May 22, 2013 - Zion National Park

Well, I know hotels are getting smarter about using smaller soap bars but this one almost washed away with the first use! I've got hundreds of photos of the parks and rocks and almost none of them do justice to the spectacular scenery so I'm only posting a few. What I am posting today really struck my heart. We were detoured from Zion to Grand Canyon because of a mud slide and added about 60 miles to our route. It took us through the heart of the Navajo Reservation. Beautiful scenery but some of the roughest land out here. Exactly what did...

May 4, 2013 - Echo Canyon Climb

Now that we had David and Lynn somewhat acclimated to the southern Utah altitude, we decided it was time to take them up on the canyon wall and through a notch into a large slot canyon. Echo Canyon is on the way to Observation Point, a 2200 foot vertical climb via steep switchbacks to the east rim of Zion Canyon. Nancy and I have made this five hour up and back hike on several occasions but knew our Wisconsin friends may not be up to the full Monty. I think the highest hill they have in Wisconsin is 1100 feet (they have no mountains) so the...

May 4, 2013 - Zion National Park

We arrived in Springdale, Utah last night. Springdale is not far from Grand Junction, Colorado. So we decided to take Hwy 89 rather than Hwy 70. 70 is quicker and that is the route the GPS will give you, but if you are coming out toward Zion, take Old Hwy 89, it's a much much more scenic drive. It will add about 30-45 minutes to your drive, but you will enjoy the route much better. If you take 70, you will miss the Big Rock Candy Mountains (remember the song?). You'll also miss the rock and mineral shop that is shaped like a big rock. The...

May 3, 2013 - Zion National Park, UT

From Vegas we head northwest across a small southern slice of Nevada, a corner of Arizona, and into Utah, a new state for us. Along the way we really enjoyed the desert and mountain scenery of southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona, but we were really, really impressed with what we saw of Utah so far. The Nevada and Arizona have the scenic beauty of California but without the smog, but Utah is even better. We traveled north from Vegas on I-15. Starting in northern Arizona it follows the Virgin River, a tributary of the Colorado River....

May 3, 2013 - Red Rock Rendezvous

Our friends from Wisconsin, David and Lynn arrived three days ago. They are on a western swing of their own and were en route from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon and back to Las Vegas again via Laughlin. David and I were neighborhood friends from my formative years in northern Wisconsin and have somehow managed to stay in contact every decade or so. Shortly after they arrived around noon on Wednesday we had them up in the high country on the walk to Many Pools that Nancy and I had done a few days before. Due to some construction we had to...

Apr 28, 2013 - Many Pools

Nancy found a great website put together by a guy named Joe that seemed to be the definitive site for information on great hikes in the Zion National Park area. Howard and Linda had also found the site and had taken some of the hikes ‘Joe’ had covered. They knew of this hike, but had elected not take it. The hike to Many Pools intrigued us for several reasons, one being that it was up on top of the multi-colored and layered sandstone plateau, an area with not many published trails. Another reason we were drawn to this hike was the chance...

Apr 27, 2013 - First Contact

Nancy has been following a fulltime RV blog of a couple since before we were married. RV Dreams is their site and the couple happened to be here in Zion National Park. Over the last three years we have come close to where Howard and Linda Payne were camped. Being that we have been avid ‘cyber lurkers’ of their blog for years, we feel like we know them, as I am sure many of their followers do also. Unlike yours truly, Howard is the epitome of a daily blogger. He updates almost daily and his photography is noteworthy to say the least. The...

Apr 26, 2013 - Western Swing

I am dedicating my journal entries this travel season to my friend George, of George and Sheila fame. He has followed our journal from time to time and has commented to me that I write with some wit. But I think he is too generous and is only half right. I start our fourth season’s journal while sitting in my Lazy Boy swivel rocker under the towering red sandstone cliffs of Zion National park. It is 8:30 AM Mountain Time and the sun is just now peaking over the 2000 foot cliffs. We arrived here after two and a half days journey from our...

Apr 24, 2013 - hiking in Zion National Park

After turning on our trusty furnace to get the frost off the ends of our noses this morning we layered our clothing and headed into Zion National Park for the day. This place is cool. It, too, is full of red rock formations and mountains. And even the road in the park is red – it is paved and they add some red rock chips with the asphalt and as it is driven on the red colouring seeps through the pavement. The bridges are supported with red coloured bricks, the park buildings are the same muted red colour and even the fire hydrants are red!...

Apr 16, 2013 - Zion National Park

We spent the day at Zion, which was somewhat shrouded in clouds from the unseasonable rain they were having. Zion means place of peace and refuge, it certainly lives up to it's name. Despite the rain and clouds the beauty was magnificent, but somewhat difficult for picture taking. The park was beautiful and seeing it was possible because of the shuttle busses that run every 7-10 minutes. Using the shuttle allows you to get off, take hikes and pictures and know there would be another bus in minutes. The shuttle drivers are also very...

Apr 12, 2013 - A Hiking We Will Go

Today was a day of exercise and enjoying more of God's beauty. We took a river hike of 2 1/2 miles and a hike of 1 1/2 miles to see an emerald pool. Both hikes were a bit strenuous for old people with fake knees and bad lungs, but the beauty was well worth the effort. I'm sure our trainer will be very proud of us. The river is so different from the salt water rivers at home and so lovely. The speed and power of it is amazing. The canyon walls are so different at each turn in the path, and their beauty never ends. The emerald pool at the end...

Apr 11, 2013 - Down in the Valley

Don't plan too far ahead is our motto on this trip as well as being ready to change plans to match the circumstances. Linda woke up with a much improved back, after ten and one half hours of sleep. After a shower and a Skippy breakfast she was ready to make a quick trip to Zion. So off to Zion we went. It was fantastic!!! It was just another example of each day gets better and the beauty just increases. This place is amazing. In addition to seeing the mountains and rock formations from the canyon floor, we were fascinated by the Virgin...