Emerald Pool Videos

Here are the videos from Emerald Pools/ Zion - what a beautiful hike!!!

Heading back

The weather is wet so we're heading back.  Good start - some tire issues.  Big drive day all the way to Boulder.  Where I spent 45 minutes missing turns for Claudias house.

Tonight we're at Camp Barkmeier.  

Its Raining Its Pouring

So much for that weather forecast – no promised sun this morning –just a ‘disorganized precipitation band’.  In layman’s terms?  A steady rain with occasional ebbs and bursts.  In the dessert.  Yup – not many people get to see it rain like this in Zion’s high dessert.   Trying to feel lucky here.

And Aunt Kass thinks the water pump is going up.  I’ve decided La Senorita is going through adolescence – her body is changing.  Sigh – toddler appliances and adolescent infrastructure.   This is probably the longest.  The further-est.  And most weather this Casita has dealt with since the Rose’s bought it.

So we drove into St George - an hour away close to Las Vegas and Zion and enjoyed the views.  Checked out a dinosaur museum there - very nicely done.  Rain Rain Go Away - Come Again Another Day ...

Made it to Zion!

Made it - and actually spent last evening and this morning in the canyon.  WOHO!!!!

Just when you think they can't possibly be impressed by any more rocks - zoweee - Zion appears.  We entered through the East gate which is so dramatic - the big 'wow' is a 1.7 mile tunnel so black that it feels as if you are descending through hell.  I kept seeing 'Lord of the Rings' which is too scary so I decided it was better to focus on the Disney Seven Dwarf thing.  Turns out that instinct was a good one - the tunnel was made  1927-30 using mining - not tunneling technology.  WOW for someone who was proud of driving through Aunt Kass' neighborhood just a couple of weeks ago - I can barely believe that I twisted/turned/up and down in the black tunnel.  The Casita probably followed me because it was just too scary to break away!  

More drama getting here and then again unhitching - won't even tell these stories anymore - it all worked out ok and great kind people helped us as always.  But we did get out into canyon anyway!!! The main part of Zion Park is just a thin road between towering mountains - they had to go to a shuttle system - it would have been too crazy to let traffic in here.  Thursday evening shuttling with a Ranger was a welcomed introduction

And Friday morning we went to the end of the road to the River Walk - all flat and easy for everybody!  

Aunt Kass went back and I hiked into the Emerald Pools - hiking along the river and then back through the canyon was so peaceful.  

I've got some great video of this - because I want Ella to tell me if this is where her 'Sleep Sheep' made the water recording we listen to - but I have to figure out how to load it - and its way too cold and damp on this stoop outside the grocery store to figure that out now (yes - I'm whining)

2000+ steps by 2pm deserved some sort of reward - so lunch at Zion Lodge.  I sat out on the deck savoring food and view - and then the wind came up and the rain came down!  Remember that shuttle system?  The Park Service jumped into action and within 2 hours had shuttled everyone who wanted 'out' back to the parking at the start of the canyon - great job!

See the slide show for pictures of the hanging gardens - beautiful flowers that grow from dripping rocks.  The water seeps down through the layers and when it gets backed up - and weeps out onto the rock.  Water millions of years old feeds these ferns and flowers.

And although this posting is getting way too long (no internet in Zion Park so I'm banished outside the park to write this...) and the slideshow has way too many shots- I can't resist including some friendly critters - can you believe they let us get this close?

All's Well That Ends Well

Dinner was a delight this evening with Bob and Donna.  Bryce Lodge was built in 1924 during the era of great adventure hotels.  Its dining room is lovely and the food excellent.  We toasted the healing of the battery - and the wonder of hot showers!  

We walked the rim at sunset - we were a bit late because sharing the brownie/hot fudge/ice cream dessert just took the time it took - but sunset lingered for us and the views and lighting were breath taking:

Even as we were walking back to the car we kept turning back for one more look.  Each return would reveal another view that made us stop and wonder.

At 2am this morning we were tired - so cold - and so unsure of what the day would bring. It brought a day of goodness and wonder and hot showers on warm tile floors and a delicious elegant dinner and a good day on Bryce's rim.

All's well that ends well

New New Battery

Ok - it was a bad battery causing all the problems.  Yes - it is a  new battery but it has 3 bad cells.  We will bring the dead new battery back across the country for the refund!  We're all juiced and ready but are spending the night at Ruby's in Bryce so we are guaranteed a good warm night's sleep!  Yea newly dubbed Knight Cabe at the RV repair center.

Bad battery.  Bad bad battery!

1936 Ford

I'm in a warm hotel lobby across the street from the RV repair mechanic - waiting for the verdict about the battery and electrical systems - so I thought I'd catch up on the blog.

To the right is a slideshow of a 1936 Ford we stumbled upon in the Fruita Park - such curvy lines and simple parts - its quite a thing of beauty.  Ironic to see mechanical beauty in the midst of this breathtaking landscape.  However - it was this 'beauty' of cars that made these canyon wonders accessible to all of us.  Maybe its 'just and right' that these two 'beauties' sit together.

Ironically as we walked a bit more down the path we came upon the camp ranger garage and found a brand new Ford used to maintain the park today - an interesting contrast in car design and mechanics between 1936 and today.

So just for fun - FORD!!!!