We left Glen Canyon on Monday morning. Our original plan was to leave around 9:30 to avoid the afternoon winds in the high desert (projected gusts reaching up to 30mph). But the weather forecast in the morning had reduced the wind gusts to around 20mph, so we left a little later.
The improved weather forecast allowed us time to stop at Pipe Springs National Monument, a place known for a spring in the middle of the desert. The history of the area, between Indians, Mormons, and the federal government, was very interesting. And so was the ‘fort’ built over the spring by the Mormons and used as a family house. The fort itself was never used for defense per se, but capturing the spring certainly made a statement regarding control of the water.
V: another interesting fact- as the Mormons were polygamous, the federal government wanted to arrest them. The Pipe Springs fort became a place for the second and third wives and their children to live to keep the families out of trouble during that period. Eventually, the place became a National Monument and the surrounding lands are the reservation of the Kaibab band of Paiute Indians.
Our campground, Willow Wind RV park, is located in Hurrican(e) at the bottom of a steep hill. I have now successfully taken the RV down an 8% curvy incline. And yes, I was leading a parade down the hill.
The campground itself has a lot of trees around the campsites, so it looks very cool. And there was a dog wash at the bathhouse so Lexie got cleaned up.
And it is close to the town’s amenities. Including a car wash to remove four weeks of dust off the Mini.
We ate at a local Mexican restaurant (Mazatlan) that was in a strip shopping center next to the RV park. Yes, we ate Mexican on May 4 (Star Wars day) instead of May 5 (Cinco de Mayo) because I find Mexican restaurants overly busy on May 5. But we had Mexican leftovers for our May 5 dinner.
Tuesday morning, we dropped Lexie off at a rover.com house before going to Zion National Park.
We stopped at Zion Adventures in Springdale, about a mile outside of Zion National Park. At Zion Adventures we rented bikes (Steve: old fashioned manual, Vicki: new fangled electric).
We then biked into Zion National Park and took the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive to the Temple of Sinawava (8.6 miles into the park, 500 feet higher than Zion Adventures in Springdale). We took the ride slow, marveling at the canyon walls around us. And we were joined by many other bike riders. Many, many e-bike riders. The picture to the left shows a bird’s eye view of our biking journey.
We stopped so Steve could hike up to Weeping Rock. Weeping Rock is a place in the cliff wall where a spring provides water for vegetation that grows out of the rock wall.
And we stopped again at the Temple of Sinawava so Steve could hike along the Riverside Trail. This took Steve to the start of the Narrows trail, but Steve didn’t feel like hiking in the Virgin River.
The trip back to Springdale was quicker but a very noticeable headwind developed. On the trip upwards a shuttle bus would pass us every five minutes. On the trip downwards we were not passed by any shuttle buses.
After dropping off the bikes in Springdale, we went to Hoodoo’s gift shop and deli for ice cream cones. The ice cream was a treat after the biking and hiking. But the best part was to relax and take in canyon walls. And we saw some big black birds with light colored heads. We are going to claim another California Condor sighting!
When we picked Lexie up, she acted mad at us. She jumped into the Mini and stayed away from us for quite awhile. I think that the road construction outside the rover.com home got on her nerves.
Our plans changed for Wednesday. We originally wanted to take a road trip to visit Cedar Breaks National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, and the eastern side of Zion Park. But Cedar Breaks NM (national monument) was closed due to winter travel conditions (I think it is just closed until later in May). Rather than take a five-hour road trip we decided to stay home.
On Thursday, Steve left early for some hiking in Zion NP (national park). He got into the park by 8:30 but couldn’t find a parking spot and parked by Zion Adventure bike rentals (paid parking, of course, but much cheaper than the parking closer to the entrance of Zion.) Steve caught the shuttle within Zion and got off so he could hike to the middle Emerald pool, the upper emerald pool, the lower emerald pool, and finally on the Kayenta Trail (total hike is about three miles horizontal).
Steve did see a lizard on the hiking trail.
And we saw a king snake by our RV in the afternoon.
Other fauna saw during this trip (besides the California Condor) includes hummingbirds (Vicki cleaned a hummingbird feeder in hope of attracting them) and an orange dragonfly.
Dinner was in town on Thursday at Siam Sapp Thai Cuisine. We enjoyed the food, we were looking forward to some Thai.
