SW Trip 2014 - Zion National Park

Zion National Park, Utah

May 20 – 24

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The drive to Zion was easy with great views of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument to the north. We headed to the RV park in the little town of Mt. Carmel, which was just a mile north of the junction to Hwy 9 which heads into Zion. After setting up, we relaxed for the evening.

The next morning we drove 20 miles into Zion NP. We really had no idea what to expect, but were we ever surprised. This park is different in that you drive down into the bottom of the canyon, where all the facilities and trailheads are. The Virgin River runs through a lush, green river corridor, surrounded by high canyon walls and massive rock peaks that mostly are straight up! The park runs a free shuttle to alleviate all the cars driving through the park and eliminating massive parking lots. What a great concept. The shuttle runs every 7 – 10 minutes, so there is easy access to all the facilities and hiking trailheads. We went to the Visitor Center to get maps and info on the park.

Our first hike was to Weeping Rock, where a seep spring continually rains water down over the rocks and eventually to the river. This trailhead also provided access to the East Rim Trail, which we took upward, then branched off to the Hidden Canyon Trail. Along the way we encountered two young bighorn sheep running down the trail, then they jumped down and ran to the next lower level of the trail. Wow, it was exciting to see these animals up close and in action! We then watched them head across the canyon and back up the rocks on the other side. The Hidden Canyon trail ended at narrow canyon walls with chains along the trail edge to hang on to. I did not go up that far, but Kurt did!

We were excited to head back to Zion the next morning, as our plan was to hike “The Narrows”. This hike is IN the Virgin River, heading upstream, several crossings over the river and making our way through the rocky, swift shallow waters. This was an EPIC hike, as we had never hiked in a river before.  Also the canyon walls are up to 2000 feet and become narrower as you go up the river. We went back in 2 miles, and decided to turn around there as I realized that we had to hike back to the trailhead. The trail was actually 10 miles back to a primitive campground. It was a long haul back, but very exciting. We were very glad that this hike was part of our plan. We may never do another hike like this again (unless we come back to Zion).

After a long, strenuous hiking day, we decided the next day to go to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. This is a national shelter that rescues animals from rabbits to horses. The property is 7 miles north of Kanab, Utah and consists of 21,000 acres in Angel Canyon. It’s an amazing and beautiful place. There are over 1700 animals in this sanctuary on any given day. We took a 2 hour free tour of the property, which went through the canyon and showed the different animal communities. We went inside Cat World and Dog Town. This organization was the one that rescued Michael Vicks dogs to rehabilitate them. This prompted National Geographic to run a series called “Dog Town”. We had watched this show a couple of years ago and were hooked. Such a great organization that believes that they can “Save Them All”.  We donated to become members and will continue to keep in touch via internet and Facebook. We also would love to come back here some day and volunteer. It would be our honor to assist with the efforts to save these animals. If you want to learn more about the organization, go to www.bestfriends.org or look them up on Facebook.

Our last day was spent back in Zion. There were still some hikes we wanted to do. Kurt hiked the West Rim Trail, which connects to Angel’s Landing. There was no way I was going on that one, as the last mile of the hike goes up a narrow path to the final peak, which has chains to hang onto while negotiating the very narrow trail on slickrock! I hiked the Emerald Pools Trail. We both enjoyed the hikes and were still awed by the amazing rock formations, canyon walls and views of the canyon.

After spending three full days in Zion, we wished we had another day. This place is special and amazing! It’s so different from other canyons since you visit to canyon floor and look upward at the magnificent rock walls. We hope to come back some day and experience more!

Now, on to our next destination, Bryce Canyon NP and camping at Kodachrome Basin State Park.

SW Trip 2014 - North Rim Grand Canyon

North Rim Grand Canyon, Arizona

May 15 – 19

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Upon arrival at the North Rim Grand Canyon campground, we setup our rig and then headed out for a hike along the canyon rim on the Transcept Trail. We watched sunset from the rim, which was beautiful! The North Rim is much higher elevation than the South Rim and also has about 10% of the visitors. However, the campground was mostly full.  We discovered that the North Rim has many more side canyons, as this side is still eroding unlike the South Rim.

