Adventure Travel Photography Blog
As I was leaving Missoula, I realized there were a few sights I probably should have explored, but I guess I was excited to get to Idaho which is the last of the 48 contiguous states in which I really haven’t spent any time aside from driving through a portion of it a month ago. I was hoping to fulfill my geocaching needs in this state, but AT&T doesn’t seem to exist here thus my apps are currently worthless.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
We started out the day at Pikes Peak State Park where we walked to yet another overlook of the Mississippi. This overlook also happened to be an earth cache, so I check marked Iowa off the list presuming the creator of the cache accepts my answers. All the answers but one were on the associated signs; however, I am also to look at the bend and valley depth to determine the speed of the current here. Anyone want to look at the picture and take a guess? That’s what I’m doing!
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
The full moon glowed through the dust filled sky and the wind continued in force for a few more hours. Midway through the night, the gusts subsided and we awoke to a glorious day. As we left Hovenweep National Monument, we passed by prairie dogs, sheep, goats, and a herd dog as we headed south toward the Four Corners Monument, where we will say farewell to Utah and hello Colorado.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
All through the night at Lake Powell, VANilla jiggled like a bounce house full of ten year olds. Sand sprayed VANilla so hard, at times, the sound of it made me wonder if it was raining. We found no relief from the wind this morning as we headed southeast to Natural Bridges National Monument.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
We started our morning drive to Capitol Reef National Park, a park we quickly passed through at the beginning of the week while traveling to Bryce. I recalled seeing a trail to Chimney Rock, so I stopped there on the way into the park and started the trek that ascended 240 feet in the first quarter mile. It was already relatively late in the morning and a somewhat warm day, so after reaching the plateau for a panoramic view, I returned to VANilla to rescue my dog Petey instead of continuing on the 3.5 mile journey.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
After taking advantage of free wi-fi at the local Starbucks, we began the last portion of our loop drive around Zion National Park. Highway 14 winds its way between high canyon walls streaked in delicate cascades, beneath sandstone cliffs, along stream filled meadows, past icy blue lakes, and over a 9,000 foot pass blanketed in snow covered lava.
We made a variety of stops along the way to simply take in the views. A trucker, hauling a huge fork-lift, that had ignored the warning sign for semis to use a different route, helped influence some of my stops as I repeatedly caught up to him and the line of cars trailing him at half the posted speed limit.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I joined civilization, applied makeup for the first time in six weeks, and found a local sports bar to watch the Mavs game. Here I met Brian from Idaho. He has been on a six week road trip and has spent much of his time near Zion enjoying warm weather as it is mud season in his home town. What I was quite impressed with was his ability to find some land about twelve miles outside of town with a sign posted, “Use By Donation”.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
As I mentioned yesterday, I arrived relatively early to the Visitor Center in Zion National Park, parked VANilla under a shady tree, and boarded the shuttle for a 30 minute ride to the Grotto. From the Grotto, I took the mile long, rocky Kayenta Trail along the cliff’s edge overlooking the Virgin River lined in cottonwoods. As I rounded the bend, in the distance a tall cascade of water tumbled from the cliff side in the morning sunlight. The waterfall reflected every color of the rainbow…what a pleasant surprise! It was hard to contain my eagerness to reach the Upper and Lower Emerald Pool Trail.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
I suppose I haven’t mentioned people much in the last few days. I believe there are more foreigners than Americans in southern Utah. Germans, French, and Japanese seem to be most drawn to the natural wonders of the world. If I had to guess, several travel agents sell a package to the Grand Canyon and the National Parks in Utah.
I also met a few fellow Texans from the Austin area at Calf Creek Recreation Area. They opted not to take the whole hike to the falls, which was probably a good choice. They were on a three-month sabbatical with their ultimate destination being Alaska, so I’m certain they will find more falls while on their journey. I ran into them again in Bryce, some sixty miles away and a day later!
They commented that yesterday was the first hot day in the area and they simply felt tuckered out. I agreed. Being Texans we all laughed that a dry eighty degree day felt like a sauna to us. It is just an amazing reminder of how bodies adjust to conditions over time.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
I began an early morning in Canyonlands National Park in a light sprinkle. The map showed four short hikes in Canyonlands that I wanted to cover before lunch as I wanted to reach Moab in time to find a campsite. In addition, if the sun came out, I wanted Petey to be comfortable in VANilla since dogs aren’t allowed on the trails.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!