lyrics by Toby Keith -- HOW DO YOU LIKE US NOW? HOW DO YOU LIKE US NOW, NOW THAT WE'RE ON OUR WAY? DO YOU STILL THINK WE'RE CRAZY, STANDING HERE TODAY?

ZION-CEDAR BREAKS

We started our little hiatus in Las Vegas. After meeting at the airport we spent 20 minutes trying to find our rental car, which I had parked on the 2^nd floor of the garage. We were then told by a nice young man that there were two 2^nd floors in the garage . They say that "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas", including buildings with two 2^nd floors I guess. Whatever! We then went to dinner, checked in at the motel, and called it a night.
On Saturday we started out with breakfast and Craig decided to entertain the guests by sharing his new breakfast concoction, wafflettas. They were a great hit. We set out, with our first goal the Kolob Canyon area of Zion National Park. This is a rarely visited area, is a long way from the main part of the Park, and not all that well known. There is a five mile road that snakes its way up the canyon, two large parking areas for hikers (both were full), and a picnic/rest area at the end of the road. The scenery is superb but I suspect that we’ll see much more of the same in a few days, when we visit the main area. Decided not to send thirty pictures of red cliffs until next week.
 I am putting in a picture of two gentlemen who never completely grew up, and still carry on the way they did in our travels decades ago.

We had planned to take the scenic road through Cedar Breaks National Monument, but it will not be snow plowed until the middle of June, so that called for plan B. We approached the Park from the north, past Brian Head ski area, to an observation point that looks out on a part of the Park. WOW. I’ll have to let these next two pictures speak for themselves. This is the top end of a miles long canyon of hoodoos and all sorts of colorful things. The white stuff you see laying around is you know what. I have no idea of how many feet of snow are still on the Park road.

We thought that we would interrupt the pictures of this sublime area with something that would warm the hearts of Ethel, Heidi, and Tracey. It shows their guys freezing at 10,500 feet altitude at the end of the month of May.

Moving right along, there was a particular hoodoo down in the canyon that really caught my eye. I zoomed in on it and the final result has become one of my favorite pictures. This is a treasure.

Finally I'll leave Cedar Breaks with this picture. It was zoomed a bit and the colors are just superb. There is still a bit of snow on the tops of some of the formations, which adds to the overall scene.

On Sunday we'll be heading over to the Red Canyon and to Bryce Canyon. More, much more of the same. 

RED CANYON - BRYCE CANYON

We spent the night at a B & B in Panguitch, Utah. Our hosts were very interesting: the husband is the principal of Panguitch High School; his wife teaches "home economics" in Kanab, Utah, 67 miles down the road. She laughed saying that there was now a very fancy name for "home economics", but the curriculum was the same.
We took a fairly short trip, stopping at the Red Canyon, an area loaded with colorful formations and lots of hoodoos. This first picture was taken from the highway and is the start of the area.

We visited the Visitor Center and then took a 3/4 mile hike around the area. This is just one of the views that we had from this trail.

The trail was very interesting and there were a number of hoodoo formations that were colorful but we decided to wait for Bryce Canyon and the hoodoos there. We did go through two very cool tunnels that had been cut from the rock to put the highway in and one of them is here.

OK, it's time to visit Bryce Canyon National Park. The Park is laid out with the majority of what visitors end up seeing is all at the northern end. There is an 18 mile long road that wends its way south through the Park with a number of superb viewpoints. So, we started our journey at the southern, Rainbow Point. We have two pictures that were taken here. The first is a view of the canyon looking to the north while he second is the view to the south.

It was necessary for political purposes that I include a few pictures of my boys in this blog. So here's one of them. As you can see, it was a little nippy up at 9,000 feet and the heavier stuff was out.

We continued to work our way north until we stopped off at the natural bridge overlook. What more can I say: here's the natural bridge.

We left natural bridge and drove up to Bryce Point. It became apparent that we were about to get some foul weather and pretty soon. This picture shows a chunk of the canyon, waiting for something nasty to happen. We did end up getting a few drops of rain over the next few hours but nothing major.

Our next real keeper was taken at the next, and probably the most well known lookout area in the Park, Inspiration Point. This is just a vast array of hoodoos: the area has a name which escapes me, but it is an absolutely incredible scene..This first picture shows the main view to the north while the second picture shows a much different view to the south.

Well, the easy part is over. We will be doing a rather strenuous hike. The Navajo Trail descends 550 feet down into the canyon. Here it joins a connector trail that only climbs about 200 feet, and then connects with the Queen's Garden trail. Here we have the opportunity to hike up the next 300+ feet to the top at Sunrise Point. So without further verbiage "welcome to the Navajo Trail".

And another view taken of the trail as it descends into the canyon bottom.

We passed another of the more famous "features" of the park along this trail, Thors Hammer. Naturally everyone wants to know when the hammer head will fall off but we don't expect it to happen this week.

Furthe along the trail it became necessary to prove to the world that my boys were still around. And yes, they were not wearing jackets for the fun of it. The weather was still a tad chilly.

