A Perfect Ride

Today we had another day off. Victoria had thing she needed to do around the house so I decided a bike ride would be a good way to spend some time off. I waited until late morning because the low temperature for the night was 37 degrees. A bit to chilly for a Florida boy.

When we were up at Teton National Park last week I found out that the main road through the park was closed to cars until May 1^st, but open to bicycles. I knew I wanted to ride the park with no traffic while I had the chance. So I loaded up the bike and headed to the park.

I parked the big Dodge in the lot right next to where the road was closed to autos and climbed on my road bike. This ride was so cool. I rode along the main road at a nice pace as I had the wind at my back. I knew the ride back would be a bit slower into the wind, but the ride up was easy.

Not a bad backdrop

Maybe I should have brought my mountain bike

As I rode I just kept looking at the huge mountains just off my left side. The snow is still on the mountains and just adds to whole experience. I took a side road to Jenny Lake. This is a scenic loop that goes along the lake. I peddled along and made a few stops at pull outs just to marvel at the beauty of the lake with the picturesque mountains behind it.

A perfect ride

The mountains reflecting in Jenny Lake

Although I would have liked to go further I had to make this a fairly short ride, about 20 miles.  I had to get back so Victoria could use the truck. I followed the loop back to the main road and turned my

bike into the wind. The wind had picked up a bit which made the return ride slower as I had anticipated. I pushed along my 10 mile return route back to the truck and loaded up for the 1/2 hour

ride home.

I didn’t see any wildlife on my ride except for several different types of birds. As I drove out of the park I did happen across a couple of moose at the Snake River. I almost didn’t stop for a picture as after only two weeks the wildlife here has become common place, but I do not want to take any part of this magical place for granted.

Two moose at the Snake River

Our first week here in Wyoming

We have had a busy first week here at the KOA. I spent most of my week helping digging trenches and installing plumbing and water lines for the seven new cabins that should arrive by the end of this week. It has been hard work, the ground here is muddy and there are more rocks than dirt. We do have a couple of big machines to do most of the heavy work but I have spent most of the time operating a shovel.

Victoria has also been very busy learning two different reservation programs along with all the rest of office operations. She is taking it all in stride and we both feel a bit overwhelmed. Our managers tell us it will get easier as time goes on although it will also get busier as time goes on.

The weather here is crazy, we had snow a week ago and today is in the seventies. That is part of life here in the great north west.

A light dusting of snow

Saturday we got a day off and we decided to head out to see some more of the area. We drove down to the National Elk Refuge to see what was wondering the area. The elk had mostly moved on to higher ground but as we drove through the refuge we came across a small heard of big horn sheep. We didn’t see any of the big horn guys but there were plenty of the small horn type.

Big horn sheep

Smile

As we drove along we spied a small group of bison just off the road. These are huge animals; they are about the size of your average mid size sedan. You don’t want to get to close to these guys they are responsible for more deaths in Teton and Yellowstone parks than any other wildlife.

Bison

These guys were everywhere

We had to work on Sunday and Monday but only partial days. We got off at 1:30, plenty of time for my first bike ride of the season. I left the campground heading north on a side road that leads me to a paved bike path that follows the highway all the way to Jackson. I rode into town and back enjoying the beautiful scenic vistas. It is a 25 mile round trip with several steep hills so it was a good work out.

We have today “Tuesday” and Wednesday off. One of the benefits we have here at Snake River Park KOA is river rafting. The owner here also owns Dave Hanson Whitewater Rafting, as employees we can go on raft trips whenever there is open seats on the boat. So this morning we were picked up right here at the office and shuttled to the river with the rest of the “paying” customers.

Launching the boats

Happy rafter

This was the first float trip of the season so we were very pleased to be included. A float trip is a nice leisurely float down the river where we just sit back and enjoy the great scenery. The weather was great, sunny and warm. We saw several eagles and dozens of ducks and geese. We also saw a beaver dam and hundreds of downed trees that the beavers cut down but no beaver.

Rollin,Rollin, Rollin down the river

One of the many eagles

We enjoyed the float down the river and were done around 1:00. The sun and wind made us hungry and tired so on arrival home we had a nice lunch and rested up for the next adventure.

Arrived in Jackson Hole

Why would anyone want to leave the sun and warmth of Florida and spend spring and summer in the mountains of Wyoming? A place where the April highs only get into the mid 50’s and the lows well below freezing. Where your home site is only about 20’ X 50’. Why would anyone move to a place where you have to work a forty hour a week job outside in these frigid conditions?

Our site,small but nice

Oh ya, maybe because this is your playground and these are a couple of the local residence. It may not be for everyone but for many it is a paradise.

The Teton Range



Our first moose

A local lake, BURR!!!!

