw a mule deer cow with her calf. Later we saw the same pair in a different canyon. Later we hiked to some more arches. I think we have seen 1997 of the 2000 arches, and that's enough. Tomorrow we go to Canyonlands NP.
Monday July 9
We successfully survived the week of the 4th of July, and are ready to deal with plain ol' regular summer crowds. Today was a travel day with our destination being Capitol Reef National Park. We traveled scenic Utah 12. At Escalante we visited Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. UT 12 took us across the northern edge of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (the only national monument managed by the BLM; thats a whole 'nother story), along the Hogback, a narrow ridge with steep drop-offs on either side of the highway and across Boulder Mountain at El 9600'. Dorcas was sucking and hissing at every turn. It probably didn't help that I was taking pictures while I was driving. We by-passed several forest service campsites and decided to shoot for a site in the national park. We found a good site in the Fruita Campground and weren't disappointed. Fruita CG is located in historic Fruita, a Mormon settlement established about 1880. Brigham Young sent settlers out to the remote corners of Utah to "...make gardens, orchards and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations." They certainly succeeded at Fruita. Located in a canyon on the banks of the Fremont River and Sulfur Creek, it is an excellent place to grow fruit. There still exist 22 orchards of peaches, apricots, pears, cherries, plums and apples, now managed by the NPS. Visitors can eat all the fruit they want as they walk through the orchards. If they want to take some with them it's $1.00 per pound or $8.00 per bushel. We enjoyed apricots and peaches.
Tuesday July 10
Today we did some hikes in Capitol Reef NP.
Our first hike was from the Grand Wash up to Cassidy Arch a strenuous hike of about two miles. Cassidy Arch is named for Butch Cassidy. Local lore claims that Butch Cassidy and his gang hid out in the area, although there is no evidence to support this fact. Later we hiked on out into the Grand Wash to the Narrows, a slot canyon in the Grand Wash. This was a relatively easy hike except that the surface is deep sand. Finally we hiked into the Capitol Gorge, another hike along a slot canyon with a wash bottom.Capitol Reef is so-named because 1) it encompasses the Waterpocket Fold, a one hundred mile long buckle in the earth that represented a formidable barrier for early settlers and travelers, as a barrier reef did for early mariners and 2) the large monolith dome of white Navajo sandstone, that resembles the nation's capitol building in Washington. We had almost decided to skip Capitol Reef NP, because it was not on the most direct route to Moab, and I had not heard much about it. Ultimately we decide to visit here, primarily because we wanted to drive UT 12. I'm glad we did. It was a pleasant surprise.
We set out a humming bird feed at the campsite and were very successful at attracting hummers. At one point there were 8 hummers on the feeder. This was pretty exciting since the feeder had only three feeding stations. Kinda like musical chairs in fast-forward. Humming birds can be pretty testy. We saw some hummers that are not common in the east, including the broad-tailed, black chinned and the rufous.Wednesday July 11
After spending two nights at Capitol Reef NP we traveled to Moab. UT 24 is a stark change from UT 12. It is straight and flat. We actually drove on an interstate for about 30 miles, for the first time in about 2 weeks. At Moab we are staying at a private campground, Moab Rim Campark, about two miles south of town. It's pretty cushy camping: full hook-ups with cable TV and wireless wi-fi. 50A electrical service means we can run both A/Cs, the microwave and the coffee maker all at the same time. Not bad for $13 per night. I spent some time in Moab 18 years ago, and it has changed quite a bit since then. When I was here before it was a small town with little development. Then you could cross the street without looking and not worry about getting run over. Now the main drag is five lanes. Like many other places, it has grown up and gotten commercialized. They are building a Wal-Mart.
