The Parks ride was over. I was sad to see everyone leave but I also wanted to return to some of the places we had visited. Bill and I went to lunch with Jon, Neil and some of the gang and then headed back to Springdale. We got a camping spot and shuffled gear back and forth as you were only allowed one vehicle per campsite. I parked my truck at our campsite so I could sleep in it.
The next morning we headed into town to do laundry and eat breakfast. (It's amazing how tasks become high priority in a short period of time when you are on the road.) The laudromat in town was much cheaper than at the campsite. Our clothes got clean while we ate. Since service was slow, it was a good thing we combined chores.
With our clothes clean, we headed into Zion. I wanted to hike the narrows and Bill said he'd keep occupied while I spent 3 hours going up river and then retracing my route. What a fun hike, though I was glad I had my walking stick with me. Footing was difficult in places. The canyon would widen out then narrow then widen again. You kept wanting to go just around the next bend to see what was there.
Once again, most of the people I met on the hike were Europeans. Just as I was back an older lady asked me how deep the water was. She was shorter than me, perhaps 5'3" or 5'4". She was clinging to a stick that she'd picked up from a pile at the trailhead. I told her how to try and follow the channel edges to find the shallower water. I wished I could give her a better walking stick to use. As I finished explaining what I could, she smiled and said "Isn't this exciting!" That one moment caught the whole point of my trip. This little lady braving the water and rocks to have an experience of a lifetime! I thought of all the people I knew who wouldn't even be willing to try to go up the river, but here was this lady loving every step of her journey.
Retracing our bicycle journey again, we drove back to Route 12. I wanted to stop at the Bryce Canyon Trading Post to get some coffee (they provide free coffee!) and pick up some souveniers that I didn't want to carry on my bicycle. We had stopped here on the way back from Bryce several days ago and I'd looked around at the nice items they had for sale.
We then continued up 12 to Red Canyon. There was plenty of space in the campground as well as welcome warm showers. The plan was to mountain bike one of the canyons in the morning and then go for a hike. We had dinner at a nice restaurant (Harold's Place) that was quiet and peaceful until a coachload of French tourists showed up from the motel next door. They were happy and talkative and bid us "bon soir" as they walked through to the large room inside the restaurant that we didn't even know existed. I think they had great fun that evening and I would have liked to have stayed and joined in the festivities. Such is the fate of early risers!
Up early (well, early for me) for breakfast back at the restaurant. Then Bill drove us to the trialhead for our first mountain bike adventure. I was surprised that he had clipless pedals on his mountain bike, a fact that didn't register until later. We got the bikes ready, rode a bit to check brakes, etc. and then hit the trail. Literally, Bill hit the trail. I was up ahead and I heard a shout. Turning around, Bill was getting back on his feet. He had crashed in the soft dirt on the trail. Later he said that he kept getting his foot clipped in and couldn't get out quick enough. It was a rough ride for the first mile as Bill tried to keep his cleats from clipping in while he negotiated the sandy track. He fell a couple of times and instead of giving up (which I would have most likely done) he stuck with it and was doing very well by the time we had returned to the van. But now I know, don't let someone ride with clipless pedals when they are starting out.
We drove the dirt road to Panguitch. We found a place to eat lunch and the only other people in the restaurant were from Chicago! It seemed that most of the Americans we met were from the Chicago area.
Back at the campground, feeling restless, I decided to wax the camper shell. I was feeling unsettled, I felt like I had to be using every minute of my time or I was wasting it. The truck always needs cleaning since it sits in the driveway 6 days a week, so I spent time during the trip cleaning it out - washing windows, sorting out the gear I keep stored in it, etc. I think Bill was amused by my behavior. He was smart enough to spend the afternoon reading a book.
The next morning we went for a hike up Cassidy Draw. In Scotland the joke went that to know the history of the Western Isles, all you had to remember was "Bonnie Prince Charlie" and "Flora McDonald". In Utah you just needed to remember "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". (Or so it seemed.) We hiked up the trail and didn't see the turnoffs for the other trail I wanted to hike on. Oh well, the river bed was nice and we went quite a way before coming back. We didn't see any other hikers, a fact that wa explained when I went back to the Ranger's Station to buy a photo. I had missed the trailhead! We weren't on the trail I thought which explained why no one else was up there. Oops.
