Interview with Callie and Brady

Selfie in Car

On Grand Canyon

Callie:  Did you include that it was the mule path we hiked?  

C: Great views at the Grand Canyon.

Brady: I really wanted to dive off the side of it.  <Editor's note: A continuing discussion with Brady was that if you fall off the side of a cliff, you can't just grab a tree branch.  Brady seems to think you just quickly grab something so save yourself.>

C:  It was great at the end smelling all the ponderosa pines especially after smelling the mule poop.

C:  It rained on us at the Grand Canyon and ironically we used our sun hats as rain protection!

C:  We saw our first lizard there.  <Editor's note: By the end of the trip, the total lizard count maintained by B/C was 67.>

On Kanab

Callie liked where we had dinner the first night at Kanab, across the street from QPL.

C:  The waiters there were really friendly.    Actually, all of the waiters waitresses and guides on our trip were very friendly.  

B:  Get the giant caramel and brownie ice cream sunday that you can share with the whole family.

B: Definitely go to White Pocket or South Coyote Buttes or both.  They super cool and fun to climb on.  They have neat views.

Callie remembers the cow path.  At White Pocket there was a trail of depressions in the sandstone. Our guide said the cattle retrace their same footsteps each time across to the pool where they drink, and have worn down the sandstone to leave a visible path of footprints.

C: I totally agree with Brady, I loved climbing on the rocks.

B: If you ever go, bring your camera.  If you don't then your brain will have a critical error.

Wire Pass & Buckskin Gulch

B: Slot canyons are fun to play in.  At some part of it you'll find petroglyphs. 

C: The stagnant water was gross, but it was fun to get your feet muddy.

B: Yeah, and your legs and your thighs and your pants and your shirt and your chest if you're as tall as me.  If you're as tall as Will, your head would be under water.

C: The sandstone there was cool because you could rub on it and the sand would rub off and make a soft pile of sand.

B: There were hand prints.  And if you find big sand rocks, you can throw them on other rocks and they will explode.  This is also where the petroglyphs are on the right side of the wall.

C: I saved the moth from inside the water and I carried it all the way out on my shirt and then it fell off my finger and eventually it flew up and went away.  I was really proud of myself because you guys had decided that the moth wasn't going to make it and I rescued it.

Zion, Springdale, Desert Pearl Inn

B: MeMe's is the best breakfast spot if you like waffles and fruit.

C: I liked the hamburgers at the Spotted Dog.

B: If you go to Zion, definitely do The Narrows.  There was one spot where Callie and I couldn't stand without our heads going under water.

Cal: I had to stick my pole into the sand in front of me and just hold on otherwise it would pull me away because the current is so strong.

B: Where there's a split a fork in the river go right because there's a spot where you can find a waterfall, two of them.  If you go really far to the left of the left and turn around and go backwards there's a really hard part and a really deep part where you can't stand and neither could my brother Miles and I fell off the rocks head first it was so fun.

C: Mom wouldn't let us go on Angels Landing.  But the other parts of Angels Landing which we did get to do were still fun.  But I'm still mad at Mom.

C: Observation Point is a long hike.

C: When we got to the top and were eating our lunch a chipmunk got to within a foot of us because they wanted our lunch.

B: At Scout's Lookout there was a squirrel and it stole someone's lunch.

C: Brady got cactus in his butt at the top of Observation Point.  B: Yeah, yeah!

C: The Desert Pool Inn pool was really really fun.

C: My poison ivy was really bad.  <Editor's note: Callie was a trooper about her poison ivy.>

B: Get shaved ice or die.

C: I loved the blue raspberry.

Miles: There are so many awesome flavors and it's a must-do.

M: It's easy to walk places in Springdale.

Bryce

<Rock shops in Orderville>

C: I liked the glass bottles with the stones in them.  Brady got me a bottle of peridots, and I got blue topaz.

B: I bought two cool spilled oil colored artifacts.  I got four rocks from Utah and three interesting rocks that were found underground.  One was for me and three were for my friends.

B: The fighting pillows were really fun. As soon as I ran into the room I saw these big brown things and called them fighting pillows.

C: The hikes were really cool because they had nice views.

C: The rock colors were really cool.  They were different strips of colors.  In the middle there was a strip of white, and that was cool.

C: I liked the big castlie things in Bryce that looked like drip castles.

B: And there was a man standing near the snake and someone asked him "are you going to move" and he said "why, am I in the way of the pictures?"

B: I don't care if it bit me.  And I don't think it would bite me. And it's just a snake, it was trying to get away.  It just wants to slither away.

B: We had fun naming the wiggles.  Brady's Bends, Callie's Curves, Miles' Meanders, Scott's Squiggles, Karen's Contours.

<Editor's note: While we weren't paying attention, Brady's amassed a 4" high pile of bacon at the breakfast buffet.>

B: I wish could be climbing on them all the time.

B: I saw in the hoodoos that there was a lama carved in

C: I saw a cat and a hummingbird

B: I saw a poodle and a bird

C: The dinner was great (at Ruby's).  I liked the food there and the waitress was really nice.

C: On the Fairyland Loop Trail we saw a rock that looked like a wildcat.  

C: It was nice when we got back to the car after that long hike.

