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| Along Page's Rim Trail |
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| Overlooking Glen Canyon Dam and Bridge |
When we had tried to book a campsite near Zion National Park a few weeks ago, we were finding everything booked up for the time slot we wanted. We eventually worked our search out further and found the Hitch-n-Post in Kanab Utah had room for us. It is only about a 30 mile drive to the east entrance to Zion and the drive through the park is only another 12 miles.
The drive from Page to Kanab is only 76 miles so we weren't in a big hurry. We made two stops along the way. There is room for our rig at the Glen Canyon Dam so we stopped to check out the movie about the dam construction. Next we stopped at the Big Water Visitor Center not far across the Arizona/Utah border. There was room for the rig and had some interesting dinosaur displays. There was one more place we wanted to stop at but we were unsure we could fit in the parking lot. So we would drive back to the Rimrocks Hoodoos a few days later.
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| Traffic Jam at Big Water Visitor Center |
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| Some Dinosaur Skulls on Display |
Since we got in early enough, after we got setup, we went out for a local hike in Kanab - Tom's Canyon Trail. This one starts in a nice residential area and follows a pretty nice trail back up into the canyon. Other than one guy walking his dog heading out just as we were starting, we had the trail to ourselves. The round trip distance was about 3 miles and there were 4 geocaches along the way. This is a very pretty area and the people living here have some wonderful views.
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| Near the End of Tom's Canyon Hike |
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| Nice Day for a Hike |
On our first full day in Kanab, we headed over to Zion. The drive there is pretty but it becomes amazing once inside the park. By coming in the east side of the park, there seemed to be a little less traffic getting thru the booths. We drove through the park to the visitor's center which is close to the west entrance. The mile long tunnel on this drive brought back memories of our cross country tandem trip. We had waited for twenty minutes trying to find someone willing and able to transport us since no bikes or pedestrians are permitted. Eventually the park employee felt sorry for us and gave us the lift we needed. Much less drama going through this time with the Jeep.
The park was very crowded but we managed to find a parking spot. After checking out the visitor's center, we headed to catch the shuttle bus. Zion has closed the main road to most of the tourist destinations to passenger vehicles but offers a free shuttle service with a series of 8 stops. Our first stop is #5 - Zion Lodge. The trailhead for the Emerald Pools Trail is just across the street. This trail had just recently re-opened after being damaged by a rock slide. The trail is uphill but is paved up to the Lower Pool. There was a little commotion when we got there. It seems like a person had slipped on wet rocks and hit her head. She seemed okay but was a little muddy. The hike to the Middle Pool was a little more challenging with a real trail and sand covered rocks making it slippery in spots. We had to continue up to the Upper Pool since we were this close. The biggest problem with the rest of the trail wasn't the trail but the sheer number of people going up and down.
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| Not Much Water Over the Falls |
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| Upper Emerald Pool |
We decided to hopefully avoid the crowds by heading to the Grotto from the Middle Pool rather than going back to the lodge. It was a nice hike and there it was definitely a less crowded route. After eating our lunch at the Grotto, we hopped on the shuttle and went one stop to visit Weeping Rock. The path is short, steep and paved. It was also very crowded. The place is interesting because the upper sandstone layers let water pass through but it then hits a lower, less porous rock so the water moves laterally and weeps out of the wall. All this water creates a great environment for all sorts of plants to grow.
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| Crossing Virgin River Near Grotto |
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| NOT UPSIDE DOWN! Plants Hanging at Weeping Rock |
Afterwards we hop on the shuttle and go to the last stop. We do the Riverside Walk which is an easy paved path along the river. After a mile, you reach the "Narrows". Normally people are permitted to continue the walk in the water heading up into some steep canyon areas. Unfortunately the water flow was too great so that portion was off limits the day we were there. All along this trail were the most tame squirrels we have every encountered. They seem to have gotten used to people feeding them so they are now completely fearless. There were several that I nearly stepped on since they were constantly underfoot. This was another pretty area but was approaching being too crowded to really enjoy it. I cannot image what it is like later in the summer months.
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| View Along Riverside Walk |
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| Feed Me! |
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| On the Drive Back Through Zion |
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| Checkerboard Mesa |
After our overpopulated trip to Zion, we opted to do something more remote the following day. We headed back east of Kanab to visit the Rimrock Hoodoos. The parking lot was not huge but we possibly could have gotten the motorhome with Jeep in here if the number of other vehicles already here was low. It is about a half mile walk back to the hoodoos. At times it wasn't perfectly clear which path to follow. Sometimes following the wash was easier but not always. There were maybe a dozen other people here so we eventually figured out which way to go.
