Living Our Dream

Zion National Park Part II: Kolob Canyons

There is a relatively-unknown, little-visited area of Zion National Park located in the northwest corner called Kolob Canyons. Kolob Canyons are a series of narrow finger canyons located about 40 minutes from where we were staying in Virgin, UT, and about an hour from the main entrance to Zion National Park.

There is a 5-mile scenic road with views of the canyons.

Along the road there are several pull-offs where you can get a closer look at some of the canyons. Notice the black streak to the right in the next photo. It is a small creek flowing down a hanging canyon along the side of the main canyon.

 

The formation in the next photo is where a large slab of rock broke off back in 1983. The slab broke off near the right end where the area at the base has less vegetation.

At the end of the scenic road is an overlook with a spectacular view of the row of canyons.

There are several hiking trails in this northern area of the park, but most of them are longer and more difficult than we wanted to tackle. There is one, however, that is only about an hour long, but it is considered to be a moderately difficult hike because of the relatively steep elevation change in a short distance. Timber Creek Overlook Trail goes along a ridge on the west side of the canyons.

Along the way, we saw numerous cacti and wildflowers.

At the top of the last hill at the end of the trail we got a view toward the south and the upper end of Zion Canyon.

The return hike was mostly downhill. Once we got back to the car, we headed back to the motor home by way of the Dairy Queen in nearby Hurricane, UT. The frozen treats tasted good on a hot day.

Our next outing will be to Zion Canyon, which is the main area of Zion National Park. Stay tuned.

Zion National Park Part I: East Zion

We left Las Vegas and headed north on I-15 toward Zion National Park. We went to Zion back in 2007 before Margery had her knee surgery, and we wanted to go back now that she can enjoy hiking. Last time, we stayed on the eastern side of Zion where we could easily get to both Zion and Bryce National Parks from the same campground. This time, we couldn't get reservations on the east side, so we stayed on the west side at Zion River RV Resort in Virgin, UT.

The back-in sites around the perimeter at Zion River RV Resort are a little narrow and a little short. We started out with a back-in site, which wasn't very level. It was an extra-cost river view site, but there is a 6 to 8-foot high berm along the river so you can't really see the river from your RV. We asked to move to a pull-through site, which are a little wider and a lot longer than the back-ins so we would have more room. The back-ins are all gravel, but the pull-throughs are paved with grass between the sites. There are full hookups with 30/50 amp electric, free Wi-Fi and cable. The photo below shows our site at Zion River RV.

And the next photo shows is a view down the road from our site.

Zion River State Park could be considered a great destination park. They have regularly scheduled activities throughout the week including Candy Bar Bingo, Wine and Cheese for the adults, Dutch Oven dinner demonstrations, as well as special events like a horse shoe tournament, luau, pioneer days, and more.

Zion National Park is divided into two main sections - East Zion and Zion Canyon. Zion Canyon is the most popular area of the park. In fact, it is so popular you can't drive private vehicles up the canyon during summer. You must take the shuttles, which run frequently and are actually fairly convenient. Zion Canyon is lined with huge sandstone monoliths, while East Zion has mainly more rounded formations that are made up of cross-bedded sandstone that were originally desert dunes. There are more hiking trails in Zion Canyon, but we kind of like the less-crowded atmosphere in East Zion, and we like the colorfully-striped, rounded dunes.

Although Zion River RV Resort, a Good Sam Park, was expensive at $53 a night, it was a good thing we ended up on the west side of the national park instead of the east side like we originally wanted. When we got there we found out Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway that connects Zion Canyon with East Zion and the east entrance was closed during the day Mondays through Fridays during the time we were there. They are totally rebuilding the switchback section of the road. We planned to spend most of our time on the western side, but we definitely wanted to spend at least one day in the eastern side.

Note: starting June 27, and continuing through the summer, the closures of Zion-Mt.Carmel Highway are rescheduled for nights (8:00 PM to 8:00 AM) rather than days. Check the national park web site for updates if you are planning to go.