We hiked up to Delicate Arch,
the trademark arch in Arches National Park. On the way up we saw some folks huddled around a man on the ground who was obviously in distress. There was a park ranger about 50 feet away, but she was doing nothing to help the poor guy. Something was not right here! As we got closer we saw the cameraman. It turns out they were shooting an educational video on safety in the desert parks. The man, who was decked out in the gaudiest of tourist garb and a pork-pie hat, was feigning heat stroke. Or maybe he twisted his ankle and fell, I couldn't tell. When we arrived at Delicate Arch it was overcast, but the sun broke through just before it set, allowing for some good photos of the arch. The film crew arrived and we learned that the cameraman did not have enough water and was becoming dehydrated. About this time a thunderstorm was approaching from across the La Sal Mountains. We got some really good views of horizontal streak lightening and decided it was time to get off this mountain. Ironically, the guys shooting the safety video stayed behind and kept shooting, even though the cameraman could hardly stand up in the strong wind. Maybe they were improvising and shooting a scene about thunderstorms. That evening it rained lightly all night, the first rain we have seen in weeks.Thursday July 12
Natural arches are not unique to Arches NP, but it does posses one of the highest concentrations of arches in the world, with over 2000 cataloged arches. Today we did a number of short hikes in Arches National Park, visiting several of the more popular arches. Later in the afternoon we took a three-hour ranger-led hike through the Fiery Furnace, an area of fin-like ridges and slot canyons. This area is closed to hiking, except when accompanied by a ranger.
Friday July 13
Arches NP is a very charming park. Everywhere you go there are wonderful features and sights.
We drove the length of the park road three times and never tired of it. Every time we saw something new and wonderful. It is one of the most primitive parks I have ever visited. Water is only available at the visitor's center at the entrance to the park and at Devil's Garden CG, about 18 miles into the park. The only electricity in the park is at Devil's Garden CG, and it is produced locally via photovoltaic array with generator back-up. The solar arrays feed banks of storage batteries that can power the campground services through four sunless days. Today we hiked the Devil's Garden loop trail, a primitive trail about 6 miles long that goes to some of the more remote arches. It also goes by Landscape Arch, one of the longest natural arches in the world, at 306 feet long, and only six feet wide at its narrowest point. Early on we saw a mule deer cow with her calf. Later we saw the same pair in a different canyon. Later we hiked to some more arches. I think we have seen 1997 of the 2000 arches, and that's enough. Tomorrow we go to Canyonlands NP.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Photo and Quote of the Week
We have been experiencing record high temperatures here in southern Utah. This raven saw that Dorcas was sweating and asked her if she ever intended to come back to Bryce Canyon in July. Dorcas replied to the raven ..... you guessed it: "Nevermore."
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Peekaboo in the Hoodoos, Bryce Canyon NP
Today we enjoyed Bryce National Park. Bryce is very close to Zion in distance but very different in nature. Zion is a deep, narrow canyon with huge stone monoliths and high cliffs. It has a river, streams and springs. Zion is largely experienced from the canyon floor and it is a very hot place in the summer. Bryce Canyon is a broad and wide canyon whose primary distinction is relatively the small spires, columns and towers known as "hoodoos". It is viewed primarily from the canyon rim and is relatively cool and breezy.
As we entered the park we learned that the forecast high temperature for today was 68 degrees, a very welcome relief. We enjoyed a few overlook views and then took a hike down into the canyon.
The Peekaboo Trial is a loop hike about five miles long and is so-named because it rises and falls a number of times along its path, playing "peekaboo" with the hoodoos. It drops about 1600' into the canyon. After the Peekaboo Loop, we explored the historic Bryce Canyon Lodge, looking primarily for ice cream. We haven't found any yet, but did find this open internet connection. We are fixing to head back to camp, and will find an ice cream shop on the way. Ruby's Inn is just outside the park and they have EVERYTHING.
The plateaus and canyons of southern Utah have some of the darkest skies in the US. to take of this darkness, Bryce Canyon NP has an astronomy unit. They were set up with two 15" reflecting telescopes at Red Canyon CG tonight offering viewing to visitors. We saw a number of heavenly bodies including Venus, Jupiter, a spiral nebula, a ring nebula and pair of binary stars.
Tomorrow our plan is to pack up and move to Capitol Reef National Park and look for a campsite nearby.
As we entered the park we learned that the forecast high temperature for today was 68 degrees, a very welcome relief. We enjoyed a few overlook views and then took a hike down into the canyon.
The Peekaboo Trial is a loop hike about five miles long and is so-named because it rises and falls a number of times along its path, playing "peekaboo" with the hoodoos. It drops about 1600' into the canyon. After the Peekaboo Loop, we explored the historic Bryce Canyon Lodge, looking primarily for ice cream. We haven't found any yet, but did find this open internet connection. We are fixing to head back to camp, and will find an ice cream shop on the way. Ruby's Inn is just outside the park and they have EVERYTHING.The plateaus and canyons of southern Utah have some of the darkest skies in the US. to take of this darkness, Bryce Canyon NP has an astronomy unit. They were set up with two 15" reflecting telescopes at Red Canyon CG tonight offering viewing to visitors. We saw a number of heavenly bodies including Venus, Jupiter, a spiral nebula, a ring nebula and pair of binary stars.