I think that this is the best picture I have that shows some of the depth of the canyon, as the hikers descend to the bottom, or ascend from there. These are all switchbacks which don't get any easier as your breathing gets faster and the heart takes off. Nothing like the oxygen levels at 8000 feet.

A whole bunch of years ago, when the Earth's crust was cooling, and we took our kids to places like Bryce Canyon, we always had to keep an eye on the boys, who would find every dumb place to climb and hide and give their mother heart palpitations. We are both so grateful that they have finally outgrown this habit.

This next picture was taken as we huffed and puffed our way up the Sunrise Point trail. It shows the enormous size of some of these hoodoos when compared to the average adult.

One of the really cool spots along the trail are the two or three tunnels that you pass through. Are these man made or nature made? Who knows and who really cares? To be a bit repetitive, they are cool!

Okay. I'm 83. I'm pooped and I'm in pain! So what! After about four miles of hiking today, including going down over 500 feet and coming back up, I have a right to be pooped. Did I mention that at 8000 feet there is no oxygen. Whatever!

Well we can't end this extraordinary visit to Bryce Canyon with pictures of tired old men so lets end it with a great view of the canyon from Sunrise Point.
All three of us agreed that this was an incredible day and an incredible park. Tomorrow we are off to Page, Arizona. We'll take this 500 + feet descent via elevator at Glen Canyon Dam, complete with.air conditioning. It will not be as pretty going down but that's life.

PAGE, ARIZONA

We had a beautiful ride from Tropic, Utah over to Page. The area around Kanab, Utah is spectacular and most of the rest of the journey runs parallel to the Vermilion Cliffs, which are just simply an endless sea of color. Our first stop was lunch (these boys have appetites). We then hiked down a short distance to a site overlooking the Glen Canyon Dam, pictured below. For those of you who like numbers: the dam is around 700 feet high: what you see above the river below is about 580 feet high. The top of the dam is 1560 feet across. Take note of the little white dot in the water.

There is a location at the foot of the dam where you can be rafted five miles down river (it used to be eight miles to Lees Ferry but the collapse of US Highway 89 messed that up). We took this picture from the viewing point about 750 feet above the water of a bunch of folks rafting down stream. Looks like fun.

Our next stop was a very scary temptation, the Horseshoe Bend in the Colorado River. You park your car and hike what seemed like a difficult mile to the edge of the canyon. At this location the river has created a sweeping horseshoe. The gorge side where the visitors are has no railings and is sandstone, so walk at your own risk. The river is 1000 feet below, the peninsula is too big to capture without a wide angle lens, and my stomach didn't let me get close enough to the rim. So, here are two pictures. The first is as much of the left side of the horseshoe as I could handle and the second is the same for the right side.

Fortunately I have a son who is fearless, not afraid of heights, and a little, well, you know. Anyhow, Craig took the camera, leaned out a little, and got this view of the entire bend. By the way, this is not where Thelma and Louise did their thing.

Now with reference to my previous remarks about Bryce Canyon, we toured the dam and rode the elevator down close to the bottom. The generating room was quite interesting but surprisingly the purpose of the dam was not to generate electricity. Its purpose was to control water and water flow, prevent flooding, create recreation, and to destroy 180 miles of white river canyons. (I had to throw that in). The eight generators can provide a lot of electric power for the area.

A bridge was constructed to cross the Colorado River as work on building the dam started. This would allow workers to cross from one side to the other: the option was a 200 mile ride. Interestingly enough, the bridge was built in California in two pieces, and each half was trucked to one side or the other of the river. This view of the bridge was taken from the top of the dam, on our tour.

We took a ride back into the Lake Powell Recreation Area. There is a huge marina, campground, large beach, and stunning views of the area surrounding the lake. Makes you want to get a boat, fill the gas tank, and do some major exploring.

And last, but not least, the dam has two sides. This picture shows a lot: the dam, the bridge, the Visitor's Center, and a part of the town of Page. What is really disturbing about this picture is the white area on the cliff sides immediately over the water line. That area is 104 feet high and represents the height of the water when the dam was finally finished and the lake filled. Today, water levels are down 104 feet. This drought has created most of this. Very sad.

Tomorrow we visit the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

THE GRAND CANYON

The trip from Page over to the north rim of the Grand Canyon was a no-brainer when this little trip of ours was planned, but the best laid plans, you know the rest. A chunk of highway 89, south of Page, decided to leave the side of the mountain and was obviously closed to traffic for ????????????????? I have copied a picture of the scene from the Arizona DOT to show you what happened



We were left with three options at this point, one of which was a road through the Navajo Indian Reservation, 28 miles of which was gravel, condition unknown. So, when the going gets tough the Cinders get going. It was quite a ride but our Kia Sportage AWD rental car made it through this OK.

