Las Vegas and Utah
We got back this morning (Saturday) to a hot, humid, and muggy Maryland. I want to go back. Here's a quick and basic recap of the week.
Last Friday, we flew out and our flight was delayed. Luckily, the second flight was also delayed so there was no problem with the layover. However, that did get us into Las Vegas an hour behind schedule. By the time we picked up the car and checked into the hotel, we were tired and only had two hours to lounge around until the rehearsal dinner, so we just relaxed in the hotel room. It was nice to see Bill and Teej again. We went out for drinks at the bar in front of the hotel.
Saturday, we did some shopping for necessities (sunscreen, etc.) and hung out at the pool until everyone else left. At that point, we drove up to the base of Mt. Charleston at nearly 8000 feet. Temperatures in the hollow/canyon were much cooler than they were down in the city. It was also neat to watch the vegetation change from a pretty scrubby desert to a more forested landscape with ponderosa pines. The real kicker, though, is that the mile gained in elevation is barely noticeable because the grade of the road is so shallow. We got back and changed for the wedding and had a good evening. We all went out for drinks again after the wedding, though the bride and groom were absent.
Sunday morning there was a brunch for Teej and Clare before they left for their honeymoon. We had breakfast and hung out with everyone one last time before leaving for Utah. The first stop was REI in Henderson where Erin spent almost $200 on apparel. Comfortable hot weather clothing is expensive. Then we continued down to the Hoover Dam, but decided not to take the tour. We just drove across, turned around, and drove back. Then we had the idea to make a scenic road trip out of the day. So rather than head back to the city to pick up I-15, we drove the lake drive through Lake Meade NRA which proved to be a fun little trip. It did mean we left Nevada in the dark and arrived at Zion rather late. But we had fun stopping at the overlooks and playing on some of the rock formations and exploring a couple of springs. One of the springs emptied into a pond full of cichlids and soft-shell turtles. We got to the park close to midnight and found a spot at a campground in town.
Monday morning, I got up early and secured us a Narrows permit for the next day. We packed up and took a campsite in the park and set out to explore. Since it was mid-day and hot, we decided on a less-strenuous hike and visited the Emerald Pools. When we got back, we had to go farther out into town to get food for camp and the backpacking trip. That took longer than expected as we had to travel far for appropriate food. I also had to secure us a shuttle to the top of the Narrows for the next day.
Tuesday, we sorta slept in, but broke down camp and made it in town for our 9:30 shuttle to Chamberlain's Ranch. The hour and a half drive atop the canyons was gorgeous and I wish I could have photographed the scenery up there, but I did get some shots from the trail head. We started in a mountain valley with grassy fields and trees under a hot sun, but a cool breeze and shade helped the atmosphere. It was very calm and tranquil up there. Three miles later, after hiking along a dirt road, we merged with the Virgin River. The water felt cold at first, but was quite pleasant to walk in as it warmed up throughout the day. The canyon walls got deeper and the rock formations more impressive until the river finally cut its way into a narrow gorge. The first half of the narrows was a very long 8 miles that seemed to go on forever. The hike itself wasn't very difficult and the scenery was gorgeous. There were points where the river ran wall-to-wall, but there were few spots deeper than your knees. All that changes when the Virgin meets up with Deep Creek, which provides 2/3 of the water flow in the second half of the hike. We were behind schedule and running the risk of getting caught in the dark when we made camp at campsite 4. Luckily, nobody was signed up for that spot. We were supposed to be at 5.
