Utah's Awesome Beauty

Yesterday was our day to visit Zion National Park and have our senses overloaded by the awesome beauty.  Today we hiked one of the trails in Snow Canyon State Park and viewed scenery on a smaller scale, but of no less beauty.  Since we are amateur photographers at best, there was no way to adequately recreate the visual experience for sharing with friends and family.  But we gave it our best shot (or should I say our best "shots").

The last couple of days have brought a change in weather.  It has been overcast and highs only in the 70's.  Cloudy skies presented more of a challenge in capturing good images, but it did mean that we could enjoy today's tromp through the desert without the heat that we experienced over the weekend.

If we had more time to spend at Zion yesterday, a hike there would have been ideal, too.  As it was, we did the basic tourist shuttle bus tour to get a sense of what's there.  We came through the South Entrance of the park and the Zion Scenic Drive that leads up into the canyon is open to shuttle buses only.  The buses were very convenient, passing frequently at the scheduled stopping points and on the way up providing a narrative of the history and features in the park.

We waited to get off until the end of the drive.  Here the Riverside Walk trail makes it possible to continue on foot a mile or so further into the canyon along the Virgin River, to what's called The Narrows.  At this point, if the river is not too high (which was not the case yesterday) it is possible to continue the hike by wading, walking and sometimes swimming in the river.  Even if we had been planning a hike and if the river wasn't too high, I'm not sure that hike would appeal to me.

Two hikers got on at the Big Bend shuttle stop and described their day's hike to us.  Now that's a hike that has more appeal to me.  They had just completed the hike to Angel's Landing and I was very envious when I peered out the bus window up at the huge formation they described ascending.  Maybe someday.

We did a second short walk at Weeping Rock, just high enough to see the feature.  Another trail branched off from here to a winding 8-mile ascent through Echo Canyon to a viewpoint of Zion Canyon.  By craning our necks upward we could see hikers way up the cliffs above us making their way slowly to the top.  Sure made me feel like a wimp to go back down to the shuttle stop and wait for the bus.

I was glad we got to see as much of the park as we did.  There's a peaceful feeling that you get there that's hard to put into words.  The canyon was named Zion by early pioneers because it provided such a sense of peace and safety.  Dwarfed by the outsized features and incredible landscape many of the names given to the stone monoliths were inspired by Bibical references.  One of my favorite spots was Court of the Patriarchs where the peaks had been named Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in 1916 by  Frederick Vining Fisher, a Methodist minister.

Today we did get out and do some walking on a couple of the trails in Snow Canyon State Park.  When you view our photos on Picasa, after the few meager offering of Zion photos, there are some selected from the many that we took today.  It was hard to resist not only the views, but also, the treat of seeing many different flowers in bloom.  Unfortunately, I haven't had time to research the names of the flowers.

Hope you enjoy the photos.  I just wish it were possible to do a better job of sharing all that we have seen and experienced in Utah.

St. George, Utah

 Today we crossed over into the southwestern corner of Utah, arriving at the town of St. George.

St. George is one of the places that has been on our list of possible locations where we would like to settle.  We haven't had time yet to see much of it, but we are very impressed with what we have seen.  

Temperate climate is one of the selling points of the city and we very much appreciated that aspect today.  We left Phoenix on Saturday and as we've traveled through Arizona, Nevada and Utah the last several days the temperatures have soared.  We have been in some places that are normally quite warm,   but everyone says that these temperatures are much higher than normal for April.

Saturday's drive from Phoenix took us as far as Kingman, Arizona, where we spent the night.  Part of the route that day went through a scenic desert area forested with the interesting cactus called the Joshua Tree.  I had seen these treelike cacti in California but didn't realize that they grow in parts of Arizona and Nevada, as well.

On Sunday we drove from Kingman, Arizona, across the Hoover Dam into Nevada.  Many years ago when I had crossed the Hoover Dam the road was on top of the dam.  There is now a recently constructed  bridge, a real engineering marvel, that was built to route the highway off the dam.

Highway bypass bridge at Hoover Dam

In order to get a view of the dam there is a separate sightseeing area that allows you to climb up to a walkway along the bridge.

View of Hoover Dam from highway bridge.

Behind Hoover Dam is the large Lake Mead Recreation Area.


On Monday we drove along the 65-mile Northshore Road, reaching our camping site for the night at Valley of Fire State Park.

