11 JULY 2016

Arches, Bryce, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, Zion and 14 other national parks and monuments are part of the massive Colorado Plateau that cover the four corners of Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. The geological formation is 240,000 square miles with plateau elevations from 2000 to 7000 feet above sea level and mountains up to 13,000 feet of elevation.

 

ZION NATIONAL PARK

Drove from Las Vegas to Zion City early morning. Zion Canyon does not allow cars in the park during peak seasons so we left Daisy at Doggy Dude ranch and visited the park with the shuttle that had 9 stops along its main road.

The most famous hike is probably the Riverside hike into the Narrows at the end of the scenic road. A one mile paved walk from shuttle stop takes you to the start of the hike which is primarily walking in the river through the narrow canyon walls. The water is cold and requires special water gear if you're going to go very far.

We took the 2 mile Kayenta trail from stop 8 down to the Emerald pools and to the Zion Lodge at stop 5. The trail starts off at a ridge about 100 feet high above the road and is an easy level hike but the road level quickly drops until you're walking several hundred feet above it. Easy hike until you reach the split for the pools. There are three Emerald Pools, the upper, middle, and lower and all were very small today so the hike is the attraction not the destination. The upper pool is strenuous going uphill for .5 miles but it ended in the deepest crevice at the base of a 300 foot wall. The middle pool was unexciting, but the lower pool was beautiful. The lower pool is fed by a 150 foot very small trickle of a waterfall that sprays the hikers below it. The pool feeds a lush green garden of trees but what makes it beautiful is that the trail circles 50 feet above the pool in an alcove in the side of the mountain so the trail is covered by the walls of the mountain. Another half mile takes you back to Zion Lodge for food and water.

We also visited the amphitheater at stop 2 for a geological history of the canyon and followed the one mile Pa’rus trail back down to the visitors center past the campgrounds along the Virgin river.

The La Quinta lodge was very new and the grounds were still under construction. Great views of the mountains from the hotel.

 

12 JULY 2016 TUESDAY

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

While Zion was fabulous, Bryce was more memorable. The uniqueness of the hoodoos are just unforgettable.

The drive from Zion took us through Red Canyon on the way to Bryce. Red Canyon has beautiful buttes and arches with short hikes off of highway 12.

Bryce is accessible through an 18 mile scenic road that runs along the top of the canyon. There are a number of overlooks along the drive as well as major viewing areas such as Inspiration Point, Sunrise Point, and Sunset Point. Sunset Point has probably the most iconic collection of hoodoos in the park. It also has a 2 mile Navajo Loop hike that takes you down to the floor of the canyon and the base of the hoodoos.

Inspiration Point is aptly named and is nearly as spectacular as Sunset Point. Too bad Bryce Point was closed due to trail reconstruction.

Sunrise Point is a half mile walk from Sunset Point and is the start of the .8 mile Queens Garden Trail that also takes you to the canyon floor.

We stopped at every overlook in the park except we missed Fairyland Point. It's hard to imagine how such such incredible rock formations were made. So many, so tall, so symmetrical, so close together.

The Best Western Ruby Inn is the closest hotel to the Park and is the most famous establishment in the areas history.

 

13 JULY 2016 WEDNESDAY

CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK

10 MILE SCENIC DRIVE

Left Bryce City around 0730 for a 2 ½ hour drive to Capitol Reef. The drive along highways 22 and 62 consisted of long straight stretches of highway with very few other vehicles. Saw about a dozen cars coming in the opposite direction and none going in our direction. Highway 24 took us into Loa and a beautiful drive to Torrey at the entrance to Capitol Reef NP. The distinctive rock formations start before Torrey and continue all the way to Hanksville on highway 24.

Panorama Point and Gooseneck Overlook are just inside the Park entrance before the visitors center. A short dirt road takes you to a cliff where you can look down on a bend in a river that gives the name to Gooseneck Overlook. Very easy to miss the fenced overlook since it's below plateau level.