C: There were pretty blue birds.

C: Even though we had cereal for dinner it was still really fun.

Escalante

B The drive to Escalante had the drive through the small arch.

C: The guides were really nice.

C: The first rappel was the funnest.  It was really long and steep.

B: Excursions of Escalante was really really fun.  After the last rappel there were these slides that were super long and me and Callie and Miles did a choo choo train.

B: Some of the techniques we used were the body bridge, sitting bridge, heel jam, star bridge, saddle, and smearing, mantle.

B: My favorites were body bridging and smearing

C: Yeah, I really liked body bridging too.  My favorite part of that was rappelling.

C: I liked the body bridging and all the bridging

B: I've done the body bridging and the star bridging before, and I've used the mantle tons.

B: The indian artifacts were really cool.

Karen: I thought it was cool that we each got fitted individually, and had our own packs and gloves and pack colors.  I felt official.

B: I liked when Dad fell over.

C: Instead of going on your tippy toes you use all of your feet.

M: I didn't like it when I was just dangling, or when I was just touching one wall.  I liked it when I was touching both walls.

C: It was cool when we rescued the rattlesnake.

B: The rattlesnake was cute and tiny and had a wimpy rattle.  Its rattle was very embarrassing.

B: After we let it go we were sanding there watching us and se saw jets that were really loud and really close.

C: The rattlesnake made a trail in the sand.

Waitress at SCI: The only good snake is a dead snake.

C: After we did our tour we all got ice cream.

C: I loved our hotel because there were four kittens.

C: The woman who owned the inn had four kittens and you got to hold them and pick them up and they would purr and purr and purr and they would fall asleep

C: There were horses and cows

C: The woman who ran the hotel was really nice and friendly.  And the guests were all really nice and friendly too.

C: The dinners and breakfasts were great.

B: There were bulls with horns and there was this one speckles bull that the owners would try really hard to keep in and trouble maker number one kept finding ways to get out.

B: The owners were very nice.  The breakfast and dinner were delicious.  For dinner there's this place you could go up to and there's this tent thing you could go in.

Miles: Really nice patio area and they grilled outside.

B: There was this really cool mosaic thing and the innkeepers sun made it.

B: My favorite food was escalate meatlovers it had bacon, pepperoni, cheese and sausage

C: I liked the deserts because they had a warm cake or a warm cokie and they put ice cream on top of it.

C: The people next to us ordered steak and it was fun to watch them cook it on the hot rock it came with.

C: The other guests were really friendly and it was fun to talk to them

B: They started talking about bears and told this story.  There was a man walking his dog and when he turned the corner there was a bear with dog in mouth and he put the bear into a headlock and got the dog out of his mouth and he got 63 stitches in his arm and he said he'd do it again.

Miles: I thought the hotel was a really really nice place. And we all think that mom and dad should work there

Karen: <Trent was a guy also doing an excursion we met in the morning, and then we saw him again at dinner.>  Trent wanted you to teach him sticks.  I thought it was funny when Trent said "I bet y'all have never gotten a B"

C: There was one with a black stripe we named Stipe, and there was one we named Strip, Whitey, fatter than Stripe was Mama but later learned that its name should be Papa.  Only Strip was a girl, grey and white.

C: The second day of hiking was not hiking at all but it was really fun and we saw lightening out of the car window.  It was pretty bumming that we weren't able to do the slot canyon.  It was kind of a bummer that we didn't get to do the hike but what we did instead was really fun.

B: We stopped at the Grand Staircase and it was really pretty.

B: The lightening was really really really cool.

C: It was fun to watch the lightening out the car window.  Every minute it would go boom and there were big streaks.

B: There was this mountain thing with holes in it that me and Callie and Miles could fit in.

B: We saw dinosaur tracks, raised circles out of the ground.  And we saw a bunch of big caves we could sit in.  

M: The lightening added excitement to it.

M: When we're in Westboro, its hard to see streaks, but here you can look out and see the streaks.

K: The dinosaur tracks were 155 million years old.

C: We also went to this really cool coffee shop.  We had steamed milk and it was really good.  

M: It was on the edge of the world.  It was built right into the side.

B: On both sides there was a 1000 foot drive and it was like really awesome, not scared at all.

B: We got at least ninety artifacts today.  

C: It was sad leaving the hotel.

Summary

C: All in all it was just a great trip

M: This is like the best thing I've done in my entire life because it was so different than anything I've ever done or seen.  But I'm also really happy to get back and see my friends and start school.

C: I've missed my friends a ton.  But you do get a little homesick even though you're having this amazing time.

B: All in all it was a great vacation.  The best place I've ever been to

M: It was depressing because there was a lot of poverty, and so few people in the towns.

K: We played a lot of Hink Pink

M: Mom and Dad would say "wow look at that mountain" and I would say "wow" but I had already seen that mountain like five times.  A couple of times I had to fake amazement.  

    

Miles' Trip Report

Miles in Wire Pass

Click here for pics from the kids' cameras Miles selected.

This vacation was fun from the start: waking up at 4, looking out the plane windows, and the incredible views once we were there. 

