Zion: Time & Space

Zion........the full moon has just crested the Wachman to the east. The cliffs in that direction remain black walls while the cliffs over my shoulder to the west are a pale gray. The trees now display shadows and flashlights are not needed. Water for tea has been boiled on the coleman stove (we have yet to use the trailer stove), Herman has gone to bed. He has had a busy day. After arriving at South Campground around 11am, we scored one of the last spots of about 120 sites. Not your usual RV park here. Camp sites scattered in a grove of trees surrounded by 2000 ft cliffs on two sides, the valley extending north and south. The town of Springdale is close enough to hike to but a shuttle bus will take you there for free. Mostly tents and small campers. Don't miss the huge motorhomes. After the obligatory visit to the visitor center and book store we hiked the Pa'rus trail along the Virgin River that flows the length of this valley and that, besides the fault line that runs thru here, is at least partially responsible for the formation of this truly remarkable landscape. By the end of this 1 1/2 mile wheelchair acceptable trail with Sarah on her little Burning Man bike and Herman pulling excitedly on the leash, we were all ready for a break from the noon sun with a rest in the shade and a dip in the cool green waters of the river. Herman, usually actively cautious of any water, willingly and enthusiastically entered and would have promptly floated down stream if it wasn't for the leash securely connected to his collar. 

After naps all around we head in to town for the Zion Music and Art Festival. Acceptable blues band playing on stage and the usual pop-up shade structures protecting vendors of pottery, jewelry, jams, and clothing (even tie-die). Bought Sarah some miniature basket earrings from a young Indian gal and when we inquired about the pinon nuts she had for sale she poured each of us a generous hand full. Popping them into our mouths and chewing she laughed and instructed us that they are to be eaten "like sunflower seeds". Somewhat embarrassed we advised her that the extra fiber of the shells will probably not hurt! But what made this event so remarkable is it's location. Nestled in a natural amphitheater of rock rising 1000 feet over head it is surrounded by the red cliffs that make up this area. Truly one of the most spectacular locations for an outdoor festival I have ever been to.

Plan to get up at dawn to hike up the Watchman trail............

Up at 6:15am and on the Watchman trail in the dark. As dawn breaks I can see the worn path snaking up 2.7 miles thru gully. After about 45 min. and 400 feet elevation I reach the vista of sandstone above a layer of something much harder. Across the valley the sun is slowly dropping a brilliant curtain of light down the sides of Mt. Kinesava nd The West Temple. In the still dark valley I can see the entire campsite, the visitors center, employee's residents and the bus barn with the shuttle buses getting fueled for their day. To the south is the town of Springdale and Hurricane Mesa in the distance. To the north the valley with it's red park road disappears between The Sentinel and The East Temple. Two things has impressed me on this trip: size and time. Gazing below it is all too obvious that we insignificant beings can have very little impact or influence on this rock we call Earth. It is clear to me that all we know and have can be so easily erased with just a flick of a cosmic finger. And with time, all our existence, all our presence will be erased. In the past 260 million years this land has been flooded multiple times, compacted by pressures, shifted by quakes, rearranged by continental drift. And the Earth is still here. And will be still here long after we are gone. There is something reassuring about that.....

View Road tirp 2012 in a larger map

Kanab and out of touch

Sitting in the deepening darkness at Crazy Horse RV Campark in Kanab, UT. Watched the golden sunset illuminate the clouds as the red cliffs glowed crimson. Near full moon shining brightly thru the trees. We have marked time by it's change from a sliver crescent. Every night the sky has been brilliant with stars. Altho we have been going to bed early I can certainly see why primitive people took such an interest in the night heavens and composed so many stories and fables in an attempt to explain what they saw. The Native Americans here have done the same with distant monuments of rock and geology as they incorporate these unusual landmarks into their own legends of genesis.

We may need to develop our own legends of the world around us as well. We have not seen a TV (other than thru windows of some large RVs), read a newspaper, or listened to a radio news program since we left Eugene. Today, at a visitor center I joked with the volunteer about this, asking if we still have a country out there. She grinned and replied, "Barely!" I told her she was scaring me. Looking briefly on-line it appears the world has not ended but if any of you want to email me with the highlights, (international, national, or local) I would appreciate it. When Sarah and I floated the Colorado River in 95 we discovered upon coming out of the canyon after 18 days that Super Man (Christopher Reeves) had broken his neck!

