(Oops! I got a little ahead of myself with that Death Valley post-lots to report between there and the Grand Canyon.)

Wednesday, April 26-Friday, April 28                                                                                   Oak Creek Canyon Pine Flats Campground

I had a chance to spend a few hours in Sedona several years ago and wanted to return.  We were driving through Oak Canyon, Arizona and passed a little campground with a vacancy.  What a gem!  We were camped right by a creek in a beautiful spot.  We were just 20 minutes from Sedona and the drive through the canyon to get there was lovely.

Up on the road there was artesian well that ran freely from a pipe. Cars stopped constantly, all day and all night, to fill up containers with the clear, good tasting water.  The campground host explained that people come from as far as Phoenix to get water that is drinkable.  Made me very grateful to live in a place where the water from our tap is plentiful and good.

Sedona is an interesting town.  It’s a spiritual destination for many people who come to experience the energy and healing of the Sedona vortices.  A vortex is a place where there is an unusual conflation of energy entering and leaving the earth. These places have been described all over the world at sites like the great pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge in England, and Machu Picu in Peru. Some may view this idea with skepticism, but it makes sense to me.

 

The town itself is full of interesting shops, restaurants, and health practitioners of all kinds.  It’s surrounded by magnificent red rocks.

 

Andy and I procured a map of the vortex sites from the visitor center in town and took two hikes based on what we learned.  The first hike was the West Fork trail along Oak Creek.

The other vortex was at Cathedral Rock.  We climbed about half way up and had a grand view.

Both these hikes left me feeling oddly wrung out, even though I appreciated the beauty of the sky and the stillness of the rocks as we walked and climbed.  We left a little shrine for Mike on Cathedral Rock.

I sat by the collection of stones, feathers, and flowers that I had gathered and looked out over the vista, missing my brother.

After the hikes we went to a lovely church built into the side of the mountain.  We sat in silence for a while and lit candles for Mike and Tricia.  We lit one for Andy’s late wife Leslie, too.  Later that evening as we sat by our campfire, the tiredness and sadness that had surrounded me was replaced by a sense of peace and comfort.  It had been a powerful day.  The vortex thing still makes sense to me.

And ps…my feet had been painful for several days; lots of hiking over rough terrain. My heels had deep cracks and looked pretty nasty.  I fished around in the first aid kit and found the bottle of Oil of Sol.  Mike recently concocted a batch of this based on his memory of an old time liniment that was used for cuts, burns, rashes, and other skin ailments.  I can’t reveal the recipe, but will say that it involves turpentine and linseed oil, among other things. I smeared some over the bleeding cracks and hoped it would help; I was starting to limp.  The next morning there was a marked improvement; the day after that the cracks were healed. Thanks Mikey!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, April 30

We drove through Death Valley as we started making our way north to Yosemite.  I was surprised by the variety of colors and textures in this wild and desolate looking desert.  We stopped once to walk up to an over-look, but didn’t get to do any hiking. We would like to come back, but it wouldn’t be in summer.  It gets over 120 degrees in July and August!

Sunday April 23-Wednesday, April 26                                                                               Maswik Lodge and Mather Campground, South Rim

It was a beautiful drive out of Zion and through Utah to Arizona.  I tried to capture some of the landscape from the car.

We made a stop at this very interesting park.

Although this volcano last erupted around AD 1066, when you walk through the lava flow it seems to have happened much more recently.  It’s an eerie scene of lava rocks with some regeneration of vegetation.

We made a reservation at one of the lodges at Grand Canyon for our first night, because we didn’t know what time we’d arrive.  This park is like a small city; there are many choices of lodging, restaurants, stores, campgrounds, etc.  And lots of people; even at this time of year.

Our first glimpse of the canyon was Desert View, which is near the east entrance to the South Rim of the park.  The North Rim doesn’t open until later in the season, so we didn’t get to see that part.  Even though the skies were overcast and the colors muted, looking out over that incredible vastness is a jaw-dropping experience.

It was great to climb the tower and look out over the miles.