The next morning we hiked the Uncle Jim Trail to an overlook of the canyon. Uncle Jim was an original settler/ranger of the park. This was mostly a hike through the Kaibab Forest, but ended up at an incredible viewpoint of the Roaring Springs Canyon. After lunch back at camp, we drove out to the east side to several overlook points. Point Imperial overlooks the eastern side of the canyon, looking toward the Navajo Nation, Echo Cliffs and the Painted Desert. The pictures of these views do not even begin to show how beautiful the landscape is. We then headed back to camp for the evening.

Cape Royal was one destination the next day, which has a great view of the South Rim and below to the Colorado River. We ate our lunch at the Vista Encantada sitting at a picnic table right on the canyon rim. The Roosevelt Point was the next overlook with views of the Navajo Nation and the Painted Desert. We then drove to the Grand Canyon Lodge to check it out and see the views from there. The Bright Angel Point and the lodge overlook the Bright Angel Canyon. The hike out to the point was pretty scary, with some narrow areas and steep drop offs.

The next day, we drove to the North Kaibab Trailhead to hike down into the Roaring Springs Canyon. Kurt was determined to make it down a 10 mile round trip to Roaring Springs. My goal was to make it to the Supai Tunnel at 4 miles round trip. I made it to the Tunnel then turned around to go back up to the trailhead. It was a very steep and strenuous trail. The park supplied water fill stations at several points along the trail, including Supai Tunnel and Roaring Springs. This was crucial as the temperatures get higher as you go down into the canyon. Kurt did make it to the springs and back as planned. This trail does continue down across the canyon, over the Colorado River and back up the South Kaibab Trail to the South Rim, 26 miles one way with a 5000’ elevation change both ways. We met several runners who came up to the North Trailhead who had completed the whole rim to rim in 9 – 10 hours! Crazy!

Our last day at the North Rim was spent in a relaxed mode. We rode our bikes to the Lodge and had lunch there. We also enjoyed sitting on the back patio and relaxing while looking at the amazing Grand Canyon. Later we prepared to head out to our next destination, Zion National Park in Utah!

SW Trip 2014 - Page/Lake Powell, Arizona

Page, Arizona – Lake Powell

May 10 – 14

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The drive from Sedona to Page was fairly easy, other than a major temporary road detour. Two years ago the main highway, 89, suffered a landslide about 20 miles south of Page. The temporary road was recently paved and was actually a good road; it just took a little more drive time. We arrived at the Page-Lake Powell RV Park, just on the south side of town. This park is very nice with full hookups and all the amenities that one would want. Also, the park’s backdrop is an eroded beautiful sandstone hill with a peak at the top. We had been in Page in 2003 and it had changed a lot.

The next morning we headed towards Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam. The Visitors Center was a must stop to get more info on the area. We drove out to the marina and campground area on the lake. On the way back, we hiked a trail called Hanging Gardens. This trail wrapped around the rock formations and ended up at a small weeping spring grotto. It was a nice hike with beautiful views of the lake and the surrounding area.  After that, we drove out to the Antelope Point Marina. There we spoke with some marina crew regarding getting our kayaks on the lake.  Since the public boat ramp was closed due to low water, the marina would haul us, our kayaks and gear on electric carts down to the marina docks. We were very excited about that and made plans to do this paddle on our last day in Page.  We then headed back to camp for the evening.

The next morning, we headed out to hike the Lower Antelope Slot Canyon on the Navajo land. We paid the Navajos and they provided a guide to take our group through the canyon. We were in the slot about an hour and 15 minutes. It was so amazing and beautiful, with eroded canyon walls that were in so many shapes, with the sunlight creating different colors on the walls. We took so many pictures and the young Navajo guide even changed settings on our camera to allow for the most colorful photos. He even took some pics of us. We were sad when the hike was over, we could have stayed in the canyon for another hour, but now they limit the time down in the canyon. What an amazing experience, like no other hike one would ever see.