We arrived at Zion River RV Resort on Saturday, and we planned to chill out around the motor home on Sunday and watch the NASCAR race. However, since the road to East Zion would be closed on Monday, we changed our plans and went there on Sunday.

As we said, East Zion has a completely different look from Zion Canyon in the main part of the park. The next photo is looking back at some of the Navajo sandstone monoliths in Zion Canyon as we climbed the switchbacks to East Zion.

 

After the switchbacks, we drove through the 1.1-mile long tunnel to East Zion. Contrast those high sandstone cliffs in the photo above with the more rounded, dune-like appearance of the sandstone on the eastern side of the tunnel.

 

Zion Canyon was settled by Mormons back in the mid 1800s. Early pioneers gave most of the rock formations in Zion Canyon their names; but before the tunnel was built in 1930, very few people could get to East Zion. Therefore, very few of the formations in East Zion have names. One exception is Checkerboard Mesa. It gets its name from the crisscross pattern on its surface. The horizontal lines are the result of cross-bedding created by changing winds depositing sand on the dunes in different directions. The vertical lines are cracks that are a result of stress caused by freezing and thawing and from water erosion.

Checkerboard Mesa is located almost at the eastern entrance of the park, so from there we headed back to the west. We stopped along the way at a couple of pull-offs for photos.

 

Our target hike for the day was Canyon Overlook Trail. The trail head is about 200 feet on the east side of the tunnel portal, and the parking area is a couple hundred yards up the road from the tunnel. Canyon Overlook is only about one mile round trip, but it is a moderately difficult hike because of all the ups and downs and because of the steep drop-offs along the trail. The next photo shows us at the top of the first climb of about 50 feet.

 

We saw lots of lizards scurrying across the trail. Most of them were in a big hurry to get out of sight, but the one in the photo below climbed up on a rock and posed for us.

In some places the trail is very narrow, and in one place the drop-off was so steep there was no place to cut a trail, so they built catwalk.

At the other end of the catwalk was a nice, cool, wide overhang that comes at just about the right place in the hike going both directions. The shade was refreshing. Seeps along the back of the overhang provided moisture for maidenhair ferns.

Speaking of a narrow trail, the raven in the next photo is taking a drink from a puddle on the trail that came from a seep higher up the hill. Not only was the trail only about a foot wide, it was also wet.

The next photo is taken almost at the end of the trail. You can see the rounded sandstone from the eastern side in the foreground and the higher sandstone cliffs of Zion Canyon way off in the distance.

And finally, we were rewarded with a view of the lower Zion Canyon. At the bottom left and center of the photo, you can see some of the switchbacks we came up on the other side of the tunnel.

After taking in the view for a while we headed back toward the car and back to the motor home. We were glad we found out about the road closure in time to get over to the eastern side of the park during the weekend when the road was open. Our next outing will be to Kolob Canyons located in the northern part of the park.

Las Vegas, NV, Part III: Red Rock Canyon

If you're tired of all the lights, gambling and glitz of Las Vegas, then Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is a good place to go. Red Rock Canyon is located about 15 miles west of Las Vegas, and we headed there the morning after we went to Fremont Street.

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, which is under the control of the Bureau of Land Management, is along the Keystone Thrust Fault. A thrust fault is where one plate of the earth's crust is riding up over another plate. The fault runs up the western side of the conservation area and across the northern side. There is a 13-mile loop road that traverses the valley surrounded by sandstone hills and limestone cliffs.

Red Rock Canyon has a new visitor center that had numerous outdoor, hands-on exhibits about the land, the plants and the wildlife. The new visitor center was just opened in October, 2009.

 

At the end of the outdoor exhibit area is a large observation deck with a panoramic view of the valley. The photo below shows escarpment along the fault to the west...

 

...and the next photo shows us with the sandstone Calico Hills to the east in the background.

