Kanab, Utah was our lottery location for the Wave hike and also our Bobtail launching point for other destinations. As I begin this blog (11/11/14), we have been to the lottery 3 mornings so far with no success. Hopefully as I finish up writing this blog and actually post we will be shouting yahoo (having won the hike lottery) and if not, it has forced us to be up and out the door each morning to do other things.
The Wave is a hike that only 20 people are allowed per day to do. There is an online lottery (pulled 3 months in advance for 10 people)and a daily, in person lottery at 9 am sharp for an additional 10. The daily lottery so far has had from 50 -100 people hoping to be one of the lucky ones for those remaining 10 slots.
Bobtailing- plopping yourself down to camp in one spot and circling out for other adventures from that spot. The diameter of our bobtailing adventures on this trip was approximately 100 miles. Tiger really appreciates this type of travel as he gets to stay off the roads and chill back at the rig. First up, was Bryce Canyon.
Bryce Canyon is another location that we will be back to for sure. The park is filled with numerous Hoodoos. And we quickly saw that once you have seen one Hoodoo, you for sure have not seen them all. Hoodoos, as opposed to spires, typically have variable thicknesses, and have a more totem pole likeness than spires. Multiple Hoodoos we thought resembled beautiful sand castles. One thing is for certain, they are all unique and fun to look at and Bryce Canyon has a wonderland full. Bryce was a little over an hours dive from Kanab and the park for Winter closes at 4. Even with the short time we still had time to hike both the Navajo Loop and the Queen's Garden Trail and also do the 18 mile scenic vehicle tour with its numerous turnouts and mini trails. Like most of the National Parks we have been to, deer seem to be commonly seen. There are more trails we are interested in that we will save for a return trip.
Pipe Spring National Monument is actually located in Arizona and is approximately 20 miles from Kanab. This Monument located out by itself, surrounded by the Paiute Indian Reservation, was a surprisingly interesting destination. Our young guides were all members of the Paiute Nation and were both cheerful and knowledgeable. One Thousand years ago Paiutes, Utes and Navajo Indians roamed the area and benefited from the Pipe Springs. We learned of a lot of conflicts, even among the various tribes, including the Navajo's stealing the Paiute's women and children and selling them into the slave trade. In 1858 Jacob Hamblin, a Latter Day Saints (LDS, aka Mormon) missionary, came across this spring and named it Pipe Springs. He realized what a great find this oasis was and shared the information with other members of the church. In the 1860's James Whitmore, a member of the LDS brought cattle to this spring and eventually would establish a large 'tithing' cattle ranch, utilizing water from the spring. In 1866, cattle were stolen, the Pipe Springs were raided and Whitmore was killed by Indians (indecision still exists as to which tribe killed Whitmore). In 1872, Brigham Young, the Leader of the Church of Latter Day Saints ordered that a fort be built to protect the spring, and a fort was erected on top of the spring. A Bishop from a nearby LDS Church, Anson Winsor, was hired to run the operation for the church and the fort quickly took on the name Winsor Castle, after Anson Winsor. This isolated outpost also served as a way station for LDS traveling along what was called the Honeymoon trail (Married LDS heading to St. George, UT to have their marriages sealed in the temple traveled this trail). It also served as a refuge for Polygamist wives during the 1880's and 1890's when Polygamist were being arrested and jailed. Besides raising and tithing cattle the fort made and exported large quantities of butter and cheese all in support of the LDS church. The church eventually lost the property to the US government by means of the Edmunds-Tucker Act Edmund Tuckers Act. This act dis-incorporated the LDS church, based upon the fact that they fostered polygamy. The Mormons not only took the water from the Indians, but the grazing of the cattle took out other wildlife that the Indians depended on such as deer. The interviews of decedents were interesting to hear - The 'white man' expressed the find and conquer the water attitude and the Indians shared their belief that the water belongs to none and we are all just caretakers of the water. Once again, we experienced more history that we were unaware of prior to this visit. Note, that for many years, the National Parks only told the LDS version of the Springs. The National Parks has made a big attempt to now tell all sides, without bias, of the story which is refreshing.