Our first hotel, the Quail Park Lodge, was a cute and basic motel. It was my 3rd favorite place to stay and the pool was nice. I enjoyed our tour and the slot canyon mainly because of all the climbing  and exploring you could do, and the Grand Canyon had nice views. 

The car ride to our next hotel was long, like most of the car rides, and you have to drive to get everywhere. The Desert Pearl Inn was the nicest place we stayed, and we could walk anywhere unlike the other places. We woke early and fell asleep late everywhere we stayed. Zion was my favorite park, and some of my favorite hikes (The Narrows, Angel's Landing, and other short ones) were located here. 

Bryce Grand Hotel was disappointing (least favorite) because out room felt yucky and smelled of wet socks, but this hotel held the best breakfast, a buffet!  The scenery of Bryce was outstanding, and we got to get real close to the hoodoos that filled the park. 

My 2nd favorite was the Slot Canyons Inn. It was a cute building with an interesting story. The Rex family, owners, lost their house in a fire and lived in a small house located next to the inn for six years until the bank lent them the money to build the inn. The son, a builder, came and built a patio and outdoor kitchen/grill on the back of the inn where the best restaurant in Escalante is located. The entire inn is beautiful and perfect, and the Rex family lives there in it. It seems like a fulfilling job, and a fun one, too. There is even a cattle ranch with cows, horses, and bulls. Callie and Brady's favorite part of the inn are the owner's four kittens that roam around. Our canyoneering tour was a new experience, ropes and all, and we learned many things. We have seen lizards, snakes, bison, horses, cows, bulls, goats, sheep, and big horn sheep, but nothing could compare to seeing a rattlesnake! Our second day in Escalante we saw dinosaur tracks, but it rained, so our last day of hiking was a bit of a bust. I am sad to see the last of our days here slip by, but I also can't wait to get back home. It has been an amazing, new, beautiful, and recommended trip. 

Funny Comment: Amy, who worked at Excursions of Escalante, we later saw at the grocery store, and later that  night we saw our tour guide, Jim, at dinner. Our waitress knew both Jim, Amy, and two other people working at Excursions of Escalante. Then another family showed up at dinner who had had a tour at the same time as us. Later that night, yet another family who we saw on the tour showed up! It's a small world out here. Speaking of which, an entire High School Class in Escalante has 14 kids, and 22 is large! Much different compared to Vegas , where one homeroom had 34. At the end of the year in Vegas, the homeroom will still have 34, but half will be different kids! 

Synchronized Jump in Zion

Escalante to Las Vegas

August 18

Today we drove from Escalante to Las Vegas.  It's a 4:45 drive.  We didn't stop much.  The drive was beautiful, as expected.  A stretch through the mountains SW of St. George was particularly great.  It was National Park quality, but I guess you can't have National Park everywhere.

Las Vegas was a shocking, especially compared to what we had been doing.  Man made wonders instead of natural wonders.  We checked into Mandalay Bay and gawked from our room first.  Floor-to-ceiling wall-to-wall windows showed us the view of the many hotel pools (wave, lazy river, regular, etc), and points West.  The better view from an entertainment perspective is probably the other direction, overlooking the strip.  Miles also discovered the "Romance Kit" in our room and read the contents before Karen hid it with the mini bar sign.  

Then we walked around the restaurants, casinos, and other entertainment in our hotel.  We were entertained by the betting boards.  (Red Sox 6-1 World Series winners.)  There's open smoking and drinking.  You can't escape the smoke. The casinos are a bit cheesy.  You can play craps by pressing a button to roll 6" square dice in a boggle-like dome.  There's a slot-type game for every theme.  

There's a shark theme aquarium in our hotel, but people coming out told us it was OK but too small to be worth the ticket price (gouge).  We ate dinner at a Wolfgang Puck place (gouge again).  I couldn't wait to get out of Las Vegas by the time we were done.  I felt gouged over and over.  You can use the pools at the Mandalay Bay but shade costs extra (umbrella or cabana), and you can use the lazy river but you'll need $24 if you want to buy a tube to float on.  It's hard to get anywhere because the hotel layouts are designed to make you pass by all of your gambling and shopping options.  Las Vegas, over charge and under deliver.  And your clothes end up filled with smoke and the perfume they use to cover the smoke.  Yuk.  There were fun things too, but I'm not going to mention them.  We spent way too much time here, for me at least.

That's all for this trip report, unless Karen submits a Vegas rebuttal.  (Emphasis on 'butt'.)   For the last two entries, please see Miles' blog posting next, followed by notes from an interview of Callie and Brady.

Escalante to Boulder on Route 12

August 17

Sunrise at Slot Canyons Inn

Click here for today's pics.

Our plan for today had been to exercise our new canyoneering skills by hiking Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Canyons (Gulches?). Jim at EE had loaned us a coil of rope (just in case) and had given us good instructions. So we got up early to beat the heat and the t-storms, and Joette Marie Rex nicely set out an early b-fast for us.

The forecast was fine, but the actuality looked pretty grim. There were dark storm clouds in multiple directions. So, to everyone's disappointment, we decided to cancel for fear of flash floods. The guys at EE supported that decision when we returned the rope. This is yet another example of my (Scott's) new found maturity. Karen called it a 'no-brainer'. But still.