Tomorrow our plan is to pack up and move to Capitol Reef National Park and look for a campsite nearby.
Quote of the Week
As an enhanced service to my faithful readers, I have added two new features to this journal: The Quote of the Week and The Photo of the Week. In this premiere edition I am offering two photos and two quotes.
Enjoy.
"Our mission here is to protect and preserve the erosional features in the park."
Ranger Nick, Zion National Park, 7/5/07
Ebenezer Bryce was a Mormon homesteader who lived at the mouth of Paria Creek near present-day Tropic, UT, about 1875. He is the namesake for Bryce Canyon, and his farm backed up to what is now called Bryce Canyon. When asked what it is like to live at the edge of such an remarkable canyon, he replied:
"It's a hell of a place to lose a cow"
Enjoy.
"Our mission here is to protect and preserve the erosional features in the park."
Ranger Nick, Zion National Park, 7/5/07
Ebenezer Bryce was a Mormon homesteader who lived at the mouth of Paria Creek near present-day Tropic, UT, about 1875. He is the namesake for Bryce Canyon, and his farm backed up to what is now called Bryce Canyon. When asked what it is like to live at the edge of such an remarkable canyon, he replied:
"It's a hell of a place to lose a cow"
Photo of the Week
Enjoying the solitude of the narrows of the Virgin River, 7/5/07, Zion National Park
This photo was taken at 7:07 PM on 07/07/07 just outside Bryce Canyon National Park. I wish I could have bought a lottery ticket!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Utah, finally at last, Red Canyon, UT
It has been a while since we had internet access, so we have a bit of catching up to do.
Wednesday July 4
Happy 4th of July! We packed up and left the Kaibab NF and the North Rim with some hesitation. We are headed back into the valley where the temperatures were soaring. We actually made a reservation for a campsite tonight. We will be staying at Camp Lutherwood, a Lutheran church camp that allows outside campers. It is located in the Dixie National Forest at Long Valley Junction, UT, about half between Zion NP and Bryce Canyon NP. We are thankful to be in Utah for good, where they know what Daylight Saving Time is all about. We arrived at Mt. Carmel, the cut-off to Zion NP about 2:00 and decided to drive on into the park for the afternoon. There is a tunnel at the east entrance to Zion. It is a spectacular tunnel and an engineering marvel. It is 1.1 miles long, but only 11' 4'' tall at the edge. Consequently large RVs cannot pass without an escort. If your RV is greater than 11'4" but less than 13'1" they stop the traffic coming from the other end, while you get to drive your RV right down the middle of the tunnel. They charge $15 for this service. Since we were not staying in the park, we unhitched the Honda at the Mt. Carmel cut-off and drove it into the park. We spent the afternoon getting oriented and doing a windshield tour of the park. On this Independence Day they set a park record high temperature of 112 degrees. Our tour seems to have fallen into what is known as the "Grand Circle". The Grand Circle is the collection of Utah national parks that include Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands, as well as several national monuments. I think the North Rim also counts, although it is not in Utah. It seems very popular to visit each of these parks in order, where you travel a "Grand Circle" about 900 miles in circumference. Southern Utah also encompasses the "Grand Staircase". Geologically speaking, each of the parks steps down through geologic layers like a staircase. The Kaibab Plateau is at the bottom of the staircase because it contains the lowest and oldest layers, even though it is not necessarily lower in elevation.
We had been advised to arrive at our campground before dark since there were numerous mule deer in the area. They forgot to advise us that the entrance road was two miles long and required a four wheel drive vehicle. We successfully negotiated the entrance road, but made a serious strategic error. Remember that 112 degree temperature? We had opened the windows in the Honda to help keep it cool, but didn't think to close them before going up that two mile pig path. It hasn't rained here since April and we put about 4 inches of dust in the car. They weren't kidding about the mule deer. As we entered the campground we had to stop and wait for them to get out of the way. They weren't in a hurry to move. I think they were afraid to move because they would stumble over all the black-tailed jack rabbits. I guess I have never seen a jack rabbit before, but they are pretty neat. They are about three times the size of the cottontails back home and have huge ears and long black tails. They don't really hop but sort of run like a cat. Once we got up here it was pretty neat. They have good facilities, and we are at EL7470', about 3500' higher than the campgrounds at Zion NP. It is very pleasant here, cool and breezy.
