June 14, 2008 - Hanksville, UT to Cannonville, UT
Capital Reef National Park, Anasazi Village, Escalante Steeps
I wonder which state has the most scenic byways? If Utah isn't the top of the list it has got to be close. Every turn, the land changes, there are federal, state parks and little jewels of towns everywhere.
Left Hanksville, UT headed down I-24 towards Capital Reef National Park. This park is in a narrow valley with the Fremont River running through it. It's been home to many settlements of Puebloan people, early western settlers, Mormons and other folk. These civilizations have come and gone with the climate and how much water is in the river. Enough comes in now to have fruit orchards and cottonwood trees along the river. We wanted to come to this park to see the petroglyphs(carved or pecked into the rock, not painted) and other remnants of the Freemont culture from 700 to 1300 AD.
The visitor center was very good even having pots from the period. One thing the National Park Service does right is visitor center personnel and information. A ranger told us not to miss the Grand Wash Trail off of the Scenic Drive Road. Most people don't attempt it except serious hikers) as it looks too rough to drive in. But we are TC people right? Any other type of RV would have had a hard time turning at the end or on the Grand Wash Trail. We finally got to see the real Utah wild canyons, eagles and hiking trails. Did we fully walk the trail marked "extreme" into the Butch Cassidy Arch all the way to the end? No but we started it and sweated about a quart of water each. Magnificent scenery - no way do descriptions or pictures do it justice. Trailhead started at N38 15.82 W111 12.97. Echo Cliff was just that with the crows calling and echoing like a chorus.
Continued on to the end of the Scenic Drive, across many areas that get flash floods when it rains in the hills. Dry, hot and about 85 degrees today but you could see what would happen when it rained. This road is about 8 miles long and covers about every type of rock in Utah. Both of these drives/hikes are musts if you are anywhere nearby.
At Torrey, Route 12 heads south towards Dixie National Forest, Escalante National Monument and Bryce Canyon. Route 12 is among the best scenic byways we've been on. The road rises through five different life zones from high desert to coniferous forests at 7,800 feet. MANY 14% grades with jackknife turns keep you on your tow-haul toes. I pity anyone with an RV without tow-haul and good brakes up on this road.
On the downside of Escalante is Boulder, UT, a small, very neat town with the Anasazi Museum. We wandered the exhibits including the dig of an actual village. Didn't spend as much time as we wanted to because a huge bus full of screaming teenagers pulled in and overran the place. Onward!
Quite the drive through more of the Dixie National Forest to Cannonville. At one place the road had about 3 feet on each side until
a sheer drop off into canyons on both sides. Would not be a fun winter road.
We chose to stop at a commercial campground tonight to do laundry, catch up on family emails and (of course!) RV.NET. Need to spend some time shaking out the dust and road debris and ready ourselves for Bryce, Zion and the north rim of the Grand Canyon. A couple we talked to today had major snow on the north rim just a few days ago. Thought the strong sewer smell was from our camper and that we had a leak problem until we heard the horses neighing in the pasture next to us
It's 87 degrees, dry as a bone and we're going to take advantage of the 30 amp power and turn on the AC tonight to at least cool down the camper. Stiff breeze so it should cool off later. Bryce is supposed to be 100F tomorrow but Grand Canyon is supposed to be in the high 80s later this week. Keep thinking about FlyFisher Dave and his trip to Alaska and wondering if he has his parka on yet?
* This post was
edited 06/14/08 07:42pm by TwoMaineiacs *
2008 Host Rainier 9'6" dual slide on a 2005 Ford F-350 Diesel DRW
On the Road Again from Rural Maine Our travel blog with photos
If you get a chance you may want to stay in the park at Bryce, they have some great campgrounds. We stayed just outside the gate at a private resort and were really dissapointed after seeing the great camping inside.
The buses at Bryce have A/C, the ones in Zion do not, so you may want to head out early.
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TwoMaineiacs wrote: ....We almost had this park to ourselves as most people go over to Arches and never see Canyonlands. We hiked some of the trails around Shafer Canyon Viewpoint and Buck Canyon overlook. From Shafer you could see part of a 110 mile jeep trail that you TCers who Jeep must live for.....
I believe you are referring to the White Rim Trail. Some of us Outfitter owners have shown that it's NOT just for Jeeps anymore.