Wednesday, we woke up to a cool and overcast morning. It was the type of morning you like to sleep in to, but we couldn't because we had another 8 miles to go and the river was bigger. The sun did come out for a bit in the early afternoon, and we warmed up by the last campsite where a spring came out of the rocks as a waterfall right into the river. It was a beautiful site and a good place to stop and relax. But after campsite 12, there was a 2.5 mile stretch of narrow canyon with little high ground. With the sun shining, there was little to worry about. But as we entered the critical stretch of canyon, the sun disappeared and the sky went gray. We heard thunder in the distance and started to worry. As the thunder drew closer, we made the decision to climb up on a bank to high ground which was well above flash flooding levels, but not out of the way of other possible falling debris. If we had to, we could have made a small emergency camp up there. The thunderstorm hit overhead and we sat huddled in our rain gear trying to keep warm. When there was no sign of flash flooding in the immediate future, we decided to get the hell out of there and booked it as fast as we could down to the intersection with Orderville Canyon. The current was strong, the water was cold, the air was cold, and we were gripped with fear not knowing what the storm system was like. It ended up being a small and inconsiquential storm, but when we finally made it out of the narrows, we were both hypothermic, hungry, dehydrated, and exhausted. Because of the situation, I have no photographs of the beautiful, but critical stretch of canyon, and we did not get to make a side excursion up Orderville. However, we both decided to treat ourselves to a hotel room with a dry and comfortable bed and hot showers. We found cheap hotels in Hurricane, UT. After checking in, we saw a huge storm system heading over the mountains and toward the canyon's headwaters. We were glad not to be doing the narrows that night. The storm ended up dropping snow in the high elevations.
Thursday turned out to be gorgeous and sunny. It was cool and much of the haze had been blown away. We slept in and missed any chance of getting a campsite in the park, so we ended up back at the campground in Springdale again. I was feeling pretty good, but Erin was sore from the Narrows hike, so we took it easy and explored the terrain of the East side of the park above the tunnel. The land up there is riddled with smaller canyons of varying depths and widths. Some require technical gear to navigate and others are an easy walk along a flat and dry stream bed. We were planning on hiking up to Angel's Landing for sunset, but by the time we decided to go ahead and give it a try, we wouldn't have made it up before dark. So we night hiked the half mile trail just above the tunnel to the canyon overlook and ended up hearing a mystery cry, a spotted owl, and some foxes barking (at least, I think they were foxes). In the end, Erin may have been too sore for the hike anyway.
Friday was to be hot (90's) and sunny. I figured that we shouldn't do any serious hiking so we wouldn't be too smelly for the plane later that evening. I wanted to make an exploratory road trip out of the day anyhow. We went back up to the canyon overlook for a late-morning view and then poked around in town for a bit. Then we drove through the park one last time exiting on the east side and looping up to US 14 through the Dixie National Forest. As we climbed higher and higher in elevation, the desert gave way to open forest and eventually to a more alpine environment of spruces and aspens. We detoured to the Cedar Breaks National Monument which overlooks some canyons and formations similar to those found at Bryce Canyon. It also got us up above 10,000 feet where the temperatures were expected to reach a high of 65 for the day. It was much more pleasant up there. We were going to drive to the summit of Brians Head at 11,300 feet, but the snow from earlier in the week made the road a risky drive in the car we had. The views and alpine meadows at 10,500 feet would have to do. By late afternoon, we continued down to Cedar City, a 5000 foot drop, and picked up I-15 back to Las Vegas. At one point, after crossing back in to Nevada from the Virgin River Gorge in Arizona, we were well under 2000 feet, so in the course of a few hours, we had dropped from 10,500 ft. to under 2000. We made it to the airport with a perfect cushion of time before our flight. Unfortunately, there was a limited selection of dinner choices at the time.
So when we made it back to Vegas, temperatures were in the 80's and dropping for the evening. But for all the haze and pollution in the air, it was much more pleasant than the air in Baltimore this morning, which was so hazy, the scenery started fading within a few feet from you. We picked up the dogs and proceeded to veg out in the A/C. I dread going back to work in this heat.
I think I want to move to a high altitude area out west.
Photos to come later along with more details. Zion is not off my list of places to visit as we didn't make it to half the places we were going to get to. We never made it up Angel's Landing or to Observation point, and we never made it to the Kolob Canyons of the west side. I'd like to do the Narrows again to photograph what I missed, but I'd also like to do a technical trip into some other slot canyons. I'd also like to explore more parts outside the park. Utah, I'm not done with you.
