Author: Easin' Along

I love travel surprises.

Originally, our plan after leaving Lake Powell was to drive to Moab, Utah but there was not a campsite available there on the dates we wanted. We reverted to Plan B and searched for a campsite halfway between Page, AZ and Moab. RV Trip Wizard, the app we use for route planning, led us to Blanding, Utah, a place unfamiliar to me. After reading some favorable reviews, I took a chance and booked Blue Mountain RV Park for two nights, not expecting much more than a place to park Lucy for two nights until we could leave for Moab. Fortunately, my expectations were way off the mark.

Blanding, Utah is a small town (pop. 3,300), about 35 miles west of the border with Colorado as the crow flies.  As depicted in the image below, there is not much there which only adds to the charm. We checked into the RV Park, a very clean and perfectly landscaped campground with a stunning view of the mountains to the north. Our new home was turning out to be a very pleasant surprise.  I love it when that happens. The weather was cold with snow in the area (elevation 6,100 ft), so we made a quick trip to a nearby supermarket for a few dinner items and settled in for the night.

The next day we made use of the laundry facility at the campground where Helen met a nice couple that gave her some great information about what to do in the area.  This couple, residents of Missouri, told her that they had been hiking in the area for many years, but that things had changed a lot since Blanding had been “discovered”. At one time, she said, they could hike for days and never see a soul, but that things were different now.  Things still looked pretty sparse to me, but I had only been here for about 10 hours.

Acting on information from our new friends, Helen did some research and learned that Natural Bridges National Monument, another place I had never heard of, was a short distance to the west.  We finished our laundry and moved out.

The forty-five-minute drive to the National Monument was delightful. Rock formations lined both sides of the highway and the wildflowers were out in abundance. About 10 miles into the drive, a wide curve in the road took us through a long, sweeping canyon bordered by high rock walls.  Before we crossed a ridge, I stopped to take a picture of the canyon.  The road we were on appears as a strip across the middle of the rock wall.

We made it to the Visitor Center of the National Monument and presented our National Park Senior Pass to the two Park Rangers behind the desk.  There were only two other visitors in the Center so one of the Rangers had plenty of time to give us information on the Park and the three Natural Bridges that are the main attraction. Loaded with an abundance of information, we began our self-guided driving tour of the Park.

A natural bridge is a rock formation that takes the shape of a bridge when water erodes the center portions of the rock over millions of years.  Ultimately, the entire rock formation will collapse because the erosion continues, but, for now, the Natural Bridges are awesome and fascinating structures. The three structures in the National Monument are named Sipapu, Kachina, and Owachomo.

Below, I have posted a picture and a few words about each bridge in the Monument. We could have hiked to each one, but we only had one afternoon to visit so, I took the pictures from overlooks along the road. The distance to the bridges may make them a bit hard to see.  I tried to place the bridge in the center of each photo and you can click on each picture to enlarge them.  

Sipapu

The first of the natural bridges on the driving tour is the largest in the Monument and the second largest in the United States.  This natural bridge spans 268 feet and is believed to be the second oldest of the three.  The name Sipapu means “Place of Emergence” as members of the Hopi Tribe believed that this bridge was an entryway for their ancestors to come into the world.

Kachina

This bridge spans 204 feet. The name comes from the rock art on the bridge that resembles Kachina dolls, wooden dolls carved by the Hopi that represent ancient spirits.

Owachomo

The last bridge on tour takes its name from the rock mound on the east end of the abutment. It is the oldest, smallest, and thinnest of the three bridges.  Owachomo spans 106 feet and is only nine feet thick.  This bridge is also the most photographed bridge in the Park.

Although we only had one day in Blanding, we felt we made the most of it.  A casual conversation in the laundry room turned into one more great day on our Lucy Does the Desert road trip.  We were lucky, but sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good. It’s time to be Easin’ Along. We say goodbye Blanding. Thanks for all the surprises.

If the first two months of our Lucy Does the Desert road trip served as the buffet line, the last month surely is the dessert table, and Zion National Park had us hungry for more. Now, we were ready for a big heaping slice of both the Grand Canyon and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Wahweap Campground and Marina on Lake Powell near Page, Arizona, will be our dining room.

