Southern California Travel Day

Day 24   April 29, 2015

Long Open Road

This has been a road day.  We left Pahrump, NV this morning for our road day to Bakersfield, CA.  For some reason, I am getting anxious each night before our travel days.  I think a lot of this is because I know there are a lot of “hills” that we have to cross and our RV does not have the kind of power I would like to match speeds with road tractors when climbing hills.  Another couple of things that create this feeling are that I have never been in these areas before and don’t know the roads.  We drove by Edwards AFB and the Mojave plane graveyard.   At first today, we drove nearly 110 miles and met less than 30 vehicles during that time. 

Desolate Desert (Mojave)

It was the most desolate area I think I’ve ever seen.  It had over 50 miles without any crossroads or services (of course no cell coverage).  One thing we noted today was that fuel prices went up overnight over $.20.  This is not great for our coming days of travel.

Red Rock Canyon at last

Day 22    April 27, 2015

Over view of Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon at last.  For over 20 years Jan has wanted to see this canyon.  We were in Las Vegas 21 years ago for a meeting and at that time Jan and I had scheduled to see this canyon.  Jan got sick, thus keeping us from going to the canyon.  We have kidded about this for years and today we got to go.   We weren’t disappointed at all after all these years. 

Red Rock wall

When we arrived we checked in with the visitor’s center to find out about their hiking trails.  After choosing one we headed that way.  We tend to choose moderate difficulty trails for our new hiking adventures.  That is what we understood this one to be.  Well, it was a little more than that.  Climbing about 900’ wasn’t the issue as much as the footing nor was the 6.5 miles. 

The trail was mostly large loose rocks, making it rather precarious in footing and unstable for push off.  Still we “got ur done”.  Lots of others on the trail and some really interesting folks.  I had some great conversations. 

We had seen that there were wild horses and burros to look for.  We really looked hard but, not sightings.  Then on the road as we were leaving, BURROS!  One even thought that he would see if we would feed him.  That would be a NO, NO!

Death Valley Day

Day 21   April 26, 2015

Trail to Zabriskie Point

 

Early morning start so that we could go to Death Valley and go from one end to the other.  Our drive over was about 80 miles.  When we got to DV we learned that it was the largest of the National Parks and to drive from one end to the other was going to take a looong time.  The first stop was Zabriskie Point, what a beautiful place with several different colors and shapes of gullies and mud hills.

 

Zabriskie Point

 

On to the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere, Badwater Basin,

where the altitude is -282’ below sea level.  As we journeyed on to Furnace Creek we came across a fueling station that had some really expensive fuel, regular fuel $4.49/gallon.  As we drove up the park we came across the Sand Dunes.  Some of the dunes were over 100’ in height.  The park service recommended that as we walked across the dunes that we should be on the lookout for sidewinder rattlesnakes. 

We can happily tell you that we saw none.  However, we did see some beautiful sand formations.  One of our points that we wanted to see was  Scotty’s Castle.  On our way there we came across a 2000 year old volcano crater.  It measured just 600’  It really was an interesting structure.  From there on to Scotty’s Castle.  Scotty was cowboy con man who used his talents to entertain and con folks to fund his “goldmine”. 

There are so many long strait sections of highways out here that a person could easily drift off to sleep and if the car didn’t veer left or right could wake up in a minute or two and still be on the road.

2000 Year Old Volcano

deep and a half mile wide.

 

To Pahrump, NV

Day 19   April 24, 2015

Today was vehicle check up day and laundry.  Luckily the afternoon was rainy and windy.  Thus, nothing of any consequence happened.  We did check weather for the next day or two.  This was not really encouraging; the weather predictions are for wind increasing and possibility of rain.   There was some question as to the route we should take.  Because of the possibility of snow above 8000’, we chose the most southern route, since it did not have that great of elevation.

 

Day 20   April 25, 2015

Backside of Zion

Early up and ready to go before day break.  Since our campground did not have good lighting, we waited on daybreak.  Our destination today was Pahrump, NV.  This is a town about 60 miles from Las Vegas toward Death Valley.  As we traveled were very happy that we had chosen the southern route. 

Rock Mountains

As we entered Nevada we began a 3500’ decent through some spectacular ROCK mountains.  The road was being worked on for several miles so we were forced into single lanes (that were extremely narrow). 

Single Narrow Lanes

Luckily there was no wind at this point.  However, just as we leveled out into the flat desert area east of Las Vegas, the winds began to pick up and continued for the rest of the day.  Passing through Las Vegas was eye opening to us.  We had been there about 20 years ago and driving through today we could tell that LV had grown considerably.  Leaving LV for Pahrump, we were looking forward to a nice simple drive.  Surprise, surprise.  There was a major mountain that we had to overcome.  This became the most difficult mountain that we had driven this trip.  Well, we made it.  Now we were in the desert of western Nevada.  What makes a desert a desert?  The lack of rain is the first thing.  The folks over here should be patting us on our backs.  We brought rain and not just a little shower but a gully washer for nearly 5 hours.  Tomorrow Death Valley.

