Utah Road Trip - Part 4

The day after our exciting ATV Slot Canyon Trip we headed to Bryce Canyon. It, like Zion, was about an hour from our rental house. It is hard to imagine how much difference there can be among the canyons and red rocks of the Colorado Plateau. We were constantly amazed by the views. Bryce has lots of hoodoos, pillars created by erosion. And it is more of an amphitheater than an actual canyon.

The next day, Saturday, the other three decided to visit the Kolob Canyon area of Zion Park. However, I decided that a day of relaxation suited me better. They enjoyed their visit and I enjoyed my time alone. On Sunday none of us went anywhere; it was time for a break for everyone.

Monday morning we packed up and headed for Torrey, Utah. On the way we stopped at the Anasazi Village State Park, which had a restored area of pit houses similar to the ones we saw at Mesa Verde.

At Torrey, we stayed at the Rim Rock Inn, away from the town but near the entrance to Capitol Reef, our last national park. We were happy to find that they had an excellent restaurant almost next to our rooms. We all had a delicious trout dinner with browned butter and pine nuts.

To our surprise, we awoke the next morning to snow! Our car and the grass were covered, but the road was just wet. It continued to drip off and on all day.

We walked to some petroglyphs near the park entrance. Inside the park there was again wonderful scenery. This park was formed by an enormous upheaval that folded back upon itself. It is so huge that it is hard to see from the ground. The Fruita area in and around the park is full of orchards; the homestead house sells wonderful fruit pies. We got four small ones and shared the flavors several times (mixed berry, cherry, peach, and rhubarb-strawberry).

Can you see the petroglyphs on the red wall?

Capitol Dome

Inside the park

From Torrey we drove to Denver, where Suz flew home. Two more days on the road and we arrived back in Indianapolis, tired but thrilled with the wonderful trip Lucy planned. 

One thing I might have mentioned earlier: we purchased canisters of oxygen on our way west from Denver. I was very glad to have it, as the altitude affected me more than I expected. But a few puffs worked wonders!

Here is Lucy's summary of the trip:

Recap of our April Expedition to Utah and its neighbors.

Miles driven: approximately 4400

22 days, 21 nights

Hotels/Motels nights: 9

Air BnB (entire properties; house, condo) nights: 12

6 National Monuments:

Colorado Monument

Hovenweep

Canyons of the Ancients

Bears Ears

Grand Staircase/Escalante

Vermillion Cliffs

7 National Parks:

Arches

Canyonlands

Grand Canyon

Zion

Bryce

Mesa Verde

Capitol Reef

1 Navajo Tribal Park:

Monument Valley

1 National Recreation Area:

Glen Canyon NRA

Regarding COVID-19 and travel: We are all vaccinated and we kept to ourselves. All our activities were outdoors. Masks are required inside all federal properties and we observed all protocols. We mostly shopped for food and cooked in our rentals. We had picnic lunches most days. We did eat out a few times, but only chose places that practiced social distancing.

Utah Road Trip - Part 3

We were glad that the Navajo Nation reopened a route through their territory, saving us hours on our drive from Page to the Grand Canyon. We entered at the east end of the park and stopped at every overlook. Each one gave a different view of canyon walls and the Colorado River far below. We arrived at Maswik Lodge, where we checked in for our overnight stay. The shuttle to the western side of the South Rim was a short walk from our room, so we hopped on. There were even more overlooks along this way, including a view of the Bright Angel Trail, where we could see hikers heading down or on their way back up. It was cold and windy, and I headed back to our room before I reached the last stop. Here is just one view looking down into the canyon.

The next morning we had a lovely breakfast at the El Tovar dining room before heading out.

One of the things Lucy had hoped to do was a stop at a condor-viewing area, some miles off our route. But when we stopped to see Navajo Bridge, we were thrilled to see a condor fly by and land within our sight. There were also two resting under the bridge. They were enormous!

On our arrival north of Kanab, Utah, we were happy to settle into a four-bedroom AirBnB for a full week. We had a kitchen, gas grill, laundry, and plenty of space to spread out. The next morning we hoped to visit Cedar Breaks National Monument, but found it was closed. We drove on into Cedar City, with many stunning views all along the way. There we went to a visitor center and the Frontier Homestead outdoor/indoor museum. On the way back, we were stopped in traffic for one-and-a-half hours because of a bad two-car accident. While we waited, we watched two medivac helicopters and three ambulances come and go. We saw on line that no one had died in the accident, which left both cars burned to a crisp.

Wednesday we had a glorious day in Zion National Park. Unlike most of the places we visited, this park is located at the bottom of a canyon, so the views are up rather than down. Again there was a shuttle from one end to the other, with multiple stops. At the far end was the Narrows, a place where hikers can cross through the river. We saw many people wearing rented bib overalls and waterproof shoes for wading in the icy water. This picture was taken near the end of the road before the Narrows path.

After our picnic lunch, Lucy and Suz decided to hike part of the trail along the canyon. Kate and I waited near the Zion Lodge and had a lovely relaxing time in the sunshine and admiring the views.

The next day was one of the most exciting of the trip. We had booked an ATV tour to a slot canyon near Kanab. We went into town to get fitted for helmets and listen to an orientation lecture. One thing was especially important: if your ATV gets stuck, just wait for the guide to come back – do not spin the wheels in the sand. The drive was over a lot of sand dunes, very rough but exciting. Suz was the driver for our group and did a fabulous job. Cadre, our guide, was excellent. There were three other ATVs in our group – a family of four and two couples. After a good half hour of jouncing and bouncing, we arrived at the entry to a slot canyon. We walked about a quarter of a mile into it, marveling at a place far different from anything else we had seen.

