Home for the Holidays, November 4 – November 10, 2010

Don’t worry, we aren’t going to bore you with all of the details about our holidays, but, as we said in our last posting, there were a couple more adventures after we started for home from Zion. We made a short stop at Glen Canyon Dam and went through its visitor center. Lake Powell was down about 50 or 60 feet, and the walls of the canyon above the waterline were bleached an artificial-looking white in contrast to the surrounding red rock. They have an interesting, small museum to tour, as well as some amazing views to see. Despite the issues caused by flooding the canyon, it is an engineering marvel.

Lake Powell behind Glen Canyon Dam

Aztec Ruins National Monument

Location: Northwest corner of New Mexico; N36 50.106’ W107 59.927’

We stayed the night at Farmington, NM, and the city of Aztec, NM is not far from there. The ruins, of course, are very close to the city of the same name. The city visitor center at Aztec recommended some lunch places and suggested that we also visit Salmon Ruins while we were in the area. We hadn’t heard of Salmon Ruins, so this was another bit of serendipity along our way. Aztec Ruins is actually another example of the ancestral puebloans’ culture and is not related to the Aztec culture. Again, each site that we’ve visited provides another piece of the puzzle of that fascinating part of history that we completely missed in school, and the rangers and guides each have their own tweaks to the theories about this ancient culture.

Aztec Ruins

The time period of Aztec Ruins follows and overlaps slightly that in Chaco Canyon, which we discuss later. Physically, this site is located between Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon, but is much more similar to Chaco than to Mesa Verde and is actually connected to both Chaco and Salmon ruins by ancient Chacoan roads. The site included some interesting architectural features including decorative stonework, and the site’s Great Kiva has been fully restored and finished inside to match one man’s (Earl H. Morris) theory of the interior appearance.

Decorative Stonework at Aztec Ruins

Great Kiva

Inside Great Kiva, One View

The Salmon Ruins are much smaller and are privately owned, but the site was very interesting. It is less restored than others we’ve seen, and a large part remains partially unexcavated. The site also includes the pioneer homestead of George Salmon and an informative museum. We got some very useful information from a couple that we met there who had just come from Chaco Canyon and could tell us that there would be no problem getting our trailer over the long dirt road into the canyon, even though the last two miles were especially rough, or getting a camp site. That saved us from making a half-day round-trip to check things out for ourselves.

Masonary Work at Salmon Ruins

Chaco Culture National Historical Park (Chaco or Chaco Canyon)

Location: Northwest corner of New Mexico; N36 01.809’ W107 54.642’

To get to Chaco, from the northwest, as we were coming, one goes through the “town” of Nageezi (but don’t take highway 57 out of Nageezi as the old signs suggest) and follows highway 550 to County Road 7900. The pavement of 7900 ends, and one then follows unpaved CR 7950 into the canyon. There was not water available (some more information that we got from the couple we met) in the Canyon, so plan accordingly if you get there after the water is turned off for the year. There also is no lodge or other place to stay besides the campground. Hotels and motels are available at Farmington and Bloomfield, but it’s a pretty good trip in and out if you want to view the canyon for more than one day. We stayed at the campground in the park two nights, which gave us about 2 ½ days, and we felt (as usual) that there was still more to see and do. You can get a good flavor of the place if you drive in from your motel and spend most of the day there.

Pueblo Bonito from Rim Trail

There’s an interesting small museum at the modern visitor center, several ruins of different sizes throughout the canyon, petroglyphs, and many miles of trails to explore. We were able to drive in, set up camp, visit the museum, take a ranger-led tour of Pueblo Bonito (really good tour), tour Chetro Ketl, and see part of the petroglyph trail all in one day. Besides these, during our stay, we toured the ruins of Una Vida, Hungo Pavi, Pueblo Alto, Peublo del Arroyo, Kin Kletso, and Casa Rinconada. We also did the Pueblo Alto Trail, one of the backcountry trails, which provided amazing views of the canyon from the rim and took us across and along one of the ancient Chacoan highways. Chaco was the center of what is now called Chaco culture, with multi-story, pre-planned great houses being a distinctive trait. Within 50 or 60 miles, there are dozens of other “Great Houses” that are part of this culture, but we didn’t try to get around to those, except for Aztec and Salmon Ruins as we talked about before. There were three other backcountry trails that we thought would be good, but we had turned the horse towards the barn and…

Chaco Canyon Petroglyphs

Kin Kletso Ruins

Start of Pueblo Alto Trail

(trail goes between rocks at shadow)

The rest of the trip home was pretty uneventful, which is not entirely bad. We did get to travel a short distance on the old Route 66 and camp right beside it one night. There were several places along our travels where we crossed this famous legendary American highway.