Camping in the rocks at Valley of Fire reminded us of the camping at City of Rocks in New Mexico.  However, the accommodations at Valley of Fire were much more luxurious.  And the temperatures here at night did not cool down at all.  The highs that afternoon had been over 100 degrees and we did not need our sleeping bags to keep us warm for the first time in any of the camping we've done this year.

Rainbow Vista at Valley of Fire State Park.

Now that we are in St. George we expect that our sightseeing will lead us to more beautiful desert vistas and colorful geological formations.  Tonight we are camped at Snow Canyon State Park, just outside the city--not as isolated as Valley of Fire or City of Rocks, but a very worthwhile visit.  And since St. George has been called "the launching point to Zion National Park" we have much more yet to see.

Arizona Adventures

When the summer heat would hit Virginia, the standard phrase I used to compare Virginia's heat to years I'd spent in the southwest, was "it's a dry heat."  I guess that's why I thought this postcard was so hilarious.

Our first couple of days in Phoenix were quite chilly, as a storm front had passed through the state bringing clouds, wind and cooler than normal temperatures.  Fortunately, we didn't need to be out in the weather, but, instead, were spending time at Agnes' house in Chandler, AZ.  Agnes was a wonderful hostess.  It had been a long time since we had been there for a visit and we had lots of catching up to do.

The three of us took a Sunday afternoon drive north of Phoenix to visit the experimental community of Arcosanti.

One of the residential areas of Arcosanti.

It only took a couple of days for the weather to warm back up again and by Monday we were out enjoying the abundant sunshine riding our bicycles on the Paseo Trail along the Consolidated Canal, from Chandler up to Gilbert.  We combined this with a day to have some work done on our car, taking a detour from the bike path to go back through town after the shop called to let us know the car was ready for pickup.

Tuesday we left Phoenix and drove down to Tucson to spend some time camping at Catalina State Park.  That's when the weather seriously began to heat up.  On the web page for Catalina State Park I noticed a Climate chart that showed the average April high temperature to be 73 degrees.  Since we've been here the daily highs have been in the 90's--more like July temperatures.

We've learned to adjust to the heat, making sure that we always have plenty of water and access to shade.  Catalina is close enough to urban areas that we can also retreat to air conditioned stores or visitor centers.  For example, at the present we are comfortably working on our computers in the heat of the day at the public library in downtown Tucson.

Love the desert in bloom.

 

Relaxing in camp at Catalina State Park.

 

A glimpse of a roadrunner dashing through the campground.

Hiking at Picacho Peak State Park on the way to Catalina State Park.

Barrel cactus on Picacho Peak trail, saguaro cactus in background.

Hiking the Romero Canyon Trail in Catalina State Park.

On the Romero Canyon Trail, in the distant background is Picacho Peak, where we had hiked the day before.

Destination on Romero Canyon Trail was to several small pools at a stream crossing up the canyon.

This weekend we plan to leave southern Arizona and make our way to St. George, Utah.  We have heard good things about the city as a retirement destination, but neither of us has been there.  I'm hoping there'll be time for a visit to Zion National Park, as well.  The journey continues.

Desert Camping

In April, desert camping is definitely preferable over camping in the mountains.  After our shivering experience at the Bluewater Lake campground last week we basked this week in the much warmer temperatures at 2 state parks in southern New Mexico.

We camped for 2 nights at Leasburg Dam State Park near Las Cruces, NM.  Last month on our way up to Albuquerque we had stopped for a brief visit in Las Cruces and had been dismayed at the lack of water in the Rio Grande River.  The Upper Mesilla Valley is heavily dependent upon agriculture and the Rio Grande provides the water needed for irrigation.  The Leasburg Dam was actually built to channel Rio Grande River water into Mesilla Valley irrigation canals.  Between our last visit and this visit we were amazed to see the difference in the amount of water in the river.  Elephant Butte Dam further upriver had been opened the end of March to allow more water to flow downstream.

Leasburg Dam on the Rio Grande River near Las Cruces.

Enjoying a stroll on a trail along the Rio Grande at Leasburg Dam State Park.

The one bike ride that we took while at Leasburg Dam was on the highway from the park back into Las Cruces. Almost the entire 15-mile trip was through the pecan orchards of the Upper Mesilla Valley where the spring irrigation of the orchards was very much in progress.

Another sign of spring that we enjoyed was the cactus in bloom in the desert around the park.