After the slot canyon, we drove west of Page and hiked up to the Horseshoe Bend overlook. This is where the Colorado River makes a horseshoe shape path through the canyon. It was a spectacular site with the colorful, high canyon walls and rock formations all around the ground level. After heading back to camp, Kurt took the dogs up to the red rock area behind the campground to watch sunset. The sunset was beautiful and the dogs had a great run.

The next morning, we took some time to relax around the camper and get some chores done. Kurt was working on his mountain bike, which needed some repairs. We had scheduled a boat tour on Lake Powell and we headed out to the marina around noon. We chose to take the 3 hour tour on the lake, which traveled back into Antelope Canyon and Navajo Canyon. At the end of the tour, the captain took us near the Glen Canyon dam to get a water side view. The whole tour was great and we were very glad we took the time and money for this experience.

The following morning, we had already prepared our kayaks and gear for our paddle on Antelope Canyon.  We drove out to Antelope Marina and the crew there took us and our kayaks down to the marina docks. From there, we put in the water and headed toward Antelope Canyon. It was so exciting; we never dreamed we would be able to paddle the lake side of this canyon. From the marina, we had to paddle on the Colorado River to get to the canyon. It’s very difficult to describe in words how amazing to be at water level and see the towering canyon walls up so close. We were able to see so much more of the canyon than when we took the boat tour. We paddled all the way back until the canyon narrowed and the water reached a sandy beach. After securing our kayaks, we hiked back in the sandy bottomed canyon for about a ¼ mile, as the canyon walls narrowed. We returned to our kayaks, ate some lunch and began the paddle back to the marina. This was a kayak experience that tops them all, another check off our bucket list!

Back at camp, we prepared our camper to head out the next day for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

SW Trip 2014 - Sedona Arizona

Sedona Arizona – Dead Horse Ranch State Park (Cottonwood)

May 6 – 9

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Our visit to the Sedona area included camping at Dead Horse Ranch State Park, which is located in Cottonwood about 20 miles south of Sedona. The campground was very nice, on a hillside with miles of hiking/biking trails. The Verde River also flows through the town; however it was not very good for kayaking. Our activities in this area were mostly hiking and mountain biking (all in Sedona).

The second day, we drove into Sedona to find the hiking trails that were recommended to us. What an amazing change as we drove into the Sedona valley. Red rock cliffs and green everywhere! We headed to the Red Rock Country of the Coconino National Forest. We found the trailhead for the Devil’s Bridge hike. This hike was about 2 miles up to the red rock cliffs of the natural bridge formation, with about 300 feet elevation gain. Kurt actually walked onto the bridge, which made us all very nervous. The strenuous hike was wonderful, with amazing views and red rock formations. It’s very hard to describe the beauty of this place; even the pictures don’t convey the spectacular natural structures and views. After some lunch, we headed to the trailhead for the Bell Rock Pathway. This red rock formation resembles a bell shape. The trail wound around the base of the rock with some other side trails, including one loop that winds up one side of the rock. After a few hours of hiking, we were all tired and headed back to camp.

The next day, we headed north to Tozigoot, the remnants of an ancient Southern Sinagua Village built between 1000 and 1400 AD. When this monument was discovered it was then excavated and rebuilt. Most of the ruins were gone, except for the base of the walls, which were rebuilt to show visitors how the village was formed with over 100 rooms for families. Then we drove up to a small mountain town of Jerome. This town was founded as a copper mining town, but eventually the copper mining ended. What a neat little place, with historical buildings perched on the side of the mountain. The town is filled with art galleries, restaurants, wine and retail stores. We also had a wonderful lunch at a Mexican cafe. After returning to camp, Kurt decided to go back to Sedona and hike the Cathedral Trail. He took some amazing pictures on that hike.

Our last day was spent back in Red Rock Country of Sedona. We brought our mountain bikes and decided to ride the trails around the Bell Rock Pathway. Most of the trails were fairly moderate, but many were challenging at different levels for each of us. After about 2 hours of biking the trails, we were tired and headed back to camp.

What a beautiful, amazing place of Sedona. It would have been nice to have a couple of more days to enjoy the numerous trails and the natural beauty of the area. Hopefully, we can return someday and spend more time here.

