Zion National Park, Utah

My last stop of my marathon trip through the southwest was in Zion National Park. My friend Tom took this shot of me taking a snooze during a long hike in the canyon. It's tough getting old.... Scarlet paintbrush looked so pretty blooming on the hillsides.
 This was the first time I was able to catch this arch-like alcove on the east side of Zion National Park in perfect sunlight.

When I first arrived in Zion, I decided to explore out of the way places that I had never seen. I wandered up this dry wash and found it to be quite interesting. I walked all the way up to the end, where I sat on a slab of rock and listened to the birds.

After Tom arrived, we went into side canyons, slot canyons and dry washes, all places I had never seen. I saw numerous animal tracks both large and small, undulating curves in the cliffs that looked like stone waves and colorful stones piled up in the sand. The colors in the rock walls changed with the light, sometimes glowing red-orange and other times a deep bronze.

This was my first time to see the Desert Bighorn Sheep! This fellow was up on the cliff calling to the group in the picture below. I couldn't tell if he wanted to cross the street and join them or if he was calling them back to join him.

The sheep could hear him calling and seemed undecided about what to do. Pretty soon they all got up and started walking towards the one at the top.

Rich, warm color makes the canyon such a beautiful place.

On my first morning after exploring the dry wash, I walked up the river, enjoying the peace and quiet.
At the very top of the picture you can see the arch-like alcove that I posted above. It gives you an idea of the massive size of this place.
There are so many strange curves, shapes and colors down in the canyon that it creates quite a feast for the eye!  The Towers of the Virgin behind the Museum at Zion National Park; one of the prettiest places in the park.

Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah

I was quite surprised to find snow and 28 degree weather on my way to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. I had just left Capitol Reef with its balmy weather, flowering fruit trees and wide grassy meadows. Wasn't expecting that one!
After stopping for coffee at the Kiva Koffeehouse, I miraculously found a campsite at Calf Creek Falls Recreation Area. The whole place was completely full and I was so disappointed. I was turning around in the loop and lo and behold a group of kids pulled out and I pulled into the only campsite with a shade shelter!
Early morning reflections of hillside opposite my campsite.
The creek flowed behind my site and after a bit of mucking about, I found an open area and took this picture.
On my hike up to Calf Creek Falls, a snake slithered by me on the trail. I stopped and heard a rustling in the dry leaves on the side of the trail. Hoping to see a little bird, I was utterly shocked to see several snakes poke their heads up out of the leaves.
Pretty soon I saw so many snakes slithering in the leaves, twisting and turning and writhing about. I figured it was a winter snake den that was coming out of hibernation. Very, very freaky.

The snakes just kept popping up and looking about, like they wanted to cross the path but were waiting for me to get the heck out of there. I stepped away from the den and immediately seven snakes slithered out across the trail. There were still copious amounts of snakes slithering about in the leaves but I had enough and moved on.

Further up the trail I saw this pictograph painted on the cliff by the Fremont Indians about 800 years ago. From the trail the cliff looks so huge and the painting looks so tiny, like about an inch high but they are actually very large.

The trail passes by Calf Creek, massive red rock cliffs, sage brush, willows, horsetail reeds, oak and cottonwood trees before reaching the waterfall.

The hike was 7 miles round trip, a bit much for me, but the magnificent scenery made it all worthwhile.

The very top of Calf Creek Falls; a 126 foot waterfall that splashes down into a shallow pool, deep enough to swim in.

This is my second visit to the falls and I am still spellbound by the beauty and majesty displayed here.

Gorgeous color is painted all over the cliffs; lime green moss, black desert varnish, orange rust, creamy pink and white minerals.

Spring was just bursting out all over the place; the trees were budding, the birds were singing, the animals were emerging.....sounds like Snow White was here.
On my way out of the monument, I stopped and hiked down into the canyon. Huge areas are covered with slickrock, fine white sand, volcanic boulders, scruffy looking juniper and pinyon pine trees.
I drove right by Bryce National Park, delighted to hike up into the park from the back side.
That would be me, standing on the bridge, smiling for some unknown stranger.
Beautiful Bryce; but that is another story all together. Good night one and all. I am off to find a place to sleep in Barstow, of all places and will drive up to see my son, Jon tomorrow. Happy Easter!

