Oct 29 & 30 Zion National Park ! Part 1.

Oct 29
We're so excited to be here in Zion National Park ! We have talked about this for a few years since I saw Steve & Dianne's blog about their trip to Zion. We copied some ideas from them and we are staying in the same RV Park, Zion River Resort, which is a short drive from the park entrance. We are using today to get settled in and do some looking around and then get hiking tomorrow. The plan today is to drive to Zion and look around the visitor center and plan our week of hikes from the info we get. We got some good advice from Dan at the Resort about hikes and some scenic drives to do both in and outside the park. First thing is to drive to Zion Park.

The grand entrance.

There is a property along the way to Zion that is called Field of Dreams. We snapped a pic, it is really something to see along the way.

We think it's a B&B ?

You drive through a community called Springdale before the gates to the park. Lots of motels and restaurants, rock and gem shops and another RV Park really close to the gates but we're happy where we are. We did spy a local brewery/ restaurant in Springdale so we will have a look at that later. We inquired at the gate about a park pass and for us it made sense to buy the annual "America the Beautiful" pass for $80 US that works at all the national parks and monuments. We plan on visiting several so the payback on this should be quick.

It's almost always busy.

The really nice woman at the gate told us that we should park at the Nature Centre because of the size of our truck. I turned too soon and we went into the parking areas at the visitor centre. There are not many good spots for a dually but we found a spot on the very back row. As far away from the visitor centre as you can park.... we're here to hike anyway lol. 

We have Margaret with us right now and she's only allowed on the paved Par'us Trail so we'll check that out today. We went straight to the visitor centre and talked to a ranger about some trail closures and temporary closures for paving work they are doing. Back outside we had a look at some of the displays and then headed to the Par'us Trail. It's roughly 3 miles/ 5k out and back which will be plenty with Margaret. The trail is right beside the Virgin River and is a great introduction to the awesome views in Zion.

We start snapping pics across the road.

Not much water right now.

We kept walking and taking in the beauty of the mountains. It's so incredible in Zion, I can't describe it properly. Just go see for yourself. We came across a diversion dam that was installed on the Virgin River many years ago.

Even at low water levels it's nice.

Not long after the dam I had to carry Margaret. It was pretty hot out and I think the cement was hot on her feet and she doesn't walk as far anymore anyway. We turned back and ran across some park residents.

Very used to people walking by.

More amazing views of course.

We easily walked back to the truck and headed out of the park. Remember that brew pub we noticed ? It's time to have a better look. We found out they have a patio that Margaret can come to. Bonus! Pretty hot to leave her in the truck today. There was 2 other dogs on the patio and we had a fantastic server that chatted about her own dog and of course she treated Margaret like a little princess. Les and I had a great lunch and a nice nut brown beer. Great place to stop.

The patio at Zion Brewery, perfect!

A walk, some lunch and it's nap time.

We decided to try a scenic drive road that Dan at the Resort had mentioned. It was an overlook of the valley that would give us great views of the valley and mountains. Dan warned me that the road is narrow but he has taken his dually Ford up there so we will fit. Yeah we fit BUT..... if I met another full size vehicle I would need to put the passenger side of the truck by a no guard rail section of road that was really steep. Leslie is not having any part of this action so we found a place to turn around before the top. Good tip but a little sketchy.

Really nice views even part way up.

We got back to the resort and decided to head over to the pool and hot tub. They said the pool is heated but man, we're Canadian and we know cold water when we feel it. That pool was cold!! Fortunately the hot tub was nice and warm and we met some other campers from Canada and the US. Was good to have a good hot soak and a beverage. Nice people too, great bunch of mountain bike racers from California having a fun day. That's pretty much our day. We went back to the rig for showers, supper and a good nights sleep. Some good hikes start tomorrow!

Oct 30

We set an alarm and headed out by 9 to get into the Park and find good parking. We made the proper turns this time into the Nature Centre parking area. Tons of parking spaces and a heated washroom before the trailhead. Perfect. We walked to the Human History Museum where we caught the shuttle as far as we could take it. 