We are here at our summer home. We have talked about this for months and now we are here. The park over all is nice. The owners are making some major upgrades so right now things are kind of torn up. Tomorrow we will start work to help make thing beautiful for the summer guest’s. We have met most of our co- workers and our supervisors and everyone seems very nice.

A lot of work to do

This area is unbelievable, the landscape is stunning. Victoria and I drove into the town of Jackson yesterday. It is a mountain town just like you see in the movies and has all the modern conveniences and just 15 minutes from the KOA. We also took a drive to Grand Teton National Park. Most of the roads in the park are still closed to cars, but are opened to bicycles. I may have to  get my bike down and take a ride.

On our first day here we didn’t see very much wild life, all we saw was; a couple of moose, a small herd of elk, a bunch of geese, ducks, a bald eagle and what I think was a herd of pronghorn, but they were up on the mountain, and that was just riding around the area on our first day. I think we will tough it out in this cold climate and our tiny homestead. “Paradise”



Geese

Our river front

Salt Lake City

We arrived in Salt Lake City on Tuesday around 3:00 P. M. and we just hung out around the KOA RV Park. We had some diner and decided to go for a walk. This park is in the middle of the city but we found out there is a nature trail so we headed out.

The trail goes along a small river and ducks were swimming up and down the river. We walked down the trail for about a half mile and turned around to head back. As we walked along I was watching the ducks when all of a sudden I saw something else swimming. It was a beaver. Can you believe it, here we are in the middle of the city and there are beaver in the river. We moved closer to the river bank to get a better view and right at our feet another one of the furry critters popped up from under the water. I think their den was under the bank we were standing on. I wish I had the camera as they were only a few feet from us.

We followed them as they moved along the river and all of a sudden Victoria said she saw a third beaver. On closer investigation we determined it was a rat. I am not sure what kind of rat it was but it was a big sucker. We finished our walk watching the wild life and admiring all the beautiful flowers and tree blooms. It is spring here and everything is in full color.

We got out Wednesday at around 10:00 A.M. We had a busy day planned going to Temple Square to see all the sites of the Mormon Church. There was a free shuttle that picked us up right at the KOA and dropped us at the square. I like it when I don’t have to drive in big cities. The driver arranged a tour for us and our fellow passengers of all the high point of Temple Square. When they dropped us off we were greeted by two young ladies who would be our tour guides.

The Temple

The two gals took use into the Tabernacle which is where the choir assembles and gives their performances. They told us the history of the building and offered information of how the Mormons traveled to this area and what their religion is about. They were more than happy to answer questions about their faith, even the one that had to eventually be asked about the practice of polygamy. They explained that polygamy has not been practiced for over a hundred years.

The Tabernacle

We were then taken to the church were everyone must go for one year before they are allowed to the temple. They go to church on Sunday s like many other religions, but once they have learned the teachings of the church they can go to temple at any time they would like.

The Church

Our hosts then took us to a visitor’s center that had all kinds of exhibits about the church. This leg of our tour ended with a short movie that was about the importance of family. After the movie the two girls shared their views of the importance of family and asked if anyone had any questions. There were a few polite questions and answers and then our tour ended.

It was now afternoon and we were hungry. The Mormons have built a huge new shopping mall across from the square. We hiked over and found the food court and decided on Greek for lunch. For a food court the food was pretty good. We found an outside table and enjoyed our lunch in the sunny 75 degree weather.

Notice the glass roof and stream

We went into a few stores while there. Victoria had to hit Macy’s so I sat outside watching people and the trout swimming in the stream that ran through the middle of the mall. The glass roof of this mall is designed to be opened in good weather but it was closed on our visit.

After window shopping we headed down to a genealogy center the church has. We stopped a couple of times to snap pictures of the thousands of flowers that were growing around the square. This is the largest genealogy center in the world that is free to the public. We sat down at a couple of the computers and started entering information about our families. I didn’t find anything of interest about my family but Victoria did find a bit about hers she was not aware of.

It was now pretty late in the afternoon so we headed back to the RV via our shuttle bus. We had some dinner and a bit of TV before bed.

Thursday morning we woke up to rain. The high for the day reached 45 degrees, a far cry from the 70’s of yesterday. Our plan for today was to hit Wally World and stock up on supplies before heading to Jackson. We bought a month’s worth of paper and canned goods. We have been told everything is expensive in Jackson and there is no Wal-Mart. We also made a stop at Sportsman’s Warehouse so I could get a work jacket and gloves and bear spray. It has been recommended we not hike the trails around the Jackson and Yellowstone area without it. We will be in Grizzly country. Yikes!!

As we drove home the rain stopped and the sun came out. We could see the mountains that surround the city were sprinkled with snow. It was rainy and cold here in Salt Lake but snowing only a few miles away.