Thursday July 5
We drove back to Zion NP to spend what turned out to be a very long day.
Zion is a deep sandstone canyon carved by the Virgin River. To enter the canyon, you must take a free park shuttle bus. The buses are pretty neat. They are propane powered to reduce pollution and have rear wheel steering for tight turning. We arrived early to take a "ranger shuttle", a private shuttle ride up the canyon with an interpretive ranger. We departed the shuttle at the the end of the road at the head of the canyon and took the 1 mile riverwalk up the canyon. At the end of the riverwalk, we put on our Tevas and begin walking up the "Narrows" of the canyon. This basically involves simply wading up the Virgin River on bowling ball-like rocks, while the canyon gets narrower as you go. Unfortunately, Dorcas left her walking stick in the car. Those of you who have hiked with Dorcas know that she can't cross the street without her hiking stick, much less wade a river lengthwise. But she actually did pretty good though, and by the end of the day was rock-hopping like a champ. We were under the mistaken impression that a hike up the Narrows would be a quiet, solitary, experience. I think the other 9000 people there thought the same thing. However, by the time we had gone about a mile and then turned up Orderville Canyon, a smaller slot canyon, the crowds had thinned out. By that time, some dark clouds had formed, and we heard thunder, so we beat it out of the canyon. You don't want to be in a slot canyon during a storm. A flash flood there is deadly. From there we worked our way down the canyon and did hikes to Weeping Rock, Hidden Canyon and Lower, Middle and Upper Emerald Pools. We arrived at Zion Lodge to find the ice cream shop at the Zion Lodge had closed. Dang. By the time we caught the shuttle and drove back to camp, it was almost midnight, We had been out almost 18 hours and were whipped.
Friday July 6
We slept late and had a big breakfast. Since we have full hookups with plenty of water and power, we did about 4 loads laundry. We didn't have all that much laundry, but our washer can only do tiny loads.
Unlike most other campgrounds, Camp Lutherwood actually encourages folks to wash their cars, because it helps water the grass. We washed the Honda and shoveled out the dust. I was on a roll and washed the coach too. After lunch we headed up to Cedar Breaks National Monument, which is a high canyon featuring colorful spires, pinnacles and columns. It's kinda like a mini-Bryce Canyon at EL 10,350'. We then continued to Brian Head Peak, which overlooks the town of Brian Head, a ski area and a mountain biking mecca.
Saturday July 7
This morning we broke camp and moved about 30 miles up towards Bryce Canyon NP and set up at Red Canyon Campground in Dixie NF about 10 miles south of Bryce. We had considered going on up and camp in Bryce Canyon NP, but we have had very good luck finding great sites in the national forests. They have been much less crowded and generally have had better facilities than the national parks. We found a wi-fi hot spot near Bryce Canyon Lodge, and so were able to establish communications. This afternoon we plan to do some overlook walks and maybe hit some ranger presentations.
Wednesday July 4
Happy 4th of July! We packed up and left the Kaibab NF and the North Rim with some hesitation. We are headed back into the valley where the temperatures were soaring. We actually made a reservation for a campsite tonight. We will be staying at Camp Lutherwood, a Lutheran church camp that allows outside campers. It is located in the Dixie National Forest at Long Valley Junction, UT, about half between Zion NP and Bryce Canyon NP. We are thankful to be in Utah for good, where they know what Daylight Saving Time is all about. We arrived at Mt. Carmel, the cut-off to Zion NP about 2:00 and decided to drive on into the park for the afternoon. There is a tunnel at the east entrance to Zion. It is a spectacular tunnel and an engineering marvel. It is 1.1 miles long, but only 11' 4'' tall at the edge. Consequently large RVs cannot pass without an escort. If your RV is greater than 11'4" but less than 13'1" they stop the traffic coming from the other end, while you get to drive your RV right down the middle of the tunnel. They charge $15 for this service. Since we were not staying in the park, we unhitched the Honda at the Mt. Carmel cut-off and drove it into the park. We spent the afternoon getting oriented and doing a windshield tour of the park. On this Independence Day they set a park record high temperature of 112 degrees. Our tour seems to have fallen into what is known as the "Grand Circle". The Grand Circle is the collection of Utah national parks that include Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands, as well as several national monuments. I think the North Rim also counts, although it is not in Utah. It seems very popular to visit each of these parks in order, where you travel a "Grand Circle" about 900 miles in circumference. Southern Utah also encompasses the "Grand Staircase". Geologically speaking, each of the parks steps down through geologic layers like a staircase. The Kaibab Plateau is at the bottom of the staircase because it contains the lowest and oldest layers, even though it is not necessarily lower in elevation.
