ZION: Part 1
One of the most often asked questions about our trip is which part was our favorite? Every little piece of it was a favorit in some way. However, if we were really squeezed to give an answer, it would likely be Zion!
We had 5 nights at "The Watchman". Our site was perfect, with views all around and privacy from every angle. Highly recommended.
Our days usually consisted of a sunrise hike, nap during the hot part of the day, and a sunset hike. We must have hiked 20 miles in this park alone.
The weather was perfect. A little warm at the hottest part of the evening, but nothing finding a shady spot couldn't fix.
Hiking "The Watchman" trail, we came across this. Kingsnake, we were told. Fairly rare to see.
"The Watchman" was one hike that we time wrong. We did it in the afternoon with full exposure to the setting sun. You can tell from the photo that we were hot. For all the other hikes, we timed them well for being on the shady side of the canyon.
Like I said, great campsite! There was a fire ban for our whole stay, except the first night, so we grilled some chicken!
Looking the other direction. And, one of the boys playing the PS3 gaming system. That really helped the kids cope with being on the road so long. They didn't get to play much, but it was a great tool for Mom and Dad to have some peace once in awhile.
Herds of deer, every evening, with this backdrop. Yes, from the campsite!
We hiked "The Narrows" on the first morning, for fear of rain closing it later. We would have been crushed if we couldn't have hiked it. This time of year, they hadn't had the rainy season yet, so the water was very low. There were a few spots that got over our knees, but most was like this. We hike a total of 9 miles round trip. Could never do that on land, but the scenery was motivation to keep going. It was a spiritual moment making this hike. It's everything we hoped it would be. I will say, we took the 6am shuttle, so we had the entire hike in, to ourselves! That made a huge difference. It was like our own private eden.
On the way back, it was a different story. By noon, it was jam packed with people, and completely changed the experience.
One of the views from "The Upper Emerald Pools" hike.
We spend so much time picnicking, etc. at the Upper Pools, that we lost track of time. We realized that we might not catch the last shuttle bus of the night!!! So we hustled down the mountain and with just minutes to spare, caught the bus! THAT saved a long walk home! Here we are showing up back at the truck. The length of sunlight had us confused most of the trip. This picture was taken at close to 10pm.
ZION Part 2: Coming soon...
One of the most often asked questions about our trip is which part was our favorite? Every little piece of it was a favorit in some way. However, if we were really squeezed to give an answer, it would likely be Zion!
We had 5 nights at "The Watchman". Our site was perfect, with views all around and privacy from every angle. Highly recommended.
Our days usually consisted of a sunrise hike, nap during the hot part of the day, and a sunset hike. We must have hiked 20 miles in this park alone.
The weather was perfect. A little warm at the hottest part of the evening, but nothing finding a shady spot couldn't fix.
Hiking "The Watchman" trail, we came across this. Kingsnake, we were told. Fairly rare to see.
"The Watchman" was one hike that we time wrong. We did it in the afternoon with full exposure to the setting sun. You can tell from the photo that we were hot. For all the other hikes, we timed them well for being on the shady side of the canyon.
Like I said, great campsite! There was a fire ban for our whole stay, except the first night, so we grilled some chicken!
Looking the other direction. And, one of the boys playing the PS3 gaming system. That really helped the kids cope with being on the road so long. They didn't get to play much, but it was a great tool for Mom and Dad to have some peace once in awhile.
Herds of deer, every evening, with this backdrop. Yes, from the campsite!
We hiked "The Narrows" on the first morning, for fear of rain closing it later. We would have been crushed if we couldn't have hiked it. This time of year, they hadn't had the rainy season yet, so the water was very low. There were a few spots that got over our knees, but most was like this. We hike a total of 9 miles round trip. Could never do that on land, but the scenery was motivation to keep going. It was a spiritual moment making this hike. It's everything we hoped it would be. I will say, we took the 6am shuttle, so we had the entire hike in, to ourselves! That made a huge difference. It was like our own private eden.
On the way back, it was a different story. By noon, it was jam packed with people, and completely changed the experience.
One of the views from "The Upper Emerald Pools" hike.
We spend so much time picnicking, etc. at the Upper Pools, that we lost track of time. We realized that we might not catch the last shuttle bus of the night!!! So we hustled down the mountain and with just minutes to spare, caught the bus! THAT saved a long walk home! Here we are showing up back at the truck. The length of sunlight had us confused most of the trip. This picture was taken at close to 10pm.
ZION Part 2: Coming soon...
tragusa3 wrote:
On the road again. Going from Grand Canyon to Page Arizona. Not much along that stretch.