Tomorrow we head to Jackson. We have a 5-6 hour drive to our summer home. We hope to get there in mid afternoon and we will be watching the weather as we go. So with a little luck my next post will be from the Snake River KOA.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Today we went to Bryce Canyon National Park, another spectacular place. The best way to get to Bryce is to travel through Zion National Park, through a tunnel. The tunnel is too small for our truck to pass through with the oncoming traffic so for a mere $15.00 they hold traffic on the opposite end and we get to drive right down the center line. The tunnel is over a mile long and man is it dark. I could not even see Victoria sitting right next to me.

After exiting the tunnel we enter a whole different world than that of the Zion canyon. Giant, ancient sand dunes that have been compressed and hardened over time to create Slickrock, more about that later. Shortly after leaving the tunnel we encountered a group of cars and people pulled off the road. As we approached we saw that there were Mountain Goats grazing on the greener along the Slickrock walls. We of course had to stop and check them out and Victoria snapped a few pictures.

   

As we drove the 120 mile trek to Bryce Canyon the Slickrock gave way to flatter land with shrubs and trees and the occasional mountain meadow. We keep climbing the whole ways. Zion is at about 3500’ and Bryce is at around 7-9000’ and as we drove the temperature dropped. It was in the 60’s when we left the RV and by the time we entered Bryce Canyon National Park it was in the low 30’s.

We made a stop at the visitor’s center to get the low down on the best way and best places to see in the park. We are a bit limited on time here because the tunnel that we have to again go through closed at 7:00 P.M. I talked with the ranger and was told we should drive to the top and then stop at all the overlooks on our way back down, so off we went, climbing about 3000’ in about 14 miles. As we went up in elevation the temperature went down. At the top of the mountain the temp. was about 35 degrees.

We bundled up and headed to the rim to see the views and once again Mother Nature did not disappoint. Beautiful, we could see for miles and miles and miles.  The red rock formations are fantastic and the different shapes make one’s mind imagine that they may have been ancient aliens turned to stone or other unearthly creatures. Indian legend says that “they were bad people turned to stone by the trickster coyote”

 

We drove back down the mountain stopping at all the overlooks and snapping pictures as we went. We finally ended up at Sunset Point were several trailheads start. We decide on a 2 mile round trip hike down into the canyon that includes many of the better know formations. This turned out to be a very steep trail and shortly into it Victoria decided it was not for her. She headed back to the top and walked the Rim trail. I continued my decent down in to the canyon amongst the unearthly formations.

 

The hike was a piece of cake down and I walked and took pictures along the way. At the bottom I continued to the end of the trail where I asked some fellow hikers to take my picture. I then headed back up and man was it steep. I think Victoria made the right choice as my knees and legs began to ache more and more as I made my ascent. I shed my jacket shortly after the start up and made a couple of water stops along the way until I once again was at the top of the canyon. As I approached the truck I saw Victoria who had also just finished her hike, that was good timing.

 

We decided to head back home as we did not want to miss the tunnel and have to drive an additional hour. Just before entering Bryce Canyon there is another small park Red Rock Cliffs. Victoria said she wanted to get some pictures of the cliffs as the sun was bathing them with light. I pulled the big Dodge off the road in a couple spots and Victoria snapped away.

 

We travel back the same route as before marveling at the landscape until we entered the Slickrock area again. Victoria was very interested in the giant rock dunes so again I pulled the big truck off the road. We had a few minutes to kill until the tunnel closed so we spent some time walking on the rocks. After just a few minutes we were joined by other curious tourist we felt the need to walk on the strange shaped rocks.

 

We then hopped back into the truck and made the tunnel with time to spare. We traveled down the switchback road  to the Zion canyon floor and took one more look at some of the wonders of nature that we saw on this leg of our journey. We both agreed this is a place we must return too.

Zion National Park

Day 1

After leaving Katharine Landing and Arizona behind us we spent the day traveling north through Nevada on I-15. We crossed over the Utah state line and drove through the city of St. George to the small town of Hurricane where we will spend the next several days exploring the nearby national parks.

Wednesday we got out about 9:00 and made the 30 minute drive to Zion National Park. We had to wait in a short line of traffic to enter the park. Upon entry we parked the big Dodge in the over flow parking lot. It makes for a lot easier entry and exit with the dually if we park out away from other traffic.

Zion does not allow vehicles to drive through the park, but offers a free shuttle that takes passengers to all the overlooks, trailheads and the Zion Lodge. Victoria and I have found we really like using the provided transportation in the places we visit. We took advantage of this at the Grand Canyon and in Vegas.

We rode the bus and got off at all the stops to take in the sights, and the sights are unbelievable. They don’t call this place Zion nothing. It is beautiful. We are only 250 mile from Bullhead City and a world away. This is red rock country. The colors are spectacular.

