MONUMENT VALLEY NAVAJO TRIBAL PARK

Pretty chilly here at Monument Valley, Utah so we put our thermal underwear, hats, coats and gloves on to brave the elements.  However, the sun kept peeping out and made for a wonderful day to drive the scenic loop and take photos.  The area is entirely within the Navajo Indian Reservation.

The size of these rock formations, sandstone buttes, mesas and spires are massive in diameter and some reach as high as 1,000 feet.  Hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed taking them.

Morning view

They call this one the Three Sisters

Panorama view

Distant view

They call this one Mitten

We drove a couple of hours to our campground in Cortez, Colorado.  It a cute little cowboy town and a good central location to drive to Mesa Verde National Park, Hovenweep National Monument, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument and Ute Mountain Tribal Park .

Thanks for stopping in to say hi

ZION NATIONAL PARK - UTAH

It's been four years since the last time we visited Zion.  The park was full due to spring break but we found a nice full hookup campground just outside the park with shuttle service directly to the visitor's center.

Our first day we took the shuttle as far as it goes and walked the trail to the Narrows which is something we didn't do the last time we were here.  It was a six mile walk and was a nice warm up for the next day.

Today we hopped the shuttle earlier because we planned on hiking the most challenging and difficult trail in the park, Angels Landing.  The last time we were here I didn't go all the way to the landing but we both did it this time. With 1000 foot drop offs and narrow trails it's very intimidating but exhilarating  We had rubber legs on the way down and looked forward to hopping on the shuttle back to the campground.  Hope I can get out of bed tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow we'll pack up to continue our journey.

Thanks for stopping in to say hi.

Exploring Canyonlands National Park

I'm beginning to get "rocked out" and suffering from visual overload.  For those of you who weren't counting, we've visited FIVE National Parks in a row ... Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Arches and Canyonlands.  Each one was unique and visually breathtaking.  We need take a break from canyons, balancing rocks, spires, fins, mesas, buttes, arches, pictographs, petroglyphs, cliff dwellings and pinnacles.  

Too windy for hats today

This morning we drove the 30 odd miles to the Canyonlands Visitor Center to stamp our passport and explore the Island in the Sky area of the park.  Island in the Sky is a broad mesa wedged between the Green and Colorado Rivers. Closest to the mesa's edge is the White Rim, a nearly continuous sandstone bench 1,200 feet below the Island.  Another 1,000 feet beneath White Rim are the rivers, shadowed by sheer canyon cliffs.  Unfortunately, the other two areas of the park, The Maze and The Needles, would take another couple of days to explore and we've run out of time.  I would come back to this area just to take the rafting tour down Cataract Canyon in The Rivers area of the park.

Grand View Point Overlook 

I love seeing colors in the desert

Upheaval Dome - Was it a meteor or upheaval of salt flats??  The jury is still out

Mesa Arch

I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I'm tired of hiking and sightseeing.

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Exploring Arches

We were up very early this morning due to the two hour time difference between us and Massachusetts.  Business calls needed to be made and work needed to get done.  Mission accomplished and off to explore the arches by 10:00.

Water and ice, extreme temperatures and underground salt movement are responsible for the sculptured rock scenery of Arches National Park.  The park has over 2,000 cataloged arches ranging in size from 3' to 306' from base to base.  We not only saw arches but also spires, pinnacles and balanced rocks.  At this point, I'm sure my readers are saying "please no more rock photos" but you'll have to admit this are not just rocks.

Three Gossips

Sheep Rock

Double Arch

Our plan was to see as many arches and rock formations that we could in a day.  The park makes it very easy to view many of the most popular sights simply by driving along the scenic route from beginning to end and stopping at each observation point.  Short trails ranging from 0.3 miles to the longest 4.2 miles brings you up close and personal to each of God's creations.

We stopped for lunch at the picnic area near Devils Garden Campground.  Hard boiled eggs, multi-grain crackers, celery and carrot sticks, with apples and cuties for dessert ... very simple and very satisfying.

