Zion Finale...

It seemed fitting to finish off the Zion portion of this roll with a two night camp out at La Verkin Creek. This waterway lies in a separate unit of Zion NP named Kolob Canyons. It's about as cast off from the main part of Zion as a crushed beer can along a busy highway. It's stand alone beauty could make it a separate National Park on its own merits.

I chose campsite #12 to be my temporary home. My nearest neighbor was over a half a mile away. That's about right for backpacking. 

The Season of Death (Winter) was beginning to yield to Spring. Brush oaks, Box Elders and Cottonwoods were leafing out. In the meadows, lush grass was tall enough for a horse or cow  to notice. Flowers were blooming everywhere. I could almost hear the exponential green growth, and I'm sort of deaf. 

Campsite #12 lies in a thin part of La Verkin Canyon. I lost the sun early in the evening and gained it back late in the morning. In those hours, the sandstone radiated a warm red glow. It felt cozy. The creek made gurgling sounds 24/7. The down canyon winds  shook my tent and woke me from my dreams. I went back to sleep in a New York nano-second. It was all wonderful.

I hiked, I looked around and I read. I managed to consume 300 pages of "Theodore Rex" into my BUSY schedule. The book is over 700 pages. I'm glad I brought it along. Teddy Roosevelt would have said "Bully!" (TR's word) to know I shlepped a two pound book in and out for eight miles. 

Today, I'm off to Bryce NP. I'm about to enter a "Food Desert" where fresh fruits and veggies are about as rare as Wandering, Wondering Jews are in Utah. As always I'm prepared. I provisioned up in Cedar City, Utah. Barley the Van is stocked full of a colorful harvest. Scurvy shouldn't be an issue. My IPA and coffee supply are holding up too.

This trip has been a lot of fun so far. I hope it continues.

Cheers,

Jeff

Utah State Parks Got it Right...

This time.

I spent a very pleasant day and night in Snow Canyon State Park. No, it's not named for the White Death stuff. The Snow Brothers scored the honorable mention. They were prominent Mormon pioneers. The canyon was discovered by those Tea-Totaling White Folks when they were pursuing lost cattle in the 1850s. Nearby Saint George is where Brigham Young and his many wives overwintered.

Back to the Park: there's 38 miles of trails meandering past petrified sand dunes, lava tubes and red and white rock scenery. Quite lovely. The flowers were making a show too.

There were no ATV'ers! Yay!

http://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2016/04/atv-and-hikers-mix-about-as.html

It's a sanctuary to the rare desert tortoise too. A chance encounter with these cute sloths is a beautiful moment. I've only seen two in my life. I wanted to cuddle them, but held off. 

Anyway, I'm heading into La Verkin Creek in Zion NP for two nights of backpacking. I brought a big book with me. I'll have plenty of time in my BUSY schedule for reading.

Speaking of reading. Thanks to the anonymous donor who bought a Kindle edition of "Destroying Demons". That's enough gas $ to get us to the trailhead and back. 

It's starting to warm up, time to hike.

Cheers,

Jeff

X-Games in our National Parks?

I hope not. 

I'm here in Zion NP loving the amazing array of sandstone and color. You name a shape, it's more than likely found here. As far as colors go, I lost count on the potential palette years ago. Suffice it to say, there's a lot of shades. 

As usual, I'm hiking here with my thoughts and daypack for company. I'm happy. 

Last night, the Zion NP Foundation had its annual fundraiser. The draw was a showing of the 3-D movie, "National Park Adventure." For $20.00 I could hobnob with Zion's Superintendent or eat hors d'oeuvres. Guess what I did?

Anyway, the movie began. The film featured the world class mountaineer Conrad "I scoff at the Angel of Death" Anker, his step-son and an extremely hard-bodied, attractive young woman named Rachel (I might be old, but I can still see.)  

The "Team" (narrator's term, not mine) were on a mission to technical rock climb, white water raft, mountain bike off of cliffs, ice climb (now there's a sport I really can't relate to) and trail run. The venues were our Nation's Cathedrals of wild places. There were many whoops of "Yahoo!" I'm happy to report there were no chest bumps. That would have knocked the Ever-Enticing Rachel off of her rock perch while she performed a one-legged yoga stand. 

I found the production to be sort of sickening. The thought of our Parks becoming a source of extreme entertainment bothers me. What's wrong with walking around, letting your mind wander and gazing at the wonders of it all? No competition there. No one-upmanship. No Yahoos! Isn't that what the Parks were meant to be? A place to escape the Rat Race? 

I've had people ask me why I haven't done a Grand Canyon Rim to Rim or worse, Rim to Rim to Rim hike or run. The answer is simple. I love being down there. It makes me feel joyful to sit on a beach to look, listen and feel the River, the Canyon and the smell of the air. I don't want to rush through those moments. I savor that time. That's why I keep returning to our National Parks. 

There's plenty of BLM property available for the X-Gamers. I just hope I'm not there when they are risking life and limb.

Good night from Barley the Van living down by the Virgin River,

Jeff 

Those last two photos are about as extreme as I get. 

A narrow section of the East Rim trail with a death defying plunge beneath.

A step into quicksand. It's not so quick.

Then there was that recent moment of falling off a cliff...but that wasn't intentional.

http://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2016/02/as-i-was-falling-over-backwards.html