Category: Utah 2019

Utah 2019: Day 14, Final Thoughts

5/18/2019

May 14th, 2019
Las Vegas, Nevada

Day 14

Our last day of the trip took us from Kanab, Utah to the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas so that we could take in a show before returning to Richmond. The show we selected was Love by Cirque du Soleil. Alison was keen on seeing something by Cirque du Soleil and of the seven Cirque shows available in Las Vegas, the Beatles-themed option seemed the most interesting to me.

Now, admittedly, I grumbled a fair amount about the price tag: $130/person for a pair of the least expensive seats available. But, I will say here and now that it was worth every single penny. The choreography, both acrobatic and on the ground, was both innovative and breathtaking. And the music, well, it's the Beatles. People of my generation know every word to every song.

If you ever have a chance to see Love, do so. You won't be disappointed.

Final thoughts

Having been to a variety of national parks during our two-week vacation, here are our takeaways:

Arches National Park — Skip it

There are arches to see in pretty much every single national park in Utah. The only thing that's unique about Arches National Park is the density; it's got the most arches in one concentrated area. On the downside, it's also got an enormous number of tourists in that same area. Keep in mind, however, that an arch is an arch. You've seen one, well, you get the idea.

Canyonlands National Park — Don't miss it

Unlike Arches National Park, this national park is large and expansive and offers much of the same geologic wonders as the better-known parks. It's even got an arch as its iconic image.

Capitol Reef National Park — Take it or leave it

Like Canyonlands, this national park draws far fewer visitors than the bigger names, e.g. Arches. The scenery looks a lot like Canyonlands, and so if you're heading in the right direction and have the time, then stop and see it. But, don't make a special trip just to see Capitol Reef.

Bryce Canyon National Park — Don't miss it

This park is quite popular and deservedly so. Whereas most of the other parks offer substantially the same geologic formations (canyons, mesas, buttes), Bryce Canyon offers something unique with their hoodoo amphitheaters.

Zion National Park — Don't miss it

Even more so than Bryce Canyon, this park is very popular given its proximity to Las Vegas — two hours from downtown Las Vegas to Zion — and its extraordinary beauty. You will definitely run into crowds during the high season, like we did, but it is worth putting up with those crowds. The park introduced a mandatory shuttle service 20 years ago that provides access to the major sites in the park. For those of you who have the stamina, make sure to hike Angel's Landing. For those of us with a little less oomph, hit Weeping Rock instead. The latter offered my favorite vista of the entire vacation.

Grand Canyon West — Skip it

The west rim of the canyon isn't part of the national park. Even though we knew that going in, we were disappointed with what the Hualapai Tribe had to offer. Also skip the south rim of the national park. We didn't go there, but that's because we were lucky enough to be warned ahead of time. The north rim is the place to be.

Photos

Here are some of the photos we took on our last day of vacation.

Tidbit

Today is my 54th birthday. Did you know that 54 is the international calling code for Argentina? Or that a Rubik's Cube has 54 colored squares?

Mathematically, did you know that 54 is a 19-gonal number, a Leyland number, and a Harshad number?

All of this is true. I swear.

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Utah 2019: Days 12-13

5/14/2019

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May 12th-13th, 2019
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Page, Arizona

Day 12

On Day 12, Ian got back in his truck and pointed it toward San Diego. He had a 7-8 hour drive ahead of him and he was anxious to get back before Game of Thrones came on at 6pm local time. He's a devotee, apparently.

After Ian left, Laura, Mick, Alison and myself returned to Bryce Canyon for the day. The weather was postcard-perfect this time (unlike our previous, snowstorm-bound attempt) and so we took the opportunity to photograph all of the vistas that were shrouded in clouds the first time. As for hiking, Mick and Alison descended the Queens Garden Trail, which I had done last time with Ian, while Laura and I had a much more leisurely stroll along the rim.

All in all, it was a wonderful, relaxing day.

Day 13

For our penultimate day here in the southwest, we decided to visit Lake Powell, a large reservoir that backs up behind the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River. It is the second-largest man-made reservoir in the United States, behind Lake Mead that is formed by the Hoover Dam on the same Colorado River. However, because of lower water levels in Lake Mead in the 21st century, Lake Powell has been the larger reservoir during the last couple of decades.

We stopped to visit the dam and then took a ride on a tour boat on the lake. After both of those, we stopped at Horseshoe Bend, an iconic view of the Colorado River and also the Navajo Bridge, where US 89A crosses the Colorado. The bridge opened to great fanfare in 1929.

Best of all, we saw two California condors, an adult and a juvenile! There are pictures of them below, although they are difficult to identify in the photos unless you know what to look for. Pay attention to the pictures of the steel suspension bridge and look for the black smudges.

We then made our way back to our bed and breakfast for the night in Kanab, Utah. It was quite dark in the desert, as is usual, and so it was somewhat of a harrowing 75-mile drive back at the late hour. We passed many a deer grazing by the road side, but managed to avoid them all.

Photos, Day 12

Photos, Day 13

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Utah 2019: Days 9-11

5/11/2019

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May 9th-11th, 2019
Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, Utah

Day 9

Ian drove in from San Diego on Thursday morning and it's been a whirlwind three days since then. He's a very high-energy individual and it takes more energy than is normal for me just to keep him within sight. Forget about keeping up with him — that's not possible.

Ian's first stated goal was to hike Angel's Landing, the most iconic hike in Zion National Park, but also the most strenuous and dangerous. He set off on the hike while Alison and I stayed behind, content to explore vicariously through Ian. About an hour after he started, however, a storm came through (bringing cold, wind and rain) and the storm only magnified in intensity after another hour. The question for us was whether Ian would have the good sense to turn around or whether he would try to push through and finish the hike. Remember, this hike is dangerous in the best of weather and so we were quite relieved when Ian arrived back at the lodge after aborting his climb. He told us stories of what it was like on the hike, with grown women crying, afraid as to whether they'd make it back down in one piece.

