Northern AZ, Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks - April 2015

Wednesday - April 15   We pulled out of the Good Life RV Park and went up around Phoenix, over on Loop 202, north on Loof 101 around Scottsdale and then north on I-17.  Before we reached Black Canyon City, we had good grades for 8-10 miles.  The next good grade up was in to Flagstaff.  We stopped there and fixed ourselves lunch, then headed north on Hwy 89.  We passed the junction of Hwy 160, which leads northeast to Monument Valley.  At Bitter Springs we continued on #89 to Page, AZ.  Again we were climbing up grades, so we stopped and unhooked about ten miles out of Page.  I followed in the car as we went through the pass and then drove down into Page.  The scenery going in was gorgeous, we were seeing the red cliffs of the Glen River Canyon. There were two other RVs parked at the Elks Lodge when we pulled in, we got set up and went in to pay our fee. The Elks members were very friendly and one of the ladies we visited with gave us a lot of good information on where to eat and what to see.  We took her recommendation and ate at Big John's Texas BBQ and drove around to see more of the town.  The city of Page was just incorporated in 1975, one of the youngest communities in the US.  It began in 1957 as a federal municipality that housed the workers building the Glen Canyon Dam.

On the road again

Outside Flagstaff

Beautiful Arizona!

All the colors of the high desert

Elks Lodge camping in Page

Our view from the campsite in Page

Great BBQ-nice pipes on the smoker!

Thursday AM we got up early and drove out to see the sun rise at the Horseshoe Bend area of the Glen River Canyon. It gets its name from the serpentine, 180 degree curve in the Colorado River and is one of the most photographed natural wonders ever. We joined several "skilled" photographers catching the views in the early moments of light.  It was incredible watching the shadows and light change on the scenery! Every minute it looked different. Back home, we had breakfast and then drove down to see the dam. We went to the Visitor's Center and learned more about the river and the history of the dam and how it created Lake Powell.  The park ranger told us that the level of the lake is down almost 50% because of the past ten years of drought.  Afterward we packed up, then drove north into Utah on Hwy 89, which goes through the south part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  We stopped at the Big Water - BLM (Bureau of Land Management) visitor's center.  This BLM center's displays focus on the geologic and paleontological discoveries in the region. We spoke with the paleontologist there that personally made one of the earliest discovery of dinosaur bones there in 1999 - it turned out to be a feathered walking dinosaur species never found before. They named it, Nothronychus graffami, using his last name, and the bones are on display at the center. Since then, they have continued to find over a thousand other dinosaur bone types.  
Leaving there on Hwy 89 we drove through several miles of snow squalls (not a good sign) before reaching Kanab and then followed the highway as it turned north.  We had hoped to stay at the small RV park across the road from the Best Western Thunderbird Lodge at the junction of Hwy 89 and Hwy 9, but the six spaces were full - it looked like they were long time renters.  We continued on hoping to find a place for the night without going back to Kanab.  Our next option was the Mt. Carmel Motel and RV Park. A smaller motorhome pulled in right before us and when I went in to register, they and we got the last two spots they had for that night.  We were able to reserve our spot for the two nights we needed, thank goodness.  It was chilly out and started to rain, so we got set up and just stayed in for the night. It cleared up and the sun was on the mountains.

Sunrise on the cliffs

Sunrise across the bluffs

Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River

The reds and oranges were brillant

Amazing rock formations

Red, blue and green

The sun is up!