We went down Hole in the Rock Road anyway. We wanted to see the dinosaur tracks evident at one spot. The lightening show on the way was awesome.  The ability to see for miles (and miles and miles) in many directions enables improved weather watching.  

We never would have found the dinosaur tracks without Jim's instructions. (15 mi down HITR, r onto Collet Top Rd, unmarked r to get to yellow submarine rock (my name) 2nd pullout.)  Even with them we had to use a lucky guess plus someone's hand written instructions in a trail registry box.

We climbed a bit on Submarine Rock first, then drove a little further to the dino track spot. We weren't being rained on but there was lightening in other areas nearby. That made it both more exciting (Scott and kids) and a little frightening (Karen).  Karen's note: I don't know why I'd be nervous about lightening striking all over the area when we were the tallest thing around the desert plateau!

After ten mins of searching we found the dino tracks. They were slightly raised above the surface of the rock. Maybe the material was compressed by the dinos and so has eroded slower?. The tracks were large, greater than a foot in diameter. They were set in a clear walking pattern. Very cool. Then we scrambled back to the jeep quickly feeling exposed to lightening up on the shelf.

We returned to the paved road and headed east on route 12 to Boulder, UT, 28 miles, population 250. Aimee at EE insisted we couldn't come this far without driving that stretch of road. Jim (I think) asserted it's the most scenic drive in canyon country if not the whole US.

It did not disappoint. After not long, the road climbed to a high elevation with sweeping views in all directions of striking sandstone formations, canyons, a cottonwood filled river valley, and mountains. It was awesome for miles.

One stretch was particularly precarious with sharp drops on both sides. The high school in Escalante is regional and the kids from Boulder take the bus along this route daily. The innkeeper's daughter is a senior in a class of 14(!). Her brother was in a large class of 22.

We found the Kiva Coffeehouse wedged into a canyon wall at an amazing pinnacle. The food and beverage offerings were great, and the room was all windows (plus outdoor patio) offering a stunning view. There are also one or two associated rooms in a little sidehouse below which must be booked well in advance.

There was hardly anything in Boulder itself. Though, like the other towns we've been through (except Bryce), the tourists sustain a couple of great places to eat. As recommended, we ate at the Burr Trail Grill. Fried green tomatoes, polenta, burgers with all kinds of spicy high end ingredients. That reminds me, Joette Marie at the Inn put out (homemade?) prickly pear cactus jelly with breakfast. Good!

For our drive back to Escalante, we took the top off the jeep (the kids love that) and dared the rain to soak us.  The crazy gain and loss of elevation on this drive caused us to be able to go 6 minutes without Karen having to press the gas (then another time 4 minutes).  The kids helped the last minute or so urging the car forward with their bodies.  Or at least they thought. 

Brady and Callie both loved having some time back at the inn to explore and play with the friendly kittens (which they'd given names to: Papa, Stripe, Snowy and Strip.  Can only assume that last one is a nod to our next stop in Vegas.)  It was like a scene out of a movie when we drove in to see their 3 horses (one blonde, one brown, one black) galloping across the field.

In addition to the food, the community atmosphere at dinner back at the Inn was great.  The dining room (it was raining) had several groups in it sharing their local and past traveling experiences and stories.  We liked the B&B scene.  The kids (the only ones at the inn) were cute sharing stories with the group.

We found that if you're going to go somewhere a little less mainstream like Kanab or Escalante, there's a side benefit to doing a tour on the first day, which is you get tips on where (and what) to eat, and what else to see in the area, which can really enhance your visit.

Funny Story

Try as they might, our Innkeepers (and small-time ranchers) can't seem to keep the cows on the property.  There's one steer in particular who seems to be the renegade, and finds his way out, leading others.  When we left in the morning, we weren't surprised to see a few cattle loose on the road, as we've run into that before, but we were surprised to see the owner's son herding them back to the property via his pickup truck!

Storm from Boulder

Canyoneering in Escalante

August 16

Egypt 1 Slot Canyon in Escalante

Click here for today's photos.

Today we had a fantastic day of canyoneering.  Up early for the hour drive from Bryce to Escalante, to arrive at Escalante Excursions at 8am.

Escalante Excursions was excellent.  They really went the extra mile to make us feel we were in good hands.  They were extremely professional.  Our guides were Jim and Matt, and we also met the owners Rick Green and Aimee.  It took maybe an hour to get outfitted, go over the paperwork, have coffee and water, and do introductions and safety.  They supplied us with all we needed; packs, water, lunch, harness, ropes, helmets.  Then we headed for Egypt 1 Canyon.

We turned off of 12 onto Hole in the Rock Road, which is a partially graded dirt road we took for 16 miles at a blistering 45mph.  It was hard to keep up with our guides due to the speed and their dust screen.  Then we turned onto Egypt Road ("road") for another maybe 10 miles.  In all, those 26 miles took us a bumpy rattly hour.

We received more safety and rappelling instructions at the trailhead, then suited up with our harnesses and helmets and dropped in one at a time, rappelling down to the floor of the canyon.  There was a guide at the bottom and another at the top helping us through, and keeping us safe.

