CEDAR BREAKS AGAIN PLUS KOLOB CANYON

Do you see the turtle pulling a trailer? Or is it a pondering cat?

The stormy skies

Led to this on the windshield

Cedar Breaks National Monument this morning

Aileen and Mitzy at the first, and lowest, viewpoint

Still this morning

Heading down toward Cedar City

Strawberry Mtn this morning taken from the same spot as my image the other night

Kolob Canyon

They have made the pavement the same colour as the dirt and rocks. You wouldn't see the difference if there were no lines painted on the road

Cedar Breaks late this afternoon

The Chessmen Overlook at Cedar Breaks

I spent much of Sunday morning moving picture folders over to the external hard drive as my laptop memory was full. About 11 we took our lunch and headed off past Bryce. We had lunch in the car at the Mossy Cave parking lot then I walked up to see what there was. The cave and waterfall were both nothing to write home about but the scenery there and back certainly was, especially with the thunder clouds for a backdrop. We drove on to Tropic then turned around.

We ran into heavy rain and hail just as we got back up the hill toward Bryce and we had several more showers during the rest of the drive. We went to Antimony, Kingston and Panguitch on a big circle route. The temperature bounced all over going from 16C to 7 then back to 16 and finally 13. We put on 224 kms and used 5 US gallons of gas.

Tonight I dug out the printer and made new business cards with our new phone number then printed off some diet info from Safeway that Aileen found online. It listed all the gluten free foods they carry. Finally, I did some photo printing. While that was happening, I did some research for where to go from here on Tuesday.

We both slept well last night and had a leisurely start this morning. Along about mid morning we decided to head off to Kolob Canyon (the northwest section of Zion). Since there was fresh snow along the road by the Cedar Breaks turnoff, we detoured in for a peek. Gorgeous! There were only a few visitors there today which made it very peaceful. Driving down the road I had to stop several times for pictures making our arrival in Cedar City rather late. We didn’t pack a lunch today deciding instead to eat out. We went to a health food store for some things and I asked for directions to a salad bar. The recommended Sizzlers turned out to be a great choice. We stopped at WalMart again for a few more groceries and I bought a replacement 5 gallon water jug to replace one of ours that developed a leak. We prefer to buy water from machines for cooking and drinking rather than trusting to whatever we are stuck with.

After lunch we drove the fifteen or so miles down I-15 to Kolob Canyon. There is a five mile paved road (with red asphalt, the same colour as the soil alongside it) that wanders up the canyon between some mighty fine chunks of rock. This a much less traveled section of Zion and certainly much more peaceful. I would expect the weekends would be much busier probably with many rock climbers, as the cliffs look challenging.

We drove past Cedar City on I-15 to Parowan and went from there up to Cedar Breaks again. That is quite a climb with one long section of 13% grade. We discovered today that the reason we seemed to have quite a pull out of Cedar City with the motor home last week was because we climbed over 4,000 feet topping out near 10,000 feet. We were about 10,600 feet today at Cedar Breaks. The snow was melted off the road this afternoon but just above freezing temperature with the snow still lying on the ground in most places. Supper was very late since we had to stop for more pictures at Cedar Breaks. We have quite enjoyed our stay here and it is hard to believe it has been a week already. We think we’ll move down the road to Kanab tomorrow.

THESE IMAGES GO WITH THE POST BELOW

The first rock when entering Red Canyon which is several miles before getting to Bryce

These images of Bryce Canyon were shot in the late afternoon/early evening

BRYCE CANYON REVISITED AND CEDAR BREAKS

The Natural Bridge

The above are all Bryce Canyon, they were all taken just at dark using a long exposure with the camera on the tripod