The Capitol Reef NP Visitors center is 7 miles inside the park and is the starting point of the 10 mile scenic drive going south from highway 24. First stop was the Fruita orchards where U pick whatever fruits are in season for $1/lb. We took a short Daisy walk along the Fremont River trail from the Fruita campgrounds amphitheater where we saw a couple of deer lounging under an apricot tree.

CRNP is similar to Bryce but with slightly less dramatic hoodoos and similar to Zion with the soaring red walls. It is the most car friendly park we've seen since you can see all of the parks features from the road. Unlike Bryce where all the hoodoos are below road level, CRNP’s hoodoos are all above the road level. Two side roads take you down dirt roads into the narrows between steep cliffs.

Canyon Wash is about a 1 mile winding dirt road that weaves through a river bed in a canyon thousands of feet high. The end of the road is a trailhead to Cassidy Arch where Butch allegedly hid. You could also hike 2 miles to a trailhead at highway 24.

Capitol Gorge is a slightly longer dirt road at the end of the scenic road and is equally spectacular. The canyon walls seem even closer to the road than Canyon Wash. At the end of the road there is a .8 mile hike to the Register is where old pioneers etched their names in the canyon walls.

Some of the significant sandstone cliff sculptures along the scenic road include the Castle overlooking the visitors center, the Egyptian Temple, the Capitol Dome, and Chimney Rock.

Highway 24 also crosses CRNP on the way to Moab. We passed an area with petroglyphs, the Capitol Dome, and the Cathedral Valley area on the left.

CRNP is defined by the Waterpocket Fold, a 100 mile north south buckle in the earth’s surface. It was named because of the large white rock domes that resemble the Capitol along highway 24 and the buttes and mesas that resemble coral reefs.

Rim Rock Inn is the closest hotel to the park, a mile past Torrey, that faces a beautifully sculptured mesa. Dinner at the Pioneer Kitchen was the best meal so far.

 

14 JULY 2016 THURSDAY

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

18 MILE SCENIC DRIVE

The drive to Arches took a little longer than expected, just about 3 hours. The entrance and visitor center starts at the base of the mesa  and the switchback road quickly climbs up the walls 1000ft to the park on top of the Mesa. Four of the most popular areas of the 18 mile scenic road are the Balanced Rock, the Windows Section, Delicate Arch, and the Devils Garden.

The Balanced Rock is a large boulder seemingly placed and balancing on top of a smaller tower. A short trail takes you to the base of the tower.

Take a right after the Balanced Rock and the road will lead you to the Garden of Eden and the Windows section. We happened to see two climbers on one of the towers at the Garden. The Windows section is the home of the Windows Arch, Turret Arch, and Double Arch. A half mile hike each will take you under all of the arches. The Double Arch is where two arches are connected at one end.

Continuing north on the scenic road take the next right to the Delicate Arch viewing area. Another half mile hike takes you to a closer viewing point. The Delicate Arch is taller than most of the other flatter arches.

We got back on the scenic road and made stops at the Fiery Furnace and the Sand Dunes Arch before reaching the Devils Garden at the end of the road. This area is famous for giant vertical rocks that looks like fins and hikes to eight large arches. We took the .8 mile hike to Landscape Arch and Partition Arch.

Arches National Park claims to have around 2000 sandstone arches. We've had cooler than normal weather so far this trip until today where temperatures reached 100. We had to keep the car AC on all day whenever one of us went on a hike so Daisy and the other could stay cool. Arches is the most “old guys” friendly park since most hikes were easy one mile or less to viewing areas.

The Motel 6 Moab seems to be a newer and one of the better Motel 6s. Found a great Bangkok House Thai restaurant for dinner.