So we nestled back into our home to enjoy family and friends for the holidays before heading out on more adventures.

21) Zion National Park, October 27 – November 4, 2010

Location: Southeast corner of Utah; N 37 12.1583’, W 112 59.2725’

Again, because of the cold weather, we decided to stay in a commercial campground in Springdale, Utah. Springdale is just outside the south entrance to Zion National Park. It turned out that our campsite in the commercial park was only a couple hundred yards from the campsite that we later took inside the park. From Bryce, you enter Zion at the east entrance. There is a lovely scenic drive, through two major tunnels with vehicle size restrictions. Even our little pop-up warranted a measurement at the park entrance to ensure that we wouldn’t need an escort, due to its width. Hurrying through this part of the park, stopping only at the Checkerboard Mesa viewpoint, our goal was to get a campsite and be well situated before too late in the day. We will definitely revisit the east entrance scenic drive and the beautiful rock formations along the way. We also stopped at the Visitor Center to get our normal data dump on what to do in the park.

Checkerboard Mesa along the east road

The first full day, we decided to go to St. George, UT for a maintenance day because it was still pretty cold. In fact, we passed through some snow flurries on the way there. “It never snows in St. George,” they said.


Then the weather got colder. So, we decided to do “indoor” activities. This turned out to be pretty satisfying. We traveled the scenic road all the way to the end of Zion Canyon and even braved stopping at a couple of the viewpoints. We went to the Zion Human History Museum, watched the movies (good), sat in on a ranger program, and had lunch at the lodge. A good day.

Panorama of Temples and Towers outside Zion Human History Museum

Looking Up Canyon from Human History Museum

After moving to the park’s Watchman Campground (named for the huge cliff face just above it), which is just around the corner from the visitor center, we headed back “up canyon” on the scenic road. We hiked Riverside Walk, Weeping Rock Trail, and Emerald Pool Loop trail. All very neat, and two of the three uphill – Weeping Rock and Emerald Pool Loop. Weeping Rock has several locations where “hanging gardens” are clinging to the vertical walls of rock, while ancient water seeps out to keep them moist. We also caught the ranger evening program about flash floods. Those things are really mean. You don’t want to be in the river bed, slot canyon or wash when there is a chance of rain. Even if you’re a great swimmer (or runner), the wall of water filled with boulders and trees rushing down will do a number on you before you know it. We had heard about these at other parks, but the films they had here were quite dramatic.

Weeping Rock

We also took a few side trips from Zion’s main valley. Outside the park we drove the Smithsonian Butte Scenic Backway. Yes, backway, and given our experiences with back roads, you might think that we’d understand what was in store. But it said “Smithsonian”. How bad could it be? Well, it turned out to be not too bad, but definitely a backway that we wouldn’t recommend for a passenger car. This adventure was on our way to Pipe Spring National Monument, where we toured the fort (also called Winsor Castle) and grounds, visited the museum, and hiked the Ridge Trail. We headed back to Zion, completing a counter-clockwise loop by going through Kanab, UT. This loop brought us back to the east entrance and allowed us to stop at most of the scenic overlooks and viewpoints that we “zoomed” past on our way into the park a few days earlier. Back down in the canyon, we drove up canyon again, stopping at Court of the Patriarchs and the Grotto. It turns out that the grotto is no longer there, which we learned after we spent some time looking for it. We think we found where it used to be.

Along Smithsonian Butte Backway

Winsor Castle at Pipe Spring National Monument

Court of the Patriarchs
(from l to r, Abraham, Isaac & Jacob)

Our greatest adventure at this park was Angels Landing. We hiked up Angels Landing Trail, which was very steep and strenuous. Then it got difficult. BYK made it through the first section of the very difficult part where we were clinging to chains, crossing a nearly smooth slickrock face way above the canyon floor. When the trail flattened out at Scout Point (aka“chicken-out point”), JEK assessed with binoculars the rest of the “trail” over the saddle and up to the landing. It is very narrow in some places and very steep (nearly vertical) most of the way. JEK forged ahead while BYK patiently waited, encouraging others to “go for it”. At one point, the saddle trail (with no guard rails) is about 4 feet wide, with steep drops off both sides of about 1500 feet or so. This is definitely not a hike for those with at least a normal fear of heights or those averse to extreme exertion. But the view from the top is amazing. (BYK will tell you the view from “chicken out point” is equally glorious.)