On to our next destination, Page Arizona. This town borders Lake Powell and the Navajo Nation. There will be many adventures is this area.

SW Trip 2014 - Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, Arizona – Lake Pleasant Regional Park

May 1 – 5

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Our drive to Phoenix was fairly easy, but windy. The drive through the city revealed what a large metropolitan area Phoenix is! Lake Pleasant Park is located northwest of the city in a remote desert area, surrounded by mountains. The huge lake is a reservoir for the Phoenix area. Our campsite was located on one of the loops out on a peninsula. The location was great and we could see way across to the east side of the lake. After getting setup, I made margaritas for us all, which were quite strong and we all enjoyed them. Bedtime came early after a couple rounds of margaritas.

The next morning, we decided to relax a little around the lakeside. We packed up food, drink, and the dogs then headed over to a lake front area where we could setup and get in the water. We also brought our kayaks for a little paddling fun. The weather was very hot; it reached 100 degrees that day. We had setup a tarp between the two trucks for some shade. The water was very cold, due to the deep reservoir, but it definitely cooled us down. The dogs didn’t even want to go into the water because it was so cold, but we made them get wet to cool off. Kurt and I paddled around the area and got enjoyed the water. After a few hours, we packed up and headed back to the camp site. Later we all got together and enjoyed a grilled steak dinner.
The next day, we headed out to hike on the north side of the lake. The Pipeline Trail followed Pipeline Canyon and crossed a floating bridge over Pipeline Cove. It was a rugged desert hike with elevation changes, but not too difficult. Along the way, we observed the many Saguaro cacti which were just beginning to bloom. We also saw a couple of burros, which live throughout the park. As we returned from the hike, the heat was going up to 100 degrees and we were happy to be off the trail. After we cooled down from the hike, we drove over to the marina to check out the facilities. It was a very large and well equipped marina, but the boat rental pricing was outrageous. Later in the evening, we attended a program called “Stargazing For Everyone”. There were serious, amateur astronomers that presented a slide show in the outdoor amphitheatre and had about 10 telescopes setup for the people to view stars, planets and galaxies. It was a wonderful and we truly enjoyed it.

The following day, we had decided to drive around Phoenix and check out the area. Kurt had lived there for a couple of years when his father was stationed at a nearby Air Force base. We drove by his old house and elementary school. At lot had changed in 50 years! Then we drove up to Scottsdale to “Dos Gringos”, a great bar/Mexican restaurant to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. We enjoyed margaritas, drinks and Mexican food. We were impressed with Scottsdale and it is such a nice, upscale area. It was very beautiful among the desert environment.

Our last day at the lake, Kurt and I went on a kayak paddle. We took Kody and headed up to a popular cove on the north side of the lake. We put in our kayaks and paddled around some islands and back into another cove. Kody got to “run the shore” and he had a fun time jumping off and on Kurt’s kayak. I believe that Kurt has created a new kayaking game for Kody. We had to head in after a couple of hours as the wind began to get stronger. Later, we began preparing for our move the next day.

Our next location is the Sedona area. We will be staying at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood. Can’t wait to see what adventures are there for us!

SW Trip 2014 - Tucson, Arizona

Tucson, Arizona – Catalina State Park
April 25 – 30

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I have three words for Tucson, WE LOVE IT!

As we drove into the Tucson area, we were impressed by the many mountain ranges around the area. We had no idea that there were so many mountains; we had expected more of a flat desert environment. It is so beautiful; the city and surrounding areas seemed clean and modern. Catalina State Park is in the Sonoran desert area, with the Santa Catalina Mountains as the backdrop. The campsites are spacious with great views of the mountains. Even though we were in a remote desert area, there was shopping and restaurants within a mile of the park entrance. After getting setup, we relaxed and enjoyed the evening, even though it was windy.

The next morning, the wind was getting stronger as forecast. Debbie and I decided to use this time to get some laundry done. The guys decided to mountain bike a trail that originated right in the park. Later in the day it rained for awhile and then the weather became nice again. We took Kody on a hike on one of the trails inside the park. We were only able to go about 1 mile up the trail, as beyond that point no dogs were allowed, due to the reintroduction of bighorn sheep into the mountain area. We all decided to do the full trail the next day.