 

15 JULY 2016 FRIDAY

CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK

ISLAND IN THE SKY

Canyonlands is a large park that has two separate sections and entrances that do not connect. We visited the Island In The Sky section and skipped the Needles area. We thought this might be a short day but we ended up staying six hours. Canyonlands is only 30 miles from Arches which made Moab a central location to see both parks.

The star of the park is the Mesa Arch which is in the middle of a .5 mile loop trail. A broad arch on the edge of a steep canyon makes for an acrophobic view while sitting under it.

Upheaval Dome was “meh”. A large crater with large rocks in the center that looked like someone popped a pimple.

The Green River Overlook, Buck Canyon Overlook, and the Grand View Point Overlook were other major stops that had views looking down at rugged, tall, sheer cliffs. In this respect, it was similar to Bryce where the scenic road was on top of the plateau. Next time rent a 4x4 and drive down Shafer Road.

DEAD HORSE CANYON STATE PARK

When you visit Canyonlands NP you get a twofer because you pass within four miles of Dead Horse Canyon. This state park was great because it allowed pets on all trails. The visitor center had a walking trail along the edge of a canyon that unfortunately had a view of a turquoise blue potash evaporation pond. A fertilizer company mines the mineral by injecting water underground and pumping it up to the surface to be evaporated back to solids. They dye the liquid blue to accelerate the evaporation.

The end of the park road is an overlook of the Colorado River as it makes an almost circular bend. It reminds me of Horseshoe Bend near Page, AZ.

Moab is a big city compared to all the others we've seen so far. It has a McDonalds, BK, Wendy's and the very cute Eklecticafe where we had breakfast and the super delicious Atomic Burger where we had dinner. Both allowed Daisy in the patio seating area.

 

16 JULY 2016 SATURDAY

NATURAL BRIDGES NATIONAL MONUMENT

The drive from Moab to the park was straight and easy. The area around the park is very green, much different than the other parks. The park was uncrowded with a 7 mile loop that you can only drive counterclockwise since it's a one way road. There are only three bridges to view, Sipapu, Kachina, and Owachomo. A bridge and an arch are very similar except a bridge has a flat top that connects two sides. Very short paved paths from the parking lots to the lookouts made this very Daisy friendly. The Sipapu bridge had a short and long hike that would take you down 350 feet to the floor of the bridge. I took the short hike with only a 50 foot drop and it was fabulous. The hike included descending a 12 foot ladder made from tree limbs and walking in an alcove in the 300 foot wall. I am amazed that more people don't die in National Parks because so many hikes are high elevations with zero restraining fences on the edges of sheer cliffs.

 

MONUMENT VALLEY NAVAJO TRIBAL PARK

MOKI DUGWAY

The absolute surprise and highlight of the day was driving highway 261 from Natural Bridges to Monument Valley. The first 36 miles were a paved 65 mph road that suddenly becomes a switchback, 3 mile, 10% grade, dirt road that takes you down the 1200 foot Cedar Mesa. Moki Dugway is on the list of Americas most dangerous roads. Once down the Mesa, the Valley Of The Gods is nearby and the road passes by the Mexican Hat rock formation.

As we approached the Monument Valley mesa, we noticed a heavy haze in the air. One of the Navajo jewelry vendors told us that there was a fire in the Grand Canyon causing it. I had just decided that morning to hire a guide at Monument Valley when I discovered that the 14 mile scenic drive was a dirt and gravel road. It was a great decision because our Navajo guide took us, including Daisy, in a 4x4 to restricted areas not open to the public that had some of the best arches we have seen so far. The Valley is known for the Three Sisters monument, the Rain God Mesa, Camel Butte, and Elephant Butte. We also saw the Totem Pole monument, Sun Eye Arch, Ear of the Wind Arch, the Moccasin Arch, and the Big Hogan Arch off the beaten path. The guide also allowed us to climb on rocks that would normally be prohibited in public areas. We paid to have Karen sit on a horse at John Ford point but Byron missed taking the famous shot of the cliff.