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| Delicate Looking Hoodoo |
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| Rock Color Variation |
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| Out of This World Landscape |
The hoodoos were interesting although I was expecting them to be a bit larger than they are. We explored around the general vicinity and then headed back to the car to drive up Johnson Canyon Road which more or less makes a loop around the northeast corner of Kanab. Apparently the TV show Gunsmoke was shot in this area. Some of the run down buildings are still visible from the road. There were several geocaches along the route allowing us to stop and soak in the sights. The last 7 miles were dirt road but it was in reasonable shape.
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| Buildings from Gunsmoke |
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| Along Johnson Road |
On the way back into Kanab we stopped to grab a couple caches that are part of a Utah Geotour. What is a geotour? It is a series of caches put out by some organization - in this case the state of Utah. We have done several of these over the years with the last one being in West Virginia. For this one, they have placed 5 special caches in each of the 29 counties in Utah. To qualify for the special coin, you must find at least 3 of 5 caches in at least 10 of 29 counties. Since we are heading up through the center of the state on our way north, there is a chance we might be able to accomplish this. I guess only time will tell.
We want to explore Zion some more but don't want to deal with all the people. Chris had found a really well done website - Joe's Guide to Zion National Park (http://www.citrusmilo.com/zionguide/). If you are heading to Zion, the info on this site is worth checking out. Clear Creek isn't an official hiking trail but it is just off the main park road in from the east. We parked in a pullout just before going through the first, short tunnel. Then we just walk across the road and head down the side of the bank to the creek bed. The walking is pretty easy. There are some sandy spots where the walking is slow going. Sometimes you can see vehicles driving on the park road above us but other times the creek moves far enough from the road that you feel isolated.
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| Framed Tree |
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| Along Clear Creek |
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| Snake Sunbathing in Sand Along Clear Creek |
We went a total of 3 miles before we got to a section where we ran into water and this water looked pretty deep and was at least 25 feet across. The smell of the water is what forced us to turn around here. We had just gotten past where the second, long tunnel entrance is so we climbed up the bank and headed across the road to do the Canyon Overlook Trail. There are dozens of cars parked along the road here which will mean there are loads of people on this trail. There are some very large drop offs along this trail but most of them have some sort of railing up so Chris does okay with it.
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| Entrance to Tunnel Viewed from Canyon Overlook Trail |
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| Possibly Indian Paintbrush |
The views from the overlook are quite impressive. We sat down in the shade of a large rock outcropping to eat our sandwiches. There was one chipmunk that was quite bold and approached us with hope in its eyes. I was eventually forced to use my hiking stick to keep it back six feet. It finally gave up and probably went to find another victim. The crowds that come to Zion cover all ages, races and hiking abilities. Trail etiquette is something many of them are clueless about. Even more surprising were the people in flip-flops and Crocs.
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| View From Overlook with Switchbacks |
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| As Close As Chris Would Go |
We head back to the road and then find a reasonable approach to get back to Clear Creek. The 3 miles back to the car is uphill but it is so gradual it really doesn't affect the hike. We ran into a couple and their kid on the way and stopped to chat with them. It turns out he was originally from the Cincinnati area - I had a UC shirt on. And even more bizarre was that he went to grad school at the University of Rochester. Considering we had only crossed path with a dozen people on this trail, to find someone with that many connections with us was highly unexpected.
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| Lots of Cactus Blooms |
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| Clear Creek |
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| Strange Water Routes |
One thing we had missed on the way down the creek was a huge boulder in the middle of the creek that happened to have a good sized tree growing right in the middle of it. I suspect that as long as neither get washed away during some flash flood, the tree will eventually split break the rock completely apart. Maybe we will need to come back in 10 or 15 years to see the outcome.
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| Water Worn Rocks |
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| Tree in Rock |
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| Closeup of Tree in Rock |
Since this hike ended up being over seven miles, we headed back to Kanab without going into Zion any further. On the drive back we stopped at a spot with a geocache called hole in the wall. The cache itself wasn't in the hole since the hole is there as a path for water from a ravine on the other side of the road to go thru during heavy rains. It was dry at this point, so we just had to explore. It is tall enough to walk in and maybe only 125 feet long. Pretty neat. I suspect 99.9% of the people driving this part of the road are completely unaware what they are driving over.
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| Want Some Pie? |
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| Hole in the Wall |
One of the other attractions in the Kanab area is Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Some people may remember this place from a television series on the National Geographic Channel named "Dogtown". It aired between 2008 and 2010. We used to watch the show religiously and always thought that would be an interesting place to visit, but it being in southern Utah kept us from every getting here. Until now. They offer several different tours each day so we signed up for two of them. One to see the Dogtown specific areas and then another one that tours all the areas.
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| At the Visitor's Center |
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| Watching Hummingbirds While Waiting for Tour |
Each tour was a group of 6 to 8 visitors and the guide. We had a short orientation video and then jumped into large vans to be driven around the property. This place is big - 3700 acres big! There are dozens of building scattered here and there with each one seeming to have a very specific mission. Obviously we only drove past most of them while the guide gave us a description of what goes on in each one. We did get to stop at a couple buildings. One is the puppy center. They actually only had about 8 puppies there but normally there are 20 to 30. We got to meet two dogs on one of the tours and another on the second tour.