The Grand Canyon.......Sarah has seen it from the bottom up but not the top down. I was there 40 years ago. Altho the canyon has changed little, the visitor center and tourist circuit has changed a bunch. Paved and wheelchair acceptable, the South Rim area is busy with tourist. Absent of all the kids (they are back in school) the shuttle buses are standing room only with gray hairs (us?) and foreign visitors. But despite all the people, the scenery and the landscape is no less awesome or impressive. Photos will not do justice. Even in person it is difficult to comprehend the scale. When the first white explorers came to this region they were not impressed believing the river in the distant at the bottom of this canyon was on six feet wide! Today, before leaving Page, we drove 30 miles to Lee's Ferry. This was a nostalgic trip for me and Sarah as it is the put in for Colorado River floats. A commercial trip was rigging rafts to begin their 18 day 270 mile journey into the beginning of time. Mr Lee, after apparently being a participant in an earlier massacare, had established a small town there and ferried pioneers and Mormons who were on the Honeymoon Trail as they traveled to Salt Lake to have their recent marriages sanctified in the Temple. Building this community with the 17th of 19 wives he was eventually found and executed for his prior crime. Rock ruins of the post office and fort is all that remains today.

Taranturala at last campsite--Sarah not thrilled!

Condors in the Canyon

The Colorado River

Sunset across the parking lot

Tomorrow we plan to get up early and go to Zion. Hopefully we will find a comfortable camp and maybe hang out for a day or two. Would consider doing that here but there really isn't much in Knab but this camp site is pretty comfy. Not the usual busy over light RV park with rows of huge motorhomes and yappie little dogs. Folks here are sitting around campfires collectively battling mesquitoes and telling stories and, I suspect, lies. Laughter floats across the area like a soft wind as newly arrived bike travelers set up camp by head light chattering in a language I can't identify.

Creation...

"you shall top a rise and behold creation but you will need the voices of angels to tell you what you see....."

Four Corners and more rocks....

SKA B-Q at SKA Brewery, Durango

Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde

Cliff Palace from across the canyon

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah

Four Corners

Petrified logs----still more rocks!

Sitting at the KOA in Holbrook, AZ. Half moon playing hid and seek behind the first clouds we have seen on this trip. Not packed in here as we have been at previous RV parks. Kind of nice not looking into windows of someone's Monarch coach parked 15 ft away. Had a fine Italian meal at Mesa Italian Restaurant. Who would have guessed. Fractured hip waiting to happen as I watch grandpaw play with 14 yr old granddaughter on merry-go-round in the playground near by. 

We toured the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest today. I'm getting tired of rocks!! Even the trees here are rocks! The mesa are rocks on rocks. There's balancing rocks, canyons of carved rocks, piles of eroded rocks, structures of building rocks. And ironically, all of these rocks that have been etched, changed and moved over time by the action of climate, pressures, people, and even rearrangement of land masses are now being enjoyed by a multitude of tourists because they have been so well preserved by the local dry environment and conservation of people......

I had thoughts of excessively long philosophical discussion about rocks and the future of the world as we know it but was interrupted by a fellow camper from Milwaukee who is a dune buggy enthusiast who has been to Winchester Bay in Oregon and is now on his way to Coral Reef Park to ride the dunes, who's wife is a nurse (2nd nurse in 2 days), who doesn't want to vote for either candidate, who doesn't understand some folks at these RV parks who won't even come out of their rigs to visit, and who is getting tired of the rain and cold in the north and want's to move to the desert. Now I've lost my philosophical mojo.....

Oh yea.......we made it to Four Corners, our metaphorical destination. Forty years ago when I was last there, it was simply a marker in the middle of the desert with arrows denoting the four states. Now, the Navaho whose land it is on, have built an impressive monument surrounded by stone (more rocks!) covered stalls from where they sell jewlery, beads, pottery and sand paintings. The monument it's self is impressive with, of course the obliglorory brass benchmark at the intersection of Arizonia, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico but also has engraved state names in the surrounding concrete and state flags around the peripherie. Four raised platforms allows good vantage point to take pictures of friends and family as they pose in various  stances attempting to stand or lie in four states at once. The things we tourists will do at the cost of $3 each! We picnicked lunch as we stared off into the distant desert of Arizonia, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Get your kicks on Route 66....

