About That Southern Utah, Part Two (April 8 -14 )

Dear Family and Friends,

We have completed our second week at Zion River Resort outside of Zion National Park in Utah. The Easter crowd left and it is so much quieter in our RV park.

Easter Sunday was beautiful. Roger, Bear and I drove to nearby Hurricane to join my brother Warren and his friend, Lisa for Easter Dinner.  Lisa and Warren served us in Warren's hangar and dinner was scrumptious.

Lisa, Suzanne, Warren and the dogs (Neil, Jack and Andie) getting ready for Easter dinner in the hangar. Warren's Cessna 182 and his powered glider are in the background. Warren has an apartment in the hangar which he uses when he flies to Hurricane from Park City.

On Monday morning, Roger, Bear and I drove 90 miles to Bryce Canyon National National Park which is north of Zion. We had to be very careful to avoid the number of dear that were feeding near the highway. We drove through Red Canyon before arriving at Bryce. Bryce Canyon National Park is known for it's Hoodoo rock formations. Hoodoos are pinnacles or odd shaped rock left standing by the forces of erosion. Below are the pictures of our day at Bryce.

 A picture from a stop at Red Canyon.

 After a drive to Sunrise Point, we hiked the two mile Queen's Garden Trail. 

 Hoodoos visible along Queen's Garden Trail.

 The hike took us into the canyon to the base of some of the Hoodoos.

 The forces of erosion create these Hoodoos.

 Picture from Bryce Point.

 Grotto formations at Inspiration Point.

On Tuesday, we drove to St. George, Utah, which is about 35 miles from Zion. Brigham Young chose 300 Mormon pioneers to leave Salt Lake City and move to southern Utah, in the mid 1800's,  to establish a cotton growing area necessary to clothe the growing Mormon population in the State. Those pioneers called the St. George area "Dixie." Roger and I found many references to Dixie. St. George comes from one of the early members of the ruling apostles of the Mormon church.  We were most impressed with the cleanliness of St. George and enjoyed touring Ancestor Square.

 Roger and Bear in front of Brigham Young's winter home in St. George.

St. George Mormon Tabernacle

Wednesday was an early morning hike in Zion to Emerald Pools. In the afternoon, we drove to Kolob Reservoir. Imagine our surprise to begin the drive with a 70 degree temperature and arrive at the top of the Kolob Canyon and find it to be 41 degrees with sleet. Brrrrr

 At the lower Emerald Pool, water flows down from the canyon wall.

 Roger taking pictures at Middle Emerald Pool.

 Upper Emerald Pool

 Hiking back down the Emerald Pools trail.

 The Virgin River at the trailhead.

 Zion National Park Lodge

 Our drive to Kolob Reservoir found incredible temperature changes, sleet and ice still on the water.

 Lots of snow is still visible around the reservoir.

 Our drive down the canyon from the reservoir shows the showers developing in Zion.

Thursday was one of the most wonderful bike rides that I have ever experienced. Roger and I left early for a ride in Zion. We parked our car at the visitor center and rode to Temple of Sinawava, along the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. Because we were so early, we did not have a lot of traffic. At a certain point, only trams can make the drive. They are not allowed to pass cyclists. We only had to pull over for two trams on the return descent. To smell Spring in the air, hear the rushing sound of the Virgin River and the birds chirping, feel a nip in the air and see the beautiful canyon walls climb high on either side of us was a "take your breath away" moment.

Friday was a trip into Hurricane to see the town's museum. We learned that Hurricane was named because three explorers had the top portion of their wagon blown away by a gust of wind. They thought Hurricane would be a great place to live and they liked the name. In the afternoon we returned to Zion to do Pa'rus Trail with Bear. We just beat the rain showers that occurred in the afternoon.

We leave on Monday morning for Las Vegas. Zion has become a very special place for us and we plan to return. Thank you for checking in with our adventures on the road.