By serendipitous good fortune, we got to spend a little time with our good friends from Belfast, David and Linda Smith.  They arrived the same day.

We walked around the village for a bit, enjoyed a nice dinner, and got up early the next morning to explore and hike.  Linda, with family and friends, hiked ALL the way down into the canyon and back up on the SAME DAY.  This is an amazing accomplishment, as the hike is 16 miles and its more than a mile of change in elevation in both directions.  She’s my hero!

Andy and I hiked about a mile down and back on the Bright Angel trail.  Even that short distance was pretty strenuous.

We spent the next two nights in Mather Campground, which was fine; I forgot to get a picture, but we would definitely camp there again.  We had a chance to explore many shops and exhibits and do some hiking on the rim trail, which offers lots of amazing views.

Mike and Tricia rode mules down into the canyon years ago and talked a lot about what a great time they had, so we wanted to have the same experience. Unfortunately, rides down and back on the same day aren’t offered anymore, so we did the next best thing and took a ride around the rim.  It was a lot of fun.  My mule was named Tater Tot and Andy’s was Josephus.

I will post a few of the hundreds of pictures I took with a caveat: there is no way to photograph the over-whelming majesty of this place. I can’t describe with words or pictures the feelings I experienced walking, riding, and standing on the rim.  The best word I can bring to it is reverence. For the power of God’s creation, for the timeless, patient history of the natural world and our tiny, tiny, part in it. Just remembering makes me a little teary.  If you haven’t seen it, and there’s any way you can get there, go!!

We had a long day’s drive across Southern Utah.  It sure is a beautiful! We didn’t have a chance to stop in Capitol Reef NP, but did drive through and take some photos.

We thought we would find a place to camp on our way to Zion, but failed to realize that we were passing through some very high mountains.  We went higher and higher, and finally came to an unplowed road and a big barricade.

We backtracked and found another way to get to Center City, a town near Zion.  We spent the night in a motel there and got up early the next morning to arrive at the park by 7:30am.

We knew we had to be there early in order to secure a coveted campsite.  It was a two hour wait at the South Campground, but we didn’t mind, because we were rewarded with a great spot.

This was the view from our site, and believe me, the photo doesn’t do it justice.

Andy has become an expert fire builder, splitting kindling and laying the wood just so to create a fire with just one match!  He has tried to teach Buzz to help with the splitting, but the little guy can only do so much.

In the Old Testament, Zion is more than just a mountain in Jerusalem.  Theologically, Zion is the Holy Hill; God’s dwelling place.  I can understand why Mormon settlers named this place Zion.  Fleeing west to escape religious persecution for their polygamous lifestyle, surely they believed that God was with them in this place of beauty and magnificence.  I was pretty awed myself.

We hiked the Watchman Trail, which took us up on the mountain right behind our campsite.  There were a few steep drop offs and the climb was a bit strenuous, but certainly worth it!

Bryce Canyon is only a short distance from Zion, so it was easy for us to take a day trip.

Yes, it’s amazing too!  The outlandish rock formations are known as hoodoos. The colors and the landscape are really charming. I was thinking of our own Bryce and wishing she could see this magical place.

We had a day hike down into the canyon on one of the many trails in the park. We would definitely like to come back and camp at Bryce…there are a lot more great hikes here!

Here are some more pictures from our last day at Zion.  More hiking, more awe-this park could very well end up being our favorite.

FYI-if you’re into off road vehicles, Utah is your Mecca.  Just saying.

Tuesday, April 18

The campground at Arches is closed for renovation, but the park is very close to Canyonlands, so we were able to spend a day there hiking and drinking in the landscape.

We elected to do four short hikes for a total of about 6 miles.  This strategy is working well for us; instead of taking a day long hike in one part of the park, we can cover several areas and still get in some miles.

Today we saw Balanced Rock

Landscape Arch

Park Avenue

and Windows

You can see from the photos that we had a perfect day.

I’ll always remember the color of those rocks against that sky…magnificent!!

