About That Second Week in Zion (March 10 - 16)

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Zion National Park. We have now completed week 2 in this beautiful spot. Imagine our surprise to find it snowing in the upper portions of the mountains on Sunday morning. A trip into Zion during the afternoon yielded these beautiful shots. It looked as if confectioner's sugar had been sifted in the mountain tops.

With the warm sun heating up the snow, it was not too long until we found more than 10 waterfalls created by the snowmelt.

 Mule deer are in the park along with fox, turkeys and other creatures.

 Angel's Landing

Our favorite hike

On Monday we decided to go for a hike along the Virgin River at Sinawava that leads to a hike called The Narrows. This hike is known for it's unique characteristic of hiking through the water, as it is here that the Virgin River "narrows" with only twenty feet separating the walls of the canyon. At this time of year, a wetsuit is needed to reach the end.

 At this point, there is no longer a bank to walk on, only the river.

On the way out of the park we decided to visit the Court  of the Patriarchs. Named by a Methodist minister in the 1800's, these mountain tops rise more than 8,000 feet.

 Abraham, Isaac, Mt. Moroni and Jacob are the names of the mountains at Court of the Patriarchs.

These boots are made for hiking!

On Wednesday, we took a car trip to Mountain Meadows Massacre Site. It is 35 miles south of Cedar City. In 1857, the Baker-Fancher Party, from Arkansas and on the way to California along the Spanish Trail, were massacred by the Mormons, who lived in the area. The history of this event is very complicated and hard to understand the slaughter of 120 men, women and children who were passing through the area. The Mormon Church and federal government in the form of the park service maintain the site.

The burial area

Mountain Meadow, the site of the slaughter

On Thursday, we did two hikes in the Red Cliffs area. Our first hike, the Red Reef Trail, found us in the bright red sandstone of Utah. This is Bureau of Land Management, thus Bear was welcomed on the hike.

Yes, Bear is ready!

Lots of rock climbing on this trail

Bear spent half of the time in the creek that runs along the hike.

You can imagine what a dirty Bear we had when this hike was over. He loved it!

Our second hike was in Cottonwood Canyon, part of the Red Cliff area. It was a much easier hike. 

On Friday we took a bike ride in nearby Hurricane, Utah at Sandy Hollow State Park. It was a great ride.

Our hike on Saturday will be in next week's blog. We have had an absolutely incredible week number two in Zion National Park. Thank you for checking in with us. Next week will feature the 100th blog of our travels. We appreciate your interest in our travels.

About Beautiful Zion National Park I (March 3 - 9)

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Zion, my favorite park in the United States.

My brother Warren and his friend, Lea joined us for dinner on Saturday night. You will remember Warren because he is the brother from Park City, where we skied several weeks ago. Warren and Lea flew to Hurricane for the weekend. They stay at Warren's hangar at Hurricane and get around on his motorcycle.

                                  

Sunday morning founding us hiking in Zion. The weather was perfect and we decided to start with Canyon Overlook and then hit Pa'rus trail. The red and white Navajo sandstone rise 3,000 feet in the canyon. The views are breathtaking.

 Bear and I are posing at the entrance.

 Even views through the sun roof are spectacular.

 Approaching the mile and a half tunnel that we drive through to get to the Canyon Overlook hike.

 The light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

 I am definitely a happy camper on this hike.

 A view of the tunnel from several hundred feet up on the trail.

 The end of the hike finds spectacular views.

 Our second hike, called Pa'rus Trail runs along the Virgin River. It is a very easy hike that is paved and  dog friendly. Bear cannot go with us on hikes in national parks, but is allowed on this trail.

Roger and I hiked two smaller trails on Tuesday, Grotto and Kayenta.

 Virgin River

 Emerald Pools connect with Kayenta for the trip back down. The waterfalls are easy to spot on this part of the hike.

We rode bikes in the park on Tuesday with Warren and Lea.  It was a great ride from the Visitors Center to the Narrows and back. Sadly we had to say goodbye to Warren and Lea as they left for Park City that afternoon.

The best hike this week occurred on Thursday, when Roger and I climbed Angels' Landing. This particular hike rises over 5,000 feet with lots of vertical, short switchbacks. The views are truly incredible and remains my favorite hike of all time.

 At the top of Angel's Landing. The gloves came in handy to grab onto rock and chain as we made our way to the top. 

One of the most beautiful views in the park. Lots of work to get there, but well worth the effort. You can see the Virgin River along the floor of the canyon.

It was a great week at Zion and we are looking forward to spending all of March in the area. Thank you for checking in with us. We appreciate your interest in our travels.

About That Week in Las Vegas (February 24 - March 2)

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Zion National Park, one of my favorite places in the United States! The red rock formations that tower above the roads or hiking paths are awe inspiring. We will be here for the month of March and hope to explore the park as much as we did last year when we were here for two weeks.


Our week in Las Vegas was fun! Though we have been here several times in the past, we enjoyed seeing the sights along The Strip and staying at Nellis Air Force Base, the home of The Thunderbirds.

 Drive along The Strip

After a quick tour of The Strip, we parked our car in the downtown area to see the enclosed portion of old Fremont Street. The pictures below show the cover over Binions and the Golden Nugget.

Look familiar?

On Tuesday morning we woke to loud jet noise! The Thunderbirds spent several mornings practicing their awesome formations in our front yard. The beautiful blue sky made a majestic backdrop for the jets. Unfortunately I did not get the pics for the blog, but it was such a thrill to see them in action.

One shot of a Thunderbird with it's contrail

Tuesday night was a trip to Paris on The Strip. We had dinner and then saw Jersey Boys. We loved that show! That music brought back so many memories plus it was fun learning about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Wednesday was an opportunity to meet the Wagon Masters for our trip to Alaska, in July. We met Ben and Nancy (who live in Las Vegas when they are not touring the countryside) and had such a great time asking questions about the upcoming two month trip. Roger and I committed to the trip last July. We will be in a group of 24 coaches. Needless to say, this has been a dream of our's and we look forward to that departure date in early July!

Thursday was prep day for Friday morning departure to Zion.

Our route to Zion was a quick three hours. We left Las Vegas, with the Thunderbirds ready for takeoff, and drove on I-15 through a small part of Arizona and into St. George, Utah. After a stop for fuel we headed on Highway 9 to Virgin. Our RV is parked at Zion River RV Park and we are 14 miles from the entrance to Zion. The pictures below show our trip on Friday.

 Entering Arizona from Nevada

 Entering the Virgin River Gorge which is a spectacular drive

                                     

 I love the motto on Utah's signs: " life elevated"

                                     

Our home for the month of March

 The Tour backs up to the Virgin River and we are surrounded by the beautiful red sandstone of Zion. As you can see from this picture, Winter is not over (no leaves on the trees), but it is a warm day in the upper 60's.

Thank you for checking in with us.