Looking down on Angels Landing Trail

BYK on Wally's Wiggles
(23 switchbacks in a short distance)

Thank Goodness for Chains
(notice tiny people on trail in upper left corner)

Looking Down Canyon from "Chicken-out Point"

Saddle to Angels Landing

Looking Up Canyon from Angels Landing

A section of the park that we learned about at the VC that is not heavily visited is the Kolob Canyon District. They told us it was really nice. So, after verifying that roads in that area were clear of snow, we headed in that direction. The district is in the northwest corner of the park. While there, we hiked the Taylor Creek Trail and the Taylor Creek Overlook. This was very interesting to see where some early Europeans settled, and we got to hike through some snow and see, up close, a buck mule deer in his natural habitat.

JEK on Taylor Creek Trail in Kolob Canyon
(much more snow was just ahead of us)

Another “side trip” that we made, after verifying road conditions, was the Kolob Terrace Road. This road goes up through the center of the park and is even less visited than the Kolob Canyon District. It ends in a dirt road that took us out to Lava Point Overlook. From there, one can look down on the tops and sides of some of the huge features that we saw from the canyon floor. That afternoon, back in Zion Canyon, we hiked the Hidden Canyon Trail. Another uphill trail that had beautiful vistas of Zion Canyon.

View along Kolob Terrace Road

BYK on Hidden Canyon Trail

By now, we’re thinking of getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. With mixed emotions, it’s time to start heading home. But, there are a couple of more adventures before we leave the four corners area.

20) Bryce Canyon National Park, October 24 – October 26, 2009

Location Southern Utah, a bit west of center. N 37 38.411, W 112 10.417

We left Capitol Reef with our faithful GPS on another “you can’t there from here” circuitous route trying to avoid dirt roads while heading toward Bryce Canyon. However, we were not sure that one long section wasn’t dirt road. We forged ahead, and it turned out to be paved the whole way. Whew! We headed for the ranger station first to get our dose of information, and then, because of the predicted cold weather, on to a KOA in Cannonville, UT, which is not far from the park. Cannonville is about 2000 feet lower in altitude than the park, and, therefore, about 10 degrees warmer. Or should I say less cold, at this point? In fact, it’s just past a little town called Tropic, because of the difference in climate. We did a quick setup and headed back to the park. We caught a 2:00pm ranger program on the geology of the park. We had a late lunch at the lodge and then went to a ranger-led rim walk. This ranger was very animated, and it was an interesting walk talking about some of the vegetation, different animals in the park, and ended at the Sunrise Point overlook with a discussion of the hoodoos. We decided to skip the astronomy session that night because it was cold, and we needed groceries.

View from Sunrise Point

There are several choices for hiking. One that the ranger suggested was the Fairyland Loop, which we did early in the morning. This is about a 10 mile trail with some pretty steep sections. It was worth the effort to see the hoodoos up close, and this trail offers some variation by dipping into a sub-alpine forest. But it was coooold and windy—not to whine too much.

Sub-Alpine Forest along Fairyland Loop Trail

On the Fairyland Loop Trail

Tower Bridge

One other suggestion that the ranger made was to do the park’s scenic drive by heading all the way down to the southern terminus and then stop at the viewpoints on the way back. This is an especially good suggestion when the park is more congested, which it often is, because all of the stops are on the right side of the road as you head back north, making it quick and easy to pull off and back on without having to cross traffic. We stopped at all of the viewpoints, but at Swamp Canyon (about 2/3rds the way back), we decided to head to the lodge for dinner. We were getting cold and hungry. The wind was really bad on some of the overlooks, too. But all-in-all, a lot of fun.

Yovimpa Point Vista

(southernmost point on scenic drive)

Natural Bridge

That night, it hit 27 degrees outside just below our bunk, but it was much colder up in the park. The park features are formed by freeze-thaw cycles rather that flowing water as in many of the other parks. They have over 200 days a year where they undergo a freeze-thaw cycle, which should give you an idea of their climate. But our little trailer is quite comfortable with the built-in electric heater and the gas furnace in combination, so we were ready for more adventures the next day. We hiked the Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop combination and then finished the scenic drive. The loop trail took us through some more fascinating terrain. There were several natural “windows” in the formations, and there were some man-made “windows” that the trail went through like a small tunnel.