We continued through the slot which was crazy narrow at some points and for long stretches (you couldn't stand forward, had to turn to fit!).  We learned a lot of canyoneering techniques - foot bridge, heel jam, body bridge, sitting bridge, star bridge, mantel, smears, and did a total of five rappels.  The kids did great.  They had the kids do things they usually only do with adults.  They were fearless and had great technique.  The guides made a big deal of Brady's age and accomplishments, and acted like Callie was a teen.  I (Scott) fell once, but the belay guy caught me.  They had Miles be the "meat anchor" in one spot, holding the rope at the top where there wasn't a good rock to tie to.

Early on, we came across a rattlesnake.  The kids were psyched about that!  Matt said they fall into the canyon occasionally and will die if they don't do a "rescue", plus they don't really want to be wondering where it is when they're down there.  So they eventually caught it (rattle was rattling away!) with a stick and dropped it into Matt's lunch tupperware.  Matt then kept it in his pack until the end where he released it outside the canyon.

Another cool thing were 5 fighter jets that zoomed unexpectedly and loudly overhead after we came out of the canyon (and right when Matt was about to release the rattlesnake.)  They said they practice low flights in this area.  Side note: Matt did two 7 month tours in Afghanistan.  He said the terrain where he was there was similar to what we saw in the desolate stretch after we left Vegas, although there were other areas he'd heard of that were supposed to be much more beautiful.  Said he had a friend who wants to start an eco-tourism company over there once (if) things settle down.

We finished off with ice cream back at the "office."  It was a fabulous excursion.  Everyone had a blast.

We then checked into the Slot Canyons Inn.  Escalante is even smaller than Kanab, but the Slot Canyons Inn is a diamond in the rough.  It wasn't quite like the inn we stumbled across in Guatemala, but it reminded us of that.  Callie and Brady chased the kittens around for a while with horses, steer and sheep in the field behind them, then we had dinner at the Inn.  Dinner was great.  Outdoor seating with a beautiful view.  Outdoor wood oven, steaks cooked at the table on lava rock.  We even got treated to a beautiful rainbow over Escalante while sitting here at the Inn.  Just a great great spot.

Excellent adventure, excellent day.

 Brady rappelling in Egypt 1, Escalante

Fairyland Loop

August 15

Click here for today's shots.

Another great day in Bryce with all its colorful drip castles.  We couldn't have scripted better weather this trip thusfar - today more gorgeous blue skies, morning temp at <70 probably high 80's by midday.  We hiked the Fairyland Loop trail, eight miles, a little over five hours including lunch.  It's mostly north of the Bryce Amphitheater, accessed from Fairyland Point, just outside the park entrance.  It's great fun to hike around the hoodoos, get close-up views of the unique structures, and declare what we each think they look like.  The last 2.5 miles is along the rim, which we expected to be easy, but that part had up-and-down, too.  It offered different scenery, though, with fields, some flowers and sparse woods, so that was a nice change of pace.  Also a nice 360 degree view so you could look back West at what we figured was Red Canyon or out East toward the Grand Staircase of Escalante.

We returned to the hotel at 3pm and hit the pool and read for a couple hours.  Bryce City is very small, and seems to be dominated by Ruby's (hotel, campground, diner, steakhouse, store, gas, etc.).  We weren't up for another dinner like last night's, so we decided to just buy cereal and have that for dinner in the park.  There aren't picnic tables right on the rim at Sunset Point, but there were some back 100 yards.  That was fun, then to the rim for sunset.  You're not looking at the sunset directly, but the light from the setting sun on the canyon.  It was nice, but a bit blocked by low clouds.  We found when we left that the real beauty tonight was in the western sky where the sun lit up the clouds and would have been nice from the high section of the Rim Trail we'd been on earlier in the day.

Packed up and heading to bed early for tomorrow's canyoneering fun in Escalante - 8AM and it's an hour from Bryce.  (Funny note: In the 8 page info and indemnification packet (really 8 pages!), they warned us: DON'T BE LATE or you'll hold up the trip.  They also later said DON'T BE EARLY, we're busy getting the stuff set for your trip.  I guess we'll try to be exactly on time!).  We'll have the complimentary full buffet breakfast first thing before we leave the hotel, but warned Brady that maybe he should stick to only 6 pieces of bacon tomorrow as opposed to his bacon extravaganza this morning.

Photo Fun: Bunny Ears

And the closing shot...

Miles and Brady on Fairyland Loop Trail

Bryce Canyon Rim

August 14

Bryce Canyon Early Evening

Click here to see today's pictures.

Today was going to be our day at Bryce, but we were worried we were rushing it, so we decided to take our time getting there today, and make tomorrow our main day there instead.  We checked out of the Desert Pearl and got breakfast at MeMe's Cafe.  It was our second visit; we returned for more crepes and waffles.

The drive to Bryce from Springdale took us three hours, 11-2.  It's supposed to take 1:45, but it takes some time to get through Zion, and we stopped for some pictures, and for the better part of an hour at the rock shops in Orderville.  The scenery on the way was beautiful and Red Canyon gave us a little flavor of what was ahead of us in Bryce.