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| Each Building has a Name |
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| Getting to Meet "Zook" |
Another stop was at a building specifically for dogs that have anxiety issues. The woman working here describes all the work they do to attempt to get the dogs over these issues so they are more adoptable. On the full tour we drove past the horse and pigs but I don't think either of those animals would work well with our current lifestyle. There were multiple cat buildings. We toured the one with cats that have special needs - like blindness, diabetes, etc. The facility was amazing. These cats have it made and I'm not sure if one were to be adopted, the new family would have any chance of coming close to the level of care they have become accustomed to. The covered patio area has heavy gauge wire screening to kept them in and predators out. They have all sorts of things to climb up on including in the rafters overhead. There is even a litter box up there. One cat took a liking to me but I still think I'm more of a dog person even though a cat may work out well as a pet in an RV.
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| Cats Overhead |
Based on the TV show, I had a very favorable impression of Best Friends. Seeing it in person only confirmed the work they do here is top notch. After the tours, we headed to a geocache nearby. There is a natural amphitheater that obviously is used for parties or receptions. There even was what appeared to be a dance floor. The sanctuary also has a 2 spot campground but it sounds like it is usually booked out 8 months. They have a staff of a few hundred and thousands of volunteers. We might need to consider coming back in the future and spending some time working here.
We had one more day to spend but we decided to explore some of the surrounding towns rather than heading back to Zion. Don't get me wrong, Zion is beautiful and we did enjoy it, but the crowds were just a bit overwhelming. We do much better with smaller crowds. We considered driving down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, but it's a 90 minute drive each way and when we explore that place we really want to spend some quality time, so we decide to do a big loop that heads down into Northern Arizona then west and back up into Hurricane Utah and then back through Zion on our way to Kanab.
Our first destination was Pipe Spring National Monument. This is one of the historical sites that is worth an hour or so to explore. The movie in the welcome center does a good job telling of the history of this place. In the mid 1800's, the Mormons settled in the area and built a fort over the spring that was used by many of the native Paiute people. We walked around the grounds and discovered there were a couple horses and a couple long horn cattle. The big bull has quite an impressive set of horns. He came over to the fence as we were checking him out and he whacked it pretty good before getting a drink.
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| Whitmore the Bull |
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| Mrs Whitmore |
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| Old Wagon Bottom |
We then went to check out the Fort and other buildings. Apparently the fort itself can only be entered as part of a tour with the ranger. She said the next one was supposed to be in 45 minutes but since another couple walked up at the same times us, she offered to give an unscheduled tour for us. The word fort conjures up something more substantial than what is actually there. It was more or less two buildings side by side with a courtyard in between and walls joining the two buildings. The ranger did a good job explaining the history and showing us how the people lived there.
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| Old Fort |
From there, the route generally headed to the northwest and we were back in Utah heading to the town of Hurricane. Several geocaches led us to the Hurricane Canal. This 7.5 mile canal was constructed in the late 1800's to divert water from the Virgin River and the town of Hurricane was created because of it. We hiked along part of the trail that is next to the now unused canal. We did enough of it to see a bridge that went over a ravine and immediately to a tunnel thru the hillside. I walked far enough (~50 feet) to see light at the end of the tunnel but the tunnel's height forced me to bend over at the waist and wasn't the most pleasant experience. Plus Chris was not willing to enter the tunnel so continuing on wasn't an option anyway.
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| Look Closely - Toilets Hanging Off Posts |
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| Heading to Bridge and Tunnel of Hurricane Canal |
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| Entrance to Tunnel |
The next stop was a real quick one. We stopped in the town of Virgin. When we had bicycled through this town 26 years ago, we had taken a picture of Chris by the sign for town. We felt obligated to recreate the photo, plus it helped that there was a geocache situated there.
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| Chris Poses |
The ghost town of Grafton is back off the main road and not super easy to find needing to follow a few dirt roads. There are a few buildings remaining and they have been, or are in the process of being restored. It was neat to walk around and check them out on a beautiful afternoon. The cows in the pasture probably don't thoroughly appreciate the incredible views they have.
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| Nicely Restored Grafton Home |
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| These Cows Have a Great View |
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| Old Cabin |
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| Grafton Cemetery |
The town of Springdale is quite the bustling spot nowadays compared to our last time thru. Hotels, motels, restaurants and campgrounds were everywhere as were many other shops. Plus the town was crowded. This is definitely where most of the Zion visitors come from each day. A quick stop at the Zion visitor center to stamp our National Park Passport that we had forgot to bring the other day. All that was left was to return to Kanab so we could start getting ready to head north to Bryce Canyon the next morning.
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