One of the little old cabins just down the road from our campsite

Poplars in the lava

Cedar Breaks

We headed off to Bryce mid afternoon Friday after Aileen had her nap and I had booked us in for another four nights here, getting the weekly rate. Bryce looked much different with the partly overcast weather. I shot just about everything HDR and the sun came out several times just to up the ante. Aileen decided she much prefers Bryce to Zion. She walked to several view points and seemed to enjoy the visit. I took her an extra nine miles just to see the natural bridge and I think that was worth while. We had supper well after 8 PM. Aileen’s friend Bev had called while Aileen was preparing the meal. We decided to have showers so I jumped in first and hardly got started when I ran out of water. I’d checked the gauge and it still showed 1/3 green as well as the red light. I had just asked Aileen minutes earlier to make a note to add water to the tank tomorrow. With the freezing weather, they turn off the water every night.

We had another slow start today. I put a new message on our Telus cell phone giving our AZ cell number. I put some water in the Terra fresh water tank when the water got turned on this morning. I also hooked up the sewer and dumped the gray tank. After making my sandwich and gathering my stuff, I headed off about 10:30.

I stopped just down the road at a group of old buildings for a few shots. I spoke with a lady from Dallas, TX who was shooting her way around the southwest in a rental car. Next, I headed for Cascade Falls which didn’t live up to its billing. I did find some excellent poplars along the road though, so it was worthwhile. They were in the lava beds and I was happy with a couple of the shots. From there I went to Cedar Breaks National Monument and found it to be fairly similar to Bryce Canyon but it was just one large amphitheatre rather than several of them. There was 6-8 inches of snow in spots which was several days old so most had melted. The road around the rim at Cedar Breaks is 10,460 feet then climbs a little higher as you get past it. I carried on to Panguitch, UT where I got gas and a couple grocery items. I was home about 4:30. Aileen made us roasted veggies for supper which were delicious, as usual.

I spent the evening processing images again. Aileen and I played Mexican Train while the processing was happening but I’m not allowed to report the results. I was most impressed with the images I shot at dark last night at Bryce. It was too dark for the camera to auto focus so I was just guessing at it. The colours came through great with the lack of contrast. I found the best combination for success was no sun and no polarizer filter. The sun at high elevation creates far too much contrast for the camera to handle.

It was very sad to read that some fellow bloggers I have been reading for a long time were struck and killed while on their morning walk this morning in California. Margie was the writer of the pair and she was always putting out thought provoking comments. They have been full timing since 2008 and during their 22 years of
RVing have traveled to 49 states and much of Canada.

THESE IMAGES GO WITH THE POST BELOW ON ZION

A bit of Fall colour along the way south of Hatch, UT

East entrance area of Zion

ZION NATIONAL PARK

Some of the scenery of eastern Zion Park

Mts Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

The Weeping Wall

The Virgin River at the end of the road

More views from the end of the road along the Virgin River

Strawberry Mtn taken at 7:21 pm. It was still glowing while we were in near darkness. 8 second exposure at F8 and ISO 200. That is a star just above the peak

We had a slow start again Thursday morning. My allergies or head cold or whatever was causing my runny eyes and nose and excessive sneezing was dragging me down. I developed lower back pain Wednesday, which I suspect is part of my bug and it was most uncomfortable in exiting and entering the car. My back wasn’t quite as bad Thursday but still was uncomfortable.

We got on the road about 9:30 heading for Zion. We made a stop part way along when I saw some red maples. Mitzy enjoyed a good run on a little flat alongside a creek where the cows had grazed it down like a lawn. We found the scenery when first entering Zion to be awesome but there were not enough spots to pull over for pictures. Usually the few spots were full of other vehicles. There was also the second tunnel (see next paragraph) which Aileen did not like as it was pitch dark and full of fumes, not a good mix for her claustrophobia. There was a lot of construction so we crawled along in low gear riding the brakes for miles which wasn’t good for enjoying the views.

