Day 9 - Page, ARIZONA to Zion National Park, UTAH

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Another gorgeous start to the day and nice and warm again. We actually managed to watch a stream of the movie Broken Arrow last night on You Tube and it was interesting to see an old western movie again. The ending was a bit of a surprise but I won’t do a spoiler in case anyone wants to watch it but it did have some nice footage of the Sedona area we had traversed a few days ago before the tourists discovered the region.

We missed the opportunity to see the Horseshoe Bend whilst we were in Page which is a shame but the reviews said you had to be there in the middle part of the day to get the best views and we had 2 tours back to back yesterday so it just did not work for us, but if you have not seen this place before check out some pictures online at this amazing natural bend in the Colorado River just downstream from Glen Canyon Dam. To be frank, we are still in awe of the spectacular Antelope Canyons we saw yesterday and after looking at the 30 odd photos we took on Kerry’s iPhone it was a challenge to pick just a few to post on the blog.

We had breakfast in the hotel and I would have to say it was the worst we have had so far. I had some scrambled eggs on toast and the eggs were so firm it was like they had been sitting there for hours (so dry !). It certainly makes you feel good when you stay somewhere where they cook it fresh for you but given this was a budget style hotel (probably the cheapest on our whole stay) it was not really surprising. The other negative thing about our stay here was how noisy it was in the rooms with what seemed like paper thin walls.

We were soon on the road again and a bit of a drama when I locked in the route on google maps as it did not want me to take the route past Kanab and Mt Carmel Junction to enter Zion NP from the eastern entrance but go the long way around to the southern entrance. Turns out I have google maps set to avoid tolls and it detected a NP entrance fee was payable hence the different route so we fixed that issue and headed off on the trip for 240 km or a touch under 3 hours.

I know I keep on mentioning how spectacular the views are whilst driving but today was no different. As you drive along the scenery keeps changing and is so different to back home where we see so many gum trees covering the landscape. We arrived at the park entrance at 1.11 pm (we lost an hour on the drive as Utah are on Daylight Savings Time) and paid the $35- weekly NP entrance fee. Not long after we drove in, we stopped at a pullout to take a photo of the canyon and we saw a herd of desert bighorn sheep near the roadside and then they all crossed the road blocking it for 20 minutes to all traffic. There are only about 500 of these in the park so good to see some wildlife so early on.

Further down the road we approached the first of the two tunnels which was not very long but the second tunnel they closed to only one lane of traffic so we waited a few minutes before entering and it goes for just over a mile and was built right through the mountain in the 1920’s which was an amazing engineering feat for that time when they did not have the equipment they use today.

Once we came out of the tunnel the views down the canyon were amazing with such high and steep rock walls and we navigated about 5-6 hairpins to go down the canyon road. The lower the road became the more impressive and majestic the views became. Our initial plans were to drive out of the southern entrance of the NP direct to our hotel in the town of Springdale and leave the car and then take the shuttle back into the park but decided that would waste time so we parked the car at the visitors centre still inside the park.

Cars are only allowed on the main road that separates Springdale and Carmel Junction most of the year as the main Canyon Road is closed off and they operate shuttle buses from the visitors centre up the one way canyon road where there are 9 stops to the end that you can get off to explore various views and hiking trails. We asked the rangers about where to start and they suggested getting the shuttle to the end of the canyon and doing the Riverside Walk down to the Temple of Sinawava, a trail down the the river. It was classed as an easy trail covering 3.5 km round trip for 1.5 hours with park elevation of only 17m.

It was so relaxing walking along and we saw some squirrels who were very hungry and very friendly. The trail ends where the strenuous hike through “The Narrows” starts. For this you walk along the river which at at times can be waste high and everyone doing this had to hire special waterproof shoes and hiking sticks. Apparently it gets really narrow at some points with only a few metres wide and canyon walls 1000 feet high so it would be cool to do, but a bit too adventurous for us. On the walk back to the shuttle stop # 9 we saw a deer munching on some leaves just next to the trail. It took about 30 minutes to get the shuttle back to the visitors centre to get the car and drive out of the park and as we were going past all the stops we mapped out a plan for tomorrow what to do when we come back in. From the visitors centre we drove out of the NP and you are immediately in the town of Springdale.

Our hotel The Bumbleberry Inn was only 2 km from the park entrance so really close. We checked in around 5.30pm and had a really nice room at the back of the facility in Building # 3 on the 2nd floor with a room with a balcony looking at the mountains and a hobby farm. For dinner we are keeping the Southwest theme and have chosen the Casa De Amigos Mexican Restaurant which has such a great ambience. We looked at this on Google Maps street view and noted it looked awesome as long as we had the outdoor patio seats near the road to do some people watching and they gave us those very seats ! As for the food, well Kerry said they were the best $3- hard shell shredded beef tacos ever (she had 2). I had a combination platter of soft taco with shredded beef and grilled chicken enchilada with spanish rice and refried beans and it was delicious. Both meals came with a generous portion of guacamole, lettuce and sour cream as well. We then strolled along the main street looking at some shops and I bought a premium strawberry ice cream in a waffle cone and it was pretty darn good.

It was only a short walk back to the Bumbleberry Inn and they also own a building out the front of the Hotel that houses Porters Restaurant, a cafe for ice creams and coffee and a large gift shop. They also have a theatre at the back of this building which was only rebuilt earlier this year after a fire a few years ago destroyed the place. The Smith family have owned this complex since 1972 so they are celebrating 50 years this year. A busy day overall and tomorrow we get to go back into Zion NP for some more hiking.

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