It's Always Something...

When we turned on the TV Wednesday evening,  the audio responded but the video didn't.  After trying all manner of sophisticated strategies, including un- and re-plugging, cord-jiggling, manual perusing, etc., we concluded: it's broken.  Television without a picture is radio, only less.  Thanks heavens for the internet!  And Amazon!  A new, larger set is on its way and should arrive early next week.

This morning, Fred switched on the gas furnace...and nothing happened.  The silver lining to this situation is that the weather has improved; daytime temps generally reach the low 70*s and overnight temps usually remain above 40*. The electric space heater counters the morning chill in the living area.  The bedroom is too small to use the heater but two blankets and a heated mattress pad keep us warm.

Yesterday was our second day off for this week and we had a continuation of the perfect weather.  Our destination was Cottonwood  Canyon Narrows, only 25 miles away but in a different world.  (For such a huge place, the topography of Utah changes suddenly and dramatically--there is nothing gradual or tentative, no transitions  just--BANG! there it is.)  Along the way, we took a short side-trip to Grosvenor's Arch, which is actually a double arch.  (You can read the particulars below.)  To reach the arch, you travel a packed clay road through dry, desolate country with no hint of humans except that track and barbed wire strung between weathered posts.  From the parking area you walk to the base of the arch on a concrete sidewalk!?!

Grosvenor's Arch

No such amenities at Cottonwood Narrows!  We found several entry points into the canyon and managed to select one of the steepest.  The canyon was immediately deeper, darker and drier than Willis Creek.  We saw scores of lizards skittering over boulders and into crevices and several varieties of wildflowers.  The hot, dry, rocky conditions must be the ideal environment for the vibrant Indian paintbrush.

The most difficult aspect of this 'hike,' actually a mile and a half walk,  was trudging through deep, soft sand--a lot of effort resulting in little forward progress.  There was no water in the channel and only one spot that required scrambling over a rockfall.



Obligatory Tree Picture

Because of the sand, we chose to return to the parking lot via the road rather than going up-canyon.  Although it was a hot and exposed route, it provided views of amazing landforms and colors.

Saw many of these along and even in the road to Cottonwood Canyon.  He was

the only one who posed for a portrait.

Work Hard, Play Harder

We spent yesterday in Fairy Land, hiking the 5.7-trail through Bryce's most surreal hoodoos.    The weather was sunny with temps in the upper 60s and a refreshing breeze.  The cloudless azure sky provided a stunning backdrop for the red, orange, coral, pink and white rock formations.

The beauty of the landscape made our considerable effort (8.4 miles and 2135' of elevation change) worthwhile.   Although it's possible to ride the park shuttle back to the trailhead parking lot, we opted to hike the additional 2.7 miles.  The guidebook's author idea of 'gradually ascending' is much different than ours!

What a great way to spend a great day in a great place!



The way to enter Fairy Land...

where there are hoodoos are of all sizes, shapes and colors...




 

and wonders wait around every corner.

You can see forever...

and look back across the eons to time before man walked the earth.

Beauty is everywhere!  :)

A Gothic cathderal?

An immense spear point?

London's Tower Bridge?

A delicate columbine.





Settling In and Smoothing Out

We have acquired or located most of the necessities for our normal lifestyle:  water and heat, internet, phone, a P.O. box, a small grocery store and gas station. 

We put up a small bird feeder on the far side of the RV.  Only a few birds have discovered it so far, a black-headed grosbeak (beautiful!) and some small, drab wren-like birds.

 And our job duties are coalescing into a rough routine.  Don't take that to mean our work is easy!  Making up big beds with no wrinkles and tightly tucked covers and cleaning large jacuzzi tubs and tile bathrooms requires strength and stamina plus  a sharp eye to spot every speck of dust, every piece of lint and to make sure everything is 'just so.'

The amount of work, hence the length of our workday, is dependent on the number of guests leaving that day.  Very few guests left on Saturday so we finished by 10:30 (yay!).  On Sunday, five rooms and three cottages were vacated and we worked until 1:30 (boo!).  Yesterday was moderate (3 rooms, 2 services and two cottages), today will be heavy.  I prefer not knowing that a 'bad' day is lurking ahead on the calendar--I'd rather show up and do what needs to be done without dreading it in advance.

We're excited about being off Wednesday and Thursday.  We want to do Bryce's Fairy Land trail tomorrow and possibly a slot canyon the following day.   The weather is supposed to be ideal for hiking--partly sunny and upper 60s/ low 70s.  Expect another batch of pictures...

Breakfast and Willis Creek

This morning was our first experience preparing (Jan) and serving (Fred) breakfast.  Keith and Sandy were on hand as a safety net and, despite our nervousness, all went well.   I think we'll do fine on our own next time.

Cleaning duties were much lighter than usual and we were finished by 10:30. Serendipitious because the weather hasn't been this good for hiking in over a week.  Ideal conditions (upper 60's, partly sunny) + the whole afternoon off =great opportunity! 