Screen shot this, sorry.

They were paving at the very last stop so the shuttle dropped us at Big Bend and we walked to Temple of Sinawava. It was a little over a mile, a good warmup. That hooked us up with the Riverside Walk and at the end of that is The Narrows. You can continue in the river and walk the Narrows but we stopped at the edge of the river. It's cold in the water and I didn't want soaked shoes. The water gets to over the knees so didn't take much to turn us around.

The colors and shapes are incredible.

On the shuttle ride up to Big Bend.

Walking the new pavement to the Temple.

We took tons of pics, could have included so many!

Some prickly pear cactus along the way.

Weeping rocks.

We thought the walk along the new pavement was amazing. Nice cool morning and not that many other people yet. We got on the Riverwalk Trail and followed that to The Narrows.

You can keep going up river.

You can walk upriver or turn here. We stopped.

We sat and took in the area at The Narrows. There are benches to sit on and it's a great place for us to have a snack and some water. I'm not a good enough writer to describe it but it's mind boggling and amazing here in Southern Utah. We will be back again I'm sure. 

We turned back and took the same path back. There are more workers and paving trucks at the Temple turnaround. As we were walking we noticed a group of people stopped on the road pointing to the mountain across the road from us. Of course we had to look right? 

Look close in the center, climbers! Crazy in my mind.

They're in this one too, hard to see.

We continued back to the shuttle stop and rode back down to the Human History Museum. A short walk to the truck and back to Zion River Resort to pick up Margaret. She's been in the rig about 4 hours and we think that's long enough for now. I called a Ram dealership in St George about an oil change for my truck. Stephen Wade pretty much has every dealership in St George. We're getting that oil change done today. The dealership is close to a Camping World so we can try to get the light globe that we need for the rig. It's a long story. Broke one a long time ago, bought 2 through Camping World online, they don't fit and they don't seem to be able to help. Nope they still can't help in person either. Alrighty then..... back to the dealership. The truck is ready and only cost $70 US for an oil change! I think it's more expensive in Alberta? What's with that?

We drove back to the Resort and made supper and called Jaiden, a young girl who will watch your pets while in Zion River RV Park. It's a great service and she is saving for a trip to Italy. Nice! She works for donations but told us that she usually gets about $30 to watch your dog all day. We only asked her to check on Margaret twice and let her out. Super nice girl and she's great with dogs. Her Dad is Dan that works at the Resort so she's easy to find if anyone ever needs her to help out. We are planning a long day in the park tomorrow with an attempt at Angel's Landing to start the day. It's crazy! https://www.zionnationalpark.com/hikes/angels-landing/  Check out our next post!

Oct 24 - Oct 28, Illipah to Cathedral Gorge,Nevada to Zion Park, Utah

Oct 24
Last post we had just made the turn for Illipah Reservoir and I must admit that at first I was skeptical.

The road wasn't terrible but it was rough with lots of rocks sticking up. We have a heavy rig here and I'm thinking it wasn't that bad, sometimes I worry too much :) 
My fears were gone as soon as we pulled into the gates of the BLM and we got a look at the site map. 

Good to see how big this place is.

We talked briefly with another RV'er and decided to pull into site 12 a little ways away from him. I parked the rig with the back window looking out over the reservoir and down the hill. We looked closer when we got parked and beside the few cattle that were grazing there were 5 wild horses, well we think they are wild at least. It was amazing to see them. What a cool place to camp and it's free!

View out the back window.

The horses in for a drink!

It's a great site. We walked over and had a beer with our neighbour, Crosby. He is older than us and traveling alone in his motorhome. Interesting fellow but we are starving and headed back for supper. 

There are worse places in the world!

From the other side.

Long view.

