Keepin' It Local

Thursday, May 16th
Day Off #3

We got our fill of driving yesterday so the opportunity to stay close to home today was quite appealing.  The cliffs creating the cove our RV park is nestled into have interested us since we arrived and today we determined to explore them.  After a bit of bush-whacking, we stumbled across a trail that led upward along the ledge.  A gentle climb brought us from the base to the first level and provided a view three miles down-canyon to Kanab.  We named it Morris Mesa and marked a spot from which ascending to the summit looks definitely possible.

After lunch we went to the Red Pueblo Museum in Fredonia, AZ, 7 miles east of Kanab.  What a treasure!  The guide, a gentleman about our age, was instrumental in founding and stocking the museum, which is an entirely volunteer operation; his narrative was knowledgeable, first-hand and fascinating.   The museum displays rare Anasazi artifacts discovered by locals; Navajo pottery and spectacular rugs and blankets; a few pieces of lovely Paiute bead work; and some historical relics.  On the grounds we were able to enter a replica of a dug-out house and an authentic sheep wagon, peep through the windows of a 1930s pioneer cabin and see an old well-digging contraption.

Finally Reached a Destination

Wednesday, May 15th
Day Off #2

After being thwarted by sand on two recent expeditions, we chose a route which wouldn't present that obstacle--Tuweep Road, running 61 miles from AZ 389 to the very edge of the Grand Canyon direcctly above Lava Falls on the Colorado River.  Having visited Toroweap twice, we took the Mt Trumbull spur to Nampaweap to see the Indian petroglyphs.  The locals nicknamed the place Billy Goat Canyon because of the many representations of big horn sheep dotting huge chunks of basalt that have toppled from above.  We drove 150 miles, with more than 2/3 of the distance on rough, rocky, rutted roads, in order to hike three miles.  The petroglyphs were plentiful and fun to discover.  We kept a watchful eye out for the rattlesnakes reported by many visitors. Fred was disappointed we saw no rattlers, just two non-poisonous gopher snakes.

 

 

Curses, Foiled Again!

Tuesday, May 14th
Day Off #1

Today was the first of three days off so we went to the BLM office for The Wave lottery.  With 39 applications for 10 slots, we and many others left without the elusive permit. 

OK, on to the next item on the agenda:  breakfast at Parry Lodge on Parry Lodge, thanks to the free passes included in our first paycheck.  The buffet was delicious and well-stocked even though we arrived barely before it was scheduled to close.

Just a few miles north of Kanab is an unpaved road leading to Indian petroglyphs and, farther out, dinosaur tracks.  Although the description stated a high-clearance 4WD vehicle is necessary, it didn't mention sand--very deep sand.   We were about 1.5 miles from the trail head when we began plowing through it rather than rolling over it. Wary of getting stuck again, we turned around and headed out.  It seems exploring the outback in this part of Utah really requires ATVs.

On the return trip to the RV we visited Moqui Cave, a large, deep alcove in the Vermilion Cliffs.  A secluded spot where local teenagers partied, the property was purchased by a Mormon couple in the 1950s.  They transformed it into an bar and dance hall and ran it for several decades.  During those years, Garth discovered and displayed Indian stone points, pottery, fossils, fluourescent minerals as well as his own metal sculptures and wood carvings.  Desiring to retire, he and his wife sold the cave to its present owners who operate it as a roadside museum and gift shop.

The balance of the day was spent just messing around.  Hopefully, plans for Day Off #2 tomorrow will be more successful.

 

North of Kanab, looking northwest toward Zion

Several Surprises

Sunday, May 12th
Mother's Day

One surprise is we're getting used to waking at 5 AM and starting work at 6:00.
Others included the Mother's Day bouquet of a red rose and baby's breath the restaurant staff gave to each mother/employee and tickets for the Lodge's breakfast buffet from Diane, our supervisor.  The most surprising surprise was a visit from Meryl and George, the personable couple we'd met in Zion on Thursday.  They intended to go to the North Rim but didn't realize it isn't open until Wednesday.  We suggested several hikes we enjoyed around Hurricane, where they're staying, as alternatives for today.  Who knows, perhaps we'll encounter them again !