Next up was Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. We drug our feet in the sand (you can not say hiked). But it was fun and the area was beautiful. The dunes are formed from pink-colored Navajo Sandstone that surrounds the park. The dunes are estimated to be between 10,000 and 15,000 years old. The total park includes 3,370 acres and also protects the Coral Pink Sand Dunes Tiger Beetle, found no where else in the world. While we did not see one, we are all about preservation. The beetle
The Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim is one of the very few National Parks where we have seen almost no wildlife. Maybe we were too late in the season. The road into the park is long and lonely (or at least it is in November). Of special note was a meadow that seemed to go on forever, well at least for over 15 miles. But once again, no wildlife was in the meadow. But the drive was quite and peaceful and enjoyable. November is late to enter the North Rim and almost everything is shut down, including many roads. But for the areas we visited we got a good feel for the park, mainly that it is so very different than the South Rim. At a much higher elevation, there are lots of pines and birch trees. And for the short time we were there, we could see that the infrastructure for tourists was much less than the South Rim, as well. While we saw a few other people, it was a quite, tranquil and enjoyable experience. This park too had already gotten snow for the year. We hear that the North Rim, due to snow, will close in about 2 weeks.
Vermillion Cliffs National Monument has at least 3 claims to fame- the beautiful cliffs, a release site for the California Condor breeding programs and the start of the infamous Wave hike. The day we were there we learned of one more claim to fame.....incredible winds, as the winds were blowing so hard we took all our pictures from within our truck. We did this trip on a very poor dirt road, but the sites were wonderful and we were glad that we persevered. The cliffs are beautiful, more so than the pictures show. We had hoped we might spot a Condor, but did not have luck in this regard. We were, however, well rewarded with some views we did not expect. Hope you enjoy the pictures of those views. Note, if you are ever in this area the end of September, the new Condors are released at that time and that release is open to the public.
Little Hollywood? Yes that is what Kanab was called in the day when westerns were popular and the movie business was a big part of the economy of Kanab. We spoke with a long time resident of the town at a small fuel station. She told us about when her boys would go to the set and watch the filming of Daniel Boone and when many of the towns people played back up parts of Indians on horseback. The Parry Lodge was built for cast and crews and opened in 1931. In the day over 100 featured films were shot here as well as old weekly favorites like Lassie, Gunsmoke and the Lone Ranger. Today the Parry Lodge provides rest for travelers, most visiting nature. The Parry Lodge website has a good list of the shows and movies that have been shot here. Little Hollywood filming The town has a small museum where they have tried to preserve some of the movie sets. The sets in the pictures below are constructed of foam, some of cardboard. The maintenance of this outdoor museum must be quite difficult. More information on the filming can be watched at this short clip http://www.littlehollywoodmuseum.org/virtual-docent.html
Kodachrome State Park, UT was our next day's venture. And yes the song kept haunting our brains
....Kodachrome, they give us those nice bright colors, gives those greens of summer, they make you think that all the world's a sunny day. Well I've got a Nikon camera, I love to take photographs, So Mama don't take my Kodachrome away....
Anyway, we started our Kodachrome day by hiking the Mossy Cave Trail that is on the northern corner of Bryce Canyon. This is an easy trail, that looks to be spectacular in winter when the cave is full of icicles. While it was a nice walk, the weather was not quite that cold yet (for icicles). Kodachrome State Park, while it has hoodoos, it also has 67 monolithic stone spires, or sedimentary pipes within the park. Geologists are unsure today of the exact origin of these pipes. There are at least three geologic theories. Those interested can read more at Kodachrome State Park Brochure The pipes are markedly different than the other hoodoos in the area. In addition to the pipes, the park has an abundance of color in the surrounding rock, giving way to its name Kodachrome. While here we hiked the Angel's Palace and also the Shakespeare Trails. The Angel's Palace took us to the top of the park and provided a wonderful overview of the types of formations as well as a 360 degree view of the entire park. The Shakespeare Trail took us to the park's largest Arch, Shakespeare Arch. From Kodachrome State Park we were off for a drive through The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We drove all the way to the town of Escalante where we had hoped to have a late lunch. Unfortunately, this time of year, the town comes close to being a ghost town. No worries, as the drive was lovely.