From the visitor center we started on the 13-mile loop road. Our first stop was at Calico Hills. Calico Hills are Aztec cross-bedded sandstone that are ancient sand dunes. The dunes once spread all the way into Colorado with sand piled up to half a mile deep. The cross-bedding was created when shifting winds piled sand at different angles.

Turtlehead Peak is visible to the northeast above and behind Calico Hills. Turtlehead Peak is older limestone that has been thrust up over Calico Hills by the fault.

Our next stop along the road was at High Point Overlook which provides an expansive view of the entire valley. The photo below shows a view of Calico Hills from the overlook.

The next photo taken at the overlook shows another view of Turtlehead Peak in the background.

And to the west are the cliffs of the fault.

The road continues along the west side of the valley near the base of the escarpment. There are several hiking trails in conservation area, but we didn't hike because most of the trails are longer and take an hour and a half or more to complete, and Paul was just too tired. The next photo shows Ice Box Canyon, which has a two-hour, moderately-difficult trail.

Pine Creek Canyon, shown in the next photo, has a moderately-easy trail, but it still takes about two hours.

 

We headed back toward Las Vegas after finishing driving the loop road.

There is a program on the History Channel called Pawn Stars which features three generations of men who run a pawn shop in Las Vegas. The pawn shop is called Gold & Silver Pawn. Pawn Stars is like the PBS program Antiques Roadshow for rednecks.

We decided to stop on our way back through town. For security and safety reasons, they only let a certain number of people in at a time, and there was a fairly long line when we got there. However, the line moved quickly, and it took us less than 10 minutes to get in.

The program shows some of the more exotic and interesting things people bring in to sell or pawn. Some of the items include what was supposed to be a pirate's peg leg (it turned out to be from the Civil War, but was still fairly valuable), custom motorcycles, Spanish gold from a shipwreck, an ivory carving (it turned out to be a fake made from bone instead of ivory), and a lottery ticket from colonial times signed by one of the founding fathers.

Inside, in addition to lots of coins and jewelry, they also sell T-shirts (on the racks in the background). The T-shirts made up the bulk of the sales while we were there.

Around the corner are some of the larger items - power tools, antique Coke machines and motorcycles. The next photo shows Paul beside a Rocon Trail-Breaker that was featured in a recent program. The Trail-Breaker is a two-wheel drive, off-road bike that can go almost anywhere. It's not real fast, but it can climb over rocks and logs up to three feet high.

We made a slight detour on the way back to the motor home to stop for an early dinner at another one of our favorite chain restaurants, Bahama Breeze. We like the tropical atmosphere and the menu inspired by the Caribbean Islands. Margery had almond encrusted talapia and Paul had jerk chicken with mango chutney. Yum!

We had more we wanted to do in Las Vegas, but since we had to spend time getting the car back in shape we just ran out of time and energy. We headed to a new location in the morning. Look for our next post, and we'll tell you all about it.

Las Vegas, NV, Part II: Fremont Street

After our mishap with the car, Paul spent two days getting the new base plate installed and getting the car put back together. There was a lot of stooping, bending, sitting on the ground and getting up and down. The weather was hot, and Paul was pretty tired; but we came to Vegas to see the sights, so after finishing the work, getting cleaned up and having dinner, we decided to drive downtown to see Fremont Street after dark.

Fremont Street is a taste of old Las Vegas. The street dates back to 1905 when Las Vegas was first founded. It was the first paved street in Las Vegas in 1925, and it got the city's first traffic light in 1931. Although there was  a lot of gambling going on in Las Vegas even before it was legalized, the Northern Club on Fremont Street was among the first legal casinos when it got one of the original six gaming licenses in 1931.

As the popularity of gambling increased so did the number of casinos. Casinos that were not in downtown Las Vegas on Fremont Street were restricted to outside the city limits. The first hotel/casino on what is today considered to be The Strip was built in 1941. The Strip is still outside the city limits of Las Vegas and is located in the town of Paradise.

