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Published: October 8th 2008
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Monday, October 6, 2008 Reality has caught up with us and we now know that time is not infinite, and this road trip has to come to an end in a few weeks. So we’ve had to regroup with our plans, and give up many places we had at first thought were doable. We also want to continue enjoying the time we have left and linger in the parks still on the ‘must do’ list, not least of which is Grand Canyon. And return home on more secondary roads, avoiding the interstates and keeping to small towns as much as possible.
The reality check has also meant turning down a tempting invitation to visit Kayla’s cousin Ron and his wife Carol, who have a lovely second home (and future retirement home) on Lake Tahoe. Next time we’ll do California only. By then, Carol & Ron may be retired and living at Lake Tahoe permanently, so we can all kick back together and dredge up vague memories of what it was like to work.
In a hurry to return to a quieter slower pace of life, and with the reality check firmly in mind, we blew out of Las
Vegas yesterday and made stops on the Moapa River IR for cheap diesel ($3.65/ US gallon) and groceries in Hurricane, UT. Springdale, UT was our destination just outside Zion National Park.
The interstate highway northeast of Las Vegas into Arizona passes alongside the Virgin River which has cut a canyon through the Virgin Mountains. Seems weird, but the river was there before the mountains, so the river just dug down as the mountains rose and added a steep sided valley to an otherwise flat dry desert landscape.
Zion Park has a “leave your vehicle at home and take our bus” policy to enjoy the adventure. Since the year 2000, it has been buses only in the park (propane powered). Every 15 minutes a bus full of hikers and photographers passes at a leisurely 15 mph and stops along the way at major trail heads.
We chose the hike “Angels Landing” as our objective - 500 meters (1500 foot) elevation gain over 4.5 km (2.5 miles), about a 5 hour return trip. The day was 23 C (75 deg F) with perfect clear sky - unusual for Zion Park at this time of year when temperatures can still
reach well into the 30’s C (90’s F). We had been watching the weather to time our visit during a cooler period.
Of course we had to enjoy the day with many other hikers, and that provided continuous motion for our videos of the trail. A great trail, hardened with rough concrete helped. After 165 meters (500 feet) up, the trail entered a shaded saddle between vertical walls and started to switch back up the rock face. Short turns cut into the rock are called Walters Wiggles, at least 20 of them. At Scouts Overlook, about 330 meters (1000 feet) up, the exposure starts with chains mounted in the rock as a belay. Kayla stopped to enjoy the day and read her book while Richard pressed on with tripod and camera to record the route and “summit”.
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