Wahweap Campground is on the southwestern edge of the National Recreation Area and just a few miles from Glen Canyon Dam, one of seven dams that tame the Colorado River. Lake Powell began filling in 1972 after the completion of the dam and is a beautiful body of water. Rising above the water are incredible rock walls, mesas, and buttes that stretch as far as the eye can see. We had little knowledge of this part of our country before we arrived and were completely astounded by the views that greeted us on the first day.  Another Arizona sunset greeted us as well.

Helen’s sister visited Wahweap last year and strongly recommended that we sign up for a boat tour of Lake Powell which we did on our first morning—good recommendation. Tourist season had not reached its peak, and we had no trouble getting seats on the tour boat out of the Marina.  The sky above us contained only a faint moon and no clouds. The blue sky was matched only by beautiful the blue-green water of Lake Powell.

The two-hour tour took us into Antelope and Navajo Canyons. The skilled boat captain squeezed our vessel through a few tight spots with high rock walls on both sides until we reached the turnaround points. The tour guide told us that Ancestral Puebloans once lived in the caves found in these walls. Motoring along, we passed boaters out for a day on the water including a wedding party celebrating the wedding of a member of their group.  The beaming bride is pictured here in the dark bathing suit.

We also spotted fishermen with large strings of bass and walleye. I can’t remember when I’ve had a more relaxing day.  Helen returned to Lucy and finished off this day by placing a few more pieces in her puzzle.

On day two, we decided to drive 125 miles southward to peer over the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

 

As mentioned earlier, the tourist season was still a few weeks away, but nobody told the busloads of Japanese visitors that filled the parking lots. After a lengthy search we finally found a parking spot at the far end of the lot and hiked to the Visitor Center then on to the overlook. The walk proved worthy.  I understand why the Grand Canyon is Arizona’s number one tourist attraction. The pictures don’t capture the grandeur. A considerable distance away from our viewpoint, a group of tourists stood on rocks above the canyon without a guardrail. I couldn’t help but think of the three people who fell from these rocks earlier in the year.  I watched this group until they returned to safety. We drove back to the campground filled with awe from the scenery.

During our boat tour, several people told us that we had to hike to Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River while we were in the area. We decided to do that on day three and drove the short distance to the trailhead, located on a hill over the river. The hike to the overlook is a short one, maybe ¾ of a mile down the hill and the same distance back up. The trail is on sandy, rocky, ground and going down was not a problem.  The walk back up took a bit longer…ask the Happy Hiker.

Nevertheless, we felt good to get some hiking in and Horseshoe Bend offered a very picturesque setting along the Colorado River. Way down in the bottom of the canyon, I could pick out four boats resting on the shore. The resting spot looked like a great place for a picnic or one of those beer commercials featuring young adults in bathing suits around a bonfire. I couldn’t spot any young folks.  Oh well, youth is wasted on the young anyway.

In retrospect, I have to admit that this camping experience was a surprise of the best kind. We came here not knowing what to expect and left feeling that everything we saw and did was awesome. Hopefully, we can return someday. I would love to rent a houseboat and spend more than a few days on Lake Powell to admire the views and maybe catch some fresh fish for dinner. I’m sure we could work it in…after all, we’re retired and just Easin’ Along.

The massive mountains hover over you like giant sentinels guarding the ancient tribal lands that surround them. Their tops point toward brilliant, blue sky except for the occasional periods when clouds dip below them, often filtering the sunlight and enhancing their beauty even more.  We arrived late and set up in near-dark conditions.  When I opened the door the next morning, the sight to my front almost took my breath away. That view was our welcome to Zion National Park.

We were prepared for something special because friends and family had insisted that we visit Zion as soon as we began planning our trip to the west. I’m glad we listened and made reservations at Zion Canyon Campground as soon as the reservation window opened. By this time, our Lucy Does the Desert trip had made the turn back to the east and time was marching by all too quickly.  We intended to savor the moments even more now.  Zion presented plenty of opportunities.