We made supper and played some crib for the first time in a long time. Leslie cheats, that's all I can say :)

Oct 25

Happy Birthday to my ol' buddy Mark. I remembered to send him a text later in the day. He's in his highway truck in California. Cheers buddy! We've seen a lot of birthdays since we were 12!

Leslie and I got going at a decent time and decided to try some higher altitude exercise. I'm really interested to see if I can run at 7000 ft elevation? She took Margaret for a little run and then did her own thing afterwards. I took off around the top of the area we're parked in. A mesa?? There's roads and quad trails to run on anyway. My first walk break after I started running was 0.6 km into it! I was sucking for wind. What a difference. I slowed my pace lots and managed about 5k before calling it quits. Altitude makes a huge difference. 

We hopped in the truck to take a little drive towards Ely and find cell signal. Within about 7 miles we pulled over and caught up on texts, emails and Facebook, etc with decent signal in a little valley. There is no service at our site which is okay for a while but we like to stay connected for various reasons. We drove back to the rig and relaxed a bit before taking Margaret for a walk to see the horses. They were out on the hills earlier in the day but are back at the reservoir this afternoon. So peaceful at this spot. Just perfect for right now. It's cold at night though at 7000 feet.

Oct 26

This is a beautiful spot but we want to move on again. Definitely we'll keep this in our minds if we pass through again. We are headed for Cathedral Gorge State Park in southeast Nevada before we head to Utah. The sandstone formations look amazing in the park and state parks are usually a little cheaper with water/electric and a dump station. Our first point of interest is Ruth Copper Mine, Nevada's largest pit mine and second largest open pit mine in America. It is massive and produces copper, gold and molybdenum.

A little about the mine.

There isn't really a good viewpoint to see the whole thing and we are towing the trailer which makes it even tougher to go looking. We drove up to the town of New Ruth. Old Ruth was overtaken when the pit got bigger so they moved the town and renamed it New Ruth. I snapped a pic of a cool mural on the wall of a building by the mine.

Looked more impressive in person.

Then literally across the road we took pictures of the mine, until 2 really big German Shepherds came running out to see us that is! They were tall dogs that obviously have seen tourists taking pictures before.

No doggie pics but this is the mine. Part of it at least.

More of the mine from the highway.

We stopped for fuel in Ely, Nevada and used the free sewer dump station. It's about the closest one to Illipah that we could find. We turn south in Ely on US 93 towards Cathedral Gorge Park. The highway is nice and flat and easy going with the stunning mountains on the left in Utah. Wheeler Peak was the standout by far at 13,062 ft. 

I love travel days for stuff like this. Beauty!

Around 1 in the afternoon we pulled into Cathedral Gorge State Park. I actually planned our arrival time based on what other bloggers have written. You want to arrive close to the time the other campers have to leave, 12 o'clock checkout normally, so 1 pm isn't a bad time to get a spot in first come first serve campground. We pulled in and lucked out with spot #13 ! A nice curved pull through with 30 amp power and water for $25 per night. Good enough. Lots of things to see and trails to hike. Yep happy campers.

Trail map.

Once we got set up etc we wanted to go for a short hike to check things out. The limestone is spectacular here!

We walked around for at least an hour and then back to the rig for a beverage. Our next site neighbours walked by and commented on Margaret which started a conversation. We sat and enjoyed some time together before supper. I totally forget there names but he is 80 and she is younger by a couple years and they are still traveling. Awesome! They want to go to Newfoundland next year from Seattle because they get a great deal. Good for them. 

We made supper and just relaxed for the evening. Have some hikes planned for tomorrow to have a good look around.

Tomorrow we will really get out and explore!

Oct 27

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day with a predicted high to 27C/80F. We're planning on hiking the Juniper Draw Trail, about 4 miles. It does a big loop close to all the cliffs across the floor of this valley. Should be amazing! Our site is working great. It gets quiet early and the sun is in our windows early in the morning warming everything up.

Water/electric site with picnic table, firepit & a bbq stand. 

From the back of the site.

