Death Valley

I wasn't sure if I should have titled this post "The beautiful colors of the dessert", or "Help me, I'm melting!". The surprising thing for me about Death Valley was how beautiful and colorful it can be. The part that wasn't so surprising was how tremendously hot it is. I know what they say about it being a dry heat - and it is - but so is a blast furnace!

Today was a day of extremes - we started out in Brian Head, Utah which is a ski town at almost 10,000 feet elevation and then we ended up in Death Valley, including Badwater which is 282 feet below sea level, making it the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. We decided that neither extreme is really for us. While the mountain top was typically 50 degrees cooler than Death Valley, we found the altitude a bit difficult to adjust to - headaches, plus trouble breathing and sleeping. It was difficult breathing in Death Valley, too, but that was because 118 degrees can take your breath away.

The drive from Utah brought us through the northwestern corner of Arizona (about 20 minutes), and then across Nevada before ending up in California. We planned to stop at the Whole Foods in Vegas in order to get supplies for this next leg of the trip, so we figured we'd spend a bit of extra time and drive down Las Vegas Boulevard for fun. We had been there about 7 years ago, and it was interesting to see how it had changed.

Once we got checked into the Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley, we headed out to see the sites. It was already around 4, but we'd be leaving first thing in the morning, so there was no time to waste. Badwater, as mentioned before, was our first stop, and then the Devil's Golf Course. Both of these are areas that have massive salt deposits from ancient times when it was a saltwater lake. Next, we drove through Artist Drive and stopped at Artist Pallette - a beautiful area that has multi-colored hills from the variety of minerals. While there we also really noticed these interesting bushes that seemed to shimmer in the light (extra credit for any of my students that can post a comment with the name of these plants)

Our last stop was Zabinskie's Point, which was well timed for sunset. This was an overlook that was perfectly situated to capture the incredible effect of sunset on these "badlands". The way that the shadows give added dimension to the hills was amazing. Thankfully, it cooled down once the sun went down - I'll bet it actually dipped below 100 by the time we went to bed.

Our Last Day In Zion

Bryan and I are tag teaming on the blog today – I’ll start the writing, while he sorts through the pictures and videos, then we’ll switch…

Phew, Carmela quote of the day “If the level of fun on a vacation can be measured by the number of bumps, bruises and sore muscles, I’d say we have been having excessive amounts of FUN!” Getting up and out of the condo today was severely slowed down by our level of impaired muscle movement – in the past week we’ve done canyoneering, hiking up river in the Narrows, then went to Cowboy camp and rode horseback for over three hours (see previous blogs) so sore is a bit of an understatement – but we didn’t let that get in the way of going back to Zion National Park today!

We made the 1 ½ hour drive into the park one last time and started our day with an easy hike (0.5 mile round trip) to Weeping Rock to get our muscles warmed up. Let me tell you, even a short hike in 96 degree sun can be taxing, but the view was well worth it! Weeping Rock, named perfectly, is an indentation on the sandstone cliff face that has water streaming out of it. The cool thing is despite the fact that it is nearly 100 degrees out, it hasn’t rained in over a week and we’re in a dessert – there is Weeping Rock, dripping water that is estimated to be over a 1000 years old (yes really 1000, that’s not a typo!).

After Weeping Rock we made our way over to the Grotto trail head and hiked about a 2 mile loop up into the canyon to check out the Middle and Lower Emerald Pools (picture above to the right). This hike only went up in elevation ~200 feet but man the heat takes a toll on you! After having watched a woman earlier in the day pass out, we stopped for water and small amounts of food frequently. The trail was very sandy, with steep drops as we hiked along the edge of the cliff until we finally reached the first pool (we tried to capture this in the picture here – do you see the tiny white dot? That’s a person on the other side of the cliff on the second half of the loop trail). The views along the trail and at each of the Pools were worth ever sweaty minute!

Horseback Riding

Since Bryan has been working so diligently on blogging our adventures, I (being his wife, Carmela, in case you were wondering) decided to help him out today by covering today’s activity, which was horseback riding at Jacob’s Ranch (Virgin, UT just outside Zion National Park).