You're now encouraged, though not required, to take a shuttle bus into Bryce, which we did.  We had some snacks on the rim, and then hiked Queen's Garden and the Navajo Loop.  Bryce was as magical as we remembered it, and the kids loved the fairyland and pink drip castle scenery.  Really great.  There will be more of this tomorrow.

There was a 3-4 foot snake waiting for the bus.  We think it was a non-venomous gopher snake (we figure junior outdoor ranger Will can verify).  The posted picture was taken by Brady who ran in front of it like it was a mouse snapping away with the camera.

Disco Time

   

August 13, Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad H! 

Falls at Emerald Pools

Click here for today's pics.

Don't tell anyone, but today was a little bit mundane.  I guess we're spoiled.  No big hike planned - just a lot of little things throughout Zion for our last day.

We started with a five minute hike to a view of The Court of the Patriarchs.  Not much better than the view from the bus.  

Then to Emerald Pools, lower, middle, and upper.  At Lower, you stand in a large alcove behind a waterfall.  It would probably be great in the spring, but today the waterfall was one level above 'trickle,' let's call it 'spray.'  The kids still enjoyed getting a little wet, but it was just OK.  The upper pool is the largest, but you're not allowed to swim in any.  The hike was probably ninety minutes round trip, moving slowly and really crowded.  This hike began at the Zion Lodge - so we checked it out a bit.  Desert Pearl Inn is a much better option.

Then to Weeping Rock, a blind arch where again you stand behind dripping water.  It's neat that the water is something like 1000 years old by the time it permeates the upper rock to get to this point.  That was thirty minutes round trip.

Back to the hotel for lunch and a swim (the pool is really great and the kids have fun playing in it together), returning to the park around 5pm.  We tried Shelf Canyon, as recommended by a couple of books.  But there's no marked or maintained trail, which doesn't sit well with ninnies (Karen note: Hey! Who you calling a ninny?!  In the words of my father: I resemble that remark.)  There were some tricky spots to navigate that wouldn't have been too bad, except for the potential slide into stagnant water.  We turned around at what seemed to be the last obstacle before the 'slot' part.  It was fun, and definitely isolated.  But there was an element of tension associated with not being on a maintained trail.  Plus, if you were a...hinky pinky: southern Utah National Park, mountain cat (wait for it ------  Zion Lion), then that is definitely where you'd live.  That excursion was maybe an hour.

Best hiking part of the day: We finished at Canyon Overlook Trail, at the east end of the mile-long tunnel.  It's a short, easy, really gorgeous hike.  It includes an overhead view of a dark and wavy slot canyon, and ends with a view of Zion Canyon where it overlooks the valley on the west side of the tunnel.  The walk was probably thirty minutes one-way.  We stayed at the end for a while to wait for sunset.  This was a great hike to finish our stay at Zion.

One last Zion note: we ate at a whole bunch of restaurants recommended by the Desert Pearl front desk.  They were all pretty good - Pizza Noodle, Whiptail Grill (best Mex), Spotted Dog, Oscar's, Cafe Soleil, and MeMe's (yummy bfast).  Didn't seem like you could go wrong and we were able to sit outside with NO BUGS in the beautiful evening hours every night.  We all enjoyed the crepes and waffles so much that we plan to hit Meme's for breakfast again tomorrow morning before heading out of town for Bryce.  We'll miss it here! 

Story of the Day

Even today's funny story is lame.  It's been a running joke that Brady leaves his hat behind everywhere he goes (despite the monotone instruction on the tram to "gather all your personal belongings").  His hat has been rescued at least a half-dozen times.  But finally it was his sunglasses that he lost.  They must have become a consolation prize for some lucky visitor to the shuttle stop at the Court of the Patriarchs.  But that's not the story.  The story is that we've done some killer hikes, remote Buckskin Gulch, six-hour Observation Point, almost 7 hours of Narrows, death-defying Angels Landing, blah blah blah.  But today, we're walking out of the super mild Emerald Pools hike (walk?), and this older fellah offers Miles an enthusiastic "good job," capped by a fist bump.  I mean, it was a nice gesture and all, but listen Mister, what about our canyoneering creds?  We weren't even going to admit to having done this one.

Random Notes

* Stay at Desert Pearl and request a poolside room for the fabulous views (of the mountains). We liked first floor easy walk out to pool.

* There are no bugs here.  At least, none that bite.  We've eaten dinner outside every night and have sat on our patio every night with no trouble.  Wonderful.

* By our count, there are more foreigners here than Americans. According to our non-scientific study, guessing based on listening to fifty-five groups of people one day, the ratio is about 3:2. Just something we've noticed. Also, they seem to like Yankees caps.

Zion Sunset from Canyon Overlook

Angels Landing

August 12

Angels Landing

Click here for today's shots.

Another fantastic day.  We got up early to get to Angels Landing.  We had heard the worst part was negotiating the dicey spots with people going the other direction, so get there early.  (To beat the heat, too.)  That was true.  The shuttle is less frequent at 7:30, and we got unlucky a couple of times and it took us an hour to get to the trail head.

The hike through Refrigerator Canyon and Walters Wiggles to Scouts Lookout was steep, and hot when it was in the sun.  Fun, though, and the view once you get there is great.  You can see a couple of sides of the canyon, and the sorry folks starting up the frightening part.  That initial stretch took ninety minutes, maybe less.

