Aug. 20...Riverside Walk below the Temple of Sinawava

Another easy walk...1.5 hours roundtrip.  Minor drop-offs.  The paved trail follows the Virgin River along the bottom of the narrow canyon known as Zion Canyon.

This is probably the most popular of all the trails in the Park.  It is easy, interesting, and terminates at one of the 2 more challenging trails that are the ones hikers want to tackle for "bragging rights": 

"I hiked The Narrows", at the upper end of Riverside Walk, 8 hours/9 miles roundtrip

or

"I hiked Angels Landing" via Walter's Wiggle, 4 hours/5.4 miles roundtrip with long drop-offs and no side rails... not for those with acrophobia.

This water is cold and swift, and the bottom of the river is an unknown mix of sand and rocks...

very difficult to walk in.

[9/11 comment: I imagine The Narrows has been closed all day today because of the rain we have had since last night.] 

Hikers are advised to check with the Visitors' Center before commencing this hike.  High water levels can prevent access, and flash floods follow rains.

Following is the quote from the Park map and guide regarding hiking The Narrows:

"The Virgin River has carved a spectacular gorge in the upper reaches of Zion Canyon- 16 miles long, up to 2,000 ft. deep, and at times only 20 - 30 feet wide.  The Narrows, with its soaring walls, sandstone grottos, natural springs, and hanging gardens can be an unforgettable experience.  It is not, however, a trip to be underestimated.  Hiking The Narrows means hiking in the Virgin River.  At least 60 % of the hike is spent wading, walking, and sometimes swimming in the river.  There is no maintained trail because the route is the river.  The current is swift, the water may be cold and deep, and rocks underfoot are slippery.  Flash flooding and hypothermia are constant dangers.  Good planning, proper equipment, and sound judgment are essential for a safe and successful trip."

The notch in the rocks is the beginning of The Narrows.

This is the beginning of The Narrows.  First, you have to cross the river to get to the first stretch of sand beach.  I haven't done that yet, but must soon if I want to experience any of The Narrows.  The rains have begun and the temperatures are dropping daily.

Look closely, and you will see a baby squirrel.  This is the most excitement I had on this hike.  Too bad, I didn't think to put my camera on movie mode.  The children around were so excited about this baby squirrel chasing his/her tail around and around and around.  He would stop briefly and then begin again.  We adults advanced several theories about this strange behavoir:

1. He had rabies... we certainly hope not.  He didn't appear vicious or attack anyone.
2. He had gotten some hallucinogen
3. Some prankster had given him something alcoholic (the young people who work in the Parks are full of antics and do a lot of drinking)
4. He had fleas
5. And my favorite: he had no siblings, and the only thing he had to play with was his tail

Poor guy/gal; I don't know why he/she didn't fall over from dizziness.  At least he/she was smart enough to stay in the shadow of a bush on one of those 100+ degree days.

Mother squirrel finally came to see what all the commotion was about and must have admonished her juvenile, for he/she calmed down and left the tail alone.

 The sunlight on the young tree made its leaves appear silver.  Note the cross-hatching of the rocks in the background (my geologist son probably would admonish me for my terminology!).

The Ranger Talk for the evening was called "Starry Nights", held in a campground behind the Visitors' Center.  Thank goodness I had presence of mind to take a good flashlight (thank you, Ronnie).  It is amazing the difference in our night skies at home in town with all the "light pollution" and the night skies with very little competition for the stars.  I cannot recall the last time I had seen the Milky Way!  It stretched in an arc completely across the zenith of the night sky!  I just stared and tried to take it all in...mission impossible!!!

Next adventures occurred during my first week of work: a surprise visitor and one I hadn't seen since we worked together in The Tetons.  Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of either.

Janice Howard, a neighbor in Johnson City and member of one of my bridge clubs, showed up unexpectedly on Monday morning, Aug. 22.  She had told me at bridge that she would be passing through Zion, but I didn't get any details.  Annie Shurtleff from Tulsa had tracked me down through a mutual Facebook friend to let me know she would be in Zion on Wednesday, Aug. 24 on a Road Scholar tour (formerly Elderhostel).  She showed up as I was headed to lunch, so we talked over lunch and arranged for me to join her for a talk by a Hopi Indian fellow, who also was their bus driver.  Very interesting and informative.  We then went to her room and caught up on what we both had done since we worked in the gift shop at Jackson Lake Lodge in The Tetons in 2006.

Next adventure will be a day trip to Bryce Canyon National Park when I have days off the following week-end.

HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU, PEG

August 18 and my first adventures

Hiked Weeping Rock trail, the shortest and probably the easiest, trail in the Park for starters.  Don't want to overdo it my first day out!  It may be short, but it is steep with minor drop-offs.  0.6 miles round trip.  It is a paved trail, which ends at a rock alcove with dripping springs, maidenhair fern, and a few other plants that require more moisture than most of the plants in the desert receive.  The drizzle and mist from the 'weeping rocks' were welcome on this +100 degree day.



It's hard to appreciate the immenseness of these rocks.

...Looking up, up, up...

...and up...

 until you finally see blue sky above...