Desert hiking instructions

Glen Canyon - Page, AZ

Glen Canyon Dam created Lake Powell

The Colorado River

Natural stone pathway to view the canyon

Sunset view at Mt. Carmel park

Friday we woke up to a very brisk morning and we could see new snow on the mountains from our view at the RV park.  We packed our hiking gear in the car and drove over on Hwy 9 to Zion National Park.  It is a very scenic drive to the park entrance and just inside the park there is a tunnel that has restrictions on height and width.  Vehicles sized 11' 4" in height and/or  7' 10" in width or larger (maximum 13' 1" high and 40' long) are required to purchase a permit to pass through the 1.1 mile Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. The tunnel is lit only by a few window type openings cut into the wall sides.  Pretty amazing, the tunnel was completed in 1930 and was built to create direct access from the park to Bryce and Grand Canyon National Parks.  Once in the park, signage told us the shuttle parking areas were already full, so we followed the signs into Springdale and found a parking spot along the main street.  You can only drive in the park if you are staying at the hotel or campgrounds.  There was a shuttle stop nearby that took us from Springdale to the park shuttle area. There we caught the free shuttle which goes up and back to the top of the park, with eight choices of stops to look at the museums and many hiking trailheads.  On the ride, you listen to recorded information as you travel and the shuttle drivers also share information.  We rode to the Zion Lodge stop and then hiked the trail up to the Lower, Middle and Upper Emerald Pools.  The most popular and prettiest part of the hike was walking under the falls on the lower pool trail.  It was a beautiful day and a good workout for us.  We caught the shuttle again and rode to the end of the park.  On the way, the driver pointed out three rock climbers to us - they were climbing straight up in the center of a cliff formation!  The driver told us the climbers would most likely sleep on small platforms hanging from their ropes. Not me!  We got off the shuttle at the top last stop, the Temple of Sinawava, and as we took pictures of that beautiful area, we saw another rock climber.  The red rock formations throughout the park are so amazing.  Next time, we want to hike the Angel's Landing trail, which goes up on the ridge and they say has incredible views.  Back at the visitor's center, we looked through the shop and then caught the Springdale shuttle back to our car.  We stopped at the Zion Canyon Brew Pub there for a late lunch and then went home.  
As fate would have it, we had written the day before to our friends, Leslie and Chris, who we worked with in Oregon last year.  We knew they would be heading to northeast Utah for their summer job and wanted to see if they would be in the area for us to meet.  They wrote back and said it would be easy to meet, because they were staying at the RV park we were in and arriving that night!  They got in after we got back to our rig, I fixed a pot of soup for all of us and we had a great visit that night. They had a friend from Florida staying there at the motel, so Gail joined us as well.  What fun to spend time with the precious friends we have met in our travels!

Checker board hill

Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel

Zion Canyon cliffs

Waterfall on the Emerald Pools trail

Another waterfall shot

Handsome hiking partner

Zion Park beauty

Lone cliff climber

Middle Emerald Pool

Looking up at God's beauty

Saturday - Leslie, Chris and Gail were going in to hike at Zion that day, so we said our goodbyes to them that morning and then we continued north.  After almost not finding a place to stay when we arrived in the Zion area, we called ahead and reserved a spot outside of Bryce Canyon, in Panquitch, UT. It was less than a two hours drive, we found the park in Panquitch, set up and took the car over to explore Bryce Canyon.  On the drive between Panquitch and Bryce Canyon we drove through a part of the Red Canyon, a small introduction to the massive views at Bryce.  Arriving at Bryce, we stopped at the visitor's center, then drove clear to the top of the park and made stops at the viewpoints on the way back down.  Unlike Zion, the numbers of visitors at Bryce were much less. You are allowed to drive yourself through Bryce Canyon, although there are shuttles that run during the busy summer season.  From the visitor center to the top viewpoint we rose from an elevation of 7894 feet to 9115 at Rainbow Point. Unlike Zion where you look up at the beauty of the cliffs, we were looking down at the canyon formations in Bryce and the visitors present in the park were much less. We saw different formations and views at each stop, the hoodoos, the canyon wall fins and the arches and windows.  We did not hike up above, it was quite chilly and it was late in the day, so we did not hike the lower trails.  As we headed back to Panquitch for the night, we saw the late sun views on the Red Canyon walls.

Chris, Gail and Leslie

            

Pronghorn on the way to Bryce Canyon              

Red Canyon view

Bryce Canyon- high elevation view

           

Canyon views from the top

Beautiful with the sun hitting the formations

New views every stop we made

What a view with the sun hitting the ridges!

Natural Bridge view

Hundreds of hoodoos

Magnificent!

Thank you Lord, for this beauty

Thor's Hammer

Sunday - We are in Utah (Mormon country), so we found in our search that we could attend Mass in Panquitch at 1:30 PM.  That morning, we went over and hiked the trails in Red Canyon.  Our RV park manager had told us it was a great place to hike, without the crowds in the national parks.  New views with the morning light as we hiked. The red soil really has a beauty, especially against the fresh green colors of spring.  We enjoyed the morning, then back to clean up and we went to 1:30 Mass at St. Gertrude's. A small crowd at church, but very welcoming.  

Red Canyon hike

Red ridges

         

Across the valley

The dirt was so orange red!

Puppy dogs?

Afterward, we drove out to see Panquitch Lake. Water areas are hard to find in Utah, so the locals enjoy having the lake nearby. It really was not much to look at with the level way down because of drought, but we saw interesting rock formations that looked like lava and learned about the area. The entire town of Panquitch is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because it has the largest collection of brick homes left in Utah.  The brick homes were built because the town had a large brick factory and the workers were paid with bricks!

The valley floor in the distance, you could see for miles