Perhaps you’ve been on a horseback riding tour while on vacation yourself – where likely you arrived to pre-saddled horses, got put on one, and proceeded to WALK nose to tail for 1 hour (maybe 1.5 hours). Jacob’s Ranch runs completely differently than any other ride we’ve done here in the States. Our day started at 8:30 AM where we met our wrangler, Renee, and we got to pick our noble steeds for the day. Bryan and I both chose Painted Palomino’s, Bryan on Blue Eyes (can you guess how she got her name?) and me on Jessie (I couldn’t help but hum the song Jessie’s Girl throughout the day). Then we started Cowboy Camp – where in order to bond with our horses we ran their warm up in the corral (there’s a video of Bryan working Blue Eyes), asking the horse to trot around the ring and change directions. At the end of this
exercise, you drop the whip and your horse follows you around the ring without needing additional motivation – it was like having a 2000lb puppy.

Once we warmed up the horses, we brushed them down (continuing the bonding process) and learned how to properly get them tacked up and ready to go. Then our ride began! Again this was not your standard walk single file kind of ride – we got to actually steer the horses, ride side by side, trot and out and out gallop on the horses. We traveled on state land going through streams, tall grass, red dirt and sandstone. We even went out on a very narrow ledge with 200 foot drops flanking us to get a spectacular panoramic view of the backside of Zion. The great thing about seeing some place new on horseback is that you actually get to see your surroundings. When we go hiking, a lot of our time is spent looking down at our feet to make sure we don’t trip and fall – on horseback, the horse does the looking down for you allowing you to really soak in the scenery. After being out on the horses for almost 3 hours we both felt like our knees and legs would never recover (I’m wondering how long it will take for my butt to not be bruised) but it was a FANTASTIC time!

Hiking the Narrows

One of the best known hikes in Zion National Park is hiking "The Narrows". This also means that it is particularly tourist-filled. We were given some advice by our canyoning guide, Hank (see previous post), that we should arrive at the park by 7 am in order to avoid the crowds - but after our day of canyoning, there was no way we were getting up and out early enough to make the 2 hour drive and be there that early. Instead, we dealt with the crowds.

The Narrows isn't actually a trail - we took the shuttle bus all the way into the canyon to the last stop, then walked a one mile paved trail called the River Walk, then at the end of the trail got into the river and hiked upstream into the canyon - that's "Hiking The Narrows". It was great - an incredibly unique hiking experience! We took pictures and video but they can't quite capture how the changing light makes the canyon feel magical.

While we didn't take Hank's advice about the timing, we did follow his instructions regarding preparation. We rented walking sticks from their shop, and boy am I glad we did. There were lots of people that were in the water unprepared - stumbling around without walking sticks and trying to hold their packs out of the water so all their stuff didn't get wet. We had all of our supplies in water-proof bags and containers inside our pack, so we weren't worried even if we did take a spill (which we actually never did).

After all of the times that I've seen signs and warnings in other places that you shouldn't cross moving water because it can so easily sweep you off your feet, it was a bit strange to have a park specifically encourage you to do so on one of their hikes. They do give lots of warnings, and the Zion Adventure Company will only rent sticks and other equipment to people after they watch a video and have conversations about proper safety. The going was quite difficult, particularly because the water was not clear so it was impossible to see what you were stepping on each time you moved. After about an hour in, the crowds had thinned considerably and it was really nice. After another half hour we stopped and ate and then made our way back out - which was faster because we were going downstream, but certainly not any easier.

Canyoning in Zion

Tonight, Carmela and I are scraped, battered, bruised, sore and exhausted - it was a phenomenal day!!! We left at 5:30 this morning so that we could join our tour down in Springdale, just outside of Zion National Park, by 7:30 - we were doing a full-day canyoning with Zion Adventure Company. After talking with our guide, Hank, about our interests and experience level, we drove a half hour out to an area called Lamb's Knoll.