We had planned to hike Cottonwood Canyon Narrows but the ranger at the Grand Staircase-Esclante National Monument (GSENM) visitor center said parts of the access road were impassable due to recent rain and suggested Willis Creek as an alternative.  It's a perfect 'starter' hike for those wanting to explore slot canyons since it doesn't require climbing, rappeling or swimming.  

Colorful rocks



Obligatory tree picture





Petroglyphs (1)





Petroglyphs (2)




Petroglphs (3)





Powell Point rises far above the green Bryce Valley.



Great 'Weekend'!

Because Thursday (tomorrow) will be an all-hands-on-deck day, we agreed to be off on Tues. & Wed.  instead of Wed. & Thurs.  The forecast called for cold, wet weather so we headed for St. George, UT where it's always warmer than the Bryce region.

Driving from Tropic to Zion National Park took nearly three hours.  We probably would have made it in 2.5 hours without the rest stop in Mt. Carmel, the wait behind an RV at the entrance gate and the delay at the long tunnel.  Nevertheless, we were on the Zion shuttle bus to the Angel's Landing trailhead by 11:00.  

Finding a paved trail was a surprise and led me to assume (naively!) this would be a woosey-walk.  The trail zig-zags along the edge of cliffs then ascends steeply in a series of 21 switchbacks, gaining 1700' in elevation in a bit over 2 miles.  The final half-mile of the hike requires one to scramble up sheer rock with occasional chains for handholds and cross a narrow unprotected saddle.  I attempted the challenge but didn't feel confident about continuing beyond the second chain.  Fred went further but decided not to do the saddle.  Even though we didn't reach the very end of the trail, the hike was wonderful: a good work-out with stunning views and some lovely wildflowers.

Beginning the ascent.

Climbing higher...



These rocks have great variety in color, texture and direction.



About halfway up the 21 switchbacks



The final portion of the trail ascends the right side of this cliff, crosses the 'dip' to the left of the tall trees and climbs to the outcropping above the saddle.

Fred is on his way up.

Fred is happy to be back on level ground.

About 1700' above the trailhead at the river.

Descending the switchbacks.

Along the way, each of us found a "round TUIT."  I saw what looked like a bottlecap in one of the little openings in the rockface beside the trail.  It was a quarter-size disk of aluminum, perhaps pewter, with T-U-I-T engraved on one face; hand-written on the other was the inscription,  Max L. Draper, 1934-2011.  I wondered if Max had wanted to hike Angel's Landing and someone saw that he got a 'round tu it' posthumously.  As Fred looked at his pictures from the hike, he spotted what he thought was a quarter on a ledge several feet below the edge.  Enlarging the shot, he deciphered 'T', 'U', 'I', 'T' on its surface. I checked my photos and found another in a similar location

The round TUIT is the small white dot just left of the letter 'r'.

The remainder of our time in Zion wasn't as satisfying as Angel's  Landing.  We walked the Grotto Trail searching for a grotto.  Turns out that's merely a creative name for the shady picnic area.  Next, we elected to do the Lower Emerald Pool trail and found it was more like a big city sidewalk than a hiking trail:  paved, crowded and not scenic.  Emerald Pool, another fanciful name, is actually a large, shallow puddle tending more toward topaz in color than emerald.  Its best feature was the abundance of shooting stars in riotous bloom.




Two small waterfalls (on left) which feed lower Emerald Pool.



Emerald Pool

Shooting Stars



It had been a full, satisfying day and we were looking forward to concluding it with hot showers and a good dinner.  When Fred turned the key in the Jeep's ignition, nothing happened.  I'd forgotten to turn off the headlights after driving through the long tunnel and we had a dead battery.  A park employee at the visitor center called a ranger, who appeared within 10 minutes and jump-started the car.  He saw the North Carolina license plate and told us he'd done his law enforcement training in Franklin and was familiar with that part of western NC--small world!

We checked into the motel and took our luggage to the room then headed to Hurricane for dinner.  We liked our meal at JB's last year so we returned for an encore and weren't disappointed.  By this point in our busy day we were very tired and very hungry and very easy to please.

Wednesday morning we drove into St. George and toured Brigham Young's winter home and the Dinosaur Discovery Center; both were interesting and enjoyable.  We experimented with returning by a different route: traveling north on I-15 to Cedar City then east on UT-14, north on 89 and south on UT-12.  Almost as soon as we turned on to 14  big, serious snowflakes began to fall.  The route would be breath-taking in good weather but its steepness, curves, lack of guardrails and warnings about ice and wildlife made it a tense drive.  About halfway up Cedar Mountain a crew of DOT workers were removing a very recent a mudslide from the roadway.  Next to where they were working was a mammoth boulder, about the size of a semi-tractor, which had tumbled down the hill above the road.  The weather improved as soon as we crossed the summit and began to descend the eastern flank.  In the Duck Creek area we saw two beavers, one stayed on the roadside while the other waddled across the road in front of us.