Day 8 (11/16/14) of the 'Wave' lottery and no luck. The weather is getting cold, and we are watching closely both our rig and also for the hiking conditions (like in the 30's, which is OK if it is not windy). Doing the on-line lottery the chances are like 5% or less we have heard, which is part of why we have been so persistent. Today, we decided to give the lottery two more days. And after 2 days, if not successful, who knows what we may decide.
Waiting, continuing to hope on the lottery for the Wave has keep us hiking, aka exercise, and the covering of a lot of miles. Our next up adventure was Zion, the East end of the park which we did a couple of days. We hiked the Zion East Rim trail to Jolly Gulch and also got to see the Checkerboard Mesa there. Beautiful. We also hiked a some what unknown area, like no trail, called Many Pools. Many Pools was a bit of a rock scramble, but unusual and worth the effort. The day we hiked Many Pools we also were surprised with Long Horned sheep, totally unexpected and so much closer than when we got to view them them in NV. The two in the pictures below were like within 20 Feet of us. We also saw about ten more up on the hillside. A very exciting day for sure.
Day 9 (11/17/14) of the 'Wave' lottery and WE WON!!!!! The long awaited and hoped for Wave hike we will do tomorrow. No real trail, but some GPS coordinates and explanations from the Ranger. We will start our hike at 9am (after an hour drive from here on a dirt road). It should be up to about 35 degrees when we start the hike and may even reach 50 before we get back. The biggest blessing is 5 MPH winds. Some of the days that we lost the lottery, the winds were up over 40 MPH. Not a lot of fun in a sandy environment, that is out in the open. So in a way, we figure we won the lottery twice.....first the Wave hike and second getting to do it with little wind.
The Wave is a hike that only 20 people are allowed per day to do. There is an online lottery (pulled 3 months in advance for 10 people)and a daily, in person lottery at 9 am sharp for an additional 10. The daily lottery so far has had from 50 -100 people hoping to be one of the lucky ones for those remaining 10 slots.
Bobtailing- plopping yourself down to camp in one spot and circling out for other adventures from that spot. The diameter of our bobtailing adventures on this trip was approximately 100 miles. Tiger really appreciates this type of travel as he gets to stay off the roads and chill back at the rig. First up, was Bryce Canyon.
Bryce Canyon is another location that we will be back to for sure. The park is filled with numerous Hoodoos. And we quickly saw that once you have seen one Hoodoo, you for sure have not seen them all. Hoodoos, as opposed to spires, typically have variable thicknesses, and have a more totem pole likeness than spires. Multiple Hoodoos we thought resembled beautiful sand castles. One thing is for certain, they are all unique and fun to look at and Bryce Canyon has a wonderland full. Bryce was a little over an hours dive from Kanab and the park for Winter closes at 4. Even with the short time we still had time to hike both the Navajo Loop and the Queen's Garden Trail and also do the 18 mile scenic vehicle tour with its numerous turnouts and mini trails. Like most of the National Parks we have been to, deer seem to be commonly seen. There are more trails we are interested in that we will save for a return trip.