Ready to roll!

View inside slot canyon

                                                

Cadre took this panoramic photo which shows the height of the canyon

On the way back, we did get slightly stuck near the top of a sand dune on the path. As instructed, we waited for Cadre to come find us. He backed the ATV way down and took a running start, getting us over the dune. The others on our tour were waiting and cheering when we arrived. From there it was a short trip back to the starting point and the end of the tour. One woman came up to us and said "I want to be you when I'm old." Another called us bada**es. Not bad for a group of 70-somethings! What a day!!

Utah Road Trip - Part 2

 At Mesa Verde we also visited the remains of pit houses, where ancient people lived.

The next morning as we headed toward Page, Arizona, we stopped at Hovenweep, the ruins of another ancient people who lived in this area. The structures were very different from others we saw.

Just as we were thinking about lunch and a rest stop, we saw signs for Fort Bluff. It was a restored village/fort that the early Mormon settlers had created after they came through the Hole in the Rock Canyon. It was an interesting site and showed what their lives might have been like. Many of the artifacts have been donated by descendants of the original settlers in 1880.

Our route took us through Monument Valley, giving us even more incredible views of rocky scenery.

While we stayed in Page, we visited the Glen Canyon Dam, which forms Lake Powell from the Colorado River. We did two hikes down from the top of the canyon to the water, one on each side of the dam. One was on rock and the other had stairs down to a sandy area.

This was one of the few days we ate lunch in a restaurant (most days we carried a picnic lunch). We were all ready to eat after two hikes! 

Next, on to the Grand Canyon.

Part 3 to follow.

Utah Road Trip

My sister Lucy has a lifetime goal of visiting all the US National Parks. She planned a trip west for this spring and I joined her, along with my sister Kate and our friend Suz. We left Indianapolis on April 9 and picked up Suz in Denver after two full days of driving. Lucy posted regularly to Facebook with many photos of each place we visited. Some of the pictures you will see are mine; some are from Lucy and/or Suz, each of whom took many more than I did.

From Denver we drove to Moab, Utah, through the Colorado Monument. We had a delightful rest stop where Grizzly Creek meets the Green River.

As we drove through the Monument, we saw our first red rock cliffs -- the first of many to come!

Our AirBnB condo apartment looked out over stunning cliffs to the west and mountains to the east. The next day we spent in Arches National Park. Again, every view was amazing. We walked to this sandy arch through a small canyon.

The following day we visited the Canyonlands section known as Island in the Sky. We drove above the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers.

The next day we left our condo and headed from Moab to Cortez, Colorado. On the way we visited the Needles district of Canyonlands and stopped in Bears Ears to see the Newspaper Rock (petroglyphs).

While in Needles, we hiked around the Pothole Point following cairns on slickrock.

Cortez is the nearest town to Mesa Verde, and we headed up to the top to see the cliff dwellings. These precursors of the Pueblo Indians made their home in caves in the side of the cliff.

Some years ago my sister Lucy took a tour that went down into the village from above, climbing out on ladders. That isn't possible any more.

Part II to follow.

My Books of 2020

As many others did, I read more books this year than ever before, due mainly to the pandemic and staying home. My total was 141, with 13 of those being audio books. I listen to audio books when I am driving on out-of-town trips and occasionally at home (usually to finish one that I started on a trip). I have a Kindle and read exclusively on that when I am away. This year I connected with my hometown library and was able to download quite a few books while we were in Thailand in the winter.

Last year I read Louise Penny’s Still Life, the first Armand Gamache mystery. Over the course of the year, I read the next 14 books in the series. I only have one left before the next one comes out in the summer. If you haven’t tried this series, I can’t recommend it strongly enough. Gamache is one of the great detectives in literature, even with his flaws (or perhaps because of them). The supporting cast of characters is wonderful, too.

Back in the 1980s, I thoroughly enjoyed the BBC series The Jewel in the Crown on PBS, and I've rewatched it on DVD. (I’m a sucker for almost anything set in India.)  For many years, I have owned the four-book set by Paul Scott on which the series was based, but hadn’t gotten around to reading all of it. So in April I tackled it and thoroughly enjoyed all 1300+ pages. Each book tells parts of the same story from different perspectives. A real tour de force.

The War That Saved My Life and The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley were two of my most memorable books of the year. The heroine, Ada, is born with a club foot and hidden in the apartment by her mother, who is ashamed of her. With the help of her brother, the two children manage to get sent to the country to escape the WWII bombing in London. Ada is an incredible character.

I like anything by Alexander McCall Smith, and he had four books published, each in one of his series. I usually get on my library hold list as soon as the title is announced. Reading his books is like visiting with old friends.

I caught up with a few classics that I somehow had missed or read so long ago I’d forgotten the details: David Copperfield, Little Women, and The Scarlet Pimpernel.

I reread several Nevil Shute books, as I usually do each year. I also reread an old favorite, The Ivy Tree, by Mary Stewart. I’m a sucker for books involving mistaken identities.

The Girl Who Wrote in Silk by Kelli Estes is about the Chinese who were expelled from Seattle in the 19th century. A remarkable woman managed to live after nearly drowning. Years later, a modern woman finds her embroidery and tries to trace the story. Set on Orcas Island.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett appeared on many of the best books of 2020 lists last month. The story of light-skinned Black twins was riveting; one escapes and lives as White, the other stays in their Black community.

I actually read several books about plagues; weird to do in the midst of a pandemic, but they were excellent:  Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue, and Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell.

Of course, there are more, but this gives you a bit of an overview. I hope you will read and enjoy some of them!