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Ditto what Mooney said, the park in Bryce is very nice, especially the non generator part if you can manage it and find a site.
You guys are like Energizer Bunnies, what a trip. Tell me, have you found one you would like to revisit yet?
* This post was
edited 06/15/08 12:53pm by FarcticOx *
FarcticOx
"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is." Yogi Berra
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2005 Arctic Fox B1150 solar powered dry camper.
TwoMaineiacs wrote: ....We almost had this park to ourselves as most people go over to Arches and never see Canyonlands. We hiked some of the trails around Shafer Canyon Viewpoint and Buck Canyon overlook. From Shafer you could see part of a 110 mile jeep trail that you TCers who Jeep must live for.....
I believe you are referring to the White Rim Trail. Some of us Outfitter owners have shown that it's NOT just for Jeeps anymore.
Actually, Shafer turns into White Rim Trail (or vice versa). The switchbacks are most definitely the Shafer Switchbacks. I have been up them twice. They trigger my fear of heights, so I won't be going again! Fantastic view,though.
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Embarrased that I didn't recognize the Schaefer as the White Rim trip report. It sure is an awesome looking trail and one I will not be doing - I'd end up doing a Thelma and Louise by accident.
Farctic - I'd return to both Custer State Park and Yellowstone in a heart beat. I'll write later about going to Bryce Canyon today. It was stunning but crowded with lots of bus loads of very pushy people. Took a bit of the fun out of it. Hiked a bit but didn't do really well at that altitude. We also took a detour over to Cedar Breaks National Monument which is at 10,300 feet. No nose bleeds but no hiking either. We thought of you and Cheryl and those incredible photos you posted from the bottom of the Bryce Canyons. My hiking shoes are off to you two.
June 15 - Bryce National Park and Cedar Break National Monument
Today was a rock day - pink, red, white, blue, cracked, whole, crumbling, covered in some snow, tall, short and solid. We're still on
East Coast body time so were the first people in the door at Bryce Canyon National Park Visitor Center this morning. Got good ranger advice as always on the best way to see the park since we weren't spending a week there.
First stop was jaw dropping even after all the geology we've seen. We walked the rim trail from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point to Inspiration Point to Bryce Point about a two mile hike in all. This is the rim of the Bryce Amphitheater and probably the most dramatic views in the park. Took the park shuttle bus back to Sunrise and the TC as we were really tired. Sunrise Point is the introduction to the Hoo Doo rock formations that stick up like sharp fingers in a bazillion colors but mostly red. This is all at an elevation of about 7,200 - 7,500 feet and these sea level lungs took a beating. Joe carried the pack with water, sunscreen, dry socks, etc. etc. and we used them all.
We then drove the main park road to Rainbow Point, about 18 miles one way stopping at every view point along the way. I kept thinking of Farctic Ox and Cheryl who hike DOWN into the canyon. Power to you Ted!Glad we got going earlier since it was a bit cooler but the later in the day it got the more tour buses showed up and this isn't even high tourist season yet. We are seeing few TCs in the last couple of days but are seeing more and more of the rental C size RVs.
As we left the park, we could see a huge smoke cloud coming from what looked like the Dixie Forest east of us where we had passed the day before. Long lines of fire trucks, pickups filled with men and tanker trucks passed as we went west. Hope it is small and put out quickly. We learned a lot about the role that fire plays in these huge forests and for the most part it is beneficial but really ugly to view plus the loss of wildlife.
Route 12 out of Bryce, down 89, over to a road we wanted to take called Fish Hatchery Road but it was closed due to a bridge being out. We took Route 14 up to Cedar Brakes National Monument, climbing and climbing and finally getting there and being at 10,300 feet. Crystal clear, beautiful scenery in a small park. Eight years ago the cedars were devastated by a borer beetle and vast stands are dead standing timber. I shudder to think what a fire through there would look like.
Made a lot of people mad going downhill to Cedar City since we were in tow haul and not pushing the speed limit. Out west there are a lot of places to pull over for faster traffic and we used them as often as possible. Ford performed well, TC is a great home to be carrying around with you. We needed to reprovision so we are in the parking lot at Cedar city Walmart tonight with maybe 20 other RVs, using wi-fi that's just out there. Tomorrow we head for Zion National Park and will try to camp there overnight.