Utah's Scenic Highway 12

Day 18   April 23, 2015

The decision today was to recover from the climbs of the past two days by visiting one of the most scenic highways in the US.  This highway is Utah’s Scenic Byway 12.   The section we did was from Red Canyon (about 12 miles west of Bryce Canyon) to Boulder, UT.  This is a distance of about 82 miles.  There was hardly any mile of the trip that wasn’t unusual. 

Some areas were like Bryce with brightly colored spires, other areas were colored layer mountains, one area had an ancient “granary” built into the bluff (Pueblo Indians had built over 1000 years ago) and most impressive to us were the miles of “slickrock”  that make up all the terrain that surround the river.  I can’t imagine how the settlers of the 1870 began to cross these rocks.  Yet they did and built some beautiful communities in some of the river bottoms.  One area, about a mile long, was along a ridge with drop-offs on each side of the road of over 1000 feet. That stretch is called “The Hogsback.”

Hell's Backbone

It’s hard to put into words how vast the canyons were on each side of the road. The little town of Boulder was the last incorporated town in the 48 contiguous states to get regular motorized mail service.  Up until 1940, a mule delivered the mail on a road called “Hells Backbone”.  Note that there are no guard rails along this road and grades up to 14%.   This makes for some pretty good pucker factor as these are approached.   Weather was a major factor as to when the mail was received. 

Walls of Zion

Day 17   April 22, 2015

Another beautiful day, starting with a 38 degree temperature.  We drove over to Zion for a day of sightseeing and hiking.  As we arrived in the area of Zion the mountains became massive rocks. 

It was like driving into the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  The difference would be that the walls are not a solid barrier.  There are multi mountains with very different peaks surrounding the entire park.  Describing this is very difficult, since there are no mountains, anything like these, near our home area.   Coming into the park we had to travel to two tunnels.  One of the tunnels was over a mile and it was restricted for RV’s, which we weren’t driving.  Upon arrival to the visitor’s center, we chose to hike the Angel Landing trail;

it is a 2.8 mile trail with a 1600’ climb.  Since the park doesn’t allow private travel on it’s roads, they had set up shuttles.  They worked really well in getting us to our trailhead.   The trail had two sets of switchbacks on it. 

These were extremely tough, thank goodness for the trail having solid footing.  When we reached the top of the switchbacks there was an area just before the final climb for those of us that wanted to think about going on.  Well, I thought too much, knowing that all we would have to do is climb up a steep narrow trail holding on to a cable.  At one point was a section that was about 5 feet wide with 1000’ foot drop off on both sides.  We let a little thing like this change our plans of climbing on up to Angel’s Landing.  As we watched people go up the cable, there was a woman who froze on to the cable and couldn’t go either up or down.   After a lot of help from her husband, she was able to come down to where we were.  It was fun to watch youngsters, who were in great shape, run up the trail.  Most of us weren’t quite so eager or in such good shape. 

Climbing down wasn’t bad at all, but it still was really tough.  Reaching the bottom we wanted to do one more little trail that took us to some pools of water, this is really unusual out here in the desert.  Both of us were happy that our hiking today was over, when we finished this trail.  When we rode the shuttle back to the visitor’s center, we determined that we had enough.  Jan went in to find a couple of post cards.  I sat just outside, with our packs and walking sticks.  When I didn’t see Jan for the next 15-20 minutes I thought I should go in and see everything is ok. 

She wasn’t there.  Okay, so she went back to the car (300 yards).  So, I walked to the car, still no Jan.  At this point I thought that I would walk back over and try to find her.  There was no cell service and no wifi available.  Luckily, there was Jan about 20 feet from where I had been.

A Day at Bryce Canyon

Day 16    April 21, 2015

The morning started off with a temperature of 32.  As we woke, we looked out of the front of our RV to see a beautiful sunrise against the bluff above our campsite. 

This reminded us of where we are going today, Bryce Canyon.  After breakfast and the normal morning chores we headed that way.  It was about a 45 minute drive up (6200’ to 8000’) to the park.  I have seen many photos of Bryce and am looking forward to shooting there myself.  The first overlook we went to was Sunrise Point.  I’ll have to say I was somewhat disappointed.  After a short while and a hike down the trail from Sunrise, I was not disappointed anymore. 

The sky was spectacular in contrast with the spires.  No need for filters (I never use them) to improve the contrast.  Our hike grew from a .8 mile downhill hike to a 3.9 mile one that in .6 of a mile climbed over 800’.  The trail had so many switchbacks on it that it looked like Lombard Street in San Francisco. 