I pulled the following off the internet. The 1.1 mile long Zion National Park Tunnel was blasted and cut in the thick Navajo sandstone during the early 1900's. Imagine cutting through 2,000 feet of sandstone with the machinery available at that time. In those days the whole process was considered a technological wonder. The Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel was a network of scaffolding set up on the east side of the tunnel, across Pine Creek, which flows below. Blasting was used to enlarge the hole and railcars hauled off the debris. On the tunnel's south side, working on the tunnel was not any easy task because the drop off to the canyon below is 800 ft.

We had lunch at a peaceful picnic table by the wildlife building and had the whole area to ourselves. Amazing, considering how busy the park was. Zion National Park averages over 7,000 people per day all year (over 2,500,000 per year) and was probably the busiest park we have ever been to. After lunch I found a shady spot for Aileen and Mitzy while I took the shuttle bus up in the park. Aileen talked to her friend Marie in Grand Junction, CO then had a nap as she had taken her CPAP machine along. Riding the shuttle was a different experience and while it was nice to not be searching for parking, it was pretty limited in allowing photography. I did get out at four of the six stops and did get some great images. The constraints upon relaxed creativity were just about all I could handle as I prefer to be able to wander and search out my subjects rather than be told “this is where you can stand to take that picture” or you cannot go there to take a picture. Enough whining as I fully understand why a place like Zion has to have these restrictions. As the shuttle driver explained, there used to be several hundred to over a thousand cars on the parkway vying for 80 parking spots (or some number like that). It was certainly worth experiencing and if we were to visit again, at least we will know what to expect.

Rather than subject Aileen to another trip through the tunnel, we went out to I-15 and up to Cedar City. We found a Walmart Super Center where we were able to buy some groceries and water. Since it was getting late, we had supper at an Appleby’s Restaurant which prepared us a great meal. This, of course, mandated a drive over the high pass on #14 in the dark to get home. One highlight of the late drive was seeing Strawberry Mtn glowing in the twilight way above us while we were in near darkness. I stopped and took a couple pictures. At ISO 100 F8 my exposure was 8 seconds long. I am going to hit the sack since it is after 10 already. I will download photos tomorrow.

We started today off with the idea of a slow start then Aileen happened to notice that the laundry hours were 8-10 am so she had to get cracking. It was about 8:30 before she got there but was finished just past ten. I did some sorting of maps and brochures and tossed what I didn’t think we needed for future reference. After doing breakfast dishes and taking the garbage, I downloaded yesterday’s images. I processed some for the blog later. My back and sinuses both are much better today and I hope they continue to improve.

Aileen gave Mitzy her much needed bath after she finished the laundry. The plan for today is to head up to Bryce Canyon after Aileen has her good long afternoon nap. We’ll take a snack and hope to catch some evening light then home for a late supper which won’t take long to prepare as we’ll have leftovers. The clouds appear to be rolling in although rain isn’t forecast until Monday.

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK

Pronghorns at Bryce

Ms. Pronghorn

Old Grandfather Pronghorn

Stampeding Bison

Bryce Canyon images

I was awake early but didn’t feel like getting up and going so stayed til nearly 7 local time. We lost an hour yesterday. I gathered my gear including warm clothes and a lunch and headed off to Bryce Canyon. Well, it took awhile to get there. First off about two miles up the road was a herd of bison grazing beside the road. There was a photographer there already so I thought I would have a go too. That was fine but when another couple came and both jumped out, the bison decided to stampede. Now that was interesting! It was amazing how fast they got across the river. Next obstacle was Red Canyon which was about ten miles from here. I had to stop a few times before clearing the canyon as the scenery was gorgeous. It was sure cold up at Bryce to begin with. I had to put my winter jacket, hat and gloves on and it was still cool. Later in the day though, I was down to my t-shirt at 9,100 feet elevation. I walked some of the rim trail sections but the hills were tough at the high elevation. There was lots of puffing going on with everyone else, too.

I shot quite a few images today so tonight I just looked at a few and processed them for the blog. The rest will have to wait for downtime in Florence, if I happen to get some. Aileen stayed at the motor home today for some extra rest, although she seems to have accomplished quite a bit of housework.