Reflections of My Travel

Last night was a much cooler night and even though the ground was still hard and there were no soothing water sounds, I managed to get just a bit more sleep. We all got up at daybreak so that we could eat breakfast, pack up camp, and start the arduous journey up and out of the canyon.

daybreak over our tent

the start of the trail at the end of the campground

red cliff topped by white/gray rock

There was a lot more elevation climb today than there was yesterday and my legs were definitely feeling the last few days but I had a great time and kept moving.

trail and vista

oooh, pretty! (by peach)

you whistling at me?

hubby-panorama (notice the switchbacks behind him)

sylvis climbing - the steepness just doesn't show (by peach)

not bad as this was the only shot i had time to snap before he flew off

Mentally, the hike was nicely divided into thirds as it was approximately 1.5 miles to the 3 mile resthouse and then, of course, the same to the 1.5 mile resthouse. I found it comforting to know how far I’d been and how far I had left to go.  If I had one complaint about these trails, it’s that there is no signage and no mile markers.  I like to know where I am.   All in all, today’s hike was much nicer than yesterday’s.  Even though it was steeper, the temperature was so much cooler and there was a lot more shade on the trail.  The closer we got to the top, the more snow and ice we encountered on the trail.  It was a lovely day for a hike.

hubby and the hills

pack mules have different tail shapes than people mules

the photos just don't capture the beauty

first tunnel, about .75 mile from top (by peach)

The best part of the entire experience was when we got about a mile from the rim and there was an awesome view that showed a good bit of the trail and you could see Indian Gardens.

here you can see several pieces of the trail going all the way down. just left of center, almost hidden by a cliff, is a tiny dark green swath. that is indian garden where we started today. my legs carried me all that way in just a few hours! the trail that goes out past indian garden is plateau point.

I looked down there and it struck me – I have gone all that distance, all that depth, on my own two legs. Suddenly, I was just overwhelmed with perhaps the greatest sense of pride I’ve ever experienced. I ran my first half marathon last month and felt nothing.  But this… this was an accomplishment!  My legs carried me (plus 25 extra pounds) almost 17 miles and almost a mile in elevation down and back up.  GO LEGS!!!  That sense of pride gave me the energy that I needed to make it the rest of the way out and I believe all four of us were pretty darned happy to be at the rim.

hubby, sylvis, and me at the second tunnel which means that we are just around the corner from the rim! (by peach)

us four at the bright angel trailhead after three days of strenous hiking

We made one last stop at the park’s superstore so that I could get a t-shirt (finisher’s medal ;-D) and then we started heading out of the park and up to Utah.

First, we drove through a massive sandstorm and some of the biggest dust devils i’ve ever seen.

getting sanded

I’m guessing there was some sort of a race or car show down toward Phoenix because we kept passing little sports cars and I had to laugh at the convertibles with their tops down – I’ll bet they were thoroughly regretting it with the sandblasting they were getting.

painted hills of the painted desert

thar be paint in them thar hills

castle looking rock formation

curvey

As we approached the mountains, we were seeing less sand but there were clouds up ahead that I was certain were carrying snow. Sure enough, while we drove through the Kaibab National Forest, we started getting flakes.

snow!

And then we were getting higher in elevation and the flakes turned to fat clumps. Before long, the trees and grounds were white.

i miss white trees

look at all that white!

Me? I was beyond elated. Hubby? Not so much. He was very concerned about the ability of our little rental car to make it if we went much higher and the road was covered in snow. I didn’t care. What can I say? I’m a Florida girl; snow is a big deal! Fortunately, we soon reached the summit and started down the other side so hubby could breathe again. Of course, that was after a brief stop for me to get out and run around catching snow on my tongue.

peach and sylvis laughing at my ebullience

accumulation!

tasty snowflakes (by peach - apparently with too slow of a shutter to catch the flakes)

And also, after we drove over a lightly dusted stretch of road.

hubby going "uh oh"

Snow is so beautiful.

the other side

fields of white

snow cloud sitting on the plateau

Our destination for the night was Kanab so that hubby and I could head to Bryce Canyon in the morning and Sylvis and Peach could start their trip back to NV. When we arrived in town, we enjoyed a tasty dinner (long overdue since there was nowhere to stop on the way and we were still going on this morning’s oatmeal and trail mix) and then a nice soak in the hotel’s pool/hot tub before calling it a night.

This morning, we got up fairly early to meet Sylvis and Peach for breakfast in the lobby before we went our separate ways. They left right after eating. We took our time getting around and grabbed some hot cocoa before hitting the road again. We headed north to Bryce Canyon and I was excited to see snow clouds as we approached.

caution: snow ahead

For a Florida girl, getting snowed on two days in a row is cause for a happy dance. Our goal was to do an easy day of sight-seeing while giving our legs a chance to rest and recoup. Bryce was perfect for that because there was only one real trail open due to the weather and we were fine with skipping it. Otherwise, there was just a long road with a bunch of scenic overlooks – just my speed after the last three days! And the scenery… it was fabulous!

overall setting

self-portrait

colorful rocks are awesome

huge natural arch

they call this the catacombs

i love that man!