Want to get a quick brief note out so folks won't worry. In Gallup, NM at the USA RV Park on Rt. 66. You know those folks you've all seen, the older couple at camp grounds with their little dog. Always friendly with a "howdy" or a quick chat. We  are they!! Yep, only with a little size envy. Our little Chalet is consistently the smallest rig parked.  We have joked that it's smaller than many of the slide outs but today we discovered it is smaller than some under carriage storage areas!

We arrived here from Cortez after spending the night at Sundowners (or something like that) RV park. Visited the Anasazi Heritage Center in Delores. Very informative about the history of the people, ancestors of the Pueblos, that have populated this area for thousands of years. Originally hunter/gatherers they started growing corn and beans in the valley and lived in pit houses. Observing more precipitation on the upper mesas they moved up there. Becoming more cooperative they began to group their homes into villages and learned to build above ground square rooms of mud supported by rocks and poles. In the 12th century, for unknown reasons, many dropped over the edge of the mesa and built complex communities in the natural caves that are common along much of the sandstone cliffs lining the canyons. (pictures  to follow later). Then, again for unknown reasons, they gradually migrated out of this area in the 1300's settling in the Phoenix area. Their architecture has withstood the ages in the Mesa Verde region. This we spent the better part of a day touring. 

With much study and debate, we have decided to drop south to Gallup and then we'll turn west toward north rim of the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce. 

The pics in this post are of Canyonlands, our camp on the banks of the Colorado River near Moab and the long ribbon of highway. 

Durango brews.....

Durango.........a couple of days of R & R. Rest & recoup. Clean out the cooler and refridge. Camp with hookups. Recharge Chalet's batteries. Get Sarah's pants dry cleaned....grease from trailer hitch.....a 3 day job......not done. Get bike hitch improved on trailer......RV store doesn't have appropriate component but will try to make do with 4in. steel plate. Check with Mac Store (yep, Durango has one) 'cause laptop battery is dying. Store personnel is just as rude as every other Mac Store but decision made to buy new battery rather than new computer and having to learn and translate applications while on road. 

Durango a cool town. LOTs of shops...high end clothes and home furnishings as well as outfitters. Twentyfive restaurants in town of 16,000. And 4 breweries. At 7,000 feet Sarah having a little trouble breathing so no hikes or river floats. So, we are doing the brewpub tour. Late lunch at Steamworks downtown. As much restaurant as brewery and obviously geared to the visitors, I had Cajun Pasta Penne with chicken and andoulie sausage......quite good with a spicy "cajun sauce". Sarah had fish taco. The Third Eye PA was good....not too hoppy and on today's special for $2. Now at SKA brewery south of town. Sarah is doing quite well sitting in these establishments watching me drink! SKA has the same marketing strategy as Ninkasi. Funky, dancing skeleton with 50's rock theme logo. All kinds of merch to buy and display. Just finished their Euphoria amber ale.....a nice brew with a gentle bite of hops and clean finish. Outside sitting cradled in the hills as the sun sets across Hwy 160, they are getting started with a weekly summer end of day gathering with music, dogs (a "pet waste" bag dispenser provided for your convenience), beer and gathering of friends. Seems more local than Steamworks. May hang for a little while. But, there are 2 more breweries in town................

The music's good, young old guys playing Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd, the sun is setting over the mountains to the west, the vibe is relaxed cool, Herman is grooving.......Sarah say's I can have another beer......Modus Hoperandi IPA in a can. "walk, kite, recycle, hide, seek, plant, recycle, grow, shower, HHH, tube, recycle" circling the top. Kids with parents showing up. Old greyhound type dog who carries his own leash, finishing his human's french fries. Harley rider sharing our table. Friends waving to newly arriving friends. Boy, this is way different than Utah!