Time to move on. We drove up the canyon and headed to Kodachrome State Park. The road to the park goes through a small valley that was full of rabbitbrush in bloom. The yellow flowers lined the road and added a nice contrast to the red rock and green of the sage.
We found one of the last campsites available in the park. Since it was still early afternoon, we went for a hike. First we hiked up Angel's Palace and then we followed the Grand Parade Trail along the base of the cliffs. The trails gave you a chance to see the petrified geyers from a variety of angles. They are rather unique structures and the banding of the rocks provides color to the park.
I wanted to stop and find out about horseback riding trips. The lady working in the store said her husband wouldn't be around in the morning so I was disappointed that I'd missing a chance to ride, but there were other places to ride. However, it turned out that some other people were interested in riding the next day so her husband postponed his errands.
There was still time to drive out to Grosvenor Arch before dark. The heavy rains of the past few weeks had washed out the road in places and it was closed. However we were told that some people had driven it recently in cars. I figured my truck could make it if a car could make it. Well, after driving out to the arch (which was worth the drive) I can't imagine why anyone would take a car on that road if they owned the car. It was horrible - washed out along the shoulder, rutted and washboard. I think the only people who drove out there were in rental cars.
The next morning the ranger came by and told me the ride was on! I was glad because I wanted to take a horseback trip and this way the decision was made for me. Bill drove me over to the store and I met Bob, my guide. It turned out that I was the only one going on the 2 hour ride! My own personal tour. Wonderful! And wonderful it was. Bob told me all about the geology, the names of the plants we saw and took me down some steep trails. It was a fantastic adventure. I was really glad I decided to go and it was well worth the $30 I paid.
Our destination after Red Canyon was Capitol Reef. We decided to take , only to discover that the campground was full. We backtracked to ___to spend the night at a campgound there. We ate at the Capitol Reef Cafe, which had excellent food. Our plan was to get up early and get into the park in time to grab a campsite. It worked, but the campground filled up by noon or so. We set up camp and raced to the Visitor's Center to listen to a geology lecture. Then we returned to camp to eat lunch and ride our bikes down to Wash for a hike. I admit that it would have been eaiser to drive to the wash but I like how it feels to arrive under your own power. It was a nice ride through the canyon walls to the trailhead.
Bill handled the dirt road very well. He was getting mountain biking on dirt down. We took some pictures of the massive cliffs that lined the canyon to remember our adventure. We left the bikes at the trailhead and walked down the wash.
This canyon used to be the road into Capitol Reef. It was difficult to imagine anyone driving in here - it was so narrow and so rugged. We hiked quite a ways through the canyon and finally reached an old car that was incorportated into a fence. It had "Entering Capitol Reef National Monument" painted on the side. Well, Capitol Reef is now a National Park, so that car has been there a while. (I poked my head inside to see if there was anything left and the gauges and seat springs were still there.)
We never quite reached the other end of the wash and turned around as our water ran low. We still had to ride back to camp.
We did see the "tanks", deep pools that provide a fairly permanent water supply. I hiked up the trail above them and looked around. It was so peaceful and beautiful in the wash that I could have stayed there all day, except I was running out of water to drink. I was looking for animals but didn't see any.
We also read the inscriptions that originally were carved on the rock walls by early explorers and visitors. Unfortunately, some tourists seem unable to distinguish between what was acceptable behavior 100 years ago and now. On almost every vertical surface I found more rock graffiti. Even though there are signs all over the park asking people not to carve on the rock walls, there were plenty of examples of recent graffiti. What a shame that people can visit such a beautiful place and remain so ignorant! I'd be in favor of putting up cameras to catch them in the act and having on the spot fines of $1000!! That might provide enough incentive to stop people from defacing our National Parks.
I am afraid that in the near future, many places that are currently open to visitors will be closed or only open on guided tours. There has been so much vandalism and destruction caused by ignorant/selfish people in the parks. This kind of destruction can't continue if we are to preserve the parks for future generations.
The ride back to camp was mostly downhill, good thing since we were both rather tired from the day's events. The view heading north was so lovely. I really enjoyed the bike ride, far more than I would have enjoyed driving in a car. On a bicycle you are part of the environment, not isolated from it. You feel the heat, feel the wind, smell the flowers and hear the animals scurrying in the bushes. (The downside is that you can also smell the cars as they drive by.) Typical Canyon Flowers
