And we’re off again, this time taking the Subaru on our annual winter pilgrimage to Zion National Park.
The nice thing about winter in Zion is that we can drive where we want and not have to take these damn shuttle busses around.
First stop on the drive was for lunch at Mom’s Café in Salina, Utah.
We first stopped here years ago and were unimpressed with the menu at the time.This year, we opted for conventional road food.I enjoyed a double bacon cheeseburger that was pretty damn good.
We turned down U.S. 89 and entered the park on the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway.A herd of bighorn sheep greeted us at a roadside potty stop.
It was late afternoon by the time we approached the Virgin River Canyon with the nearby cliffs blushing in the late afternoon sunlight.
We turned up the canyon to the lodge where we got keys to our cabin where we would bunk for the next four nights.
We had two full-size beds, a gas fireplace, a small desk and unlike a few years ago, the cabins now have decent Wi-Fi coverage.
Best of all, the view from our cabin was delightful.
Our first hike on this trip was one we’ve done on previous winter visits to Zion. We would walk to the three Emerald Pools. The trailhead lies across the river from the lodge.
It’s a relatively easy hike with most of the route on a paved trail.
There are three pools. We began with Lower Emerald Pool, which had a bit of snow and ice around it.
Next came Middle Emerald Pool, it’s surface mirroring the cliffs across the river.
And finally, we reached Upper Emerald Pool.
That night at dinner, I kept hoping that Jesus would stop by and turn this into wine, but that didn’t happen.
All good things must finally come to an end. We had two routes we could take to get home. One would have involved around 350 miles of freeway driving. The other would take us on a scenic drive through familiar Southeast Utah backcountry.
We, of course, chose the backcountry. Our first stop was in the town of Mt. Carmel Junction where we had breakfast at the Thunderbird Restaurant. Over the years, I’ve stopped here with every one of my wives and handful of girlfriends, but never together.
We next turned down Scenic Byway 12 and headed for a quick visit of Bryce Canyon.
From there, we continued on through Escalante to Boulder…
…where we turned down the Burr Trail…
…which we followed to the Notom-Bullfrog Road in Capitol Reef National Park.
We continued south to the marina town of Bullfrog in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
From there, it was on Stan’s gas station and “Burger Shak” in Hanksville for fuel and milkshakes.
From there, continued on to I-70, which we followed through the San Rafael Reef…
Part two of our autumn “vacation” began about three hours late. Dianne was in Dallas attending a LifeVantage meeting, and her flight back to civilization arrived three hours late in the Grand Valley.
I picked her up at the Grand Junction International Airport, we rushed home by way of Jimmy Johns, ate our sandwiches, loaded the car and headed to Richfield, Utah, where we had reservations at the beautiful Super 8 Motel there.
Heading in a westward direction, we were treated to a stunning Utah sunset.
Super 8 Motels provide their guests with free breakfast.
Of course, this was NOT the Super 8 breakfast. We drove down Main Street to the Black Bear Diner and ate there. Much better.
Back on the road, we left Utah, skirted through North Las Vegas and headed for Death Valley.
Taking advantage of discounts offered by Xanterra, we booked two nights at The Ranch at Death Valley.
We were bunking in a duplex cottage suite…
…with a separate living room and bedroom
…and a great front porch to enjoy by day…
…and night.
I really, really like this place. We originally had a two night stay booked, but Dianne allowed me to add a third.
We wandered around the Ranch, checking out its open-air museum of artifacts from the Death Valley borax production days…
…and its fine dining options.
With the government shutdown, many of the places we wanted to explore were not open. We did find a few interesting sites to check out, however, including…
…the remains of the Harmony Borax Works…
…the view of Bad Water from Dante’s View overlook…
…and Zabriskie Point at sunset.
We also explored the Inn at Death Valley, the more upscale Xanterra property located nearby…
…where we had dinner reservations…
…with prickly pear margaritas…
…followed by steaks and wine.
After three nights at the Ranch, we set off for Nevada, Our route followed the eastern escarpment of the Sierra through California, passing by Mt. Whitney, highest peak in the Lower 48 states. I’ve climbed it a couple of times.
In Bishop, we stopped at Erick Schat’s Bakery for lunch.
This place has long been a mandatory stop for a loaf or two of their excellent cheese bread.
Continuing north, we passed Mono Lake…
…and continued into Carson City where we are staying in a Bed without Breakfast house next door to Dianne’s sister’s home.
We’ll be going from 190 feet below sea level to 4,687 feet above. I hope we survive the thin air.
The reason we came to Nevada was to celebrate Dianne’s father’s 100th birthday, her mother’s 94th birthday and their 75th wedding anniversary.
To celebrate these events, the offspring reserved the clubhouse at their housing development and invited around 75 family and friends to attend, most of whom actually showed up.
Of course, we had to take a shot of just members of the family, which included children, grand children, great grand children and now one great-great grandchild.
While some of the family still live in western Nevada, others had to fly in from Tennessee and Kentucky, while others drove here from Oregon, California, Idaho and, of course, Colorado. A good time was had by all.
The house sits next to Dianne’s sister’s home and while the owners are in Portugal, they allow members of the sister’s family to stay there. Of course, we never got to meet the owners, but I think we would like them.
I wish we had brought a bottle of some good Colorado wine to leave with them, but we seldom take the good stuff on the road.
Our route back to God’s Country took us across Nevada on U.S. Highway 50, the loneliest road in America.