Pipe Spring National Monument is actually located in Arizona and is approximately 20 miles from Kanab. This Monument located out by itself, surrounded by the Paiute Indian Reservation, was a surprisingly interesting destination. Our young guides were all members of the Paiute Nation and were both cheerful and knowledgeable. One Thousand years ago Paiutes, Utes and Navajo Indians roamed the area and benefited from the Pipe Springs. We learned of a lot of conflicts, even among the various tribes, including the Navajo's stealing the Paiute's women and children and selling them into the slave trade. In 1858 Jacob Hamblin, a Latter Day Saints (LDS, aka Mormon) missionary, came across this spring and named it Pipe Springs. He realized what a great find this oasis was and shared the information with other members of the church. In the 1860's James Whitmore, a member of the LDS brought cattle to this spring and eventually would establish a large 'tithing' cattle ranch, utilizing water from the spring. In 1866, cattle were stolen, the Pipe Springs were raided and Whitmore was killed by Indians (indecision still exists as to which tribe killed Whitmore). In 1872, Brigham Young, the Leader of the Church of Latter Day Saints ordered that a fort be built to protect the spring, and a fort was erected on top of the spring. A Bishop from a nearby LDS Church, Anson Winsor, was hired to run the operation for the church and the fort quickly took on the name Winsor Castle, after Anson Winsor. This isolated outpost also served as a way station for LDS traveling along what was called the Honeymoon trail (Married LDS heading to St. George, UT to have their marriages sealed in the temple traveled this trail). It also served as a refuge for Polygamist wives during the 1880's and 1890's when Polygamist were being arrested and jailed. Besides raising and tithing cattle the fort made and exported large quantities of butter and cheese all in support of the LDS church. The church eventually lost the property to the US government by means of the Edmunds-Tucker Act Edmund Tuckers Act. This act dis-incorporated the LDS church, based upon the fact that they fostered polygamy. The Mormons not only took the water from the Indians, but the grazing of the cattle took out other wildlife that the Indians depended on such as deer. The interviews of decedents were interesting to hear - The 'white man' expressed the find and conquer the water attitude and the Indians shared their belief that the water belongs to none and we are all just caretakers of the water. Once again, we experienced more history that we were unaware of prior to this visit. Note, that for many years, the National Parks only told the LDS version of the Springs. The National Parks has made a big attempt to now tell all sides, without bias, of the story which is refreshing.
Next up was Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. We drug our feet in the sand (you can not say hiked). But it was fun and the area was beautiful. The dunes are formed from pink-colored Navajo Sandstone that surrounds the park. The dunes are estimated to be between 10,000 and 15,000 years old. The total park includes 3,370 acres and also protects the Coral Pink Sand Dunes Tiger Beetle, found no where else in the world. While we did not see one, we are all about preservation. The beetle
The Grand Canyon National Park, North Rim is one of the very few National Parks where we have seen almost no wildlife. Maybe we were too late in the season. The road into the park is long and lonely (or at least it is in November). Of special note was a meadow that seemed to go on forever, well at least for over 15 miles. But once again, no wildlife was in the meadow. But the drive was quite and peaceful and enjoyable. November is late to enter the North Rim and almost everything is shut down, including many roads. But for the areas we visited we got a good feel for the park, mainly that it is so very different than the South Rim. At a much higher elevation, there are lots of pines and birch trees. And for the short time we were there, we could see that the infrastructure for tourists was much less than the South Rim, as well. While we saw a few other people, it was a quite, tranquil and enjoyable experience. This park too had already gotten snow for the year. We hear that the North Rim, due to snow, will close in about 2 weeks.
Vermillion Cliffs National Monument has at least 3 claims to fame- the beautiful cliffs, a release site for the California Condor breeding programs and the start of the infamous Wave hike. The day we were there we learned of one more claim to fame.....incredible winds, as the winds were blowing so hard we took all our pictures from within our truck. We did this trip on a very poor dirt road, but the sites were wonderful and we were glad that we persevered. The cliffs are beautiful, more so than the pictures show. We had hoped we might spot a Condor, but did not have luck in this regard. We were, however, well rewarded with some views we did not expect. Hope you enjoy the pictures of those views. Note, if you are ever in this area the end of September, the new Condors are released at that time and that release is open to the public.
Little Hollywood? Yes that is what Kanab was called in the day when westerns were popular and the movie business was a big part of the economy of Kanab. We spoke with a long time resident of the town at a small fuel station. She told us about when her boys would go to the set and watch the filming of Daniel Boone and when many of the towns people played back up parts of Indians on horseback. The Parry Lodge was built for cast and crews and opened in 1931. In the day over 100 featured films were shot here as well as old weekly favorites like Lassie, Gunsmoke and the Lone Ranger. Today the Parry Lodge provides rest for travelers, most visiting nature. The Parry Lodge website has a good list of the shows and movies that have been shot here. Little Hollywood filming The town has a small museum where they have tried to preserve some of the movie sets. The sets in the pictures below are constructed of foam, some of cardboard. The maintenance of this outdoor museum must be quite difficult. More information on the filming can be watched at this short clip http://www.littlehollywoodmuseum.org/virtual-docent.html
Kodachrome State Park, UT was our next day's venture. And yes the song kept haunting our brains
....Kodachrome, they give us those nice bright colors, gives those greens of summer, they make you think that all the world's a sunny day. Well I've got a Nikon camera, I love to take photographs, So Mama don't take my Kodachrome away....