The big thing here is the “hoodoos” which are freestanding rock formations that were created when the rock eroded away around them.

hoodoo! such a fun word

They basically look like natural totem poles and are just all around cool looking. And there are thousands of them here.

the amphitheatre

catacombs and amphitheatre - this was really the highlight of the day

amphitheatre

we really do like our self-portraits

me at the amphitheatre

seriously cool looking

the snow adds a wonderful contrast

you can see the navajo trail in the lower left - it was open but we abstained

not in my castle on the cloud

lotsa hoodos

more catacombs

here begins the wildlife series - i know it's blurry but i loved the wingspread

howdy-do

in flight with landing gear down

i was looking for a prairie dog colony because they are so much fun

sadly this is the only pdog i found

Between being all giddy from the snow and amazed at the scenery, it was a fantastic day. I even got my downhill muscles working again today without pain. After we had explored all of the sights that the park had to offer (without excessive walking), we found a hotel just outside the park and grabbed dinner at the only restaurant open in town. I think I might even get to sleep in a little bit tomorrow.

This morning started off with some socializing when there were no tables left at breakfast and a British couple asked to sit with us. Very nice folks and we had a nice conversation with them. After eating we got on the road

red rock canyon just outside bryce

part of red canyon just outside of bryce

and headed back south toward Zion Canyon. As we turned off the main road and started heading into Zion, we started seeing these great big melting rocks.

melty white rock

melty pink and white rock

It was like a scene out of a Dali painting the way that the monoliths appeared to be folding down on themselves.

sadly, the photos just don't show just how cool and melty these were

so pretty though

Unfortunately, there were no pullovers to really appreciate these very cool rocks and we figured there would be a visitor center any minute now so that we could get the full low-down of what to do and see if there were better places for seeing such rocks. Ten miles later, we finally made it to the park gate and the melty rocks were well behind us. I guess they really weren’t a part of Zion after all. Oh well. We got our little map and started down into the canyon which was a long, steep, switchbacked road. When we finally arrived to the bottom and the visitor center, I begrudgingly put my boots back on and we grabbed a pack and left. To save the roads and air, they make you leave your car at the visitor center and take the shuttle buses around the park. We went in and got advice about the best short/easy hikes and hopped on a shuttle. Our first hike was the Emerald Pools with a stop at all three, none of which were emerald and barely pools this time of year.

crossing the virgin river

looking the other way

plenty of ravenous squirrels around

Lower Emerald Pools was a nice rock overhang with a little waterfall coming off it.

nice overhang

Middle Emerald Pools was nothing at all, really a joke if that was your intended hike destination. Upper Emerald Pools had a nice high waterfall which probably been very pretty with more abundant water.

upper emerald pool falls

us at upper falls

The hike was a good stretch for the legs after our day of rest yesterday and my downhill muscles were doing much better but my toes were immediately angry about being back in the boots. I think this might be my last hiking trip in these boots.

hubby on the trail

me - yes they are the same background but they are good pix of us and this is my blog

Our next shuttle stop was at Big Bend where there was literally nothing to do but get a picture of Angel’s Landing and the Great White Throne

angel's landing is the real hike here but we just weren't up for that after the grand canyon

the great white throne

so we hopped back on the next bus to the Temple of Sinawava where we did the Riverside Walk back to the Narrows. At the end of the trail, hubby got in the water… and kept going.

off he goes

swimming, hiking - what's the difference?

I chose to remain dry and waved to him when he got to the bend.

thought he was saying "goodbye" and was just going to keep going and never come back

He must not have gone much further than that before heading back toward me with wet shoes and legs.

better shot of the river and hills

I think he was a bit disappointed because he thought it was going to be a slot canyon trail and, as far as I could tell, there are none in this park. I think he got bad info somewhere. He was told that Zion was a must see and way nicer than the other area canyons. The melting rocks we saw outside the park were cool but I really didn’t see anything great down inside the park. Not that it wasn’t worth spending a day at, but I was just way more impressed with the scenery at Bryce than here.

the tiny dot is a rock climber

there he is

The only other stop we wanted to make was at the Weeping Rock which is a super short but very steep trail. Not a big deal going up to it to see the small waterfall coming out of the rock face

rockface weeping

behind the water

the pool below

but going back down had my poor big toes throbbing and screaming. And that was it.

cool looking tree in front of the great white throne

court of the patriarchs

We rode the shuttle all the way back to the visitor center where I immediately re-shod myself in flip-flops. Not a moment too soon either… my two big toes were swollen to more than twice their size and the nails seem to be lifting up off of them. I assume I’ll be losing those nails. The throbbing is terrible. Anyhow, we left the canyon and made our way west to Las Vegas where we will rest up for the next couple of days.

viva!