It's hot, we're both tired, altitude got me a bit today but the TC is comfortable and we want to keep going on this trip. North Rim of the Grand Canyon calls! We understand from some of the RVs around us that it is snow clear and open. We'll see.
* This post was
edited 06/16/08 07:49pm by TwoMaineiacs *
June 16 - Zion Kolob Canyons and Zion National Park
The western heat hit with a vengeance today, at least for these thick blooded northeastern bodies. We're not used to 100 degrees, low humidity and the type of weather than just sucks all the moisture out of your body. Really enjoyed reading Silversands narrative of the cool and fog at Recompense in Maine.
Started the day tow-hauling up the passes of Zion's Kolob Canyon south of Cedar City. We started down the Timber Creek Overlook trail but quickly returned to the TC as it was way too steep for our level of hiking.
Down I-15, to 17 to 9. We stopped at Colpits Wash and walked a ways in to see Grafton, a ghost town. Couple coming out said not to keep going as there wasn't much left to see! On to the Zion Canyon entrance and then into South Campground as there were spaces available. Figured it would be full if we didn't take a space early morning. Took a long time to pick out one that had some shade, was relatively level and felt like it might get a breeze. There were a suprising number of sites available at that time. Very picturesque place to camp with tall peaks all around.
Walked to the Visitor Center with Joe carrying the waist pack full of water, sunscreen, bug spray, etc. etc. Boarded the free shuttle bus and started up the road to the top of Zion that can be reached by road. At each shuttle stop we got out and walked at least part of the hike paths - until we got to the one that went straight up. Teenage boys were RUNNING up it. Ah - youth! No way were we going to try that one. By this time the temperature was hovering around 98-101F and we were wilting fast. At each stop we would refill our big water bottles but there wasn't really a way to keep up with the sweat output. On the way down, stopped at Zion Lodge and enjoyed seeing the old buildings and photos - plus two huge ice teas.
By the time we had ridden the shuttle down, walked to the campground and found the TC was 99F inside, we were just plain wiped out. We had not enjoyed Zion as we have all the other parks we have been to. It was just too crowded, hot and hot. Yes we could have run the generator for two hours in the evening for some AC but everyone around us were in tents and it didn't seem fair. We decided to push 0n to somewhere we could either run the generator longer or get power. The campground was full when we left and some lucky person benefited by our leaving.
The tunnel going out the east side of Zion is an real engineering work especially since it was built in the early '30s. Trucks, RVs etc are restricted in height and have to be let through in a line one way down the middle of the tunnel. $15 gets you two trips through in a week. We lucked out and were at the end of the line so after we were through, could drive slowly since no one was behind us. They close the tunnel to one side at a time. The East end of Zion (for us) was much more interesting than the main part of the park. Great folds of rock that looked like running water, swirls of waves and just fields of folded lava - and no crowds.
A camper in SD had told us if we were ever in Kanab, UT to go to Houston's Trail's End Restaurant. They are the ones who have mobile kitchens to serve meals to the army of firefighters when a big fire is fought. The waitress had on a gun belt with holsters for order pads. Too hot to be hungry but we split a very spicy order of nachos and a piece of homemade chocolate cream pie - and about another quart of water apiece. Recommend a stop there if you are nearby.
We're in a tiny campground called the RV Corral in Kanab. We're probably not true TCers or we would be back sweating at Zion. AC has been running for an hour and it is 82F inside and 92F outside. What a blessed 10 degree difference!
Next to us is a beautiful brand new Arctic Fox, Silver Fox Edition that the couple has just taken delivery of. They are headed back to AZ where it is 112F at their home. Invited them up to New England to get cool. They gave us great local info on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, Four Corners, Monument Valley and a brand new RV park at a casino in Sky City, NM. We've never been to a western casino so just might stop there.
Tomorrow North Rim and the start of our turn eastward. After the crowds at Zion, we're skipping the south rim. Lots of campers have told us if you go to the north, you can bypass the south. Might regret it but we'll see.
You two are as curious as Lewis & Clark, with out all the help that they had. Your writings and reporting are wonderful. We can wait to open the latest pics and news, noone does it better!
skipbee
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