Karen, Callie and Brady waited there while Miles and Scott went on.  Callie and Brady were not happy.

Karen: On a scale from one to ten, how mad are you at me?

Callie: Nine. Point. Five.

The trail was indeed terrifying.  Definitely worse than The Precipice (Acadia).  It would be easy to fall off and die, which happens every couple of years.  What a thrill, though.  You feel like you've cheated the devil.  And the views from the middle of Zion Canyon are a pretty big reward.  Up from Scouts and back was more than an hour.  The hike was about four hours in total.

After the hike we went back to the Desert Pearl for lunch and to hit the pool for a few hours.  Then we went to Springdale for coffee shakes and 'shave ice' from Zion Hawaiian Shave Ice, which the kids had discovered a couple of nights ago.  You get a big dish of shaved ice, with your choices of flavored syrup poured on top.

The kids had been agitating to take the top of the jeep, so we did that (front only), and drove to the East side of the park.  That's where Checkerboard Mesa is, and other very cool scenery that was perhaps a little bit like White Pocket, but mountain sized.  We had a great time climbing around there and taking pictures for a few hours.  We also met some Big Horn Sheep.

For dinner we went to the Whiptail Grill, which looks unassuming at best.  It's located at a recycled gas station.  But the mexican food was outstanding.  It's a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Funny story

Here's all I can come up with today.  There was this total hippie dude on the trail to Angels Landing.  Burka, long hair, braided beard; the whole get-up.  Miles heard him say "sometimes I think to myself, what do I want to be doing with my life.  And then I realize, I'm doing it!"  That's to set the scene.  You definitely want to be using both hands when summiting Angels Landing.  Making it a questionable decision, we thought, to be carrying this two-foot wooden flute thing (it had a name but I didn't catch it) to the top.

Contours and Peas, East side of Zion

The Narrows, Zion

August 11

The Narrows

Click here for today's pictures.

We did The Narrows today.  It was a good day to get a late start since we were going to be hiking in a river, so wouldn't be too hot even if reached the forecasted 95.  So we got breakfast out, and didn't hit the trail until past noon.  Gorgeous day so no fear of flash flood (unlike back in 1991).

The Narrows was (were?) super fun.  Everyone loved it - top rating from the hiking enjoyment perspective.  You can choose how far to go, and we ended up staying on the "trail" for more than six hours(!).  The river was packed with people, which was fine, it just made it tricky to get photos.  We were with others almost the entire way, even the furthest upstream we got.  It is amazing to hike up a river with massive canyon walls on either side of you for hours.  (And hours.  And hours...  Karen's notes.)  Just a totally unique hiking experience.

You couldn't stay dry, but for the most part you didn't have to get wet much above the knees unless you wanted to.  For the most part, hiking was pretty easy, just had to be sure-footed with lots of rocks, some slippery.  Poles were a must.  After nearly three hours (including lunch) we reached Orderville Canyon, which is a side canyon you can explore.  That's where the "not much above the knees" ended as there were some difficult spots to traverse.  There was a seven-foot high falls we got up by climbing a couple tree trunks someone had nicely put there.  This side canyon turned the hike from perfect to slightly too long for Karen and Callie, just like the Hidden Canyon side-track yesterday.

Story of the Day

No quote today.  Maybe this story is funny.  The start of the trail is paved for a mile.  On the way down, Miles and I (Scott) stayed in the river, while the rest of the crew took the path.  I caught sight of the others at one point, and thought it would be funny if they saw me running down the river trying to beat them back.  I really exaggerated it, high knees, arms pumping.  Then saw that there were a few deer on the river bank, and the trail was full of people trying to snap photos.  So the crowd of people got to watch this idiot barreling down the river beyond the regular wildlife they were enjoying.

Why visit the park when you can just sit on your patio at the Desert Pearl Inn?

Observation Point, Zion

August 10

Zion Canyon from Observation Point

Click here for today's pics.

Since 2000, cars aren't permitted on Zion's Scenic Loop, which is how you get to most of the hot spots along the most substantial part of the canyon.  We took the shuttle from the hotel to the Visitor Center, then to Weeping Rock to hike to Observation Point. The shuttle wasn't too bad. We only had to wait for a few minutes. It was pretty crowded; many had to stand. It probably took thirty minutes for what would have been ten by car.

Observation Point is on the East Rim on the north end of the Scenic Road.  It affords an amazing view of the valley from the north end, and looks down upon Angel's Landing.  The hike is strenuous - eight miles roundtrip and up up up!  Not counting our diversion to Hidden Canyon on the way down, it took us six hours round trip, with three up, one at the top and would have been two back down.  It's a great hike.  The start gets you up the initial steep part with many switch backs and gorgeous views immediately as you rise above the main canyon floor.  Then you go along a cool side canyon, which must qualify as a "slot."  We saw guys with canyoneering gear walking along the bottom.  The hike actually would be well worth doing even if we'd stopped here (about 1.5 hours in).  The canyon is cool and the views on the initial switchbacks are significant. The next phase is a bit more harrowing, with a trail maybe a little wider than a sidewalk with no railing to discourage you from plummeting hundreds of feet down.  It was emotionally taxing for Karen. "Brady, stick to the inside, go slower, be in control, watch your feet ..." for a couple hours.  Many parts she insisted on holding his hand, with him on the inside lane.  The Mom stress factor was high!  The final twenty minutes is a walk along a plateau on a sandy trail with low bushes that could just as well be Cape Cod.  We saw many torched trees up on the rim that we're assuming had been struck by lightening.  The whole hike was exposed with constant fantastic views, and Observation Point itself was spectacular looking out onto the valley floor, with the river below.