In the evening, we watched The Dawn Wall, a documentary about a climbing expedition on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

Day 10

The second day of Ian's visit was dedicated to Bryce Canyon National Park. Our trip to the park was complicated, however, by a snowstorm that settled over the park early in the morning. It took us by surprise, as we were not properly outfitted for the cold. But, we weren't alone in this fact, as everyone else visiting the park that day seemed to be in the same boat.

After going to all of the scenic viewpoints, starting with Rainbow Point, and finding all of them covered in snow and shrouded in cloud, we decided to have a leisurely lunch at the lodge. The hope was that by the time that lunch was over, the storm would have passed and there would be something for us to see. Luckily, our plan worked out and we had a three-hour window of clear, decent weather. Ian and I descended down into the canyon on the Queens Garden Trail while Alison stayed at the rim. She started down with us, but got quickly spooked by the slippery path and decided to play it safe up top.

Down in the canyon, Ian and I got some good, up-close photos of the hoodoos, the most interesting geologic formation at Bryce Canyon. They are ultimately a testament to the power of erosion. More specifically, they are formed by the constant freeze-thaw cycles in the canyon — over 200 per year — combined with different types of sandstone, each of which erodes at a different rate.

In the evening, we watched Free Solo, another documentary about climbing and 2019 Academy Award winner.

Day 11

Ian's goal for Day 11 was to return to Zion National Park for a second attempt at hiking the Angel's Landing trail. His hiking partner for the day would be Mick, the husband of Ian's Auntie Laura. Mick worked the night shift at Intel on Friday night, then got in the car and drove the six hours to Zion. Although he had only a couple of hours of fitful sleep in the car, he claimed that he was "good to go" for the hike and he was true to his word.

While Ian and Mick ascended to Angel's Landing, Alison, Laura and I tackled the far easier Pa'rus Trail, a 2-3 mile paved trail that tracks the contours of the Virgin River as it flows through the north-south canyon of Zion. Once we were all done with our respective hikes, we met at the Zion Lodge for beer and ice cream.

After dinner, we wrapped up our day with our third climbing-related documentary in a row, Meru. This documentary covered the attempted ascent of Meru Peak in the Indian Himalayas, an ascent that had never been climbed successfully before.

Scale

It is hard to comprehend the time required to create the geologic formations that we've visited over the last 11 days. Using very round numbers, it takes approximately 10 million years to make a substantial change in the landscape, like carving a canyon with a river. If a single human lifetime is around 75 years, that lifetime covers 0.00075% of that carving time. Or looking at it a different way, 133,000 generations of humans will have come and gone during that carving time.

Can you comprehend these numbers? I definitely cannot and, honestly, I find it quite unsettling.

Photos, Day 9

Photos, Day 10

Photos, Day 11

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Utah 2019: Day 8

5/9/2019

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May 8th, 2019
Zion National Park, Utah

Zion National Park

Humans first began to inhabit the region now known as Zion National Park around 8,000 years ago, with the Mormons showing up in the late 1850s. In 1909, President William Howard Taft named the area Mukuntuweap National Monument in order to protect the canyon from development. In 1918, upon the creation of the National Park Service, the acting director of this new agency proposed renaming the area as Zion National Monument because:

"The name change played to a prevalent bias of the time. Many believed that Spanish and Indian names would deter visitors who, if they could not pronounce the name of a place, might not bother to visit it. The new name, Zion, had greater appeal to an ethnocentric audience."

Finally, in 1919, the monument was elevated in status to Zion National Park by President Woodrow Wilson.

Pop quiz

Zion is the fourth most-visited national park in the United States. What are the first three (in order, of course)?

Music

Trombone Shorty is the stage name for Troy Andrews, a musician (and producer, actor and philanthropist) from the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans.

His primary instrument is the trombone (thus the nickname), but he also plays the trumpet, drums, organ and tuba.

I've included two videos here, one of Trombone Shorty's appearance on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts and another in which he appears as a supporting musician. I realize that the second of these has been highlighted in my blog previously, but I enjoy it so much that I thought it was worthy of a re-run.

For those of you who live here in Virginia, note that Trombone Shorty will be performing in Lynchburg on August 21st of this year!

Photos

Here are some of the photos we took today.

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Utah 2019: Days 6-7

5/7/2019

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May 6th-7th, 2019
Torrey, Utah

Day 6

On Day 6, we checked out of the Moab Valley Inn and headed southwest for Torrey, Utah. Our destination for the night was the Skyridge Inn, an award-winning bed and breakfast located near the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park. After checking in, and with an ounce of energy remaining, we headed off to Sunset Point. Situated right near the entrance to the park, Sunset Point is a wonderful location from which to watch the sun set.

In a stroke of luck, the best room at the Skyridge Inn was available for the evening, so the proprietor upgraded us to that room at no cost to us. With our own personal hot tub outside the room, it was a beautiful spot to take in the unspoiled landscape.

Day 7

On Day 7, we reluctantly left our master suite at the Skyridge Inn, toured Capitol Reef National Park and then down-scaled a bit to the T Lazy 7 Ranch cabins in Torrey, Utah. There is nothing much to speak of in Torrey — and I mean nothing — but it is conveniently located between Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, our destinations for the next few days.

Music

Chris Barber is an English bandleader and trombonist. He's been performing since the 1950s, right up through at least 2017. For the record, Alison cannot stand his music, or any jazz for that matter. I, however, love it and can easily listen to it all day.