At the end of the tour we still had a 2 hour drive to Page, AZ. We had ribs and burgers at Slackers that had an outdoor patio that Daisy could relax in. After 8 parks in 6 days, I'm pretty “rocked” out. I've become immune to the beautiful landscapes that we see everywhere. We've stopped taking so many pictures since we've realized we won't recognize one Mesa/butte from another once we get home.

 

17 JULY 2016 SUNDAY

ANTELOPE CANYON NAVAJO TRIBAL PARK

ANTELOPE CANYON SLOT HIKE

Called too late to get reservations with Chief Tsosies tour for both of us so only Byron went on the 90 minute guided tour of the Upper Antelope Canyon. A 15 minute drive from Page took us on a restricted canyon trail to the unbelievable canyon. The canyon has been made famous because of the amazing photographs people have taken including a Microsoft Windows background. The canyon is only about 100 yards long but there are amazing views every step of the way. There are so many curves in the canyon walls that every angle is a masterpiece photo…..assuming you hold the camera steady and avoid pointing directly at open skies.

HORSESHOE BEND

Five minutes south of Page on highway 89 is the trailhead to Horseshoe Bend. Today there are hundreds of people making the 1.5 mile round trip hike. The hike climbs and descends over a 100 foot hill and the only way to see the bend is to peer over a ledge at the Colorado River 1200 feet below. Lesson learned is to bring a camera with a fish eye lens as the only way to completely capture the river bend and the mesa in the center of it. It's noteworthy that someone did die falling off the cliff in 2010.

WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT/SUNSET CRATER VOLCANO NATIONAL MONUMENT

These two national monument parks were a stumble on about 45 miles north of Flagstaff. The Wupatki Pueblo ruins were in the center of the first park and a small volcano cone and lava flow area were the focus of the second. Both parks are connected by the same road. We spent the night at the Flagstaff Motel 6 even though it overshot the cutoff to the Grand Canyon by 50 miles. Take out skillet meals from Denny's and the 15% AARP discount made for a better than expected dinner.

 

18 JULY 2016 MONDAY

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK

SOUTH RIM

Needed to get an early start since we were 90 minutes from the South Rim entrance. Daisy spent the morning at the South Rim kennel while we took the park shuttle around. There was rain in the forecast so there was a slight drizzle and heavy cloud cover. That made for a pleasant visit but it prevented us from seeing the bright picture colors that we were hoping for. The fire at the north rim had grown and probably added to the less than clear conditions.

From the visitor center one can walk from Mather Point on a paved path or drive the two miles to the Village and the first shuttle stop. The walk passes the El Tovar and Bright Angel Lodges and the Lookout Studio. The Bright Angel trail looked awesome but more than what I was ready for today.

The park was simply laid out, the shuttle took us to nine stops along the rim of the park. The overlooks were never more than ¼ mile from the bus stops. There was a 7 mile trail if one wanted to walk or bike to all the stops. The canyon is very unlike any other park by the sheer scale of the canyon. Wider, deeper, and bigger in any dimension. Looking down the overlooks made ones heart skip a beat but the vistas looked two dimensional because the other side of the canyon was so far away. I thought I heard that the canyon was 18 miles across at the widest point. The shuttles came every 10-15 minutes which was just the right amount of time to walk around and admire the views. The last stop at Hermits Rest had a store and a small food counter.

We had seen all we wanted to by 12:30 so we picked up Daisy and had ice cream and walked around at the Bright Angel Lodge. The crowds had grown significantly so we were happy we got an early start

Since we were getting tired of Motel 6s, we decided to head home a day early but that meant a 3.5 hour drive to Laughlin after a busy day at the Grand Canyon. The Pioneer Hotel was a bargain at $33 and dinner at the hotel’s restaurant, Bumbleberrys, was pleasant. The hotel is right on the Colorado River with a beach, a boat shuttle dock, and jet ski rentals on its grounds.