5-24-16 Red Rocks, Canyons, and Buttes (Southern Utah and the “Grand Circle”)

We departed Page AZ after our trips to Tucson and Panama and headed north to Southern Utah and the “Grand Circle” of:  Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, along with a few other interesting state parks, and national monuments.  By the way, no more A-Fib for Bob – he is doing great.  Thank God! We are blessed. Thanks to many of you for your expressed concern and information about similar experiences. 

The Patriarchs, Zion

We first drove further north and west on the uplifted Colorado Plateau through the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument to Zion National Park. In Zion, the cliffs tower above you. The park has become so popular that cars are prohibited on the road into the canyon.  There is a very efficient bus shuttle that works better than driving and parking.  We camped in the national park and the sunsets and sunrises were beautiful on the cliffs. 

 

 

 

Entrance to the Narrows

 

 We hiked a lot (as we did everywhere) but unfortunately, the famous “Narrows” hike was closed.  The Virgin River was running high and strong and the hike through a 20-ft wide canyon in the river water was impassible.  It would have been fun in normal water flows but we did “hike” up the mostly-paved Riverwalk to the Narrows entrance.  Bob hiked the famous Angels Landing trail.  He made it almost to the top beyond where you have to hold onto a chain along the wall, but he needed enough “gas in the tank” and strong legs for the return trip so he stopped;  plus it was very crowded on the ridge chain with other hikers coming down and the faster hikers going up. 

Angels Landing Top in distance
 

 

 

 



Trail Chain on Angel's Landing Hike

 

 

 

Zion Tunnel - Tight Fit

When we drove to Zion NP from Page, we went the long way around to the south entrance at Springdale. We had been told that the tunnel through the mountain at the eastern entrance was limited to motor coaches less than 13’1” in height (we are 13’6” with our antennas).  However, once we were in the park, we saw that coaches our size had successfully traversed the tunnel.  Bob got a pass to use the tunnel and we took our antennas down.  Because of the steep slope up and tight switchbacks, we could not tow the car.  Linda drove the car and Bob the RV.  The Park Service stops the traffic coming from the other direction, and the tunnel becomes one-way for the larger motor coaches.  Bob drove down the middle of the road through the tunnel - no problem, BUT he had to stay in the middle of the road.  It did save us about 140 miles of driving to Bryce NP.  

While at the Zion NP campground we met another couple, Ed and Mary Bowman.  We met because they have nearly the same Tiffin motor home as ours, and get this, they are also from St. Augustine, live in Davis Shores, and also belong to the St Augustine Elks (small world).  We spent time with them at Zion (including the Angel’s Landing hike together), and it turned out that we had reservations next to each other at Bryce – our and their next stop.  We enjoy making new friends and will be seeing them when we return home.   

Sand Dune, Coral Pink Sands State Park

From Zion, we headed to Bryce Canyon National Park, but on the way we stopped at Coral Pink Sands State Park.  The park is located between two large mountain ranges.  The prevailing winds funnel north through the “slot” and collect sand and dust from the red sandstone mountains on either side.  When the valley gets wider, the red dust and sand drop out of the wind and collect in high, pink sand dunes.  The sand is extremely fine and even squeaks when you walk on it.   



Hoodoos, Bryce

 

Bryce is the opposite experience of Zion; you are at the top looking down on the cliffs which have eroded into interesting “hoodoos” or vertical towers of red sandstone.  The hoodoos are everywhere along the cliffs on the eastern side of the plateau/park (Bryce Canyon is actually not a canyon).  Bryce was at the highest part of the Colorado Plateau, where all of these 5 parks are located.  

 

 

 

Snowing at Bryce

 
 
At 9000 feet, it SNOWED two of the days we were there.  The sunsets and sunrises over “The Amphitheatre”, which is a large area of hoodoos seen from multiple overlooks, are spectacular. We had a wonderful dinner with our new St Augustine friends, the Bowmans, at The Lodge at Bryce. 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryce Amphitheatre with Hoodoos
 

While at Bryce we visited the nearby Kodachrome State Park to see the sedimentary pipes/“sentinels” which are weird shaped columns of “extruded” hard cemented sand formed far below the surface and then exposed by erosion.  The tall white columns are striking among the red cliffs and buttes.

 

Pronghorn Sheep than almost ran over Linda

At both Zion and Bryce, we had reservations in the park itself.  It was great.  Lots of wildlife:  deer, elk, pronghorn sheep, antelope, even prairie dogs. Linda was almost run over by two pronghorn sheep that wanted to go where she was standing and taking pictures.   There are lots of small mammals and a plethora of birds – trying to build nests in the early spring.  The night sky is not polluted (no lights) and the quiet is wonderful.  On the whole, we are really enjoying staying in the parks when possible. 

 

Unlike last year’s sojourn with mostly developed campgrounds with facilities, during this year’s trip many of the parks are “primitive” sites – no or limited electric, water or sewer.  Our coach is self-contained and easier to manage than the boat at anchor (parking is easier than anchoring).  We have to watch our power usage, but the solar panels we installed over the winter are doing a great job.  We are using less than half the generator time than we did last year.  With management, we can go a while on a 100-gallon tank of fresh water.  On the whole, so far, it has been easy to “dry camp” as it is called.  We dry camped at Bryce and our next few stops in southern Utah.