On to Carver Brewing downtown. Don't worry, Sarah drives and drops me off. I'll take the trolly home. A tavern feel with a bike theme. Cask conditioned Cascade Canyon IPA  served in a bulb glass. Goo cream head but light on hops for an IPA. Certainly guiafable. A little sweet for my taste. Full liquor selection on back bar heavy with single malt scotch. Would not be my hang out of choice. SKA gets that honor so far. Talking up the bartender--bar defiantly bike oriented. First establishment in town to replace parking space for bike racks. Lots of pro biker in town--good training. Durango is southern terminus for the Colorado Trail to Denver. Two guys at the end of the bar complete with backpacks just got off after 27 days. They get a free Colorado Trail Nut Brown Ale. There is also on tape the Iron Horse Oatmeal Stout to commemorate the annual bike race to Silverton against the steam locomotive. Started by 2 brothers, one worked at a bike shop, the other for the railroad. The bikers usually win peddling the 45 miles in about 2 hours. 

The Durango Brewery.....trolley drover drops me off a block away and points north. I had stopped at the Tibetan art store in town for a small prayer flag for the Chalet and a little incense and was give a handful of free incense cones. I reek of Himalayan Gompa! Theme here is railroad with red boxcar wall and lanterns. Hop-Hugger IPA on nitro has a good bite of bitterness with a strong malty back. Crowd more eclectic with apparent locals and a scattering of tourists. Bartender brings me a "fresh" nitro to replace the "end of the keg" he originally gave me. Less hopped and more balanced. Nice gesture on his part. Bathroom plastered with Telluride Blues and Brews posters. May be worth a future trip. 

Disclaimer: Consumption of copious amounts of alcoholic beverages is for research purposes only and does not imply or infer a lifestyle or habitual behavior. Any inferance to the contrry would nat bv accuate or reflet th tru expesion expessssed!

Moab and rocks

Sitting in camp on the banks on the Colorado River. The muddy brown water slowly flowing below shear rock cliffs now only shadows in the dimming light. Bats dive thru the air chasing bugs. Day's end traffic unfortunately only 20 feet behind me with desperate late travelers looking for camps in the growing darkness. Last night we offered our unused tent space to a young man traveling alone on an informal personal quest before going off to Peace Corp or some other unconfirmed post college graduation plan. 

Arrived in Moab yesterday with unrelenting sun and temperature in the 90's. Trailer set up, sun tarp deployed and into town to check out the product at Moab Brewery. Beer only fair but good to see a brewpub in Utah! Today, after dropping off Herman at the local vet's to be boarded (no dogs on any trails in the National Park) we toured Arches. Driving high above the valley floor, Arches' specular formations are the results of eons of geological forces and repeated flooding over millions of years laying down miles of salt followed by selective erosion resulting in huge pillars, fins and arches. Joining hundreds of other tourists, many speaking exotic languages, we ohh'd and ahh'd and pointed and gazed in wonderment. Finally as the day moved on and the sun did not, it became evident that once you've seen one rock, you've seen them all. Back in Moab we did a load of laundry, checked email, browsed local shops and ate dinner at The Broken Oar. So far the worse meal we have had!

Long long drive to get here. And there is not much between here and the Idaho border. Lot's of dry sandy real estate. Trailer pulling fine until Salt Lake. You haven't lived till you've had a blow out on a single axle trailer tire at 60 MPH in the middle of Salt Lake traffic. And, the spare's valve stem was broken. A trip in to Bert Brother's got both tires repaired and a quick change on the shoulder had us on the road in an hour and a half. Never mind the guy who swerved across the white line nearly hitting us. 

With Herman over nighting it at the kennel (not a happy mutt) we spend day 2 touring Canyonlands. From our perspective high on the Island In The Sky mesa we received a detailed lesson in geology with visual aids provided by Mother Earth herself. Millions of years of water erosion cutting into the layers of rock reveal a history going back to time immortal. Then in the recent blink of human influence uranium was discovered in the area and mined aggressively to supply the war effort in the 40's and future speculation for nuclear power. Roads were built then mines petered but folks, now with access, said, "ain't this pretty", and built a national park. 

And now today, we had a lovely breakfast at the EccentriCity Cafe and headed south out of Moab. Decided we needed a down day for some R & R (sightseeing is tiring) and we need time to get sort all the pamphlets and purge the ice chest and catch up on email and blog so we drove to Durango, CO. Settled in at the United Campground next to the narrow gage tracks of the steam locomotive Durango to Silverton line. Altho a few miles north of town there is a tram shuttle. We'll shower, yea, and go into town tonight for a fancy dinner.

