Category: Trip Log

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On our way to the North Rim, we stopped and had lunch at a little restaurant/gift store in the last “town” before you get to there, Jacob Lake.

The waiter/photographer told us that the LA Times rated one of their sandwiches (a house special hamburger) the “best sandwich west of the Mississippi” and while I can’t claim the breadth of knowledge the LA Times has, it was pretty tasty.

After lunch, we stopped just outside of Jacob Lake as we saw a place that offered trail rides (on horses, in case that’s not obvious), which made Emma’s day

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An all too brief visit to Zion was on today’s agenda. We had a relaxed morning at the camp, then drove the hour to Zion. The drive into the park is pretty amazing to begin with, including the 1.1 mile tunnel through the sandstone, which was the longest in the country at the time of its completion in 1930. We stopped by the visitors’ center and got some ideas for what to do, attempting to avoid the hottest part of the day (the high for the day was supposed to be 105º). We decided to have a picnic lunch, and then we did a children’s program, which was about Bighorn Sheep today. At the program, we met a family that had also driven cross country, from Long Island. They are taking a seven week trip! That took until about 3:00, at which time we went and watched a movie about the park (20 minutes; very interesting geological history). After that, we felt ready for a hike, as the temperature was beginning to cool. We went along the Virgin River to a couple of waterfalls, and then Clara and I hiked up to a parallel trail, while the others went back along the original trail. At that point, we were all pretty hot and tired, and after an ice cream break we decided to head back. Good thing, too, because once we got back to camp, made and ate dinner, it was 9:30 before we got the kids to bed. And it gets cold here overnight — probably 45º in the early morning.

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For two nights, we are at Duck Creek campground in the Dixie National Forest. We have finally found a campsite that seems to suit us reasonably. Not too near a highway (though surprisingly, you can still hear traffic), no freight trains, not too many bugs. Here we’ve also been able to scrounge sufficient firewood, rather than having to buy at the exorbitant campground prices.

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Today we visited Bryce Canyon, and it is an amazing place. We stopped at a couple of places for pictures, and hiked down into the canyon on a 1.3 mile loop. The hike took us past some very cool structures, as we walked down pretty steeply about 500 feet, and then of course the same distance back up. We then had a nice dinner at the lodge, and stopped by a couple more scenic overlooks before driving to our campground for the night. Pictures later.

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Our home church is Calvary Church, United Methodist, but when we visit Susan’s folks, we worship at their church — Calvary Baptist Church of Denver. Their church is a large, vibrant congregation with all kinds of activities going on. They had a nice program for the children during the service.

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On the way home from Heritage Square, we made a brief stop at Red Rocks, the outdoor park and concert venue built into the (red) rocks.

Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Work Projects Administration (WPA) between 1936 and 1948

the natural amphitheater has played host to all sorts of acts, from the Beatles to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and everything between and outside.

Today, we drove just barely into the foothills to a place called Heritage Square, “a unique, delightful replica of a Western village with Victorian architecture.”

Includes authentic old west artifacts such as an alpine slide, a ferris wheel, and modern versions of the old time medicine shows…

We enjoyed a couple of rides down the alpine slide, and a turn on the ferris wheel, but also had fun at a children’s theater production of Pinocchio

which included lots of audience participation. Well done!

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Today’s big adventure was a ride into the mountains to St. Mary’s Glacier, which often has snow all year round. We parked at the bottom of a hill (already at 10,000′ elevation), and hiked 3/4 of a mile

up to a pretty little lake

where we had a picnic lunch

and then hiked further up to the glacier/snowfield, and then (tried to) hiked a little way up.

We watched some people skiing, and some snowboarding, and then we watched some people try to slide down the hill, but nobody we saw was able to stay in control or slow down. Four people basically crashed down the hill into a pile of rocks, and we later heard that one might have broken a leg. It was actually pretty frightening to see.

Aside from that, it was a nice day to be up there, even if our lungs were not quite ready to extract oxygen from the thinner air at that altitude.