Canyon Fever

Our first stop after leaving Las Vegas was at Valley of Fire State Park, north of Lake Mead and named after the bright red rock formations throughout the area. We did a couple of scenic canyon hikes (White Domes & Mouse's Tank trails). There were plenty of petroglyphs along the trails and another very well preserved set near our campsite at Atlatl Rock.

We then moved on to Zion National Park in Utah (west of St. George), a gem that we discovered last year, and one that we will continue to return to. It offers steep cliff walls, attracting the world's best rock climbers, and challenging hikes with dramatic elevation changes and spectacular views from the summits. This year we hiked to Observation Point through Echo Canyon, a 13 km round trip. It wasn't as technically challenging as the Angel's Point hike we did last year but we climbed to a higher altitude and the views were just as spectacular. Dinner at Oscar's (great hamburgers) was a well deserved treat for our efforts.

Then we discovered that the Grand Canyon North Rim road had not yet closed for winter and decided to drive down and check out the view from the north side. Pictures do not do justice to the panoramic views down this gigantic canyon. Unfortunately, other than some short rim trails which we did, the only way to fully experience the canyon is to hike down to the Colorado River and the round trip from the north side is 45 km's and two days (overnight at Phantom Ranch by the river). We weren't sure we were up for that, especially since the return trip is all uphill and had to be completed in the shorter daylight hours at this time of year. Without enough alcohol in the van to convince Rhonda overnight to take on this challenge we bypassed staying at the empty north rim campground (there was snow on the ground, 8500 feet elevation) and drove back to Utah where it was warmer. Our first stop was at Monument Valley where there are striking stand-alone rock formations that have attracted numerous Hollywood film productions (westerns). Then it was on to Natural Bridges NP which has some of the world's largest natural rock bridge formations. I unsuccessfully tried to climb the larger ones for the ultimate picture shot. It was fun trying however. See if you can find Waldo in the 3rd picture.

Monticello, an hour south of Moab, was our next stop, positioning us for some great hiking trips into Arches NP and Canyonlands NP the next few days. However, the overnight temperature dropped to -8C and our water lines froze in the van. With similar forecasts for the next few days we decided that it was best to skip Moab and head back home before we did any serious damage to the van's plumbing system. The Moab area looked lovely.............more red rock canyons to explore, so we will need to return when the weather is more agreeable with our home away from home.

We found a warm return route using the internet but it required a 14 hour drive yesterday from Monticello, Utah to Great Falls, Montana. That only left us with a 6 hour drive today and we arrived home safely this afternoon. It's hard to believe that 7 weeks went by so quickly. Hopefully the memories of our trip will last a little longer but I guess that is the point of keeping a journal (it's not just for family and friends!).

Cheers.