 

Capital Reef Western Upthrust

From Bryce, we headed east to Capital Reef NP- not as well-known as the first two parks we visited.  However, in some ways we liked it better.  Unlike Zion and Bryce, we can see the cliffs of Capital Reef from a hundred miles away. (Zion is hidden until you enter the valley, and you cannot appreciate Bryce until you are close enough to look down at the hoodoos).   The Capital Reef National Park encompasses a 100-mile north-south “fold” in the earth, and the upthrust on the eastern side of the monoclinal fold is spectacular.

 

Canyon Gorge Rd (a wash)

 

 

 

 

 

Large, deep canyons traverse the fold from east to west, and we drove and hiked Canyon Gorge Road, a wash (dry river bed) through one particularly spectacular canyon that cuts all the way through to the other side. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Owachomo Bridge, Natural Bridges NM

From Capital Reef, we made a quick, two-night stop at Natural Bridges National Monument.  It is a small very remote park with the best “night sky” in the national park system.  There are 3 sandstone bridges in the park.  We drove the loop road to see them all, but hiked early morning to one of the them.  We finally found out the difference between a bridge and an arch.  A bridge is made by running water carving the “hole” in the rock, while an arch is made from the wind and sand eroding a hole in the rock.  The bridges are located below the rim of the plateau and not easily seen in the meandering, deep canyon of a small river.  This canyon is great for seeing the progress of uplift and river erosion.

Bob with Telescope, Natural Bridges

 

 

 

 

The best part of Natural Bridges is that we were there when 2 guest astronomers were doing night sky programs.  We had the opportunity to use very large telescopes to see Jupiter, and 4 of its moons, and our moon.  It was almost a full moon, so the stars were hard to see; the moon “pollutes” the sky even more that city lights.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

South Window, Arches NP

From Natural Bridges, we drove to Moab, UT, our base for visiting Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.   Arches was visible from a distance, since the area towers over the local landscape.  There are over 2000 arches in the park, which consists of high red sandstone cliffs towering over the plateau.   We hiked to about 10 large arches in various locations.  For the first time we were not cold, and wore shorts and tee shirts.  It was sunny, and dare I say, actually hot on the hikes.  The most famous arch, Delicate Arch, we saw from a distance.  It was a 3-mile hike (after we had already hiked about 7 miles), and was PACKED with people.  Linda thought she would go back for a sunrise picture, but never got up early enough to do that.

Car on White Rim Trail, below the top, above the Colorado R.

Canyonlands NP is a huge park; we only visited the “Islands in the Sky” section near Moab.  The “islands” are the top of a large plateau between the confluence of the Green River and the Colorado River.  Both rivers were at flood stage, and very brown with mud, due to the heavy, recent spring rains and snow melt.  From the top of the plateau to the riverbed is about 2000 ft of elevation.  The canyons are not vertical like at Bryce, Zion and Capital Reef, but step down in terraces.  One of the middle terraces is composed of a very hard, white limestone, that defies erosion, so the terrace is very wide.  A very difficult 4X4 road goes along the rim called the White Rim Trail.  About 1995, Bob and Linda drove a Surburban and rode mountain bikes around the entire White Rim Trail (we were in better shape then) with a group of friends, camping for 4 nights – it takes that long to traverse the 100 mile trail from start to finish.  In several locations, we had to winch the vehicles over boulders, etc.  A ranger told us the trail is in much better shape now and a lot easier, but not ready for the family car…..   It was interesting seeing the trail from above and fondly remembering that trip with good friends, then and now! 

Canyonlands Sunset from Dead Horse Point SP

 

 

The day we visited Canyonlands was overcast.  But we had a second change to get some great photos.  We went back to Dead Horse Point State Park which is right next to Canyonlands Island in the Sky and got to take some fabulous photos of sunset over the Colorado River and Canyonlands.

 

 

 

 

Morman Homestead, Fruita, Capital Reef NP

 

The entire southern Utah area is very remote and undeveloped.  Even the large towns like Moab, are still very small.  In fact, this area of Utah was one of the last areas to be mapped in the US.   White settlers did not come to these remote locations until the late 1800s, and that was mostly Mormons, escaping religious persecution.  The historic homesteads you can visit along the way, like the one at Capital Reef, show a very rigorous life that many people could not survive. 

 

 

 

Petroglyphs, Capital Reef NP

 It is interesting that the same locations the homesteaders favored, were favored by the American Indians.  There are a lot of petroglyphs found there also.  Generally speaking, the ancestors to today’s native American Tribes, all declined in the 1200 – 1350 timeframe here, as in Arizona.  Apparently, the same mysterious environmental conditions impacted the entire region.

 

All these Utah parks, as does the Grand Canyon, owe their spectacular scenery to the uplift of the Colorado Plateau and subsequent erosion, primarily by entrenched meandering rivers.  It will be interesting to see very different geologic settings in the Tetons, Yellowstone, Idaho and the northwest, which are more related to “hot spots” and plate tectonics.   

Since Texas and our departure from St. Augustine in early April, it has been spring everywhere we have gone.   Almost everywhere we have been (with the exception of Bryce), there have been fabulous wildflowers everywhere. 

 
As we have moved north or to higher elevations, the burst of spring color has moved along with us.  It has been a very pleasant surprise. 




We are now headed north to Idaho and Wyoming….hopefully spring and warm weather will be found in the higher elevations and more northerly latitudes as we continue our journey in late May and June.