Small Delay

Leaving Bryce Al noticed a low tire pressure light, checked the pressure with a gauge he brought along and added air to on tire. We hoped the problem was a combination of high altitude and very cold weather. In Zion the car sat idle for several days. Upon leaving the gauge now said VERY low tire pressure. So we decided to drive south to Springdale the opposite direction to which we were going! At the Shell Gas and Tire station we found very friendly, older gent (retired and filling in for a friend) who seemed to know what he was doing. The culprit was a screw wedged in the tread. In an hour it was repaired and we were on our way.

Few last shots of Zion

Angels Landing

This is a very popular hike for those in for a strenuous climb.  I takes several hours and involves narrow steep trails and at times a chain to hold onto.  We enjoyed looking through our binoculars to see those standing on the top!

The spot in the center of the photo is actually a platform/sling which several climbers installed

so they could spend the night.  We spent some time watching them climb to this perch using their ropes. 

Once at the top they actually hike down on the other side.

The pictures left and right below were taken as we hiked around the Lower Emerald Pools.  The trail was wet and muddy due to the ongoing spray from water as it flows from the cliff above.  There was a chain along the cliff wall so that
it was possible o hike along without slipping.

The sandstone is very soft and actually saturated with water.  Slides such as this are very common.  This one

recently covered a major hiking trail.  It was reopened just before we arrived. 

Hike to the Emerald Pools

We took a slightly circuitous route along the Virgin River (which runs thru the Canyon) to reach the Upper Emerald pool. Another glorious but again very cool day unless sheltered in the sun. The last 1/2 mile was quite steep with many large rocks on the trail. The upper pool was st the face of a very very steep canyon wall probably 3000 ft.

Hike up Virgin River

We took a wonderful walk on a paved path (with lots of other folks) up the Virgin River to the Narrows hike. The Narrows Hike is between two Canyon walls where the river runs through. It is a very popular hike despite the fact that one must walk in the river. There is no path on either side. Right now the river is flowing so fast that the Narrows portion is closed. A guide said that it is impossible to stand up in the river when it flows so fast! Many hikers are disappointed. We really enjoyed the 2+mile hike up the river. It was a glorious cold and very windy day.

A view of our Zion Cabin

This is the cabin where we are spending 3 nights with a short walk to the Lodge for meals. Also this morning we encountered this wild turkey.

Zion Lodge

Lodge is sprawling so it is hard to get a good picture.

Very comfortable.  Busy during the day and very

quiet in the evening.

Shuttle runs every 10-15 minutes up the canyon from

the visitor center.

Dining room has very good food

and pleasant environment.

We are spending 3 nights at the Zion Lodge within the park. With over 4M visitors a year cars are no longer allowed within the park. We drove in with a "red" permit to park at the lodge. An excellent shuttle transports visitors up and down the canyon valley and connects with another shuttle to transport into the nearby town of Springdale. We r staying in a small, comfortable cabin probably built by the WPA with a tiny microwave and refrigerator the result of remodeling several years ago. Also nice fireplace and small porch. Very pleasant. We r taking our meals at the dining room rather than drive into town where there are lots of options. From the lodge there are lots of easy walks and hikes. (There are also plenty of "strenuous" hikes and climbs which we r passing on!) in the evening after the tourists have left it is very pleasant with deer roaming all over. The weather has been gorgeous enabling spectacular views. However it continues to be unseasonably cold and very windy. Thank goodness for down!!! We did come prepared for all types of weather--even rain. No rain but we have had snow.

Hike among the Hoodoos

Our hike took us down 800 ft  among these hoodoos.

This hoodoo is called Queen Victoria.  She overlooks the "garden of hoodoos"

Hence the name of the hike.

Before we started back up we walked through a valley with a small creek running through it which was filled with all

sorts of evergreen trees, occasion al hoodoos and lots of debris from hoodoos that had collapsed

/There were several tunnels such as this along the trail.

We started out to take a hike down the Queen' Garden Trail and up the Navajo Trail only to find very strong cold wind and snow. We waited an hour and started again--and we're glad we did. We hiked down to the river valley floor and up again a hike of not quite 5 mikes and 800ft change in elevation. We were dressed warmly and did shed our down jackets on the hike out--keeping our wind breakers on!