Anyway, we started our Kodachrome day by hiking the Mossy Cave Trail that is on the northern corner of Bryce Canyon. This is an easy trail, that looks to be spectacular in winter when the cave is full of icicles. While it was a nice walk, the weather was not quite that cold yet (for icicles). Kodachrome State Park, while it has hoodoos, it also has 67 monolithic stone spires, or sedimentary pipes within the park. Geologists are unsure today of the exact origin of these pipes. There are at least three geologic theories. Those interested can read more at Kodachrome State Park Brochure The pipes are markedly different than the other hoodoos in the area. In addition to the pipes, the park has an abundance of color in the surrounding rock, giving way to its name Kodachrome. While here we hiked the Angel's Palace and also the Shakespeare Trails. The Angel's Palace took us to the top of the park and provided a wonderful overview of the types of formations as well as a 360 degree view of the entire park. The Shakespeare Trail took us to the park's largest Arch, Shakespeare Arch. From Kodachrome State Park we were off for a drive through The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We drove all the way to the town of Escalante where we had hoped to have a late lunch. Unfortunately, this time of year, the town comes close to being a ghost town. No worries, as the drive was lovely.
Day 8 (11/16/14) of the 'Wave' lottery and no luck. The weather is getting cold, and we are watching closely both our rig and also for the hiking conditions (like in the 30's, which is OK if it is not windy). Doing the on-line lottery the chances are like 5% or less we have heard, which is part of why we have been so persistent. Today, we decided to give the lottery two more days. And after 2 days, if not successful, who knows what we may decide.
Waiting, continuing to hope on the lottery for the Wave has keep us hiking, aka exercise, and the covering of a lot of miles. Our next up adventure was Zion, the East end of the park which we did a couple of days. We hiked the Zion East Rim trail to Jolly Gulch and also got to see the Checkerboard Mesa there. Beautiful. We also hiked a some what unknown area, like no trail, called Many Pools. Many Pools was a bit of a rock scramble, but unusual and worth the effort. The day we hiked Many Pools we also were surprised with Long Horned sheep, totally unexpected and so much closer than when we got to view them them in NV. The two in the pictures below were like within 20 Feet of us. We also saw about ten more up on the hillside. A very exciting day for sure.
Day 9 (11/17/14) of the 'Wave' lottery and WE WON!!!!! The long awaited and hoped for Wave hike we will do tomorrow. No real trail, but some GPS coordinates and explanations from the Ranger. We will start our hike at 9am (after an hour drive from here on a dirt road). It should be up to about 35 degrees when we start the hike and may even reach 50 before we get back. The biggest blessing is 5 MPH winds. Some of the days that we lost the lottery, the winds were up over 40 MPH. Not a lot of fun in a sandy environment, that is out in the open. So in a way, we figure we won the lottery twice.....first the Wave hike and second getting to do it with little wind.
  Bryce Canyon, UT  Bryce Canyon, UT  Bryce Canyon, UT  Bryce Canyon, UT  Bryce Canyon, UT  Bryce Canyon, UT  Bryce Canyon       Bryce Canyon  Bryce Canyon  Bryce Canyon  Pipe Spring National Monument  Pipe Spring National Monument  Pipe Spring National Monument  Pipe Spring National Monument  Pipe Spring National Monument  Love the baby head sunscreen Pipe Spring National Monument    Movie Trivia  Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, UT       This meadow leading into the park was over 15 miles in length   A California Condor Release site We didn't get to see any but thought this was a great representation of their size   Little Hollywood, Kanab, UT  Little Hollywood, Kanab, UT  North end Bryce Canyon  Kodachrome State Park, UT  Kodachrome State Park, UT    Kodachrome State Park, UT  Escalante National Monument  East Entrance Zion National Park  Zion National Park, East Entrance  East Rim Trail  East Rim Trail  East Rim Trail  East End  Many Pools Trail  Male Horned Sheep  East End Female Horned Sheep  East End Female Horned Sheep |
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