Touring Utah
with a day in AZ and a late afternoon in NV
April 20-30, 2009 (including 2 travel days)

Birding Utah. Focuses on bird pictures.
Trip Bird List
Brush with the Law!

We are Herman, a birder, and Eva , who enjoys birding on vacations with Herman.
This was our first trip to Utah, and Herman's first trip to the Grand Canyon.
Now the only state that Herman has not been to is Hawaii.

People, sequenced in itinerary order.

• Eva at the Grand Canyon. She had rafted through it in 1970, but had never seen it from the rim before.
• Two smiling tourists
• Herman and Brian Gatlin at the Hearst Tanks. Brian, a local birder who's a Park Ranger, had posted directions on the web to these watering holes within 100 yards of the rim, the only water for miles, and thus a magnet for wildlife. He happened to come upon us birding there. When he heard we were from Massachusetts he said, "How did you ever find the Hearst Tanks?"
• Herman at Kanab Creek
• Herman used both scopes at Tropic Reservoir.
• Herman enjoying the bird sanctuary at Boulder Mountain Lodge.
• Four miles north of Boulder UT Further up Boulder Mountain.
• Bicknell Bottoms
• Fruita, Capitol Reef National Park.
• Herman near Courthouse Wash.
• Herman has found a Raven's nest in Arches National Park.
• Herman birding the La Sal Mountain Loop.
• The sewage ponds at Green River UT were very productive.
• Eva at Kolob Canyon at the spot where Herman showed her a Scrub Jay which she failed to photograph.
• Herman saw a Painted Redstart here while Eva walked the Temple of Sinawava trail.
• Herman watching condors near the bus stop at the Temple of Sinawava; Taken from the bus stop; Eva's vantage point.
• Herman doggedly walked the whole Pa'rus Trail in Zion National Park.
• Black Phoebe habitat.
• Grafton, and when we got there down that washboard road, the recommended trail was "no trespassing" and "video monitored."
• Ariando at the Lytle Ranch suggested we drive to Beaver Dam Wash, a special privilege, because he noticed Herman was all lopsided (to quote Herman's self-description, after 11 years with Parkinson's Disease).

Scenery (in the sequence of our itinerary):

• Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon
• The Grand Canyon from the South rim; Another shot. Again. One more. We were there for sunrise and sunset.
• The people of Colorado voted to rename the Grand River the Colorado River. It merges with the larger Green River in Utah. Convention would have named the merged river after the larger tributary, but, as my Guidebook says, "The Green Canyon just doesn't bear thinking about."
• The painted desert. I recommend using brown polarized sunglasses to bring out the contrasts.
• Paria Beach near Lee's Ferry, AZ.
• Red rock country.
• Bryce Canyon National Park; There were still patches of snow; A pioneer farmer famously said of what's now Bryce, "It's a hell of a place to lose a cow."
• The turnoff to Calf Creek campground is on the left a few minutes after the Kiva Coffee House on the way to Boulder from Escalante; The trail to the waterfall starts here; Suspension bridge over Calf Creek. For birders prepared to camp, Calf Creek and the Lytle Ranch would be the places to do it, so that you'd be there in prime birding hours. We were in both places after noon.
• Our rental car near Capitol Reef National Park.
• This looks like a face to me.
• Arches National Park; More arches; One Arch.
• Thelma and Louise Point is near Dead Horse State Park. Unwary pet dogs regularly go over the cliff.
• Canyonlands National Park; Another vista
• The La Sal Mountain loop.
• Coming down off the La Sal Mountain Loop we beheld Castle Valley; The valley floor.
• What my guidebook aptly calls "the Gothic spires of Fisher Towers" looks like a Cathedral in ruins to me.
• Scenery and no traffic were the norm.
• The Colorado River along Utah Scenic Byway 128 Northeast of Moab.
• Looking South on Heppler's Pond Road
• At Kolob Canyon even the pavement is red.
• Dipper habitat.

Sinage:

• Prairie dog crossing
• Bighorn sheep crossing
• Danger
• Risk
• Burr Trail
• The actual Burr Trail
• Boulder Mountain Lodge
• Aquarius Ranch
• Laforborn Ranch
• Taylor Creek Ranch
• Eva at the Arches sign.
• The La Sal Mountain Loop out of Moab was 65 miles.
• Eco Architecture at Zion, But why design a National Park Visitor Center to last only 40 years?
• Desert National Wildlife Refuge, aka Corn Creek, NV

Miscellaneous:

• The Green River sewage ponds are patrolled by...goats.
• Buffalo ranch
• Mother and calf
• Carved bench, Kanab, UT
• Murals in Moab: Joggers; Bas-relief Dragon;
• Stuffed mountain lion at Ruby's Inn; More taxidermy.
• Our room at Boulder Mountain Lodge overlooked the bird sanctuary.
• Breakfast at the Hell's Backbone Grill. We watched through the window as a hummingbird flew at those colored flags.
• Metalwork sculpture at Boulder Mountain Lodge obviously inspired by Utah petroglyphs.
• Boot planters, Boulder Mountain Lodge
• Adobe Abode, our B&B in Moab. A creek runs through those trees behind through the nearby Scott M. Matheson nature preserve and into the Colorado River half a mile away.
• Cyclists on the Pa'rus Trail, Zion National Park.
• 3D model of Zion National Park
• snake tracks perhaps; Another track
• The Kiva Coffee House between Escalante and Boulder is a wonderful place. Interior; The patio.
• Skyscraper sculpture at the Las Vegas airport.

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Return to:

Trip List
Birding Utah 2009
Charged with imprudent slowness on an empty road!

Birding Massachusetts 2010
Birding Arizona 2010
Birding Kansas 2008
Birding Guatemala 2008
Birding Mexico 2007
Birding South Florida 2006
Birding Texas 2005
Birding Nantucket, annually, at New Year's
Birding Panama 2005
Birding Belize 2002
Birding Colorado 2001
Birding Ecuador 1999
Birding Trinidad 1998
Birding Peru June 1995

Herman's Birding Page
Wildlofe sketches made at the Harvard Museum of Natural History

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Herman's Home Page
Eva's Home Page

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Feedback may be sent to eva@theworld.com

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Most of the photos on this page were taken with my Canon Digital Camera w/ 12X zoom lens.

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This page has been accessed times since June 28, 2009

Last revised: September 28, 2010 

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