While newer hotels on The Strip use lavish and flamboyant architecture to lure in customers, the Fremont Street casinos attracted attention with neon earning the Fremont Street the nickname "Glitter Gulch." Fremont Street was the classic view of Las Vegas shown in just about every TV show and movie that wanted to show the lights of Las Vegas. Most of the old casinos are still there, and one of the classics is the Golden Nugget.

Another Fremont Street classic is the sign called "Vegas Vic," which is a cowboy that is displayed in front of what used to be the Pioneer Club. The Pioneer Club is now a souvenir shop.

In the 1990s, a cooperative venture of downtown casinos began to look for ways to draw more people to the downtown area. The idea that eventually was selected was to close most of the western end of Fremont Street to traffic and to build a pedestrian mall covered by vaulted canopy. You can see part of the canopy in the two above photos.

Twelve million LEDs cover the underside of the canopy and make up what is in effect the worlds largest video display. The 5 blocks of Fremont Street under the canopy are known as the Fremont Street Experience. Beginning about dark (8:30 PM when we were there), and then every hour on the hour until 1:00 AM, there is a light and music show that lasts about 6 or 8 minutes.

We had time to walk up and down Fremont Street before the first show. There was plenty of opportunity to people watch. The person in the platform shoes was a male, complete with bare, hairy chest, and he is talking to one of at least half a dozen guys dressed like Elvis.

There was one fellow doing paintings with cans of spray paint. He would spray areas of the painting, then spread and blend the paint with tissues or with his fingers. He worked very quickly. We didn't watch him do the whole painting; but judging by the progress he was making, a painting would take him less than half an hour.

Most of his paintings had a Las Vegas theme showing some of the well known hotels like the Luxor pyramid and the tall tower of the Stratosphere.

And there was a pretty good sax player who was entertaining the crowd.  We listened until a few minutes before the light show was scheduled to start, then we moved to an area that was less crowded.

When it's time for the show to start, the lights on the whole street go out - a rare sight for Las Vegas. The show we saw was set to the music of Don McLean's 1970s classic American Pie. As the music started, images of the 1970s began dancing on the ceiling.

After Fremont Street, we drove down The Strip. Traffic was heavy, and there were hundreds of people walking up and down the street. Things seemed to be at least as busy as they were when we were in Vegas back in 2007. Paul was tired after all his work on the car, so we called it a night and headed back to the motor home. We'll have info on another side of Las Vegas in our next post.

Las Vegas, NV, Part I: Toad Trouble

We had a fairly long drive of five hours from Yucca Valley to our next stop in Las Vegas, NV. Paul always likes to gas up the motor home before we stop, so pulled into the Flying J just north of Las Vegas. As we made the turn into the station, we heard a crunch and scraping noise coming from the back. Paul glanced at the rear view monitor just in time to see the toad drifting off to the side of the motor home all by itself with entire front fascia missing. Fortunately, we were going very slowly, and the car rolled to a stop by itself.

We jumped out of the motor home to find the base plate (the part that is bolted to the car frame that the tow bar attaches to) had failed, and when it failed, it pulled the front fascia off the car. The failed base plate and the front fascia were still attached to the tow bar, which was still attached to the back of the motor home.

We were stopped right in the entrance to the gas station, so we quickly unhooked the tow bar from what was left of the base plate, gathered up all the pieces, and pulled the car and motor home off to the side.

Fortunately, the motor home is OK except for a minor scuff on the back corner that can be buffed out, but the car - not so much. Actually, it looks worse than it was. The fascias of most cars these days are plastic and are held on with snap tabs and plastic snap-together rivets so they come off fairly easily. There were some minor scrapes on the fascia, and a couple of the snap tabs were broken off; but other than that, the parts looked to be reusable. We'll have more about the re-assembly later.

