We are happy to report we are not sitting in our truck posting this blog. We are actually in Ely, Nevada and I am sitting comfortably in our fifth wheel with a nice strong connection for our mobile connection. Technology is amazing, isn't it.
Our last post was about Arizona. We've spent the last 10 days in Utah at the Bauer's Canyon Ranch, in Glendale,Utah.
That's the owner Doug on the couch. His great, great, great grandfather settled the land in this valley. They have an active cattle ranch and orchard.
Rog took a walk one day up into the hillside of the park.
pasture land
Old cattle road
Broken down bridge over the river.
I can't say that either of us knew what to expect from these two National Parks. You see pictures in books and on tv, but I don't think it truly captures the raw beauty of mother nature and how she can totally surprise you. We visited Bryce Canyon two times and Zion three. We aren't going to give you a day by day recount of everything we did, for one thing, I can't remember, it's been over a week ago. We will share some of the pictures we took, not all (we've taken over 850 pictures this trip so far).
The first place I wanted to see was the Narrows in Zion. This is probably one of the most recognizable places inside Zion.
I waded through the Virgin river into this slot canyon. I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me show you some of the scenery coming into Zion.
We came in from the east, and since our truck is over 7'10" wide we have to pay a special fee for them to stop traffic through the tunnel in the mountain.
We had to drive down the middle of the tunnel, lights on and not over 25mph. It was a mile long through the mountain.
We are very glad we decided to come early to this area. It was pretty busy, especially on the weekends, tour buses from all over. Many from foreign countries. One day we had to park on the side of the road because the parking lots were full. I can't imagine what this place is like in June and July!
One great thing the parks provide is a free shuttle that takes you everywhere you want to go, once you are inside the park. The Narrows were at the far north end of the park and we headed there first.
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view from the visitor center
There is a nice 2 mile paved path along the Virgin River back to the Narrows.
Isn't it beautiful?
At the end of the path is the river and you either get your feet wet or turn around. Rog didn't have water shoes so I soloed this time. The water was a little frigid, no, it was a whole lot cold.
Next stop was the history center with some spectacular views of the mountains.
The second time we returned to Zion to hike to the upper Emerald Pools. This was about a 4 mile up hill/rock hike. Not near as simple as the walk back to the Narrows.
First small waterfall.
Water erosion in the sandstone
Behind the waterfall.
Looks like diamonds floating down.
Even though this was called the Emerald Pools, we never actually saw anything that looked emerald to us. Still, a beautiful hike up the mountainside.
The third time we went to Zion was at their north west entrance called Zion Kolab Canyon. Not too many people visit this entrance, it was well worth the drive to us.
This park has a 4 mile drive up to the top of the canyon with a few trails you can take along the way. We stopped at the top and walked out to the view point, about a mile.
You can almost imagine that someone carved pictures on the face of this. What do you see?
We haven't seen much wildlife, but this lizard posed for us.
Clever way they avoided mud on the trail by raising the path in sections.
We've eaten out a couple times while in Glendale. Once at a local restaurant called the Wild Boar Bistro. Yes, they serve wild boar and I tried it :) We met our campground neighbors there, Ivan and Kathy from Colorado and we enjoyed a meal together.
Ivan and Kathy, that's a buffalo head above them.
The bouncer, got to watch out for this guy.
A for real cowboy chuck wagon.
The food was great, couldn't tell the difference between the wild boar and regular pork ribs. Rog had buffalo ribs that were amazing. Fun evening.
Our other evening out was to the Thunderbird at the intersection of US89 and Ut 9. This restaurant has been owned by the same family since the 1930's. Started out with just a diner. Then they added a hotel and a 9 hole golf course. I had a flat iron steak that was delicious and Rog splurged with liver and onions. For desert he had strawberry rhubarb pie and I had Thunder pie, which is blueberry, strawberry, blackberry and raspberry pie. The pie was amazing. I would stop there just for the pie!
They had music from the 50's and 60's playing, atmosphere was great.
In the lobby, that's horse tackle on the wall.
There were days we didn't go anywhere, either weather was bad or we had some normal chores to do, like laundry. Unfortunately the day before we had to leave our cats took to not feeling so great. So we spent that day with a veterinarian in Kanab, Utah. They were very understanding and worked us in to their schedule. We are happy to report both Isaac and Andre are much better now.
Bryce Canyon was about a 45 minute drive from where we were staying, not far, and good roads.
You drive through a couple small towns and there were a couple things that caught our eye.
We think this might be the very first rv.
For you Harry Potter fans, isn't there a reference to Mugwumps?
We wondered just how old this homestead was. Do you think it could tell some stories?
Bryce has one main 18 mile road that leads up to the highest point. We headed there first.
my poor attempt at a selfie
The view from the top, yes that is snow.
Bristle cone pine, no, not Rog.
There just aren't words
The second time we went back to Bryce was to do a specific hike down into the Hoodoos.
Now, I'm sure some of you are asking, what's a hoodoo?
These are and Bryce Canyon is known for them. Millons of years of erosion have formed them.
and so, we walk down into the canyon.
The one in the top center is supposed to look like Queen Victoria.
Once you reach the bottom you wander through the hoodoos and the trees, it's quite peaceful.
Then it's time to work your way back up the canyon.
There were a series of switchbacks to climb back up the 600 ft.
I made it, but it was a tough walk back up.
Well worth all the gasping for breath :)
Natural bridge
These are called grottos and will become hoodoos eventually
We really enjoyed Bryce Canyon.
As I said we are now in Ely, Nevada. Took a few pictures on the way here, but I think I'll save those till we post again once we reach Reno and our friends, Leo and Thelma. We leave tomorrow.
Hope everyone is well and thanks for all your comments and feedback on our trip. We love hearing from you!
Wow, oodles of hoodoos. Looks like you are getting some good use out of the Nikon camera ... great pictures. Tell the other Ivan I said hi ... we are kind of a brotherhood like that :)
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