For the next 6 or 7 hours we learned a bit more about setting anchors for rappels (we've actually done some of this before, but it's been a while), and a whole lot more about the ways that our bodies can contort in order to fit over and through very small areas between very hard rock. While Carmela and I have done rock climbing (mostly indoor) and rappelling before, it was never on this kind of surface - sandstone - or in such narrow situations. We've also canyoneered before, in Costa Rica, but this was completely different - no wide open spaces or waterfalls here.

Carmela and I always try to take pictures when we're doing activities, but today we had some fantastic help - Hank used our camera the vast majority of the day and got plenty of great shots - including ones with both of us. I wish I had a camera to show you the positions he got into in order to get some of these shots. The two pictures on the left hand side are of Carmela and me down climbing - this is without being tied in because there aren't large drops. Climbing down sounds awfully easy, but I found it to be some of the more challenging stuff we did today. The challenge is in the maneuvers - pay particular attention to Carmela in the two of these. The two pictures on the right hand side are of me rappelling (there's video below of one of Carmela's rappels). In the first picture of me rappelling, you can't really see where I'm going because it is in a corkscrew shape - but check out the shadow to get an idea of how close I am to the edge. I included the second rappel picture so that you can get an idea of our height - the blue dot above my head is Carmela standing down below.

Bryce Canyon National Park

We decided to go to Bryce Canyon today. We knew that we’d split the week between Bryce and Zion, and everyone told us that we’d want to spend the majority of time in Zion – so we figured that spending the first day in Bryce would let us know if we needed to go back again. The park was incredibly beautiful, but I feel content with spending the one day.

The majority of people that visit Bryce Canyon National Park stay in the northern area near the entrance, which is why there are shuttles that pick up outside the park and runs through that area every 10 minutes. If we were going to stay in that area, the shuttle would have been smart – parking was a hassle. Since we were going all the way into the park, we drove – and there weren’t really any crowds.

We started by driving the 17 mile scenic drive to the final stop, Rainbow Point. There, we took a short hike through the Bristle Cone Pine Loop. As you can see from the video, the vista is amazing, but what really drew me to this hike are the Bristle Cone Pine trees. These trees are uniquely suited to the harsh winds and regular fires. The ones here can be as old as 1,700 years old, and in California there are ones that are almost 5,000 years old – that makes them the oldest species on the planet.

The scenic drive out was punctuated by numerous stops at a variety of scenic views. It’s amazing how different the same area can look from different angles and elevations. I’ve included a couple of pictures and videos, but will have to put together more of a slideshow later. Even after leaving the park, the views were wonderful. It’s hard to imagine that this is just the drive back and forth. As we got closer to where we’re staying, we saw deer right on the side of the road. We could never have guessed their reaction, but it’s too funny to not post here.

Arriving in Utah

I am so glad that we refreshed at Twin Springs Resort so that we could handle the 11 hour day on the road yesterday. From the Twin Springs Resort, we traveled to Brian Head, Utah. We did stop briefly in Salt Lake City to pick up groceries at the Whole Foods, but it was otherwise another big driving day. We took a different way out of the remote valley in Idaho, having us drive through slightly better forest roads and acres upon acres of vast wilderness. The occasional roaming cattle were the only reminder that people actually lived out there, somewhere. It was almost an hour before we saw another person. Once we were out on the highway, the driving got much faster, but the scenery stayed amazing. Speaking of speed, Carmela particularly enjoyed the long stretches that had an 80 mph speed limit. Our drive through the rain was the first precipitation we’ve seen since we left home.

Today is mostly getting ready for the week and doing some “chores”. While we had picked up specialty goods at the Whole Foods in Salt Lake City, that was 4 hours away from the destination so we didn’t do a full shopping trip. Today we drove to Cedar City to shop for the week. We also did laundry since we are in a place that allows for it (and we’re almost out of clean clothes). This is also the day to get on the computer and do work. Carmela is working a bit on her poster for work, and I am actually posting the blog for the past several days. At Twin Springs we were unplugged and then yesterday was far too long of a drive to get online last night. Now it’s time to plan out the week’s trips to Zion and Bryce Canyon.