Beginning the Queen's Garden Trail

On the Way to the Queen's Garden

Along the Queen's Garden Trail

Wall Street Section of Navajo Loop Trail

BYK on Switchbacks at End of Navajo Loop Trail

One thing that we noted, at least at this time of year, is that it’s very important to have layered clothing. Parts of the trail can be very cold and windy, then you turn a corner and the wind dies. Now you’re in the blazing sun for a good stretch and you need to peel off a layer or two.

Next stop…Zion National Park in the southeast corner of Utah.

19) Capitol Reef National Park, October 18 – October 23, 2009

Location: South-central Utah, N 38 17.460, W 111 15.685

If you look at the AAA map, Capitol Reef looks pretty close to Canyonlands, but we drove almost 230 miles getting there. That’s one of the things about this part of the country; if you want to avoid driving on dirt roads, you can’t get there from here, you have to go somewhere else, then go there. Even after that drive, there were still a lot of campsites available in a really nice campground, shaded by very old cottonwoods and bounded on one side by the Freemont River rushing by with a soothing sound. The campground filled to overflowing by the end of the day though, including the reserved, second campground host site and all of the handicap sites (the handicap sites are held until 6:00 p.m. and then released for one-night campers).

Capitol Dome in Background

(park's namesake)

Another advantage of this campground is that it is located right next to the Gifford House. The Gifford House is the old homestead of a family that settled in the Fruita Valey during the very early 1900s. The Giffords were the third owners of the homestead and were the last to leave during the park land acquisition in 1969. Their hosue has been turned into a museum and a country store featuring fresh pies, preserves, and homemade ice cream. Yummm.

Gifford House Homestead

(house nestled in trees to right of center)

There is one road (Utah 24) that goes east and west through the middle of the park and, off of that, a relatively short scenic drive goes south. These two drives, without hiking, will allow you to see just a fraction of the park. So, after setting up camp, we went to do our normal VC activities, asking especially about the two outer loop drives that are not for normal-clearance passenger cars, but which will allow us to see MUCH more of the park than only from the highway or the scenic drives as most tourists do. One of these loops fords the Freemont River and crosses a lot of washes. Both, we were told, were OK for our high-clearance vehicle—“The river’s only about 8 inches deep at that point.” This turned out to be a little optimistic, because the water came over our step-bars, which are about a foot off the ground. Sixteen-inch wheels with high-profile tires came in handy in this case.

To round out our first day at CRNP, we headed west out of the park to the big city (pop about 170) of Torrey, UT before doing part of the park. At Torrey, we bought a few groceries—as few as we could, because they know that the next grocery is about 20 or 30 miles further out, then headed back into the park. On the way back in, we stopped at Twin Rocks, hiked the short paths to Sunset Peak and to Goosenecks Overlook, and then stopped at Panorama Point. To finish the day, since we hadn’t really hiked that day, we strolled around the campground, enjoying the quiet and the nice weather.

Sunset Point Panorama

The next day, we embarked on one of our two outer loop adventures. The first one we did is known as “Loop the Fold Drive”, and most of it can be done in a normal passenger car, even though it’s largely unpaved. Pamphlets are available in the book store for both of our outer loops, and they provide some guidance as well as numbered stops at approximate mileages. This loop starts and ends with paved road, but the middle 30 miles were unpaved but suitable for passenger cars. It follows the main feature of the park down the east side, the Waterpocket Fold where the continental plates collided, causing one to subside. Then eons of erosion revealed the uplifted strata and a 100 mile stretch of the longest and best example of a monocline in the country (world?). After climbing the Burr Trail Switchbacks (part of the unpaved section of the loop), we took the Muley Twist Canyon spur road (not suitable for passenger cars) up to the trail head for the Muley Twist Trail and the Strike Valley Overlook Trail. We talked to a couple there who had just completed a part of the Muley Twist and said that they were sand-blasted most of the way. The wind was gusting to 30 or so with a steady 15 or 20, making it look like a car was coming down the road it kicked up so much dust and sand. We had read in our National Geographic book that the Strike Valley Overlook was the most spectacular view in the park (plus it’s much shorter than the Muley Twist), so we headed out that way. Our printed material has not always been really accurate, as we have mentioned in previous posts, but this time, if anything, they understated the view. Words can’t describe it, and our pictures fall short too. Really amazing.