WooHoo!

Saturday, May 11th

Living just 27 miles from the east entrance and having senior passes makes visiting Zion 'a walk in the park'--literally! Yesterday, for our second day off, we returned to  hike the East Rim trail as far as Jolley Gulch, about 6.2 miles for the round-trip.  The route parallels a wash then gradually switchbacks to the top of a mesa.  After a heavy rain, a seasonal stream plunges 200 feet from the mesa's edge into a narrow canyon.  Although we found several small pools in rocks at the ledge, recent rains obviously haven't been sufficient to create the waterfall.  A pleasant but not spectacular hike.  Not many wildflowers; the only variety we hadn't already seen was fringed gromwell.

Scenes along Zion's East Rim Trail:

 

 

 

 

 

 



The schedule for the next two weeks was posted today: we work four days the first week and three the second. Under those circumstances, being on the job at 6 AM isn't all that bad.

 

 

Looking into Jolley Gulch from East Rim Trail

 





 

 

 



Checkerboard Mesa

The surface of this immense Navajo sandstone monolith is scored  by unexpectedly uniform rectangles resulting from crossbedding (horizontal lines) and stress and erosion forces (vertical lines).

 



The schedule for the next two weeks was posted today: we work four days the first week and three the second. Under those circumstances, being on the job at 6 AM isn't all that bad.

First Day Off

Thursday, May 9th

Without the pressure of reporting to work at 6 AM, we were able to attend an interesting talk at the Kanab library last evening.  To bring attention to conservation and preservation issues,  a young man is hiking, biking, skiing and paddling along the spine of North America from Mexico to Canada.  The focus in this area is to construct tunnels under Highway 89 between Kanab and Page so wildlife can cross without endangering themselves or drivers.

We drove from the RV to Zion's visitor center in less than an hour this morning, hopped on the shuttle and headed up the Angel's Landing trail.  It seemed longer and harder in 2011 than it did today.  Back then we didn't get much beyond Scout Lookout.  Fred went farther than I did and I went farther than the first time.  We met Meryl and George, a friendly couple from Illinois who are spending a month in the area and anxious to find good hikes.

Fred wore his new GoPro helmet cam and received a number of thumbs up and 'cool' comments from other hikers, particularly the young ones.  The video of his climb toward Angel's Landing is pretty scary!  After doing some editing , he'll post it on Youtube.  The link to Fred's video is http://youtu.be/YxPQFA69mU0

An (unflattering) picture of Jan on the trail to Angel's Landing

 

What a Day!

Monday, May 6th

First off, we caught our first--and not likely our only--critter of the season, a little mouse foolish enough to invade our space.  Not a great way to start the day...

When we got to work (at 6 AM), Diane looked awful; she probably had the same stomach bug which tackled Roland on Friday.  We convinced her to go home; we could handle the desk.  The next shift reported at 3:00 so we not only 'flew without a safety net,' we put in a 9-hour day.  The situation gave us a lot of practice and having to figure things out on our own made the day a valuable learning experience.  I just hope we don't have to work 9 hours tomorrow!

We rested at home for a couple of hours and then drove to Kanab to walk around town.  Crossing the parking lot we found a wallet containing a lot of crisp, large denomination bills and several credit cards issued by a Dutch or German
bank, obviously a tourist's vacation funds.  Determined to do the right thing, we walked to the town police station.  And discoverd it closes at 5 PM daily.  However, a sign on the door directed us to the sheriff's office several blocks away.  The man sweeping the entry there informed us that the office had moved 'out near the reservoir' and gestured vaguely south.  A stop at the customer service desk in the grocery store helped us deteremine the new location, several miles out of town.  We arrived and entered a deserted lobby.  A phone on the counter connected to a dispatcher who sent an officer to retrieve the wallet from us.  He said he'd give it to a town policeman tomorrow.  Hopefully tourist and wallet will be reunited successfully.