Western Trip 2014 - Zion and Bryce

Western Trip 2014 - Zion and Bryce

Monday we got ready in the rain…it had spit rain a couple of times during our stay, but this was a real rain storm.  We both got more than a little damp before we had everything packed and hooked up.  As we pulled out of the campground the rain turned to a drizzle and by the time we were moving north on US191 it stopped.  The drive on I70 was different.  The rock formations and scenery changed, but our up and downs continued.  The elevation at the park we left was 4700 feet.  As we moved west we would go up to 5600 feet and drop back to 5000 then up to 6500 and so forth.  We crossed the divide at 7300 feet.

Along this stretch of I70 in Utah there are “Look Outs” but no real rest stops.  These Look Outs do have pit toilets and an area to walk the dog and of course a good view of something. This Look Out had a local Indian selling her wares.

When we hit the ‘bottom’ after the divide we were in a huge valley nearly 40 miles long and many miles wide.  Big farms and ranches and just a few little towns scattered and for a stretch of 100 miles, no services.

As we turned off I70 on to US89 we began to follow the Sevier River through the valley.  Yes there were some ups and downs and it was not a real wide two lane highway. At one point we got behind a pickup towing a wide piece of farm machinery – it spread from the very outside edge of the berm to across the middle of the road.  It was just about this time we ran into some hard rain – needed to get the bugs off the truck and RV!

Found our way to the KOA in the big town (population 1485) of Panguitch which means “big fish” in Piute.  We could see the darkening clouds to the north and we no sooner got ourselves all set up when the clouds opened.  It rained hard for over an hour!

Panguitch (pronounced like pan-quwich) is unusual in that the town has digital over the air TV available.  Somewhere on the north side of town there is a digital antenna that rebroadcasts over the air TV stations,

Forecast calls for some rain on Tuesday morning and then clearing by afternoon so we decided to head to Zion National Park – about 52 miles south of the campground.  We were on the road  by 8:15 and reached the Visitor’s center after a long drive that included many climbs and dips and a 1.1 mile tunnel.  We did take a few pictures on the way in. 

This is called ‘Checkerboard.”

And we could see the Virgin River surging through the canyons.

Once at the Visitor Center we boarded a shuttle (no private vehicles allowed on the park road) and started our ride up the canyon.  Rather than get off at the Museum or the Lodge, we opted to get off at “Weeping Rock” and take the half mile walk/climb up to the rock.  It was quite something – hundreds of thousands of gallons spilling out of an opening in the ledge above.

As we started our hike down, the skies opened and it poured rain – and we got soaked!

When we got to the shuttle stop, the driver said that he had been instructed to hold fast as there was still another storm cell on the way.  So we sat on the bus and waited for nearly a half hour.  The driver then announced that he was to go up to the Big Bend area and turn around and take us all back to the Lodge.  There were mud/rock slides beyond the Big Bend area and also below the Lodge.

By the time we got to the Lodge there must have been 8 shuttles in the lot.  The sun came out so while we were waiting we hiked across the road and up to Emerald Pond Falls.  When we crossed the bridge over the Virgin River you could see big logs and other debris in the fast flowing water.  We heard that the river was flowing at a rate of 3000 cubic feet per second….cannot confirm the source.

When we got back to the Lodge we boarded a shuttle and sat and waited.  Seems there was a slide between the Lodge and the Visitor Center.  We had to wait for a ‘pilot’ vehicle to lead a convoy.  It was a slow go and we picked up a number of hikers along the way.  They were essentially closing the park except for those staying in the Lodge.  When we departed the bus a ranger greeted us with the news that the road east out of the park (the way we came in) was now closed due to slides before and after the tunnel.  She said it was due to reopen at 2:30 so we did a little shopping and had a PPJ.  When we got to the exit it was blocked and the ranger said the only way out was west, through Springdale. The crews found several areas where the roadway was undercut and had to have that evaluated before continuing cleanup.  At that point we headed west.  What should have been an easy 50+ mile drive turned into a 120 mile two plus hour drive.  We finally got home a little after 5 and the animals were certainly glad to see us – and we were glad to be back at the RV.

After a very chilly night we were moving a bit slow on Wednesday and beside fog rolled in so no real rush to get to Bryce Canyon.  It was after 10 before headed out route 89 to route 12 to the park.  We had been told that Red Canyon was a real eye opener and it was on the way to Bryce.  We were in a wide valley of scrub brush when we went around a curve and there it was - red canyon walls on both sides. This went on for several miles before making the turn into Bryce Canyon itself.

When we entered the park we tried to find a parking spot at the visitor center, but the lots were full.  So we headed into the park and using the maps given at the entry thought we would stop at the first look out.  But alas that lot was full.  We then thought we would just drive further into the park and see what we could see. We tried the first lookout point and that parking lot was full too so we headed further on.  The next lookout there was plenty of parking so we parked.  Just as we were told, in Zion you look up and in Bryce you look down.

Those tall sandstone columns are called hoodoo’s.  The park is full of them. 

At the last lookout we took a long hike and had lunch along the way.  This hike was about a mile and a half – at 8000 feet.

This is an old Joshua tree.  It died long ago and the wind is now carving it out.

That evening we drove into town ( a few blocks) to fuel up and check out the Cowboy Smoke House.  We had a good dinner and it was a good thing we arrived early.  When we walked in there were three others and when we left the line was out the door.

Thursday it was down-right cold when we got up – 40 degrees.  We had ‘dumped’ the night before so by the time Lilly had her walk in things were pretty much ready to hitch up and go.  We knew it would be a longer day because of the detour.  I15 in Nevada was still closed to all traffic and the short detour they had setup for ‘cars only’ would not accommodate our rig. 

This is the detour we had to follow to get to Las Vegas - the long way around!