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

The drive from Arches to Capitol Reef went by quickly as I was looking forward to returning to this special place. On my way into the park, I caught a picture of the Navajo Dome, that funny looking mountain that looks like a white Hershey's Kiss.
From the campsite in Fruita, it is only a short walk along the Fremont River to visit the Gifford House, a restored farmhouse built by early Mormon settlers in the 1880's.
The farmhouse is open to the public and sells homemade pies and ice cream. They even have coffee which was quite a shock to me as it is historically a Mormon farmhouse. Beautiful orchards,a barn and horse pastures surround the farmhouse. Kids of all ages rode their bikes down to the barn to visit with the horses.
My second campsite in Capitol Reef. I had to move after the first night as there were so many kids riding their bikes, scooters, skateboards and Ripsticks around and around, playing football in the grass, blowing whistles and running through my site. I love kids, but it was a little much. My second site proved to be quite peaceful, plus I met two delightful ladies from Washington who shared my campfire and invited me for breakfast the following morning!
The sunsets were beautiful and reflected off the mountains in living color.
Petroglyphs carved into the sandstone cliffs have endured for centuries.

That would be my Subaru, my trusty little friend that has taken me all over the western United States! The colors and layers in the cliffs are simply gorgeous as you can see.

The scenic drive takes you back into the canyons, gorges and dry washes. It is very cool because after you drive along the highway for many miles, then drive down a dirt road for another couple miles, you can get out and walk for miles on end into the back country so to speak. This rock looked so awesome to me, as if it had just split in half.

The colors in the canyon are mostly orange, rust, brown, black, green, white, pink and red. The black stripes are desert varnish, mineral stains on the red sandstone.

I love to walk down dry washes and find animal tracks and colored stones. I was in heaven walking down the Great Wash and Capitol Gorge, two outrageous places along the scenic drive.

In the Capitol Gorge, the cliffs are so high and massive that it makes you feel minuscule in comparison. Its amazing that even though we are small in comparison to God's creation, we are loved by Him so immensely.

I wish you could have seen me driving down these dirt roads through these immense canyons; a regular Indiana Jones on an adventure. It was really quite amazing.

The river was cloudy with silt but still captured my heart as all river do.

On my way out of the park, I stopped and climbed up these hillsides, exploring the rocks and catching the views.

The most extraordinary colors, shapes and patterns are found all along the hillsides. Sort of makes you feel like you are on Mars.

Arches National Park, Utah

On my way into Arches National Park, I stopped to view Wilson Arch, a massive arch just outside of Moab. I was very hot, tired and hungry, but it was worth the stop. I started looking for a campsite along the Colorado River, but everything was completely full. Discouraged I drove back to Moab and pulled into this strange parking lot and slept for a while. Feeling strange, I drove back out to the River and parked on the outskirts of one of the campsites, crawled into the back of my car and slept until day break.
The next morning as soon as I saw people getting ready to leave, I drove up and asked if I could have their site. They cheerfully agreed and I sat in the hot sun waiting until they packed up and left. It was worth the wait, as it was a beautiful site overlooking the Colorado River. This early morning view shows the red cliffs reflecting in the water.
My humble campsite overlooking the river. I spent time exploring Moab, baking in the sun and visiting Arches National Park. I must say it was so darn hot I had to drench myself in icy cold water from a natural spring and lay on the slab of wet rock in order to cool down. I didn't care if the people thought I was strange. It cooled me down and that was more important.
The Park Avenue trail in Arches leads you past monster size sandstone fins and spires that have slowly eroded over time.

It is hard to comprehend the size of this monolith, but it is mind boggling standing in front of it.

Balanced rock, a 128 foot spire that has eroded into this strange egg shape that appears to be balancing on the spire.

That would be me in front of Double Arch. I asked an older gentleman to take my picture; not a good idea. Not only because it gave him the wrong idea, but he adjusted my camera and I didn't realize why it suddenly went out of focus. It took me two days of ruined pictures before I realized how to fix it. So sad......

Double Arch, a grouping of two arches entwined together like lovers in the sand. Enough said, time to move on. My brain is baked with the hot sun and misbehaving. Good night one and all!