What is a Hoodoo?

Bryce Canyon consists of hundreds of hoodoos of all sizes which surround several giant amphitheaters known as Bryce Canyon. (Bryce is actually not a canyon since it is open on one side.)  Hoodoos are huge columns of rock seemingly reaching to the sky and comprised of many different layers of colored rock.  Bryce is located in the Colorado Plateau, a large area of land formed millions of years ago which straddles UT,NM, AZ and CO and is larger in size than the state of Montana.  This gigantic plateau uplifted hundreds of millions of years ago causing vertical breaks or joints to be created.  As water seeped into these joints erosion occurred and this erosion led to the creation of rivers and canyons revealing.  Over time the erosion exposed layers of limestone, siltstone, dolomite and mudstone. All these different types of rock differ in hardness with the limestone or sandstone the softest and most easily eroded. 

The upper layers are mostly of sandstone which is soft and easily breaks down.  Not just water, but wind and especially ice caused the small cracks and crevices to widen and eventually erode such that these giant columns now called hoodoos were formed.  The hoodoos have strange shapes and a few have been named such as the Queen Victoria Hoodoo shown in another post.  Some look like faces or smoke stacks.  Sometimes the erosion results in large arches or bridges when the erosion occurs at a lower level leaving the upper layers in tact. 

The name actually comes from voodoo since the Spaniards believed that the Native Americans worshipped these extraordinary rocks.  While this worship probably was not true, the name stuck.

Bristlecone Trail

We hiked on an easy to trail to see a spectacular view south of Bryce toward the Grand Canyon and to see Bristlecone Pine Trees.  As you can see there was plenty of snow but it was easy to walk along it with our poles.

At Bryce some of  the Bristlecone Pines are estimated to be over 1700 years old.  They are also found in other parts of the world where they may be as old as 4500 years old.  I am standing beside a new young pine.  The older ones are gnarled and woody with branches of healthy pine needles.

The pine cones are just beginning to form

Arrival at Bryce Canyon NP

It was a beautiful but very windy day!

We arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park after driving about several hundred miles to southern Utah.  Bryce is at the top of the “Grand Staircase” of southern UT and on the Colorado Plateau.  This plateau about the size of Montana also contains the Navajo Nation where we will go next week and the Grand Canyon which is at the end of our travels before heading home.

Bryce is not a very large national park, located at about 9000 ft.  Everywhere you look the views are spectacular. 

Video MTC

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Available until May 24, 2017

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Sunday morning we walked back to Temple Square to attend the rehearsal and broadcast of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.   For many years we have listened to these weekly broadcasts on Sunday morning and so it was really special to be able to hear them sing live.   The weekly broadcasts of "Music and the Spoken Word" have gone on nonstop since 1929.  The choir presently has 360 members and 110 members in the orchestra--all volunteers.  

Temple Square, Salt Lake City

After arriving in SLC we took a long walk around downtown including a visit to Temple Square. Hundreds of tulips and many cherry trees are in full bloom.

A visit with Boise friends

We spent a delightful evening and night with our friends Marilyn and Tom Price at their home in Boise. Tom is retired as Director of Mountain States Cancer Institute and he and Al have a wonderful friendship.

Day 2--Pendleton to Boise

It was a beautiful day. We stopped along the way at the Oregon Trail Historic Center. I have always been interested in the OR Trail and especially of the grit of the women who braved this trip with their families in search of a better life. Years ago while working on Ontario, OR after work one evening I walked a portion of the trail. The museum is perched on a hill with a spectacular view and an overlook to part of the trail. The exhibits are great as was the one hour video depicting the history of the trail.

Off to see the southwest

Having never been to the Grand Canyon we decided to stay in the US and " See America First!" We left today to drive to The southwest to see many of the national parks in southern Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Since we are driving we had quite a few "might as wells" ready to go so I thought the car would be so full Al would not be able to see out of the back window. You can see from my shot as we pulled away that the car was not all that full after all. We will however leave much behind in the car in Albuquerque as we board a bus for a week long Road Scholar tour. (The hotel where the car will stay assured Al that the parking area is secure--so hopefully that is so.)