We had been advised to arrive at our campground before dark since there were numerous mule deer in the area. They forgot to advise us that the entrance road was two miles long and required a four wheel drive vehicle. We successfully negotiated the entrance road, but made a serious strategic error. Remember that 112 degree temperature? We had opened the windows in the Honda to help keep it cool, but didn't think to close them before going up that two mile pig path. It hasn't rained here since April and we put about 4 inches of dust in the car. They weren't kidding about the mule deer. As we entered the campground we had to stop and wait for them to get out of the way. They weren't in a hurry to move. I think they were afraid to move because they would stumble over all the black-tailed jack rabbits. I guess I have never seen a jack rabbit before, but they are pretty neat. They are about three times the size of the cottontails back home and have huge ears and long black tails. They don't really hop but sort of run like a cat. Once we got up here it was pretty neat. They have good facilities, and we are at EL7470', about 3500' higher than the campgrounds at Zion NP. It is very pleasant here, cool and breezy.
Thursday July 5
We drove back to Zion NP to spend what turned out to be a very long day.
Zion is a deep sandstone canyon carved by the Virgin River. To enter the canyon, you must take a free park shuttle bus. The buses are pretty neat. They are propane powered to reduce pollution and have rear wheel steering for tight turning. We arrived early to take a "ranger shuttle", a private shuttle ride up the canyon with an interpretive ranger. We departed the shuttle at the the end of the road at the head of the canyon and took the 1 mile riverwalk up the canyon. At the end of the riverwalk, we put on our Tevas and begin walking up the "Narrows" of the canyon. This basically involves simply wading up the Virgin River on bowling ball-like rocks, while the canyon gets narrower as you go. Unfortunately, Dorcas left her walking stick in the car. Those of you who have hiked with Dorcas know that she can't cross the street without her hiking stick, much less wade a river lengthwise. But she actually did pretty good though, and by the end of the day was rock-hopping like a champ. We were under the mistaken impression that a hike up the Narrows would be a quiet, solitary, experience. I think the other 9000 people there thought the same thing. However, by the time we had gone about a mile and then turned up Orderville Canyon, a smaller slot canyon, the crowds had thinned out. By that time, some dark clouds had formed, and we heard thunder, so we beat it out of the canyon. You don't want to be in a slot canyon during a storm. A flash flood there is deadly. From there we worked our way down the canyon and did hikes to Weeping Rock, Hidden Canyon and Lower, Middle and Upper Emerald Pools. We arrived at Zion Lodge to find the ice cream shop at the Zion Lodge had closed. Dang. By the time we caught the shuttle and drove back to camp, it was almost midnight, We had been out almost 18 hours and were whipped.Friday July 6
We slept late and had a big breakfast. Since we have full hookups with plenty of water and power, we did about 4 loads laundry. We didn't have all that much laundry, but our washer can only do tiny loads.
