92 miles down the road we are now are at Zion National Park.  All we can say is NARROWS!  We typically do easy to moderate rated hikes but hiking the narrows (a difficult rated hike) was a must.  The Narrows is a out and back day hike located in the lower section of the famous Zion Canyon Narrows, where North Fork Virgin River runs beneath thousand-foot walls of Navajo sandstone that centuries  of erosion have sculpted into some of the most beautiful rock forms in all the American Southwest.  The hike is 5 to 9.4 miles round trip depending on how far up the narrows you go.  Hiking in the river comes with inherent risks.  Wading in the river with slippery cobbles and water as high as waist deep in some sections, during certain times of year you need to be watchful for flash floods.  So we loaded down our backpacks with 3 liters of water each, food, dry bags filled with towel, dry shoes and shirts. We also rented canyoneering boots specifically designed for slippery conditions that maintain grip while  wet and provide proper ankle support.  The boots are worn with neoprene socks to insulate your feet and prevent the blistering and discomfort that happens while hiking in wet boots. 

 

We headed to the park at 6am with all our gear so we could find a parking spot and catch the shuttle that takes you to the start of the narrows.  Once there we had a 1 mile hike just to get to the beginning of the narrows (also being so early allowed us to not have a lot of foot traffic on the trail)  And we are off, we dipped our feet in the water and started up stream trying to be cautious of every step we took as not to slip, trip or fall. 

Not sure if there are enough words in the English dictionary to describe what we saw, the beauty was amazing, the adventure was exhilarating and the personal satisfaction we were able to accomplish the 9.4 mile trek will be a memory that will never fade.  If this is not on your bucket list, it should be!!

The next day we were a little sore and thought we would take it easy and went for a drive in the park and experience the Zion-Mt Carmel Highway. The Zion-Mt Carmel Highway and tunnel are engineering marvels, it provides direct access for travelers between Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon and Zion National Park.  In 1930 the highway and 1.1 mile tunnel through the heart of the sandstone cliffs was completed.  In 2012 the tunnel  was designated as an Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

In case you were keeping tabs on how many times we seek out a Camping world, well  after our drive through the tunnel we kept on going because we had another water issue that needed to be fixed, but this time with hose that brings water into the RV.  Off to the Camping World in St. George, UT for more parts we go, hi-ho, hi-ho.

June 25

While we have been enjoying our adventures we need to step back into reality.  Our next stop was to Fallon Nevada to visit daughter #3 and family but with sweet sorrow.  Our oldest grandson was in a life-threatening car accident.   He has a long road to recovery but with the strength of a superhero and the support of family he will make it through.  We cancelled a few of our next stops and shifted gears so we can spend some quality time with the family to provide support wherever we can before we hit the road again where we will end up in Idaho. We took the most direct route we could find to get to Nevada, this lead us to HWY 375, the “Extraterrestrial Highway” through the town of Rachel, maybe we will see ET on the way.

June 14

Hwy 70 here we come, a day’s drive through the great state of Colorado to our next stop.

We were able to reserve a spot at the James M. Robb State Park Island Acres Section with full hook ups for one night as we make our way to Moab Utah.  This place had a great view and was located right next to the Colorado river.  Speaking of the Colorado river, did you know that the Colorado river runs through Utah and the Arkansas river runs through Kansas and Colorado.

Welcome to Utah

Moab, the land of the Arches and Canyonland Nation Parks.  We planned on three full days here so we could do some hiking as well as taking the incredible landscapes.  The first day we had passes to get into Aches with an 8am entry time so we could hike to the most famous arch, the Delicate Arch (the one on the Utah license plate) before the temperatures reached 100, yes 100.  This was a three-mile hike which normally would not be strenuous for us, but we did not realize it was rated difficult with an elevation grade of 480 ft (with many ascents and descents before you got to the arch), exposure to heights and no shade.  As you can see from the pictures it was so worth the challenge.  Special note, us peeps that live at sea level had an extreme workout because we were already at an elevation of 6800 ft before we even took one step to the arch.

As we were in recovery mode the next day, we went to Canyonland only 50 miles from Arches with a totally different landscapes, amazing.  This park you have no choice but to drive a bit more, not as much hiking/walking options except for one, Whale Rock but more about that later.  There is one well-known arch in Canyonland, Mesa Arch Island in the Sky.  The photos speak for themselves.

And more photos of Canyonland.

Whale Rock, the long sandstone dome looks like a giant whale, the trail walks you alongside, then you climb from its “tail” up to its “blowhole” this trail and climb was rated moderate, it took about an hour up and down but what a view from the top.

The Shafer Trail in Canyonland National Park is a challenging unpaved backcountry road known for its dramatic switchbacks and stunning views.  It descends 1500 ft from the Island in the Sky district, offering access to the canyon floor and connects to Potash Road and Moab.  This road is a 3-4 hour trip that requires high clearance 4WD vehicle, a popular route for those seeking adventure and a scenic drive.  Wellllllll, that is what this trip is all about adventure, with a twinkle in Walters eyes (and his 4WD truck) we were on the road the dirt and rock road with no option to turn back or change our minds.  Nothing like having your tires inches from a 500 ft cliff on a loose gravel road.  Walter used all the options on the truck, auto descend that could keep the truck at a steady 3-8 miles an hour and cameras to let you know how many inches you were from the large rock wall.  Once down at the bottom we checked each other for any internal bleeding or ruptures. With a view from the bottom looking up you could barely see the road as it blended in with the cliffs.  Very exciting!

We secured another entry time into Arches National Park, again at 8am to beat the heat so we could hike to some more of the 2000 arches in the park. To name a few Balance Rock, North and South Windows, Double Arch, Sand Dune and Turret Arch.  We were able to call it a day before the midday heat set in.  President Herbert Hoover sure got this one right when he protected Arches and made it a National Park.