Last Friday, we flew out and our flight was delayed. Luckily, the second flight was also delayed so there was no problem with the layover. However, that did get us into Las Vegas an hour behind schedule. By the time we picked up the car and checked into the hotel, we were tired and only had two hours to lounge around until the rehearsal dinner, so we just relaxed in the hotel room. It was nice to see Bill and Teej again. We went out for drinks at the bar in front of the hotel.
Saturday, we did some shopping for necessities (sunscreen, etc.) and hung out at the pool until everyone else left. At that point, we drove up to the base of Mt. Charleston at nearly 8000 feet. Temperatures in the hollow/canyon were much cooler than they were down in the city. It was also neat to watch the vegetation change from a pretty scrubby desert to a more forested landscape with ponderosa pines. The real kicker, though, is that the mile gained in elevation is barely noticeable because the grade of the road is so shallow. We got back and changed for the wedding and had a good evening. We all went out for drinks again after the wedding, though the bride and groom were absent.
Sunday morning there was a brunch for Teej and Clare before they left for their honeymoon. We had breakfast and hung out with everyone one last time before leaving for Utah. The first stop was REI in Henderson where Erin spent almost $200 on apparel. Comfortable hot weather clothing is expensive. Then we continued down to the Hoover Dam, but decided not to take the tour. We just drove across, turned around, and drove back. Then we had the idea to make a scenic road trip out of the day. So rather than head back to the city to pick up I-15, we drove the lake drive through Lake Meade NRA which proved to be a fun little trip. It did mean we left Nevada in the dark and arrived at Zion rather late. But we had fun stopping at the overlooks and playing on some of the rock formations and exploring a couple of springs. One of the springs emptied into a pond full of cichlids and soft-shell turtles. We got to the park close to midnight and found a spot at a campground in town.
Monday morning, I got up early and secured us a Narrows permit for the next day. We packed up and took a campsite in the park and set out to explore. Since it was mid-day and hot, we decided on a less-strenuous hike and visited the Emerald Pools. When we got back, we had to go farther out into town to get food for camp and the backpacking trip. That took longer than expected as we had to travel far for appropriate food. I also had to secure us a shuttle to the top of the Narrows for the next day.
Tuesday, we sorta slept in, but broke down camp and made it in town for our 9:30 shuttle to Chamberlain's Ranch. The hour and a half drive atop the canyons was gorgeous and I wish I could have photographed the scenery up there, but I did get some shots from the trail head. We started in a mountain valley with grassy fields and trees under a hot sun, but a cool breeze and shade helped the atmosphere. It was very calm and tranquil up there. Three miles later, after hiking along a dirt road, we merged with the Virgin River. The water felt cold at first, but was quite pleasant to walk in as it warmed up throughout the day. The canyon walls got deeper and the rock formations more impressive until the river finally cut its way into a narrow gorge. The first half of the narrows was a very long 8 miles that seemed to go on forever. The hike itself wasn't very difficult and the scenery was gorgeous. There were points where the river ran wall-to-wall, but there were few spots deeper than your knees. All that changes when the Virgin meets up with Deep Creek, which provides 2/3 of the water flow in the second half of the hike. We were behind schedule and running the risk of getting caught in the dark when we made camp at campsite 4. Luckily, nobody was signed up for that spot. We were supposed to be at 5.