There were a lot of folks starting from Sunset Point, which was the downhill that we were climbing.  As we came out of the canyon, the weather changed.  We had been rather comfortable hiking most of the trail until the climb, there we warmed up considerably.  At the top the wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped about 20 degrees.  Not only had the temp dropped but we were getting sprinkled on with rain and snow flakes.  Back at the car it was lunch time and then on to some of the observation points of the park.  My favorite point in the park to view the spectacular spires was from Bryce Point. 

If you get the chance to come this way, start at Bryce Point as early as possible, to avoid the crowds and get better light.

Travel day to Glendale, UT

Day 14    April 19, 2015

This was a down day.  Day of recovery and prep for travel.   Had to go grocery shopping and do laundry.  Since tires are so important, it was a day to check out their condition and make sure all fluids are okay.   

 

Day 15   April 20, 2015

Beginning our 3^rd week on the road.  It really doesn’t feel that we have been gone that long.  Our schedule has been rather hectic, but yesterday allowed us to catch up a little.  Today we drove a very short distance up to Glendale, UT, from there we drove up to Bryce Canyon and on over to the Kodachrome Basin.  In Bryce we were just getting a game plan for later this week.  Driving down to Kodachrome Basin we passed through many areas that were settled by the Mormons around the turn of the 19^th century.  The Kodachrome area is a very unique geological area. 

I can’t describe the uniqueness but maybe the photos will show some of it.  One of the monoliths is over 170' in height and it absolutely protrudes from a cow pasture.

This area is actually named for the slide film KodaChrome.  Since National Geographic had so much with this area being preserved and their main film was KodaChrome and the president of National Geographic for years was Grosenover (forgot first name).  There is an arch named for him. 

 

We passed through Red Canyon

on our way up to Bryce.  I would say WOW, but this is one word that we have over used so much on this trip. 

Lee's Ferry Arizona

Day 13   April 18, 2015

Just to let you know moving from one time zone to another and back is nothing but confusing.  We keep asking each other what time it is.  You would think that our clocks would help but, NO.  At one time Jan’s “fitbit” showed one time, our cell phones showed another, and my Garmin watch showed another.  I think most of the confusion is that we are staying less than 20 miles from Utah in Arizona, both on mountain time but one is on daylight saving and the other is not.  Dates aren’t much better.   Most of the time I can tell you the day of the week, but what is the date?

Today we drove over to Lee’s Ferry.  This is the last put in for people who want to raft the Colorado through Grand Canyon.  From what one person who was going to do this tomorrow, said, the distance was over 200 miles and would take up to 21 days of river travel. 

 

We watched several different boats begin this trek.  This was originally one of the only ways to cross the Colorado River before the 20^th century.  The “Ferry” sits at the head of Grand Canyon beside the Vermillion Cliffs, an absolutely beautiful setting. 

Red rock cliffs converge on this spot where they have a break enough for access from both sides. 

The settler that ran this ferry built several buildings from the beautiful rocks.  One of the buildings was built as a “fort” in order to fend off any invasion that might happen. 

On the fort the doors were just wide enough for a person to turn sideways through them.  Also, there were slits in the walls for shooting out.  It was never invaded, but better to be safe than sorry.

Something that Page has, being a desert town, that surprises us is the large number of house boat storage places.  These are some of largest house boats I have ever seen.  Some are full two story units. 

Their summer home, I am sure, is Lake Powell.

Monument Valley

Day 12    April 16, 2015

The drive today was to Monument Valley. 

 

 

 

 

Nothing out here is close. 

This little drive was 120 miles one way.  It seems that the speed limit doesn’t mean anything either.  With the speed limit of 65 on the back roads, I locked it in at 65 and was passed by every car that was on the road including 2 big 45’ tour buses.  Oh well, I am use to this since in the RV we only travel at 60-62 mph.  Most all of the area is open range with pictures of cattle and horses on warning signs.  I guess this is what they call free range. 

I never saw a picture of a chicken though.  As we approached Monument Valley we wondered how it became so popular with the Hollywood crowd.  It appears that one of the fellows that moved into the Valley in the 20’s noticed how badly the area was doing during the depression.  He was determined that he would work on a way improve the area.  He took some photos of the area to Hollywood and worked his magic.  John Ford liked what he saw and in less than 3 months he came out to film the movie “Stagecoach”.  From there the industry caught on to the area and over 20 movies have used the “Valley”.   I tried to figure out how they filmed the stagecoach chase without falling into a wash.  Well, I had no luck.  The Valley is most impressive with all of the buttes and mesas. 

The skies were cloudy but they took little away from the massive landscape.  We did run upon some wild horses on the hike we did there.  In one of the encounters there was a colt trailing its mother.  Also, came upon a herd of goats that were being minded by two dogs.  This was very impressive.

Hiking out here is very different.  A lot of the trails that we have come upon, have a lot of loose sand making walking very tough.  Still the scenery is still beautiful.