Trouble at the top - Brady climbed into the shade of a scrub tree to eat his sandwich, and sat on a pear cactus.  Karen spent fifteen minutes extracting teeny tiny needles from his skin and clothing.  He wasn't hurt, just the needles are irritating.  <Insert comment here.>  Poor B, but all three kids thought it was funny to be at the top of the mountain with Karen having pulled his pants down for some needle extraction.

On our way down, we took a quick (Scott's word) one mile one hour round-trip detour to Hidden Canyon, which required traversing some ledges with chains cemented into the rock.  Really?!  Again, Mom stress.  Where are the easy no risk hikes in this park?!  It was cool, but we were weary by that point, and maybe didn't appreciate it fully.  Also compared to our Wire Pass Slot Canyon tour yesterday, this slot was not really as impressive.

Oh, and the weather was gorgeous again!  High 70's when we started, although up to 90 by afternoon, but nice breeze and some parts of hike were shaded.

Anyway, another great day, and the kids were again completely on-board with a big hike.  In fact, there were grumblings in the morning when we were considering just a mild park tour with only short hikes.

We're loving Zion, and the pool and hot tub back here at our beautiful hotel provide an excellent finish to the day.

Quotes

(Background: When Brady was young, Miles posted a sign on Brady's door proclaiming him a maniac.  But he spelled it "manyak," so henceforth he's been "Man Yak".)

Scott, paraphrasing the shuttle's audio loop: "Angel's Landing is not recommended for small children or Man Yaks."

Brady: "I'm Man Yak #1.  I'm not a man yak, I'm The Man Yak."

Karen, while traversing a paved but dangerous portion of trail: "Brady please walk in the middle of the sidewalk."

Brady: "Walk in the middle?  Then why do they call it a sidewalk?"

We were talking about what the kids might be/do when they grow up.  

Callie: "Brady, someday when I own my own company, you'll be one of my best paid employees."

Angel's Landing from Observation Point

Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch Slot Canyons

August 9

Wire Pass Slot Canyon

Click here for today's pictures.

Said goodbye to the Quail Park Lodge.  It was fun to stay at a small place and chat with the manager and other visitors.  Overall neat spot to have stayed.

Headed for Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch slot canyons.  Thought it would be responsible to check in at  Visitor Center and check with Ranger on weather.  See Quotes of the Day below.  Got lucky again - gorgeous day, not too hot (70's to start, high 80's by afternoon) and beautiful sunny skies.

It was a one-hour drive, back to House Rock Valley Road, and the trailhead near yesterday's excursion.  Jeep worked nicely on bumpy rocky sandy road.  Wire Pass was fantastic.  It was a great easy slot.  Less than an hour to get to where it "slots up."  We all loved the narrow passageways.  At some points it wasn't more than shoulder width.  The kids liked forming bridges across the slot where they could.  The change of temperature between the in and out parts was quite noticeable.  The changing light in different places and at different times of day was also neat.

Spent a bit of time crushing sandstone at the confluence of Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch.  Found the petroglyphs the guide pointed us to.

After lunch and some debate, we then traversed Buckskin Gulch for a bit.  Truth be told, it was totally gross to ford the watery parts.  The water was stagnant and smelly; the mud was slimy, slippery, and was tough to pull out of in places.  I couldn't make Callie suffer through it, so I carried her through the deepest part.  The boys loved it, and complained vehemently when Karen got a little claustrophobic and declared the hike over about 3.5 hours in.  But gross and mucky or not, the important thing is we needed and used the equipment we had been lugging around for this purpose - the trekking poles and water shoes.  Plus, it was cool to go somewhere no one else went today.

We took off at 4pm, back through Kanab on our way to Zion.  Wish we had tried The Three Bears in Kanab earlier.  Our coffee milkshakes were so big and thick we didn't finish them until we got to Zion an hour later.

For a sneak preview of tomorrow, check our poolside view at Desert Pearl Inn.  "Kids are headed for the pool, I'll go watch them."  "That's OK, I can do it."  "Rock paper scissors."

Quote of the Day

Scott: Is it a good day to hike Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch?

World's Most Useless Ranger: <blank stare>

Scott: Uh, from a flash flood perspective...

World's Most Useless Ranger (Someone's Brother-in-Law Who Needed A Job): <shrugs>  What did the weather say?

Quote of the Day #2

Woman in Visitor Center to Useless Ranger: Where's the slot canyon?  [Editor's note: This is slot canyon country, lady.  There's more than one.]

Quote of the Day #3

Scott: Do I need a detailed map?

Same Ranger Impostor: It's a canyon. The only way you're getting out of there is if you're a bird.

Kids in the Slot