Unlike most other campgrounds, Camp Lutherwood actually encourages folks to wash their cars, because it helps water the grass. We washed the Honda and shoveled out the dust. I was on a roll and washed the coach too. After lunch we headed up to Cedar Breaks National Monument, which is a high canyon featuring colorful spires, pinnacles and columns. It's kinda like a mini-Bryce Canyon at EL 10,350'. We then continued to Brian Head Peak, which overlooks the town of Brian Head, a ski area and a mountain biking mecca.Saturday July 7
This morning we broke camp and moved about 30 miles up towards Bryce Canyon NP and set up at Red Canyon Campground in Dixie NF about 10 miles south of Bryce. We had considered going on up and camp in Bryce Canyon NP, but we have had very good luck finding great sites in the national forests. They have been much less crowded and generally have had better facilities than the national parks. We found a wi-fi hot spot near Bryce Canyon Lodge, and so were able to establish communications. This afternoon we plan to do some overlook walks and maybe hit some ranger presentations.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
The Perfect Day
Tuesday July 3
Today was the most satisfying and enjoyable day of our trip so far. We slept well and long from our hard hike on the North Kaibab trail the day before. After we got up we puttered around camp for a while and then went to the Kaibab Lodge, which is next door to the campground. Our campground host had said the Lodge had free wireless internet and wouldn't mind us logging on. We asked to use their facilities, and they said come on in. We set up in their dining room and spent about two hours writing and responding to e-mails and doing other internet chores, mostly researching the next leg of our trip through southern Utah. By that time it was lunchtime, and they were bringing out their daily special: hot open-faced turkey sandwich with broccoli and mashed potatoes.
Thinking it would not be right to take advantage of their hospitality without spending a little money, we made the sacrifice and ordered the special. If you ever get to the North Rim stop in and visit the folks at Kaibab Lodge.
The remainder of our day consisted of tourist-like activities: driving around and short walks. We drove out on the Walhalla Plateau on the eastern end of the park and enjoyed the amazing vistas. The views from Cape Royal are the best from any place in the park, North Rim or South Rim. The only place the Colorado River can be seen on the North Rim is from near Cape Royal. There is one very unique view of the Colorado River through Angel's Window, an arch-like formation in the rocks. We did several short hikes including one to Cliff Springs, where water weeps out of the cliff wall and nourishes many lush plants.
This evening we attended a campfire program on fossils in the park and another program in the Grand Lodge on "Geologic Hikes", namely specific hikes from the North Rim where one can see great examples of the most unique geologic features in the canyon. After the program we sat on the back veranda of the Grand Lodge, ate ice cream as the nearly-full moon rose and watched shooting stars over the canyon. Can it get any better?
We also saw the most diverse wildlife we have seen in the park. In addition to
numerous mule deer, we saw a small herd of wild turkeys with several chicks, Kaibab squirrels with their unique white tail and tufted ears and a coyote. The picture at left is the Cliffrose (Cowania Stansburiana)
We will be moving tomorrow and will spend tomorrow and the next day in Zion National Park.
Today was the most satisfying and enjoyable day of our trip so far. We slept well and long from our hard hike on the North Kaibab trail the day before. After we got up we puttered around camp for a while and then went to the Kaibab Lodge, which is next door to the campground. Our campground host had said the Lodge had free wireless internet and wouldn't mind us logging on. We asked to use their facilities, and they said come on in. We set up in their dining room and spent about two hours writing and responding to e-mails and doing other internet chores, mostly researching the next leg of our trip through southern Utah. By that time it was lunchtime, and they were bringing out their daily special: hot open-faced turkey sandwich with broccoli and mashed potatoes.
Thinking it would not be right to take advantage of their hospitality without spending a little money, we made the sacrifice and ordered the special. If you ever get to the North Rim stop in and visit the folks at Kaibab Lodge.The remainder of our day consisted of tourist-like activities: driving around and short walks. We drove out on the Walhalla Plateau on the eastern end of the park and enjoyed the amazing vistas. The views from Cape Royal are the best from any place in the park, North Rim or South Rim. The only place the Colorado River can be seen on the North Rim is from near Cape Royal. There is one very unique view of the Colorado River through Angel's Window, an arch-like formation in the rocks. We did several short hikes including one to Cliff Springs, where water weeps out of the cliff wall and nourishes many lush plants.
This evening we attended a campfire program on fossils in the park and another program in the Grand Lodge on "Geologic Hikes", namely specific hikes from the North Rim where one can see great examples of the most unique geologic features in the canyon. After the program we sat on the back veranda of the Grand Lodge, ate ice cream as the nearly-full moon rose and watched shooting stars over the canyon. Can it get any better?
We also saw the most diverse wildlife we have seen in the park. In addition to
numerous mule deer, we saw a small herd of wild turkeys with several chicks, Kaibab squirrels with their unique white tail and tufted ears and a coyote. The picture at left is the Cliffrose (Cowania Stansburiana)We will be moving tomorrow and will spend tomorrow and the next day in Zion National Park.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Chillin' Out on the North Rim
Saturday June 30
Upon leaving Page, AZ we headed towards Lee's Ferry. Lee's Ferry is about 15 river miles downstream from Glen Canyon Dam, but about 45 road miles away.