The other New Mexico State Park that we spent 2 nights at was City of Rocks State Park in the southwestern part of the state between Deming and Silver City. This was probably the most unusual place that I've ever camped. The park is a geological wonder of huge boulders in the desert in the middle of nowhere beneath some of the darkest night skies in the country where the stars truly light up the night sky.  The campsites are tucked away in amongst the boulders.  The paths between the boulders are like streets of a city.  What a fun place to explore in the day and an absolutely peaceful and quiet place to spend the night.

 Our campsite at City of Rocks State Park.

 


Sunset at City of Rocks State Park.

















While camped at City of Rocks, we took a day trip north into the Gila National Forest to walk the Catwalk Trail a hanging walkway that follows the path of an old pipeline built along a stream in Whitewater Canyon. "Whitewater" is certainly an appropriate name for this stream that tumbles between the steep, narrow rock walls of the canyon. Even at this dry time of the year in the desert there was an amazing amount of water.

On the drive back to camp from the Catwalk we took a short side trip east of Silver City to view the open pit copper mine at Santa Rita. Grant County has been the most important metal-producing county in New Mexico. Low copper prices in recent years caused many mines, including this one, to be shut down, but last year the current owners, Freeport-McMorRan Copper and Gold, Inc., have restarted operations there.

Today we said goodbye to New Mexico and continued progress westward into Arizona. Tonight we are in a motel in Globe, Arizona, and tomorrow we head to Phoenix to spend time with family there.

Back to southern New Mexico.

We are glad to be back this evening to where it is warmer in the southern part of New Mexico.  After 2 nights in a campground it is also refreshing to be in a motel room again.

The snowfall that surprised us Tuesday in Albuquerque didn't stay around for long.  We had a couple of more days at our extended stay to enjoy activities in Albuquerque.  One of those days we drove up to the Jemez mountains and visited Jemez State Monument.  This was an opportunity to view some beautiful scenery and to tour the ruins of San Jose de los Jemez church that was built in the 17th century during Spain's colonization of New Mexico.

On Thursday we left Albuquerque and headed northwest, stopping at El Malpais National Monument.  We didn't have time to view the whole area, but headed to El Calderon, where there was a picnic area to eat lunch and then a short hike to view the volcanic formations.

Our endpoint for the day was Bluewater Lake State Park, where we set up camp, cooked dinner and then had time to walk up to a scenic overlook of the dam and lake.  It was quite overcast that evening, but the clouds cleared up during the night and there was no rain.  The weather change, however, did bring very strong winds the next day.  Most of that day was spent driving to Chaco Canyon, an important site in understanding the culture and history of the southwest, but, also, a very out-of-the-way place.  The last 20 miles of the drive was over an unpaved, rough dirt road.

This morning when we crawled out of our sleeping bags we didn't waste any time sitting around our campsite.  The temperatures overnight had plunged into the 20's.  The water that we had in our water bottles was frozen!  It was difficult taking down the tent and packing the car because without gloves our hands and fingers were numb.

But 250 miles later we are in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where it was 80 degrees this afternoon.  We wanted to be back to civilization this evening so that we could attend Easter Sunday services tomorrow.  After that, if the weather looks promising, we will do some more camping.  But this time it should be a lot warmer!

Photos of this week's activities are on Picasa.

April Fools

No bike riding today!

With the arrival of April, we thought our travels in the southeast and southwest had enabled us to escape winter snows. Not so, as we found out this morning in Albuquerque. After listening to a steady rain all through the night, we were greeted at first light this morning with the sight of big, white snowflakes coming down outside our motel window. We haven't seen this much snow since last winter in northern Virginia.

The moisture will be good for the desert, though, and all indications are that we will be back to warm, sunny weather in a couple of days.

It was amazing how quickly the weather changed. We had enjoyed warmer than usual temperatures over the weekend, close to 80 degrees on Sunday. That night the winds blew in the storm system and the highs yesterday were only in the 50's. The clouds gathered over the mountains yesterday afternoon and before everything was shrouded in gray we could see the snow up on the mountains. When the clouds clear again I'm sure there will be a lot of white up there.

Our stay in Albuquerque ends on Thursday when we plan to head back down to the southern part of the state and make our way into Arizona.

Before the stormy weather arrived we were finding enjoyable outdoor activities in the city and surrounding area.  We posted photos on Picasa, a hike on the Embudito Trail and a hike on the Three Gun Springs Trail.