Our first stop was at the Marble Canyon where two bridges that cross the Colorado River exist today. There is quite a story here. A few miles upstream from here one finds Lees Ferry, which is not a town but a location. Way back when, a guy by the name of Lee made a ferry that crossed the river here, and this was the only place to cross this river for hundreds of miles. Naturally, as time went on and traffic increased, it was decided to build a bridge and stop depending on the antiquated ferry service. Shortly before the bridge was finished, Murphy's Law happened. The ferry died and traffic got to see lots of Arizona. Today, Lees Ferry is the starting point for all the raft trips that go through the Grand Canyon and it is hopping all summer long.
The bridges pictured below are the newer, and used one on the left and the older, walking bridge on the right. The river is far below..

We made our way across Arizona, and then headed south, reaching our first stop on the north rim, Point Imperial. Craig hasn't seen this canyon since his youth and this was Ken's first time so they were naturally in awe. This was their first look.

I'm not going to attempt to editorialize much further. We left Point Imperial and headed south towards Cape Royal, 13 miles away. We stopped at a couple of lookouts, took lots of pictures, and decided to show just a few. The boys were always willing to be the centerpiece at our stops.

Cape Royal is a very popular area and has some views that are widely shown, so much of this will not be new, but, what the heck! There is a large arch opening and folks can walk on top at the Cape so here's the first of a few at this wonderful location.

This next photo was taken, despite the haziness in the distance, to show the culprit that created this amsterpiece, the Colorado River. If you look closely in the middle of the picture, you can just see a bit of it, I have no idea how many miles away from us the river was running,

Two more pictures without any conversation. It's hard to not take pictures here. A photo paradise.

And finally, sunset over the canyon. I wish I had the technology to play Ferde Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite for you while you look at these pictures but I'm one of the few neanderthals left out here who were taking pictures with a real camera so don't expect music. My cell phone is a cell phone and I haven't a clue how to take a picture with it.

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Well, two down and one to go. The Cajuns have their trinity: celery, onions, and peppers and Utah has its own: Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and Zion. So now we head over to Zion National Park

ZION CANYON - VALLEY OF FIRE

Prior to leaving the Grand Canyon, and after breakfast, we spotted a small lookout point close to the lodge, so it became necessary to check it out. This picture was taken from the lodge and you can see the lookout if you look closely at the middle right..

Obviously there were no elevators or escalators or moving sidewalks so we labored down the trail, out to the observation point. We were able to get an excellent shot of the lodge, an old but really cool National Park Lodge.

And finally the last picture of so many, the canyon from the small observation point, followed by another laborious hike up the trail.

We left the Canyon and headed up a bunch of scenic roads on our way to Zion National Park. Somewhere along the way (I take pictures and make comments too much later) we found this herd of mountain goats (I think they’re goats) standing next to the highway. Kenneth was given the opportunity to display his camera skills here and he gets a ten for this one.

We entered the Park but prior to showing any pics here we want to revert back a few days. When we were in Kolob Canyon, a part of Zion, we took one pic of the area that we saved for today.

Moving right along, we passed through the mile long tunnel that allows entrance to the Park from the east. Shortly after exiting the tunnel there is a great view of a huge natural arch. We elected to see it from the car and not up close via another brutal trail.

Okay, we parked the car, did the Visitor Center, and then took the shuttle to the end of its route, near the north end of the canyon. I say “near” because the canyon goes much further, gets much narrower, and involves hikers with the cool waters of the Virgin River. The three of us would love to do this, someday. Anyhow, we followed a plan of attack. We would spend a little time at each shuttle stop and then catch the next bus. At the Grotto stop, we crossed the river and took the Kayenta Trail, one mile to the Emerald Pools. After checking out the pools , which weren’t all that much, we hiked another mile back to the shuttle stop. Same drill started again until we reached the Visitor Center.
There are name for all the formations in Zion and I can only remember one of them, the Three Patriarchs. Decided to get a picture of two of them along with the two modern day ____archs.

Next we have a few keepers. I have no clue what their names are or if they have a name but it is a general looksee of a super great piect of real estate. My third visit here and I am always impressed.

We finished our visit to the Utah trinity and called it a day. Tomorrow we return to Las Vegas with a stop along the way to visit the Valley of Fire State Park, just an hour out of town.
Following a couple of hours of desert we arrived at a large area that was red, and I mean red; the Park mentioned above. Our first stop was to visit these three small houses constructed by the CCC in the 30’s.. I’m not sure what was going on in this area back then but here they are. 

The Park road extends quite a way into the Arizona desert and ends with some unusual, not red, formations. Here is one of them.

Here’s another picture of the area taken from farther back. There is a picnic area, hiking trails, and weird formations to climb.

I know that this is kind of funky but almost the whole area here looks like this. Weird!

Well, you have to call them something when there’s a whole bunch around so this critter is in the beehives.

One of the highlights in this park is the arch. It will never give Utah any concerns but it is an arch and a pretty one.

Well, family and friends, this about wraps up this blog. We returned to Vegas for the evening, had too much to eat for dinner for the seventh straight night, and listened to the sons planning their weight reduction for next week. All in all it was a great trip. I’m so thankful to GOD for his care over us during this time and for allowing me to spend some A-1 quality time with my sons. Thank you, Lord.