We crossed the Navajo Bridge over the Colorado River and descended to Lee's Ferry. At ~3000', Lee's Ferry is very hot in late June. The forecast there for this day was 110' and I believed it. Lee's Ferry lies at the break between Marble Canyon (the upper Grand Canyon), Glen Canyon and Paria Canyon, providing the only relatively easy access to the Colorado River for many miles in either direction. The Navajo Bridge, opened in 1928, made the ferry obsolete. Lee's Ferry is most famous now for being the put-in for all Grand Canyon float trips. There were a number of float parties, both private and commercial, setting up to put in the next morning. I had a grand time chatting with the river rats and really hated to leave. But we needed to find a place to camp, and we were burning daylight.Our objective that evening was to get as close to the North Rim as we could. We left Lee's Ferry hoping to get to the Kaibab National Forest Visitor Center at Jacob Lake before they closed at 5:00, but it was going to be close. From Lee's Ferry we gained altitude steadily as we crested onto the Kaibab Plateau. The Kaibab Plateau ranges in elevation from about 7000' to almost 9000'. Kaibab is a Paiute Indian word meaning "mountain lying down". The Kaibab National Forest was a stark contrast from the desert environs we had been in for the last week or so. It is heavily forested with spruce, fir and aspen and was green and lush. It also contained a number of beautiful meadows along the road. The campground at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was booked solid until the end of July. There was a possibility that we could get a site due to a cancellation, particularly if we got there in the morning, but we would arrive after 6:00. (or 5:00 or 7:00, I don't know.) Our fall back position was to try to get a spot at DeMotte CG in the Kaibab National Forest. We arrived at the Kaibab NF Visitor Center one minute after they closed, and the doors were locked. We lurked outside until one of the staff came out, and then grilled him about camping in the NF. He couldn't tell us about the availability of camp sites at DeMotte CG (this is the beginning of the 4th of July holiday week), which is just 8 miles from the entrance to the North Rim, but he said we should be able to find some nice places off the highway if we wanted to experience "dispersed camping". When we arrived at DeMotte there were plenty of sites, so we set up on No. 2. The first thing we noticed was how cool it was. We were now at about 8800', almost a mile higher than we had been the night before. By the time we went to bed the outside temperature was 47 degrees. The low for the night ended up being 31 degrees. We had gone from 110 degrees to 31 degrees in just under 12 hours.
Sunday July 1
In 2005 the Grand Canyon National Park received 4.6 million visitors, but only 10% of those people went to the North Rim. In spite of that, it still took us almost 20 minutes to clear the entrance gate. The parking lots at the Visitor Center and lodge were nearly full. We attended a ranger talk on the California condor. The number of California condors once dwindled to 22, but, thanks to captive breeding programs, now number 300+. There are ~70 in the Grand Canyon area, including one which has been perching on the North Rim Grand Lodge. There is a release site nearby on Vermilion Cliffs. We did a few easy overlook walks and then drove out to Point Imperial, at 8803' the highest point on either rim. The north rim is about 1000' higher than the south rim and about twice as far from the river. Since it slopes down to the south, it experiences more erosional forces than the South Rim and has receded away from the river more quickly. Tomorrow we plan to do some longer hikes. We would like to catch some more ranger talks, but they start at 7:00 and 8:00 and that is a little late for us since we are staying outside the park.
Monday July 2
Today we arose early for a hike into the canyon.
When we got up it was 32 degrees. We hit the North Kaibab trail head about 6:45 for a walk to Roaring Spring. Roaring Spring is about 5 miles and 3005' down from the North Rim. It is the source of all the water used by the North and South Rim and is the headwaters to Bright Angel Creek. The walk down was very pleasant. We soon shed our jackets, and we arrived at Roaring Spring in about 2 1/2 hours. By then the temperature had risen significantly. We cooled our feet in the stream, ate PBJs for lunch and started the long trek out of the canyon. The hike out was reminiscent of a backpacking trip we did from the South Rim in May 1998. Hot, dry, steep and long. We finally made it out of the canyon and bee-lined it to the lodge for some ice cream. We then enjoyed a very entertaining ranger talk on Grand Canyon geology.
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