2015 Road Trip: Part 14 (Zion)

Trans-Utah Loop: Zion NP

Day 25

5.8.15

Here begins the second phase of my road trip!  A Trans-Utah Loop to explore National Parks, and see what southern Utah has to offer.  This trip required some shifting around of things in Wombat, since Noah and I both wanted to go on this trip.  With our things eventually packed in some way into the back of the car, and me getting a horrible night's sleep, we filled with petrol in Flagstaff, and began our way north along US-89.  This would take us to the Vermillion Cliffs area, near Page, AZ.

Trans-Utah Loop, Day 1: 353 miles

A side note - the reason for my not so great sleep may have had something do to with being distracted with some GTAV, which then pushed the banana bread baking process several hours later than it ought to have been completed.  When baking banana bread in larger pans, the baking time increases from 45 minutes to several centuries. Not sure if altitude has anything to do with this, but it took its time.  And then there is the cooling period.  During this time, I watched a mountaineering documentary to keep myself entertained.  It was about the first ascent of the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.  All of this for the banana bread, which as you may have noticed, is TOP priority when hiking in the desert of the southwest US.

As we approached Vermillion Cliffs Nat'l Monument, well... it got closer and bigger.  It was pretty neat.  We had tough lighting to get bright pictures, but nonetheless, the layers of rock stood out quite fine.

And here we have an ad for the 2015 Toyota Prius.  Being a hybrid vehicle, the electric component of the drivetrain does not suffer from altitude sickness like the combustion engine does, so you have that added edge of power you've always wanted over the Camry's and Corolla's in the area.

The road then began to twist like any driving enthusiast would dream for. Nothing like climbing up the hills with your arms always engaged to keep it between the lines.  We encountered some snowflakes as the elevation rose above 8000 feet.

Soon, the border crossing into Utah came into view, and we had to stop for pictures!  What we did not expect to see was a stand of peculiar rocks for sale.  Yes, bowls of rocks.  That jar on a post is for coins.  I bought a cube of rock for 50¢.  Noah was too confused by the concept of unnaturally shaped rocks to purchase anything.

Rock sale

Probably the best state entry sign I've seen on the trip so far.  Welcome to Utah.  Life Elevated.

Get the joke?

Despite a rainy entrance to my sixteenth state on the trip, we got a bit of blue sky on our way to Zion NP.  We passed a field with some chickens roaming around, a duck crossed by the road (likely getting away from me as fast as possible to escape the wrath that is Nathan), and the most truly free range chicken you've ever seen.  There was ONE chicken in a field that must have been at least 60 acres.  Contrary to popular belief, they are very territorial animals, and they need space to think and contemplate the meaning of eggs.  Get 'em too close and they start going crazy.

The entrance road to Zion is half the fun if you ask me.  It passes by some of the most beautiful sandstone bluffs and walls I've ever seen.  I think by now I've realized that sandstone is the best kind of rock.  Don't get me going on the fee station to the park though - we asked for a weather report, since we had seen some rain showers, and we wanted to avoid hiking if it was going to rain on us.  The ranger had no clue. Absolutely no idea.  "It's supposed to rain for the next week.  The sun may last an hour, it may last a few days."  Thank you NPS.

I was very excited to enter the first of two tunnels, though had I known the length of the second one, I wouldn't have batted and eye for this one.

The second tunnel was about a mile in length, with periodic openings (on the passenger side of course), and resounding acoustics for engine revving.  It was like being in a Top Gear episode, minus the $1M cars.

We descended along some hairpin turns, one of which provided this nice view above.

After parking at the visitor center, a shuttle bus took us to The Grotto, the trailhead for Angels Landing, considered the best hike to do in Zion NP.  (Maybe a toss up between that and the Narrows, but with impending rain possible, we didn't want to try the Narrows because it can flash flood easily.)

The trail up Angels Landing begins as rough pavement or concrete up relentless switchbacks that keep you from thinking you are a fast hiker. Along the way, bright pink and yellow blossoms from Beavertail Cacti showed up along the sides.  Then again, anything that's not brown and tan looks bright in the desert.

After many more switchbacks, we found some water pockets (holes that water has carved out in the canyon walls) for Noah to jam with the didj. The acoustics were very good, especially since I climbed inside the water pockets, and everything started to vibrate to the frequency of the glorious didgeridoo tones.

We reached the top of the ridge that leads to Angels Landing.  There was a sign.

There was another sign.  Six people have fallen to their death since 2004.  The nutcase I was hiking with thought we could be #7 and #8. This is my primary reason for hiking far ahead: to avoid the evil pushes of Count Noah that can send you flying quickly to your death.

I have never seen in my life walls so steep.  The drops must be 1000 feet or more.  Thankfully they have some chains along the trail installed for convenience in case you happen to be in a wheelchair or a unicycle.

As always, a man with his didj, living the legend.  Several people asked for brief performances along the way up, which proved to be challenging when catching your breathe, as well as with sunburnt lips that don't allow for a good seal against the mouthpiece.

At the end of the trail, we were presented with a great view of the valley that lay below, the Virgin River, which is what carved this canyon out over many, many years, and the shuttle road with buses crawling along it like caterpillars.

We stayed up top for at least 20-30 minutes, eating a late lunch, listening to Noah serenade all the hikers with didj jams.  Many people were only up for a minute or two, but it's quite a pleasure to stay for awhile and watch the hawks fly overhead.  There's so much to look at in every direction, it's hard to really look at any one thing without getting drawn away to the next.

On the way back, here is a photo of the ridge where the trail ascends to the Landing.

I spotted another flower on the way down.  Very nice to see the brilliant violet color on a day with threatening rainclouds.

We got into the shuttle bus back to the visitor center, and as luck would have it, the rain then downpoured.  We got back to the car, and attempted to figure out where to go camp for the night.  It was raining, and that was not a great phenomenon to be happening when you need to cook outside to feed yourself.  We drove in the direction of Bryce Canyon, our stop for the next day, toward a campground on Tom Springs Road.  This was challenging because it was dark, and we didn't know where exactly the road was, but with the help of Enda, my GPS, we were able find the correct road.  After passing though some open range gravel roads for a few miles, that is.

We couldn't have been more excited to have a dinner of mashed potatoes, gravy, and chicken to look forward to.  It had stopped raining, so that was a plus, but the temperatures had dropped considerably.

Noah pouring is gravy.

It's great to have such a filling meal that you can hardly pack it all down, especially in the back country.  We quickly found ourselves in the tents and fast asleep.  Get ready for some interesting surprises in the next post!...