Actually, the whole ordeal could have been a lot worse. God was watching over us. We had just gotten off the interstate with fairly heavy Las Vegas traffic, and if the car had broken away there, who knows what might have happened. It may have crashed into the back of the motor home, hit another vehicle, or hit the median barrier; but it certainly wouldn't have rolled to a stop in a few feet on its own.

We use an auxiliary brake in the car so the motor home brakes don't have to do all the work, especially if we would have to stop fast. The brake system has a break-away feature that is supposed to stop the car if it becomes detached from the motor home, but the break-away switch was attached to the fascia so the the wires ripped off before it had a chance to work. Paul relocated that switch to the car frame when he did the re-assembly.

There is more to be thankful for. We were also glad the mishap occurred in a larger town where we could get parts and repairs more easily than in a smaller town. On top of that, the Flying J wasn't crowded so we didn't cause a major problem for them when we were stopped in the middle of their entrance. The few cars coming and going could easily get around us.

The car was drivable, so Margery followed behind the motor home as we headed to the campground after picking up the pieces and gassing up. We stayed at Roadrunner RV Park located on Boulder Highway east of the Strip. Roadrunner has full hookups, paved roads and paved sites. The sites are a little narrow and a little short, but at least they have a strip of shrubs between the sites. The campground has mostly pull-throughs, which are a little longer, with back-ins around the perimeter.

Boulder Highway is a busy road, and there is construction going on in front of the campground. The only open site in the back of the campground was a back-in site in the last row. We weren't real crazy about the cement block wall behind the back row of sites separating the campground from the mobile home park behind, but we had had enough traffic noise and backup beepers at Yucca Valley so we took the site in the back row. We  don't know if it was really any quieter or not because the highs were in the 90s and 100s and the lows were in the 70s, so we ran the air 24 hours a day while we were there.

As soon as we got set up, and while Paul was outside examining the loose parts, Margery got busy online looking for RV dealers nearby who might have a replacement base plate. There is a Camping World about 10 miles down the road in Henderson, NV, but they don't carry Blue Ox products. Blue Ox is the brand tow bar we have, and it was the brand of our old base plate. Margery found an RV dealer about half a mile up the road whose web page said they carried Blue Ox so we hopped into the car and drove to the dealer.

Not only did Findlay RV carry Blue Ox base plates, they had one to fit our car in stock, and they could install it the following day. Paul headed up to Findlay first thing in the morning, and got the base plate installed. Afterward, back at the motor home Paul worked on re-assembling the parts of the fascia. Having a site in the back row worked out well because it enabled us to pull the car in head first and work on it more discretely than if we had a pull-through site. All the original wiring on the car was OK, but the plug and the wires that connect the car lights to the motor home lights for use while towing were ripped off. Paul spent the afternoon tracing and splicing wires.

The next morning while it was cool, Paul put the fascia back on the car. Everything has to line up just right to get it to fit back together, and it's hard to see what's going on if things aren't going together right, especially when some of the tabs are missing or bent.

The passenger side finally went together.

On to the driver's side.

In the end, it was almost as good as new. There are a few scrapes on the black air dam that can hardly be seen because they're way at the bottom, and there are some scuffs on the paint that Paul will be able to buff out. Some of the black marks on the paint that look like scrapes in the above photos were actually splattered bugs, so it really isn't bad at all once Paul got everything put back together and cleaned up.

 

Our fabric tow shield helped cushion the fascia from getting too many scrapes when it hit the pavement. In the process, the tow shield suffered a few scrapes of its own, and the bungee cord that runs around the perimeter to keep it taut broke in two places. We have a little fabric left from when we made the new tow shield last winter while in Florida, so Margery will get out her trusty Singer Featherweight sewing machine sometime soon to sew in a patch. In the meantime, Paul spliced in a new piece of bungee cord. Fortunately, we had some of that left over, too.

Getting the new base plate installed, putting the car back together, fixing the tow shield and doing the wiring took the better part of two days. With all that work done, it was finally time for some fun so stay tuned.