Wednesday, we woke up to a cool and overcast morning. It was the type of morning you like to sleep in to, but we couldn't because we had another 8 miles to go and the river was bigger. The sun did come out for a bit in the early afternoon, and we warmed up by the last campsite where a spring came out of the rocks as a waterfall right into the river. It was a beautiful site and a good place to stop and relax. But after campsite 12, there was a 2.5 mile stretch of narrow canyon with little high ground. With the sun shining, there was little to worry about. But as we entered the critical stretch of canyon, the sun disappeared and the sky went gray. We heard thunder in the distance and started to worry. As the thunder drew closer, we made the decision to climb up on a bank to high ground which was well above flash flooding levels, but not out of the way of other possible falling debris. If we had to, we could have made a small emergency camp up there. The thunderstorm hit overhead and we sat huddled in our rain gear trying to keep warm. When there was no sign of flash flooding in the immediate future, we decided to get the hell out of there and booked it as fast as we could down to the intersection with Orderville Canyon. The current was strong, the water was cold, the air was cold, and we were gripped with fear not knowing what the storm system was like. It ended up being a small and inconsiquential storm, but when we finally made it out of the narrows, we were both hypothermic, hungry, dehydrated, and exhausted. Because of the situation, I have no photographs of the beautiful, but critical stretch of canyon, and we did not get to make a side excursion up Orderville. However, we both decided to treat ourselves to a hotel room with a dry and comfortable bed and hot showers. We found cheap hotels in Hurricane, UT. After checking in, we saw a huge storm system heading over the mountains and toward the canyon's headwaters. We were glad not to be doing the narrows that night. The storm ended up dropping snow in the high elevations.
Thursday turned out to be gorgeous and sunny. It was cool and much of the haze had been blown away. We slept in and missed any chance of getting a campsite in the park, so we ended up back at the campground in Springdale again. I was feeling pretty good, but Erin was sore from the Narrows hike, so we took it easy and explored the terrain of the East side of the park above the tunnel. The land up there is riddled with smaller canyons of varying depths and widths. Some require technical gear to navigate and others are an easy walk along a flat and dry stream bed. We were planning on hiking up to Angel's Landing for sunset, but by the time we decided to go ahead and give it a try, we wouldn't have made it up before dark. So we night hiked the half mile trail just above the tunnel to the canyon overlook and ended up hearing a mystery cry, a spotted owl, and some foxes barking (at least, I think they were foxes). In the end, Erin may have been too sore for the hike anyway.
Friday was to be hot (90's) and sunny. I figured that we shouldn't do any serious hiking so we wouldn't be too smelly for the plane later that evening. I wanted to make an exploratory road trip out of the day anyhow. We went back up to the canyon overlook for a late-morning view and then poked around in town for a bit. Then we drove through the park one last time exiting on the east side and looping up to US 14 through the Dixie National Forest. As we climbed higher and higher in elevation, the desert gave way to open forest and eventually to a more alpine environment of spruces and aspens. We detoured to the Cedar Breaks National Monument which overlooks some canyons and formations similar to those found at Bryce Canyon. It also got us up above 10,000 feet where the temperatures were expected to reach a high of 65 for the day. It was much more pleasant up there. We were going to drive to the summit of Brians Head at 11,300 feet, but the snow from earlier in the week made the road a risky drive in the car we had. The views and alpine meadows at 10,500 feet would have to do. By late afternoon, we continued down to Cedar City, a 5000 foot drop, and picked up I-15 back to Las Vegas. At one point, after crossing back in to Nevada from the Virgin River Gorge in Arizona, we were well under 2000 feet, so in the course of a few hours, we had dropped from 10,500 ft. to under 2000. We made it to the airport with a perfect cushion of time before our flight. Unfortunately, there was a limited selection of dinner choices at the time.
So when we made it back to Vegas, temperatures were in the 80's and dropping for the evening. But for all the haze and pollution in the air, it was much more pleasant than the air in Baltimore this morning, which was so hazy, the scenery started fading within a few feet from you. We picked up the dogs and proceeded to veg out in the A/C. I dread going back to work in this heat.
I think I want to move to a high altitude area out west.
Photos to come later along with more details. Zion is not off my list of places to visit as we didn't make it to half the places we were going to get to. We never made it up Angel's Landing or to Observation point, and we never made it to the Kolob Canyons of the west side. I'd like to do the Narrows again to photograph what I missed, but I'd also like to do a technical trip into some other slot canyons. I'd also like to explore more parts outside the park. Utah, I'm not done with you.