It’s mostly 70 mph two-lane with an occasional turn.
We made a quick stop in the town of Eureka, one of the few outposts of civilization along the route.
Across the street from the Opera House sits the jail where my lovely wife revisited the spot where she spent some time in her younger days.
We continued into Ely, where Dianne’s nephew gave us a free room in a motel he now owns.
While the room was clean and comfortable, we did have to put up with a bit of road construction out front.
The next day, we headed out past Wheeler Peak and Great Basin National Park…
…and into Utah…
Where, of course, we stopped at Ray’s Tavern…
…for bacon cheese burgers and a glass of evolution amber beer.
Ninety miles later, we arrived at home…
…where a full beaver super moon soon poked through the naked cottonwood trees behind our patio.
I spent several days planning, organizing and reserving sites for a month-long trailer camping trip beginning in Utah before heading to Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks and then up to Nevada for my father-in-law’s 100th birthday.
Then the government shut down. We got a notice from Joshua Tree that our reserved campground would be closed for 2/3 of the days we would be there. I could work around that, but we were worried about what else might close or be closed for our planned visits. Making the best of the situation, we cancelled everything, eating over $100 in cancellation fees.
Instead, we kept our reservation at an RV park outside Capitol Reef National Park where we would be hiking with other members of the Colorado Mountain Club. Then we made reservations for a three-day stay in an RV park in Hanksville, Utah, where we planned to do some photography. From there, we would head to Green River for three days.
Our chapter of the Colorado Mountain Club (CMC) had an early October outing planned for Capitol Reef National Park. Unfortunately, we did not learn about the trip until it was too late to reserve a campsite in the park.
So, we did the next best thing and booked a site in a commercial RV park in nearby Torrey, Utah. It’s a nice enough campground, but as it is with most commercial RV parks, the sites are sandwiched close together.
The CMC outing was to be a three-night affair. We added an extra night to give me a day to research and photograph the Notom-Bullfrog Road for a Back-of-Beyond story for Utah Life magazine.
The mostly gravel road parallels a long wrinkle in the earth known as the Waterpocket Fold through the park and beyond.
We pulled into our campsite in Torrey at dusk and quickly hooked up our water and electric connections. We then checked the internet for the next day’s weather.
FLASH FLOOD WARNING it screamed at us.
I needed to think twice about my planned drive down a backcountry dirt road that crossed many, many normally dry washes. Years ago, we got stranded on the Hole in the Rock Road because of a flash flood. It was a multi-day, tuck-n-go situation trying desperately to keep the beer cooler in the shade to preserve what was left of the ice.
The morning dawned dry, so I decided to give the drive a try. I packed extra food and warm clothing into the truck and set off down the road. If it started to rain, I promised myself, I would immediately turn around and head back.
Of course, it did start to sprinkle, and of course, I continued driving. I could have bailed out at Bullfrog on the shores of Powell Reservoir…
…and taken the highway back, but I didn’t. Instead, I went with my original plan and doubled back to the Burr Trail Switchbacks and on to the little town of Boulder, Utah.
That meant I would have to once again cross the one and only truly patchy place on the Notom-Bullfrog road – a deep gully with a small stream running through. As a precaution, I went wimp and shifted into 4×4 low range. Went through like a champ.
I next had to climb the Burr Trail Switchbacks that zigzag up the cliffs…
…with a 12% grade. It’s steep and there are no guardrails. This is not the place for flatlanders to drive.
Years ago, the county was going to pave the Burr Trail all the way from Boulder to Bullfrog, including the miles in the park. Apparently, the National Park Service said, “Hell no, you’re not going to pave in the park!” Supposedly the county had to remove a bit of pavement they had poured onto park property. Once I left the park on the Burr Trail, I had pavement all the way.
The upper Burr Trail offered a beautiful drive with redrock cliffs and the golden cottonwoods of autumn. In Boulder, I turned onto Utah Highway 12 and followed it back to our campground in Torrey. It was here that the rain came down with a vengeance. I’m guessing that the slot canyons we were going to hike on the following days will be cancelled.
It rained through the night with drops of water drumbeating on the trailer roof. I felt sorry for anyone camping in a tent. With the rain continuing off and on through the morning, other of our CMC friends went for a hike. We decided to just stay warm and dry in our trailer. Tomorrow, we hike.
With the park’s Scenic Drive closed due to flooding, all 14 of us CMC hikers set out on the Cohab Trail, which begins with views of the Gifford Homestead below.
The route wanders by cliffs capped with domes of white rock.
The lighting was nice, and I lingered back taking photos.
About halfway along the trail, another trail breaks off and heads for Cassidy Arch, which was our group’s goal. Dianne and I had done that hike before, so we abandoned the group and continued down the Cohab Trail to its exit along Highway 24 across from the Hickman Bridge Trailhead.
We originally thought about hiking to Hickman, but when we saw the stuffed parking lot and cars parked along the highway for a quarter mile in each direction, we decided to avoid the crowd, We would just walk along the highway back to our truck, admiring sites and sights along the way.
We passed orchards…
…and walked the boardwalk past Capitol Reef’s somewhat unimpressive petroglyph panels.
Mostly we just looked around, enjoying the beauty of towering redrock walls…
…skirted with autumn’s golden leaves.
Tomorrow, we will pack up and make the long (56 miles) drive to Hanksville for a three-night stay at Duke’s.
