Sun Sept. 21 - Canyonlands - Island in the Sky

Mike Here
Left early this morning to head up to Moab, Utah to see the other part of Canyonlands National Park - Island in the Sky. On the way up we took a deadend road which followed the Colorado River for 16 miles through a huge canyon. The road ended at Potash at a big plant so we turned around.

A beautiful drive and we were able to check on several rock climbers as they started up a wall. Scary!

That was really the best part of the day as we got up to the Island in the Sky, the weather closed in and thunderstorms came in. We drove out to the end of the road at Grand View and the view was grand but cloudy and rainy. From there you could see both the Green and Colorado Rivers before they join together several miles south.

We tried a couple of overlooks but we ended up running for cover at the Visitor Center where we ate lunch in our cars.

The rain finally quit but as we looked back there was more coming so we decided to give up and head for Green River for the night. We have been very fortunate as this was our first bad weather day.  Hopefully tomorrow will be nice so we can spend the day at The Arches NP.

Sat. Sept. 20, 2014 - We've been Moo-ed

Mary Here
In the wilds where we are they have what is known as open range.  That means cows can go where ever they please, even on the road, and they can moo whenever they want, and they do.
Canyonlands National Park is fantastic.  I know I say that for every park but this one is totally 'fantastic.'  We hiked three trails today, The Roadside Ruin which took us to an ancestral Puebloan granary that is perhaps 700 years old. The Pothole Point was an uneven surface and it lead to pothole communities (when there is water) and a great view of the Needles.  The Cave Spring has us climbing two ladders that lead to a historic cowboy camp and prehistoric pictographs.  None were to difficult but proved to be exceptional and worth while. They do have hikes that take up to six hours.  We don't do those.

Mike hiking

Jim Hiking

Me hiking and taking the pics.

Jim climbing the ladder, I'm next.

This was at Cave Spring

We also did a trip on a dirt road that was exciting as some of the curves where blind curves.  This one took us to Elephant Hill.  Neat spot.  Car is beyond dirty.
One of the highlights in this park is The Needles and we were able to get a few good spots to view them.  By the time Mike's videos are processed, unfortunately a lot of the quality is gone, so we will just have to have him show them later.
It's always nice when picnic areas are in the park, as we take advantage of them.
We spent the entire day in the lower part of Canyonlands and totally enjoyed ourselves.

Sights were amazing

These rock formations were just everywhere

Church Rock - really is called that

This looks like it has scales on it.

We got to the point where the rocks were beginning to look like different things like animals or buildings, etc.  It might be we have been looking at way to many rocks.

On the way back to our motel we all stopped for groceries, Judy and Mike went on to have dinner by themselves and we did the same.  Nice wonderful day.  Tomorrow brings new and exciting adventure.  If you do visit any national parks be sure to stop in at the visitors center.  They have a host of information that will certainly enhance your time there.

Friday Sept. 19th - From Capitol Reef NP to Natural Bridges NM

Mary Here
Our route today took us from Bicknell, UT on highway 24 east to 95 south to 275 west which takes you to Natural Bridges National Monument then 95 east to Blanding, UT.  Once again the word spectacular comes to mind.  We have been so privileged to be able to tour the national parks we have.  I can't even begin to express how beautiful the areas are that we have been in.  Photos just are such a small part of the exceptional beauty that surrounds us.  The trip today was another example of that beauty.  The real downside to this trip is that we are 'seniors' and many of the side trails are just to much for us to do. 

Incredible, just Incredible

Fingers

Cheese Box Butte

Natural Bridges National Monument is Utah's first National Monument.  There isn't any other place in the world that can boast of having three natural bridges.  Just as we entered the park we found a picnic table just waiting for us so lunch was had. 

Us eating lunch

Sipapu Bridge is the first bridge we came to.  We learned that it has had several names over the years and finally the word Sipapu was chosen for the bridge because it means 'place of emergence.'  This natural bridge is 268 feet wide and 220 feet tall.

Sipapu Bridge - look for the hole

Kachina Bridge was named for the Hopi kachina spirit which frequently displayed lightening snake symbols on their bodies. 

Kachina Bridge

Owachomo Bridge is a Hopi Indian word for 'rock mound.'  On the upper left side of the bridge is a rock outcrop which suggested the name for the bridge.  The bridge is 180 feet wide and 106 feet tall.

Owachomo Bridge

Thur. Sept. 17 - Capitol Reef National Park

Mike Here - Utah
Started off the day with a great breakfast at our favorite restaurant in Bicknell, Utah (the only one in town). As we approached Capitol Reef National Park, the giant walls rose up to meet us. This massive wall of rock stretches over 100 miles from north to south. We stopped at many overlooks and each one seemed better than the last. The two best were the Grand Wash where a dry riverbed runs up a huge canyon. The road was pretty bad but the views were tremendous.

The other was at the end of the scenic drive at Capitol Gorge. A road continued up the canyon but was for 4 wheel drive, high clearance vehicles so we declined.

We passed a cabin which was built by the Behunin Family. They were the first settlers in the canyon and also built a schoolhouse which at times housed 22 students, including the 9 Behunin children. As we stared up at the petroglyphs on the huge wall, Judy started to talk to an elderly woman in a wheelchair. It turns out, her great grandfather, was the man who built that first cabin. Her son brought her down from Salt Lake City to see it before she died. It made our day.