We got caught in a huge sandstorm on this stretch of road in 08 !!
Traveled approx. 100 miles across nothing. I had emptied my water, being worried about weight on the trailer. We pulled into the first gas station we saw, in Page, Az. I went in to the restroom and when coming out, noticed the trailer didn't look level. I walked around and noticed this!
We were so, so fortunate to not be stranded on the road. God had his hand on our trip the whole way. ๐ I asked a local and he directed me to a KOA about 2 miles away. We limped that far and the guy said he had no sites! I asked if we could stay the night in some empty space they had off on the side. He said no, you'll have to leave! Couldn't believe a KOA sent us packing with an axle that looks like that. But he did.
We went another 2 miles (at 2mph) to Walmart. It was a Saturday. We spent the night there and called a roadside guy since it was Sunday. He pulled it all apart. The bearings were completely gone and I had damaged the drum brake, using it as a bearing. Also had nicked up the spindle pretty good. He filed it down and polished it with an air grinder. Said if I had gone another 50' I would have needed a new axle. He installed a new drum brake and new bearings. At 4 times the price of a bearing job, it was back together. He commented that bearing buddies were his best friend. They only grease the front bearing and not the rear. He suspected I had a rear bearing failure.
We stayed one more day so that Monday morning I could go to a shop and have the other side repacked and inspected. I watched the mechanic pull the hub apart, and sure enough...nice new grease on the outside bearing, and dry as a bone in the back. In all, lesson learned, and this was the worst episode of the trip.
3 nights total in a town we hadn't planned for. It was now mid June in Arizona, and we barely got by without electricity. If I wasn't so cheap, we would have gotten a hotel room. But, we made the best of it. Page has lots to see, and we saw a good bit.
Got tickets for the Glen Canyon Dam tour. It was really nice, and hydroelectricity is a part of my curriculum in 6th grade science. I was able to take lots of picture and even made a video, teaching my lesson right from the tour. So this year, my kids can do more than look at pictures! I take them right into the dam! ๐
We also went on a really nice evening hike with a ranger to some "Hanging Gardens". These are alcoves in the sandstone that water seeps to. They are a microclimates in the desert. Moist, shaded and a little cooler. They are home to vegetation that you might expect in a tropical rain forest. Anyway, when we met the ranger at 6pm, we were the only people there. We got a private hike! Lots of one on one question time.
We thought about going to Antelope Canyon, but at $50 a piece for a short hike, we opted out. I think just paying for the bearing made me cheap out. We thought we might see slot canyons elsewhere, but never did.
Next stop: Kanab, Utah
Short drive north to Kanab, Utah. We were only stopping here because we were a day early for our reservation at Zion. (By the way, my family was most excited about Grand Canyon, but I secretly couldn't wait for Zion)
This county is known for being a movie location for many, many movies. We stayed at Crazy Horse campground, which was really a dump, but it did have a nice setting and a pool! The boys enjoyed a break from the routine.
Hard to do much with just a half day, but we saw a few things. The guy at the visitors center suggested a BLM road that took us back to the set of "Gunsmoke".
We also stopped at "Little Hollywood". It's really a Tshirt shop that stores old movie sets in the back yard. ๐ For being as planned as we were, the bearing blowout forced us to be spontaneous for a few days. It was nice to feel like we were discovering things. Even the junky Tshirt shops are fun!
Here we are sitting at the saloon from the set of "The Outlaw Josie Wales".
Next stop: Zion!
This county is known for being a movie location for many, many movies. We stayed at Crazy Horse campground, which was really a dump, but it did have a nice setting and a pool! The boys enjoyed a break from the routine.
Hard to do much with just a half day, but we saw a few things. The guy at the visitors center suggested a BLM road that took us back to the set of "Gunsmoke".
We also stopped at "Little Hollywood". It's really a Tshirt shop that stores old movie sets in the back yard. ๐ For being as planned as we were, the bearing blowout forced us to be spontaneous for a few days. It was nice to feel like we were discovering things. Even the junky Tshirt shops are fun!
Here we are sitting at the saloon from the set of "The Outlaw Josie Wales".
Next stop: Zion!
On the road again. Going from Grand Canyon to Page Arizona. Not much along that stretch.
Traveled approx. 100 miles across nothing. I had emptied my water, being worried about weight on the trailer. We pulled into the first gas station we saw, in Page, Az. I went in to the restroom and when coming out, noticed the trailer didn't look level. I walked around and noticed this!