Nice shady spot for a bite to eat

Three rock climbers at the top

Landscape Arch is the length of a football field

By 4:00 we were both starting to fade and I kept thinking how nice an ice cold beer would taste.  Last night I was looking through the Moab Menu Guide and saw Moab's Only Microbrewery and Restaurant.  It sounded like a fun place to visit and offered up fresh hand-crafted ales with names like Porcupine Pilsener, Dead Horse Ale, Scorpion Pale Ale and Raven Stout.

Cheers!

Anyways it was on the way back to the campground and we didn't pass up the opportunity.  Denis ordered one of his favorites, Chicken Broccoli Alfredo and I ordered the Greek Pasta with sundried and fresh tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta cheese, fresh spinach and garlic tossed with olive oil, and herbs over penne pasta.   Both the service and food were very good.  Oh yeah, I tried the Raven Stout.  It is described as an oatmeal stout with plenty of roasted malts and delicately hopped for a thick, creamy start and a crisp finish.  Served unfiltered for extra vitamins.  After drinking some beers I get a stuffy nose but this one didn't bother me at all and it was very tasty.

Another day in paradise.  Thanks for stopping in.

Arches National Park

We were sleepy heads this morning and didn't wake until almost 9:00.  That's okay because we only had to drive 160 miles to get to Spanish Trail RV Park in Moab.  The park is located ten minutes from the entrance to Arches and we have a picture window view of the mountains.  This is the most money we've EVER paid for a site at $42 per night.... yikes.   But with Arches ten minutes away and Canyonlands a half hour away, the park is perfect.

After setting up and lunch we decided to take a ride to Arches Visitor Center to watch the orientation movie and stamp our passport.  They have a National Geographic movie that covers both parks and it explained how the rock formations called arches, spires and fins were formed.  The visitor center was one of the best we've seen and very informative.  I bought the book 50 Common Reptiles and Amphibians and finally learned what that white tailed lizard is called that we saw at Superstition Mountain with Amanda.  It's called a Common Chuckwalla (Sauromalus obesus).

They grow up to 17" long 

Vegetarians - Predators are hawks, coyotes - they hide from predators by crawling into rock crevices and filling their lungs with air until they are wedged in tightly and safely

We're excited about tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping in.

Last Day at Capitol Reef

Our plan was to hike to Hickman Bridge and see the 133 foot natural rock bridge but the trail was closed.  Across the street was Cohab Canyon trail and it was described as a hidden canyon with spur trails and overlooks, a strenuous climb of 320 feet from west to east with 1/4 mile switchbacks.  It was a fun trail and got the heart pumping quickly.  We prefer hiking high on the rims rather than down in the washes.

First choice

Guess we'll go with this one

I feel on top of the world

These Petroglyphs are different from the ones we've seen in Arizona

We had time to visit the little town of Torrey before 5:00 mass.  The Chuck Wagon General Store had a little bit of everything.  I bought a loaf of bakery fresh organic wheat bread, a pair of hiking shorts and a tied-dye t-shirt that reads "Take a Hike, Capitol Reef Utah".

Chuck Wagon General Store

The General Store even had BIG hats for sale - no Denis didn't buy this one

There were a few houses that looked like this one

The Catholic Church we went to was a simple chapel with a big mountain view and friendly people.  The priest has to drive many miles each weekend to accommodate five Catholic parishes in the area.
Remember this is Mormon country and just finding a Catholic Church isn't an easy task.  Some of the people we talked to live 1-3 hours away.

Isn't it cute?

I was distracted by the view

We sliced up the bread for turkey sandwiches with some organic lentil soup and a green salad.  Simple dinner but sure did taste good.

Thanks for stopping in.

Capitol Reef National Park

Not a bad night's sleep at Walmart once the parking lot sweeper finished his job.  We drove our 160 miles to a Coast to Coast Park just outside of Capitol Reef.  Nice small park with full hookups facing a beautiful mountain range and so very quiet.

Yes, this park is out in the middle of no-where

Campground office, home and a store to buy jewelry or antlers

Our picture window view

Our neighbors

Here we are - did someone say isolated?

After setting up we took a ride to the visitor's center to stamp our passport, view an orientation movie and get a trail map.  Then we drove along the Scenic Drive to view the Waterpocket Fold landscape.  Waterpocket Fold = A giant buckle in the Earth's crust stretches across south-central Utah.  This vast warping of rock, created 65 million years ago by the same great forces later uplifting the Colorado Plateau.  We saw colorful cliffs, massive domes, soaring spires, stark monoliths, twisting canyons and graceful arches.  We also saw herds of mule deer.