Zion Canyon Campground and RV Park is in the middle of Springdale, Utah.  While the view from the campground is incredible—you almost feel as if you can reach out and touch the mountains—the campground is tightly packed.  The RV parked next to us was no more than six feet away, and the tent campers to our rear seemed right outside our windows. I might as well add that the volume of campers made it difficult for the staff to keep up with shower cleaning—an unpardonable sin.

Nevertheless, the staff was very friendly, the town of Springdale is charming, and we weren’t there to sit in the campground.  We were there to hike. A shuttle bus carrying visitors the short distance to the National Park entrance stopped in front of the campground about every 10 minutes. Helen and I hopped on one of the early buses that the first morning.

Thinking we would beat the crowd proved to be an error in judgment.  The place was abuzz with activity.  We presented our National Park Senior Pass to the attendant and stood in line for the next bus to the Visitor Center to pick up a trail map and plan the hike for that day. Feeling pretty frisky, we chose two trails.  We would hike the Emerald Pools trail in the morning, then hike to Weeping Rock in the afternoon. Before our morning hike, a fellow hiker pointed out some rock climbers scaling the face of the mountain towering over Zion Lodge. I had to admire their bravery (or lack of smarts).

The Emerald Pools get their name from the green appearance that develops when algae forms in warm weather. The trail is rated as moderate and takes about an hour to complete. The Virgin River flows to the west side of the trail. The highlight of this trail is the ponds (not yet warm enough for algae) and the opportunity to stand behind a small waterfall to view them. The wildflowers along the trail were amazing and Helen took a lot of pictures for her wildflower picture collection which we hope to post at the end of our trip. I took a picture of a very friendly squirrel we met along the way, as well as a group of ladies, probably from a religious order, enjoying an outing in the Park.

The Weeping Rock Trail is an easy hike to the side of a mountain where water flows through the porous sandstone and provides moisture to a variety of plants and flowers. At the base of the mountain, large patches of a flower named Shooting Star grew in abundance. On the face of the mountain, freshwater flowed from rock pores and bathed the leaves of a fern-like plant cascading down the wall.

Returning to the Zion Lodge, a large crowd of gawkers gathered to watch the rock climbers still working their way up the face of the cliff.  I wish I could have sold tickets.  Helen and I waited for them to complete their climb and watched as they rappelled back to safety.

The next morning, we drove into the Park and parked Butch (truck) for a hike to Zion Canyon Overlook. Again, an early start gave us no advantage because the parking lots were full. We parked along the road and walked a considerable distance to the trailhead.

The Canyon Overlook Trail is a hike rated as having casual difficulty. I don’t know what casual difficulty means.  The trail was not strenuous, but the path was only about 10 inches wide in places and had almost no handrails. To the side of the trail, hikers faced a drop of several thousand feet straight to the bottom of the Canyon. I would describe the experience as exhilarating to the end. A few hikers joined us and one of them, a lady from New York, made it almost to the end, but could not make herself cross one of the narrow points and turned back.  I took this picture just before she departed. (One brochure recommended this hike as perfect under a full-moon…ain’t no way).

In the end, the challenge posed by the footing proved worth the effort.  The trail opens up to an extraordinary view of the Canyon. Helen and I peered carefully over the guardrails to a stunning view of Pine Creek, the Streaked Wall, and the Altar of Sacrifice. We both agreed that this hike and view is the highlight of our trip so far and we lingered long at the overlook before returning to the trail.  The narrow path was not as concerning this time. After three hikes, we have more experience 😉.

That evening, we went to dinner with Tom and Linda, a couple from California that we met in the campground. They own a trailer similar to our Lucy and spend a lot of time on the road.  Tom is a retired Navy officer and Linda works in the legal profession. After dinner, we walked back to Lucy for trailer talk and a lot of laughs. We enjoyed their company greatly and made promises to meet again somewhere on the road less traveled.

Zion National Park is a wonderful gift to an appreciative nation. I asked a Park Ranger about the crowd numbers and he told me that during June and July, the numbers swell to 500,000 visitors each month.  Those planning a trip there in the busy season should know it’s worth it. Words can’t describe the beauty. If you want a preview, the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a wonderful movie filmed there in the 1960s, is a good place to start.

We loved Zion. It’s time to be Easin’ Along, but we’re gonna leave very slowly.