We headed out fairly early on the Juniper Draw to avoid the afternoon heat. It's a nice trail but does take some scouting to stay on trail. The trail is in and out of a wash with brown markers to keep you on track. 

Getting started on the trail.

Takes longer to walk the 4 miles because you stop so often.

Looks so cool ! You can see how the water level dropped slowly.

It was a fantastic trail to see! I'm going to try running it tomorrow because it's so great. We were hungry after our hike so we jumped in the truck to go out for lunch. There is a small town about 15 miles from here named Caliente.

Coolest town name ever! Or is it kinda hot ?

Just the name made us want to go see it. Scenery is back to black rock and trees with a few cattle ranches along the way. We drove the full length of the main street in Caliente and chose our lunch spot. Lots of vehicles outside this place so we hope it's a good clue.

A local gem for sure.

The food was great and lots of it. Lots of locals in the booths all saying hi to each other. It was a great spot and we were happy to have found it. So if you're ever in Caliente, Nevada look for the Knotty Pine. Oh and if you are wearing full camo with animal blood on the back of your arms that's okay too lol.

We drove back to Panaca and the State Park. We stopped for fuel on the way back because we are moving on again tomorrow.

Oct 28

We got going early because it's a travel day today. Not far but we have a full week in Zion River Resort outside Zion National Park. We're both excited about Zion.

I wanted to run the Juniper Draw and Leslie is taking Margaret for a walk and then she is trying the trail to Miller Outlook to see the gorge from above. For me it was an awesome run on sandy trail with so much to look at that it made it easier. Perfect. Leslie hiked a great trail and got some good pics of the gorge.

What a great start to the day for us both. Margaret too. We got packed up and hooked up and stopped at the dump station by the park entrance. A left turn at Panaca and we are on the highway to St George, Utah and then to Zion River Resort. We crossed over the Nevada, Utah border heading south on highway 18.

There was a place along the way called Mountain Meadow Massacre Site that we wanted to check out. 

123 people killed by Mormon militiamen. Only 17 children survived.

A real stop & think moment.

Parking and the trail to the site.

One thing that didn't work well was the small parking lot! Like my trucker buddy Mark told me "if you can get in, you can get out". My only choice was to back up onto the highway. Not a great thing but not much choice at that point. We pointed south again and headed for St. George.

We couldn't believe all the red rock and this golf course looked amazing.

There was a bunch of road construction in St George and our trucker GPS was beeping warnings about narrow roads up ahead.We fit but what a pain. We were slowed to a crawl in places. We were both hungry but it was crazy trying to pull off the road with the construction. We finally stopped at a Maverick Gas Station and Leslie bought us burritos. She said they actually make them there so she saw what went in them. They tasted great. We got out to I15 north headed for Virgin, Utah and the resort. Our GPS took us through a town called Hurricane and up a monster hill on highway 59 east. We got over the hill and the road flattened out and we could see The Watchman, a huge rock formation in Zion Park.

Very excited to get there. 

The GPS says we need to turn in a mile and I'm looking at the land in front of us but there isn't a road?? Finally it says turn left on the dirt road!! Oh no, I'm not turning on that road with my trailer! We pulled over to the right side of the road to figure this out. Our trucker GPS avoids anything that isn't tall enough or wide enough to get through. There is a tunnel beyond the resort but for some reason the GPS won't let us get to the resort. We called the resort and the nice lady on the phone gave us directions. Thanks Garmin 660 !! We had to go back down the big hill through another small town called La Verkin. We turned out of LaVerkin up another good hill and across the top of a flat plateau. Finally we see Virgin, Utah. 

Yayyy!

It was a short drive from there to Zion River Resort thankfully. We are tired and a little grumpy after the GPS fiasco but grateful to be here. Can't wait to hike a bunch of trails in Zion.

Our home for a week!

We found our site and got backed in and set up. Time for a nice frosty beverage! Next up is our week in Zion. Should be very picture intense. What an amazing place!!