No fees due to National Park Week

Mule deer like hanging out in the orchards

Unique to the area

Majestic

Got back just in time to steam some rice and salmon in my new rice steamer, added some garlic broccoli and we had a nice late dinner.  Denis made us a nice green salad all by himself and it was very good.

We're excited to hit the trails tomorrow (which one will we choose?)  I hope we have time to stroll along the historic streets of Torrey.

Found where we'll be going to church

St. Anthony's is right down the street from where we're staying

Thanks for stopping in.

Goodbye to Zion National Park

Of all the National Parks, I believe Zion may be my favorite and I look forward to going back.  It has so much to offer.  It has natural beauty, great hiking, free shuttle service, nice campground, close to a very quaint town that I didn't even get a chance to visit, Zion Lodge has a nice restaurant and pub, full phone and internet service.  What more can a "happy camper" want in life.  The flowers always surprise me with their burst of color along the rocky trails.

Of course, as with most National Parks there are no hookups.  We found out that two batteries are not enough to keep full power.  Generator hours are between 8-10 and 6-8.  The 6-8 charge wouldn't hold through the night and we found ourselves with dead batteries on two separate mornings.  Denis is a pro at jump starting from the car to the coach.

We said goodbye to Zion this morning, drove about 150 miles and pulled into a Walmart in search of batteries.  Walmart didn't carry the kind we needed but Denis found two at an auto parts store down the road.  That gave me time to do some shopping for a few necessities.  I tried using my Walmart credit card only to find out the account was closed due to inactivity.  What a pain in the butt.  With my cart full, I went to customer service (which is an oxymoron) to call the credit card company.  I went through the "torture of automation" before actually speaking to a live person.  The live person informed me that there is nothing he can do and I need to have customer service do a credit application.  Yahoo, approved!

New batteries installed, generator running and having corn pancakes for dinner.

Til tomorrow!

Faced the Challenge of Angels Landing

Got out by 10:30 this morning with a purpose.  The shuttle brought us to the Grotto with access to the 5.4 mile trail called Angels Landing via the West Rim Trial.  It's not the 5.4 miles that kills you, it's the long drop-offs and steep narrow paths.  To get to Angels Landing you need to traverse back and forth on the switchbacks of Walters Wiggles.  The switchbacks were steep but tolerable.  It's when you get to the cliffs with chains to hold on to that it starts getting interesting.  Silly me, I thought I reached the top when I got to Scout Lookout but someone told me to look straight up where those tiny people were standing and said that's Angels Landing.  I'm thinking "are you insane"?

The elevation change from start to finish is 1,488.  I knew Denis wanted to go to the top so I told him to go on without me.  There was a tour group of Australians, all in their 20's, and Denis joined them for the rest of the climb.  Which come to find out was only and additional 20-30 minutes.  But it is hair raising to say the least.  I sat at a beautiful observation point and chatted with one of the Australians that had stayed behind.   About a half-hour later I decided to climb a little further taking each step at my own slow and steady pace.  I met Denis coming down about 15 minutes later.  He was extremely excited about his accomplishment.

When he got to the top, he had 3G and called his mom on ooVoo and had a video chat.  All the people on the top, Germans, Asians and Australians, all said hi to Jeannine.  Isn't that cool?

Somehow we managed to drag our "jello" legs down to the bottom and catch the shuttle to Zion Lodge.  Hungry and tired we managed to climb the 10 or so steps up to the Bar & Grill and got a seat on the outdoor patio with a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains.  Ordered a nice cold beer, black bean burger with home made potato salad and a fresh mixed green salad with balsamic dressing.
What a wonderful way to end the day.  Cheers!

The beginning - finished 5 hours later

Big Deal - just a total of  5.5 miles

A lonely flower - but very pretty

The beginning of the chain rails

Magnificent

Victory

Another bird's eye view

Funny, this photo doesn't look very steep

Return trip - notice the knees are beginning to look weak

Ahhhhhhh!

Thanks for stopping in.