Road Trip 2012

On the road with Herman. Bought a trailer. Couldn't pull it. Bought another trailer. (More cost effective than buying a new truck!) So far, can pull it. Spent 2 weeks cleaning, fixing, stocking, learning. Rolled out of Eugene on 9/7 to start a 5 week road trip. People ask, "Where are you going?" The reply, "Four Corners." The point where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado intersect is our metaphorical destination. And, all points in between or around. In reality after turning right at my sister's place in Tetonia, Idaho, we have no itinerary, schedule or plan. We will go where the wind blows, the sun rises or sets and the whim takes us. We'll let Herman, the wonder dog, point and we'll follow. 

For our first stop and our inaugural stay in the Chalet we stayed with our dear friends, Kristy and Jim. They have recently traded life on their floating home on the Columbia Canal for acreage in St. Helens. Graciously offered the guest bedroom, we chose to stay in the trailer making sure all systems work and to test our organizational skills. There IS a learning curve to life in a 6 x 12 ft space. This Chalet Arrowhead, built in 2002 in Albany, Or, is a hard sided folding trailer complete with 3 burner stove, propane furnace, shower, hot water heater, and 3-fuel source (110v, 12v, or propane) refrigerator. Open it has 8 ft of central headroom, a dinette that drops to a queen bed and a couch that expands to a double. Thirty seconds to drop the walls and collapse the roof, it sits low and wide with little drag and minimal sway, easy to tow. 

Then it was on to mooch off old friends, Morris and BJ, in White Salmon, Wa. Always the gracious hosts, we drove the Fruit Loop checking out the local orchards, and picnicked on the banks of the Columbia. And sensitive to our needs, altho vegetarian bordering on vegan, they prepared wonderful shrimp scampi to accompany our meals of fresh black eyed peas and quinoa.

After that, we descended on friends, Carl and Nancy, near Enterprise. We got to hang out at their wonderful home full of objects de art and at the "farm" where they grow much of the vegetables they serve at their restaurant, Caldera, in Joseph. Herman got a taste of ranch life chasing deer, leading the pickup to the barn and becoming intimately familiar with the electric fence. 

Fast forward to today, Sept. 14. Sitting outside our little Chalet in a gravel pull thru at Country RV Village lined up like dominoes with other assorted RVs, pickup campers and motorhomes. The sound of I-84 behind me quickly becoming white noise. Dinner of Zaterann's Dirty Rice pimped with chopped up sausage left over from this morning and beautiful homegrown bell pepper and jalapeno from our White Salmon stop,  along with garlic and onion brought from Eugene, is simmering on the Coleman. 

We drove here from Boise after buying a new car battery at Les Schawbs. Had a little "....rrrrrrrrrr" trying to turn over this morning when we tied to leave Grayback Gulch, a forest service camp ground about 30 miles north of town on Hwy 21 toward Stanley, ID. Our first boondocking, all trailer systems worked A-ok. Even the heater. It got into the low 30's!! Didn't want to get stuck in this or any other isolated location so asked the "volunteer", the retired auto pait and polish salesman who camps there 26 weekends a year and "helps out the ranger" picking up trash and talking up the visitors, where the  Les Schwab was in Boise. Of course he knew exactly which exit to take and gave an unsolicited yet welcomed inservice on car vs trailer and 12v vs 6v battery systems.

Our plan was to go visit my sister in Tetonia, ID but it seems I miscalculated the amount of time it would take to get there and she is up to her eyeballs in alligators with work, officiating at a race, and multiple social commitments in Jackson, WY (over a mountain pass I don't want to negotiate to join her). So, we are dropping south toward Salt Lake aiming for Canyon Lands National Park. (subject to change at any time).

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I have reactivated this blog at the encouragement of several friends who have expressed interest in where we go and what we do. I have often wondered in the past, just who reads or cares. Some folks complain, "there's too many words". So, in reality, I guess I do this for me! I have always tried to maintain a journal when traveling, not just to have reference for future nostalgia but also as an outlet and activity that entertains and helps keep me focused and engaged. I hope you enjoy reading and, please feel free to comment (no rudeness!) or email me directly with questions, salutations, or requests for more boring details.