Great granddaughter of first settlers

The old schoolhouse

Petroglyphs

Here Fremont Indians pecked into the cliff large humanlike figures.

Note from Mary
After leaving Bryce we took Highway 12 east all the way to Torrey and then headed west on highway 24 to Capitol Reef NP.  What a fantastic route to take as the scenery was spectacular.  If any of you decide to travel this way be sure to consider that route.

Bryce the Incredible Canyon

Mary Here
Bryce Canyon NP is approx. 9,115 feet above sea level which makes it about 3,000 feet higher than Zion.  In viewing Bryce you are on top of the mountain ranges where as seeing Zion you are at the bottom. Being at the bottom walking around Zion gave one the feeling of being in and a part of the splendor. Walking around Bryce, because we were on top, we felt more like spectators. Bryce was fantastic to say the least.  It is believed that Bryce Canyon's formation began at the same time dinosaurs were becoming extinct. Bryce was not widely known until 1920 when the Union Pacific Railroad build a lodge in Bryce and started to advertise.
From one end of Bryce to the other is around 20 miles.  Bryce is 35,835 acres in size. The route thru Bryce is a paved road that goes thru a forest. We were surprised that so much of the forest burned in 2009 due to lightening.  The park had twelve suggested places to stop and those are really quite dynamic to view and they were 'Incredible.'
The weather was not at it's best early in the day so many of the pics did not turn out as well as hoped....and very few clouds.  I have posted a few so at least you will get some idea of what Bryce is all about.  The internet service is terrible here and I could not load the videos so will put them in when we get to an area where we have better service.  Sorry about that.

 Natural Bridge which is 85 feet long and 125 feet high.

Inspiration Point

Bryce Amphitheater

 

 Close up of the Amphitheater

Tue. Sept. 16 - Heading for Bryce NP Almost

Mary Here
For the past while we have been in sort of a hold pattern because of Mike's car issue.  It was decided that we would drop Mike and Judy off at the Chevy Dealership today so they could wait for their car repairs.  The part needed was on it's way and once it arrived in a short amount of time they would be on their way.  We left and headed toward Bryce to a little town called Hatch which is about 30 miles from Bryce. 
We drove through Zion to get to Hwy 89 so we were able to see the east end of Zion.  The following pics are of some of the scenery we saw.

We are just hanging out until tomorrow when we will visit Bryce for the day.  I did do my laundry and the entire time I was thinking if only I was rich I would have this done.
We are in one of the smallest motel rooms ever.  Where does Jim find these places.....

Jim loading the fridge

 If I told you the key was attached to a horseshoe would that give you any idea of this place.  It is quite rustic, but extremely clean. 

Office and café for 'The Hatch'

On the up side we can look out our window and see just fantastic mountain ranges that have the most beautiful clouds.
We walked across the street to check out this Food Mart and a customer was buying ice and a 10# bag cost $6.99. 
Just got word that the car is repaired and Mike and Judy should be here tonight. 

Sept. 14 - Zion National Park - Utah

Saturday
Mike Here
Headed for Zion National Park this morning, which is one of our favorite places in the world.  If you have never been there, don't miss it.  Took a while to get through the gates since the entire world seemed to be there.  We parked the car at the visitor center and rode the shuttle all the way to the end of the canyon and then came back for lunch.  Our first stop was at a small visitor center with a view of the West Temple and a huge amphitheater.  Next was the Court of the Patriarchs.  The sheer scale and color of these walls is awesome. 
We continued on to places like the Great White Throne, the Weeping Wall, the Big Bend, then the end of the road which is called The Temple of Sinawava.  Beyond this you can walk another mile along the Virgin River but then the walls close in and you have to get in the river since there is no place to walk.  This is called the Narrows and many people wade upriver but you have to be careful because of flash floods. 

At the Narrows

On the way up we saw two mountaineers nearly to the top of a huge wall.  They were just specks.

Jim is the bottom climber------not

The total mountain height was 'unbelievably high.'

 When we came back down from the end of the drive, they were gone.  Hope they made it to the top. 
We ate a picnic lunch at the visitor center and then we went our separate ways.  Jim and Mary rode the shuttle back up to the end of the road and took two hikes.  One along the river to the Narrows (2.0 miles round trip) and the other to the Emerald Pools (1.2 miles round trip). 
We took the shuttle into the town of Springdale and did some Christmas shopping for our kids and grandkids.   Then we had ice cream.  Then back to the visitor center to watch people and wait for Jim and Mary.  They looked pooped.  Maybe I forgot to mention it was 98 degrees in the canyon.  Wow!  Below are just a few of the shots we took today.

Jim

Mike and Judy at The West Temple

We found out our car won't be ready until Tuesday so we have changed our itinerary a bit but it will work.
Note from Mary:
In thinking about our experience today, I can't even come close to describing the incredible beauty we were privileged to see. Words like fantastic, marvelous, awesome, seem so shallow when it comes to describing the beauty of this park. It  is a Spirit filled and Holly place as just being in and among the towering cliffs and mountains puts everything so much in perspective. It was such a humbling experience.

West Temple 

Court of the Patriachs