 

 

 

April 17-19

Pasture Creek Campground-Bureau of Land Management

We knew it would be tough to find a campsite in this popular park, and sure enough, the campgrounds were full.  Fortunately, a helpful park ranger directed us to several campgrounds right outside the park that are run by the Bureau of Land Management.  We found a great spot in the Pasture Creek Campground.

We are lucky!! The fee is $4.00 per night with our Senior Access Pass.  By the way, if you’re 62, you can buy one of these for $10.00, and that’s good for a lifetime.  You get free admission to all of the national parks, and at most of them, you get half price camping fees.  Many state and National Forest/BLM areas also offer a half price discount.  Such a deal!

There’s no water, but we did have a pit toilet.  It was one of the most beautiful spots so far.  No RV’s, no lights, no noise.  Big skies, stars, stillness.

We were at the southern end of the park, known as Needles.  We didn’t get to the northern end, which is called Island in the Sky.  I’d like to see that part, although Needles is so beautiful…no disappointments here.

We did two hikes; Slickrock Trail and Cave Spring Trail.  Slickrock is all stone; the trail is marked by rock cairns.  The views are amazing, and the trail was fun because the terrain is so different than what we’ve been used to.  We did manage to get off the path and spend some time wandering around and wondering if we’d be able to find our way back.  (We did.)

The other hike took us past a former cowboy camp and some pictographs along the way.

Buzz liked this hike a lot, and so did we.

I’ve been looking forward to the Utah parks, and Canyonlands is a great beginning!

 

April 15-17                                                                                                                                 Farview Lodge

The campground in Mesa Verde is not open for the season yet, so we stayed at the Far View Lodge, which is inside the park.  It was a nice treat to stay at this lovely lodge, which has a very good restaurant. I had Elk Wellington one night!  Very civilized.

Visiting Mesa Verde was a different experience than the other parks we’ve seen so far.  The emphasis has been on the natural world; places on our earth that don’t need human intervention and seem to shake off efforts to be tamed or exploited.  In Mesa Verde the emphasis, at least for me, centers on the human story; the impact that the native people had on these cliffs and mesas, and the legacy they left.

Peublo people lived here from around 550 to 1300 CE.  There are thousands of archaeological sites here that trace the development of their dwellings; from simple pit houses on the tops of the mesas, to the famous cliff dwellings, to large masonry “condominium” buildings and agricultural villages.

We weren’t able to take a formal tour of the cliff dwellings because most of them are not open for the season, but we made several short hikes past sites of pit houses and agricultural scenes. One longer hike took us along a canyon wall to a petroglyph site.

I loved the handprints left by the artists.

We saw several dwelling places along the way.

\The ingenuity and engineering genius of the people who lived here is very impressive.  I didn’t have the feeling that their presence, for the few hundred years they stayed, left a negative impact. What they left is the story of a life centered around religion, community, and respect for the land.

There’s a lot to learn here.  We would like to come back some day when more of the cliff dwellings are open.  Memorial Day seems to be the real start of the season, so we’ll have to keep that in mind!!

And now, as Bryce would say, “on to the next dope adventure!!”

April 13-15

Mosca, Colorado

We cruised in and were lucky to get an excellent site in the campground.  In front of our tent were huge sands dunes (the tallest in North America) and beyond the dunes and to our side were snow capped mountains.

The dunes were formed from sand that was deposited by the Rio Grande.  When the glaciers that fed the river and its tributaries melted, the waters evaporated, and prevailing winds deposited the sand on the east edge of the valley.  Because of the mountains and two rivers that surround the dunes, the sand continues to be held there and shaped by the winds, changing every day.  It’s a desert that depends on mountains and water!

We love this park.  Where else can you hike a mile up a sand dune in the morning,

and find yourself on a snow covered mountain trail in the afternoon?

(OK, we only went up the dune about halfway.  It was wicked windy and we were being sand blasted.)

This was the view as we made dinner.

Andy and I have stopped saying, “wish we had more time here,” and started saying, “this is a place we should visit again.”  I think Great Sand Dunes has made the cut for sure.  There’s a place near by that rents sand sleds; I definitely want to try that.