...wet rocks

 with

minerals highlighted by the moisture

...and the view of BIG rocks

from under the weeping rocks...

Too bad I had not yet met a professional photographer, who showed me some tricks for photographing from under waterfalls.

I still like the picture.

Tomorrow's adventure will be to The Temple of Sinawava at the head of the road in the Canyon.  There are only walking trails from that point on.

Arriving at Zion Lodge up Zion Canyon, my home for the next 2 1/2 months

The 3 mile drive up the Canyon to the Lodge is just the beginning of some of the most different and amazingly beautiful scenery I will share with you during my adventure "in the Park".  Arrival:  August 17, 2011.

I've adopted, as the introduction to the journeys of this phase of my life, the traditional National Park Service entrance signs.

As you exit Utah Highway 9, the road through Zion Park, to drive the 3 miles up the Canyon to the Lodge and accompanying facilities, this is your introduction.

...a glimpse of the tops of 2 of the mountains in a group known as The Court of the Patriarchs at the beginning of the drive...



..around every bend in the road, it's a different scene...and always that "different shade of blue" Western sky.

...and again...



Note the mountain in the background in the upper right corner...you're never far from them...

...and a few flowers along the way...cactus flowers to be specific...

...and some pretty hyacinth colored flowers... perhaps someone more horticulturally knowledgable of Western flowers can share their name with us...

...and a little natural Western landscaping...

I'll take you 360 degrees around my new home for the next 2 1/2 months.  We're looking up, up, up 70 to 80 degrees from the parking lot in a 100 yard wide canyon.  This view is looking in a northerly direction.



Same view, zoomed in...

...and looking west...



...and south...

...Oops I neglected east, but you'll see it later...

It's been a busy day with all that looking, orientation, and meeting my new cohorts in the Gift Shop.  Rochelle and Marcus have had a long day also.  We fold hundreds of tee shirts daily.  (Just wish everyone were required to work retail for 3 months.  They wouldn't be so blatant about the disarray they leave behind.)  Rochelle left a couple of weeks after I arrived to return to college in Minnesota, and Marcus returned to his home in Taiwan.

Tomorrow will bring new adventures, exploring a couple of the shorter trails here in the Canyon.

Until then, only the nightlights and the full moon brighten the night sky.



Headed south through 3 states: Montana, Idaho, Utah

Many miles to go and SO-O much varied scenery........

Out of the beautiful, forested mountains...

Into rocky mountains

and hay fields...to feed all those western horses

and wheat fields...to feed all the peoples of the world

and even crops I don't recognize.

Look, there are mountains with trees and greenery again!!

John Denver had it right!

 Utah at last!...Logan, to be exact...on the northern border with Idaho.

This is Logan's beautiful Mormon Cathedral, lit up against the big, dark, western sky

...and Logan's local Mormon church...lit up against the big, beautiful, dark western sky...

This looks more like what I was expecting Utah to look like....

some trees on the mountains; lots of sandy soil, a few flowers

(look closely at the reddish "flower bed" in the center...it may be PaintBrush)

look even more closely, and you may see the lone yellow daisy surviving along the Interstate!

rocky mountains backed by or fronted by forested mountains...

THIS IS UTAH

Too far off the road to see, but luxury homes on a side trip en route to Park City

We in the South know Park City clad mostly in snow, but it is a year round resort...

The Gatlinburg of the West!!!!

Beth, do your new boots look like a pair of these?

Moving on down the road...Just Willy and Me...

enjoying that wonderful Big Sky of the West and a few clouds here and there

We're getting closer, and the landscape is beginning to change.

...and change...



...and change...

Oh, My!!!



OH, MY!!!

...just outside the West entrance to Zion National Park

THIS IS IT, FOLKS.

I'VE ARRIVED, AND IT'S TIME TO CHANGE MY INTRODUCTORY PICTURE.

1,000 miles to go

                       GOOD-BYE TO WARREN AND JAKE AND WASHINGTON STATE

It's Sunday, August 14...in front of Warren's house..and I'm bidding you farewell until we meet again...who knows when?  Thanks for making yourselves available for my week-end visit.  Loved every minute of it... just wish it happened more often.

I love you this much

so long, until we meet again

This is Box Canyon Dam, up the Pend Orielle River from Metaline Falls and Boundary Dam on the Canadian border, which we visited on Friday.

This is the dam that had watter flowing over the TOP of the dam earlier this summer from the heavy rains and all the snow melt.  As Warren said, "The water was the same level on both sides of the dam."

Retracing my route down the east border of Washington to Newport, WA, across into Idaho, and south to I-90 at Coeur d'Alene to head back to spend the night at Margie's in Missoula, MT.

Clouds, Carol, Clouds in that Big Sky of the West

Unfortunately, these are clouds of smoke from a fire said to be burning in The Bitterroot Mountains on the Idaho-Montana border.

Spent Sunday night at Margie's after dinner at Rattlesnake Garden, the little cafe/watering hole, down the canyon from where Margie lives.

Monday will take me almost to Butte, MT to turn south across Idaho into northern Utah.

Almost there.