The trip picks up heading west on Hwy 12 to Bryce Canyon National Park
Day 30: Saturday, May 5, Cannonville, UT (Bryce Canyon National Park)
Bryce Canyon is about 25 miles from we were are staying so this is a day trip for us as we are staying at Kodachrome again tonight. The weather is again spectacular, clear skies, low 70’s, light breeze (just rubbing it in a bit!). Bryce Canyon is again a situation that fools you. The dead end road into the park is about 18 miles long, and it traverses along the top of the west side of Bruce Canyon. As you go in, it just seems that you are driving through a forest with occasional glimpses of red rock to the left. It’s only after reaching the end at Rainbow point is the grandeur revealed. This is the view north from the end of the road.
The road is set back to the left on this picture so you can see how it’s only after turning around and heading north that all of this is revealed. The colors are really dramatic, the rock formations spectacular. The picture taking was quick because we are nearly at 9,000 feet and it was cold and windy! The natural bridge is one of the highlights.
Day 31: Sunday, May 6, Cannonville, UT to Springdale, UT
Leaving Kodachrome, we head west on Hwy 12 to Panguitch before heading southwest on Hwy 143 towards Cedar City. There is one more mountain range to cross before heading down to Zion National Park from the west. We were really surprised at how tall the range was, and especially how much snow was still on the ground! Then, of course, the story of the day occurred. While I was standing outside taking the picture, a guy in a big diesel pusher motorhome towing a car pulled up. Now he has come up a very narrow mountain road, through a couple of switchbacks, but stops and asks me if this is the way to I-15 (the freeway). I try to give him some directions and then he takes off. In the meantime, the boss and I are snickering at his stupidity, wondering why he thought he could take that rig on this road! And then we were off, down the mountain in the direction he came from. About 10 minutes later we reached our intersection and were going to turn right to get to Cedar City (with less than a quarter tank of gas left) when we saw this!
You can’t really see it, but the sign says “Road Closed!” Turns out that we had to turn around and follow the guy in the big motorhome because the road was closed. So not only was I a bit of an ass for making fun of him, but now I had to go back 25 miles out of my way with not much gas in the tank. Nervously I turned around and then discovered that we were at Brian’s Head, a ski resort at about 10,000 feet, and the road then descended down a very narrow canyon at a 15% grade. We dropped over 4,000 feet in about 15 minutes. Not to worry, we finally made it to the freeway (never did see the guy in the big motorhome, hope he didn’t make another bad turn!). With a full tank of gas (at $3.69 a gallon), we headed south from Cedar City on I-15 before turning east to Zion National Park. We stayed at an RV park in Springdale, right at the entrance to the park, in the middle of a spectacular canyon. The plan is to go into Zion National Park tomorrow and then start heading for home the following day. This is our 30th consecutive day of sunshine so hope we bring some of it home with us.
Day 32: Monday, May 7, Springdale, UT Zion National Park is tightly managed due to a lot of people wanting to get into a small space. The “headliner” of the park is the canyon of the Virgin River, a narrow slash in the earth bounded on both sides by awe-inspiring cliffs. You can’t drive into the canyon; you have to park outside and ride shuttle buses. By doing research ahead, we knew that even finding parking would be problematic, so the reason that we chose the rv park that we did is that the town shuttle bus to the park stopped right at the driveway. Thus we rode the town shuttle bus to the gate of the park and then switched to the park shuttle bus to actually tour the park. Sounds way more complicated than it was. Also was a good idea because when we returned all of the parking lots were full and people were being directed back into town (a mile or so) to try and find parking. Here are a few pictures but it’s hard to do the place justice.
The buses go to the end of the road in the canyon and then you can hike further. About one mile past the end of the road the canyon narrows to the point that you cannot walk any further without actually walking in the river. This story will be even MORE impressive if I give the injury report update first! I have broken my little toe on my left foot, and then yesterday smashed my right leg with the door to the Lunch Box on the way in to register at the RV park so I came limping out of the park office with blood gushing down my leg, dripping on my white socks. Soooo, today when we are visiting the park we have to decide just how far we are going to walk. Now, for the last three weeks we have been trying to decide if I was having a walking heart attack or it was the altitude. Even with ALL of my injuries, I decided to do the mile hike to the end of the walking path and then, of course, turnaround and hike back out. If I survive, it was the altitude, if I don’t, it wasn’t. So we set out and hiked the canyon. Fortunately we started early in the day so it was relatively cool and not crowded on the hike in. The trail clings to the east wall of the canyon, going up and down as it follows the river. Occasionally you can walk down to the river.
There really weren’t very many people on the way in, but on the way out the path seemed to be a line of people, most of whom did not speak English as their native language. If you were relying upon a random sample of the tourists that we met during out trip, you might have the impression that Germany really did win WWII…. Eventually we did reach the end of the trail where the brave people were changing shoes, gathering their walking stick and water bottle, and charging into the river to continue their hike. Wiser people got as close to the edge of the water as they could, and then took a picture up the canyon (that would be me!) Below is a great picture and as you can see, there is no path. To go further you have to walk in the water!
After taking this picture, we turned around and hiked the mile plus back to the bus stop. Since I’m typing this obviously I survived the hike, though it was touch and go. I guess this mature male physique has a couple of miles left in him!
We headed back into Springdale and celebrated still living with lunch, the highlight of which was the beer served in little cowboy boots. To cute for words… I posed to commemorate the moment! Tomorrow we head back home, probably spending one of the more exciting days of the trip crossing Nevada (not the most picturesque state I’ve ever been in, but you can’t get from here to there without doing it!)
Day 33: Tuesday, May 8, Springdale, UT to Elko, NV
As anticipated, there was minimal excitement today. We backtrack up I-15 to Cedar City and then head west on Hwy 56 until we hit Hwy 93 where we turn and head north for a loooong way to I-80, then turning west to Elko. So little, in fact, that I can’t even make up an exciting story to go along with it. Look at the view through the windshield; you’ll get the idea…..
Day 34: Wednesday, May 9, Elko, NV to Burns, OR
Today was to be a repeat of yesterday as the mad dash on I-80 from Elko to Winnemucca. then turning north on Hwy 95 heading to Portland via Burns and Bend. It does not include the most exciting scenery in the west…., but the best laid plans of mice and men! We got stopped out in the middle of nowhere due to road construction and got to enjoy the view to the right for nearly an hour. A couple of days later found us back at home in Fairview after an interesting exploration through the west!
Thanks for following along!
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