Zion is a canyon and the road travels along the canyon floor following the Virgin River. Red rock cliff walls rise up from the bottom of the canyon with spectacular colors and formations in the rock. I have said this many times, words cannot describe the beauty of this land. The river provides water that allows several species of trees along with shrubs and flowers to grow. This and the colors of the mountains make this a very inviting environment.  There is plenty of green foliage here; we missed that when we were staying  in the low dessert.

Victoria and I made a stop at Canyon Junction where we walked along the river and took in the scenery. I had to be careful as I walked as my eyes kept looking upward to the cliffs towering above. We sat and ate our lunch along the banks of the river.

We also made a stop at The Court of the Patriarchs, a group of towering spires that are grouped together and named after Mormon bible figures. We again walked down by the river where Victoria looked for the perfect river rock to add to her growing collection. I keep telling her “only small rocks we can’t afford the weight in the RV”.

Our next stop was at the Zion Lodge, we walked through admiring the architecture and the trinkets in the gift shop. We decided to do a short hike to the first of three pools on the Emerald Pool Trail. We took the paved path about a half mile to the first pool. The water spills over the cliffs wall above and weeps through the walls to create the pools. We decided to keep going up to the next pool and then the third pool. The paved path turns into a real trail after the first pool and became more and more difficult and steep as we ascended to the top. I was a little concern for Victoria on this strenuous trail but she took her time and did great both up and down the trail.

The pools are small except for the final one which I bet would be a nice place for a dip in the hot summer time. We with a few dozen of our new best friends we admired the mountain colors across the valley from our high peach. After a good rest we headed back down the trail making way for the youngsters that could move down the mountain at a much quicker pace.

After our hike that ended up being much longer than we had planned we were tired and it was getting late. We hopped the shuttle and rode it to the end of the line planning what we would do the following day.

Day 2

For our second day we decided to start at the end of the shuttle line. This area is called the Temple of Sinawava. On the ride up we saw rock climbers scaling the vertical walls above us. Those guys are crazy. There is a paved trail at the end of the shuttle line that leads to The Narrows. Here the paved trail ends and you have to walk in the river and the canyon walls continue to close in on you until they are only twenty feet apart. We concluded our walk at the end of the pavement.

From this path we had access to the river’s edge for more and more spectacular views. Victoria and I went off trail several times to look for the perfect rock for the collection and to seek some distance from the growing crowds. We found a couple of spots where we could enjoy some solitude and listen to the sounds of nature.

We spent most of the day on the path to The Narrows. Victoria and I always seem to take longer on our hikes than the guide book says. The two of us enjoy making frequent stops and spending more than just a few minutes at each stop. As we finished our hike and climbed back on the shuttle for our ride back to the truck the wind really began to pick up.

We decided to make one more stop at Weeping Rock. This was a short hike only a half mile up and back. The path was paved but very steep. We took our time moving to the side of the path for the groups of kids that had to run up and down the path. I bet these trails are worst than the freeway at peak season.

The wind was really blowing now and some of the gusts were blowing dust and dirt from the valley floor into mini tornados. They were something to see but they also blew dust all around getting in our hair and eyes.

This last stop was well worth the time and effort. At the top the trail ended in an area that was covered by a natural rock overhang with water from a falls above coming down in front of us. And again this overlook had yet another fantastic view.  We sat and watched the wind create a couple of mini twisters and marveled at the landscape before hiking back down to catch the shuttle back to the truck.

We climbed into the big Dodge and headed out of the park making a stop in the nearby town of Springdale for Victoria to do a little window shopping before heading home.

Time To Head North

Our time here in Arizona is coming to an end. We have had a wonderful time. We have seen and done some really great things. Volunteering with our new friends, the rangers at Lake Mohave has been more fun than we could have imagined. They have taught us and shared so much about life in the desert. We will have fond memories of the many hikes and field trips we shared with them. They have asked us back next year and though we cannot commit right now, who knows.

Victoria and I have been thinking back of our time here. From our spectacular trips to Vegas and The Grand Canyon to the wild burrows of Oatman to our snow day in the mountains above Kingman we have so much to be grateful for.

Yesterday I did my pre travel checks of truck and RV. Victoria cleaned the inside and prepped things for putting in the slides. When we were done we sat out in the warm Arizona sun. It is hard to believe yesterday we were sunning ourselves in shorts and tee shirts and in a week or so we will be in 30 degree weather and trying to stay warm. Such is this nomadic lifestyle.

We are pulling out tomorrow and heading north to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. We will be spending a few days in the area exploring these gems of the national park system. We will then keep north to Salt Lake City for a couple of days. We will stock up on some groceries and buy any warm weather cloths we may need. The temps in Jackson are lows in the 20’s and highs around 50-55 degrees, “burr!!!”  I don’t like that kind of cold. Hopefully it will warm up quickly.

I will post along the way as I can. Our Iphone internet connection has be poor here in Arizona and made posting difficult. I hope it is better as we go and I can post our travels.