We were so, so fortunate to not be stranded on the road. God had his hand on our trip the whole way. ๐ I asked a local and he directed me to a KOA about 2 miles away. We limped that far and the guy said he had no sites! I asked if we could stay the night in some empty space they had off on the side. He said no, you'll have to leave! Couldn't believe a KOA sent us packing with an axle that looks like that. But he did.
We went another 2 miles (at 2mph) to Walmart. It was a Saturday. We spent the night there and called a roadside guy since it was Sunday. He pulled it all apart. The bearings were completely gone and I had damaged the drum brake, using it as a bearing. Also had nicked up the spindle pretty good. He filed it down and polished it with an air grinder. Said if I had gone another 50' I would have needed a new axle. He installed a new drum brake and new bearings. At 4 times the price of a bearing job, it was back together. He commented that bearing buddies were his best friend. They only grease the front bearing and not the rear. He suspected I had a rear bearing failure.
We stayed one more day so that Monday morning I could go to a shop and have the other side repacked and inspected. I watched the mechanic pull the hub apart, and sure enough...nice new grease on the outside bearing, and dry as a bone in the back. In all, lesson learned, and this was the worst episode of the trip.
3 nights total in a town we hadn't planned for. It was now mid June in Arizona, and we barely got by without electricity. If I wasn't so cheap, we would have gotten a hotel room. But, we made the best of it. Page has lots to see, and we saw a good bit.
Got tickets for the Glen Canyon Dam tour. It was really nice, and hydroelectricity is a part of my curriculum in 6th grade science. I was able to take lots of picture and even made a video, teaching my lesson right from the tour. So this year, my kids can do more than look at pictures! I take them right into the dam! ๐
We also went on a really nice evening hike with a ranger to some "Hanging Gardens". These are alcoves in the sandstone that water seeps to. They are a microclimates in the desert. Moist, shaded and a little cooler. They are home to vegetation that you might expect in a tropical rain forest. Anyway, when we met the ranger at 6pm, we were the only people there. We got a private hike! Lots of one on one question time.
We thought about going to Antelope Canyon, but at $50 a piece for a short hike, we opted out. I think just paying for the bearing made me cheap out. We thought we might see slot canyons elsewhere, but never did.
Next stop: Kanab, Utah
Traveled approx. 100 miles across nothing. I had emptied my water, being worried about weight on the trailer. We pulled into the first gas station we saw, in Page, Az. I went in to the restroom and when coming out, noticed the trailer didn't look level. I walked around and noticed this!
We were so, so fortunate to not be stranded on the road. God had his hand on our trip the whole way. ๐ I asked a local and he directed me to a KOA about 2 miles away. We limped that far and the guy said he had no sites! I asked if we could stay the night in some empty space they had off on the side. He said no, you'll have to leave! Couldn't believe a KOA sent us packing with an axle that looks like that. But he did.
We went another 2 miles (at 2mph) to Walmart. It was a Saturday. We spent the night there and called a roadside guy since it was Sunday. He pulled it all apart. The bearings were completely gone and I had damaged the drum brake, using it as a bearing. Also had nicked up the spindle pretty good. He filed it down and polished it with an air grinder. Said if I had gone another 50' I would have needed a new axle. He installed a new drum brake and new bearings. At 4 times the price of a bearing job, it was back together. He commented that bearing buddies were his best friend. They only grease the front bearing and not the rear. He suspected I had a rear bearing failure.
We stayed one more day so that Monday morning I could go to a shop and have the other side repacked and inspected. I watched the mechanic pull the hub apart, and sure enough...nice new grease on the outside bearing, and dry as a bone in the back. In all, lesson learned, and this was the worst episode of the trip.
3 nights total in a town we hadn't planned for. It was now mid June in Arizona, and we barely got by without electricity. If I wasn't so cheap, we would have gotten a hotel room. But, we made the best of it. Page has lots to see, and we saw a good bit.
Got tickets for the Glen Canyon Dam tour. It was really nice, and hydroelectricity is a part of my curriculum in 6th grade science. I was able to take lots of picture and even made a video, teaching my lesson right from the tour. So this year, my kids can do more than look at pictures! I take them right into the dam! ๐
We also went on a really nice evening hike with a ranger to some "Hanging Gardens". These are alcoves in the sandstone that water seeps to. They are a microclimates in the desert. Moist, shaded and a little cooler. They are home to vegetation that you might expect in a tropical rain forest. Anyway, when we met the ranger at 6pm, we were the only people there. We got a private hike! Lots of one on one question time.
We thought about going to Antelope Canyon, but at $50 a piece for a short hike, we opted out. I think just paying for the bearing made me cheap out. We thought we might see slot canyons elsewhere, but never did.
Next stop: Kanab, Utah