In the morning, we made our plans to go mountain biking in one of the local area trails. We found a great trail called Fantasy Island on the southeast side of Tucson. We had to drive across town to the site, but it was worth it. Some of the trails were more difficult, so Debbie and I decided to ride some of the easier ones. The guys had a great time riding the challenging trails of Fantasy Island. Located near the trail area is Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and miles of “airplane boneyard”. It was amazing how many planes were being stored there as far as you could see; wrapped up in protective materials and ready for whatever purpose. Looking at Google Maps satellite view of the Tucson area, it’s quite apparent how many planes are there! After bike riding, we headed back to camp and a cookout for dinner.

The next morning, we set out in the park to hike the Romero Canyon Trail. This was a steep and rocky great trail up the Catalina Mountains. It was challenging at many times, with many switchbacks and steep cliffs. The views of the canyon and valley below were amazing, with Saguaro cactus along the mountain sides. We hiked back in to an area called Romero pools, where there was standing water in rocky creek bed below. The hike back down was a little easier, but was still a challenge. We were never fortunate enough to see a bighorn sheep; as there were only about 14 sheep at this time. The round trip hike took us about 2.5 hours. Heading back to our campsites, we were very glad we went on this amazing hike.

Our challenge for the next day was to mountain bike a trail just north of the park. This desert trail called 50 Year Trail started out as an intermediate level biking. We were able to ride most of the trail, but attempted to find another more challenging part called “the chutes”. We rode around trying to follow a trail map and were never able to find the chutes. After a couple of hours, we headed back to camp. Our next event for the day was to drive a scenic road up to Mt. Lemmon, called Sky Islands Scenic Byway. The 25 miles followed hairpin and blind turns, climbing more than 6300 feet to the peak of Mt. Lemmon (9157 ft). The drive begins in the Sonoran Desert, passing through five distinct life zones, ending in a cool mixed conifer forest (Coronado National Forest) that looked more like Canada than Arizona. It was a beautiful drive with amazing views, well worth about three hours of driving and overlook time.

The next morning, we all decided to go back to mountain bike the 50 Year Trail. Debbie and I rode mostly on that trail, while the guys were able to find the path back to “the chutes”. We all had a great ride that morning and it was so much fun. We later headed back into town for some shopping and preparations to leave the next morning. We all were sad to go, as this was one of our most favorite places we have been so far on this trip! We could have stayed a few more days, Kurt and I vowed that we will return someday and stay at least a month.

On to Phoenix Arizona for our next adventure!

SW Trip 2014 - Deming, New Mexico

Deming, New Mexico – Rockhound State Park
April 23 - 24

Rockhound State Park is located a few miles east of the town of Deming. This is a beautiful park with awesome campsites. Our campsite was very large with nice landscaping of cactus and rocks. The park is surrounded by the Florida Mountains. The weather was cool and sunny, but the wind was kicking up to 35mph. The first night the trailer was rocking with the wind howling most of the night. By the next morning the wind died down and we went on a short hike on some trails around the park. This park is known for semi-precious stones and rocks. The main activity here is to look for these rocks. Later in the day, we were trying to determine where we could go hiking in the area where it might be more challenging. There was also no mountain biking within 30 miles, so Kurt and I decided to do a hike in Spring Canyon, which is on the south side of Rockhound Park. This was a nice hike back in a canyon to Lovers Leap. It was steep with a small elevation gain, and we enjoyed the scenery and the exercise.

After getting back to camp, we had discovered that a wind storm was heading our way and may affect our travel in 2 days to our next location. We were told that if the winds go over 50 mph, they could shut down I-10, which could be a problem for us. So we all decided to leave the next day and arrive in Tucson a day earlier.

That evening, the wind had died down and we were able to have a nice campfire. We sat up until late looking at the amazing stars and searching for meteors. We saw a couple of meteors, but it was getting really late and we wanted to get an earlier start on the road in the morning.

We were ready to head to Tucson and see what that area has to offer.