Muley Twist Canyon Spur Road

View from Loop the Fold Drive

Waterpocket Fold Panorama

The loop hits pavement a couple of miles after this spur road and finishes by leaving the NP and going through the far north section of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and then going through part of the Dixie National Forrest, climbing up and over Boulder Mountain. Pretty neat, and even if you don’t have the high-clearance vehicle, we recommend getting as far as the passenger car parking for the Strike Valley Overlook and hiking in. It only adds about 5 miles round trip to your hike. (Or rent a 4x4, as many people seem to have done.)

The next day, there was a threat of rain, and the two loops and all of the hikes that we wanted to do required crossing some washes and going up side canyons on dirt roads—not recommended when they’re wet (even with 4x4). So we drove the scenic drive (paved) and went to two ranger talks; Geology and Petroglyphs. As we were finishing the Petroglyphs trail (where the ranger talk was held), it started to rain, so we finished our day at camp doing blog stuff—after stopping, again at Gifford House, in the park, for another fresh pie. We stopped there each day to get a different flavor of pie (they're six in all). Yummm!


We did some more hiking on the day after our "day off". We did the Rim Overview Trail and the Hickman Bridge Trail. The Overview trail provides some near-aerial views of the valley below, depending on how close to the sheer cliff face you are willing to go. The Hickman Bridge Trail took us to a natural bridge, through some interesting scenery. We finished this day of hiking by doing the Freemont River Trail, which started right in our campground. It starts very lazily along the river banks, following by some old, Mormon pioneer orchards (By the way, if you are there in-season, you can pick and eat the fruit for free in the various orchards. They charge you if you want to take some out.) and is very flat. Then, it starts very steeply up the talus and the face of the cliff, 770 feet up to a Freemont Valley overlook. Then, back down. Ouch. Great views, but…

Looking down on Fruita Orchards from Rim Overview Trail

(that's 2000 feet folks)

Hickman Bridge

View from Fremont River Trail

After a restful night in the camper, we took another trail that starts just outside the campground entrance called Cohab Canyon Trail. This one starts out strenuously, climbing switchbacks up the face of the mountain, but then follows a relatively flat wash for a long way through Cohab Canyon. There were a few, relatively short but steep, side trails that we took to some amazing vista points. This trail takes you one-way from the campground to its other trailhead on UT highway 24. We had the choice of hiking back through the canyon or heading back by road. The trail is steep at both ends, and the road is flat, so, even though it’s much further, we opted for the road. After about 2 miles, we spotted what appeared to be a shortcut through an orchard and the picnic area to the campground. It turned out to be a good move, because this saved us about a mile and a half on the road. It also had the added advantage of passing right by the Gifford house; oh boy pie time. For our last adventure of the day, we drove the scenic drive to Capitol Gorge, then the dirt road to the trailhead. From there, we hiked the gorge (pretty flat, mostly in the wash itself) to Pioneer Register (where some of the early Mormon settlers had carved names, initials, and dates into the sandstone), then on to The Tanks. The Tanks are natural, very large “potholes” in the sandstone waterways, and they hold water for a long time after a rain, making them important places during the early days. This side hike was very steep and required some rock scrambling. After walking through the gorge, with some very large rocks and some deep sand in the wash, it was hard to think about this being the only "road" in and out of Fruita, the Mormon settlement, in the early days (until the early 60s).

Cohab Canyon Trail

We saved our major adventure for our last day at Capitol Reef. We held our breath, and headed out on the Cathedral Valley Loop. The ranger at the VC had slipped us a small piece of paper with typed directions and hand drawn “maps” of how to ford the river. This loop is 58 miles of rough dirt road after fording the Freemont River outside the east entrance of the NP. This trail took us through a variety of terrains, none of which resemble anything else in the park. There is the South Desert overlook, mammoth rock formations, huge hills of bentonite (a really weird, clay that becomes grease when even slightly wet), spur roads to various features, the Lower Cathedral Valley (awesome), an old ranching cabin, a glass “mountain”, Temples of the Sun and Moon, and much more. Well worth the trip, and we only saw one other person during the entire trip. He was doing the loop backwards (or avoiding the fording). They warn you to take extra food and water and be prepared to spend a night or two if you break down. The road is very sparsely traveled.

Fording the Fremont River

(exit down river at green bushes on opposite bank)

Upper South Desert

Catheral Valley Panorama

The next morning, we got up and headed for Bryce Canyon to continue our adventures, but we would miss the fresh fruit pies from the Gifford House.