Taking on Utah

So Utah is ten times the size of NJ with 1/3 of its population. That should paint a pretty accurate picture of how little inhabitants we saw between Bryce and Arches.

Took a quick stop at Capitol Reef National Park mostly for the Mormon pioneer house and orchards. Orchards! In the desert!

You may see a new Prairie dog that has joined us...

The reef.

The pioneer house with a disappointed Mark because it was merely a pie shop inside lacking in history.

This is also where the artist for Batman lived in the 1940s, so clearly the bats inspired him! 

Moving on, we found ourselves surrounded by canyons and cliffs galore, ranging in colors and striations.

When we finally reached our primary destination, Arches, at 5 pm, it was still 100 degrees, therefore we bailed on our camping plans in favor of a lodge in Moab. Driving a few miles into town we discovered yet another "park town," an outdoorsy, brew pub and cutesy coffee shop type. We did some chores, laundry, cooler cleaning and car organizing before  a stop at Moab brewery and an early bedtime.

We had booked a ranger led tour though the Fiery Furnace section of the park about 6 months ago and boy did it live up to the hype.

You can only explore this untrailed part with a guide or permit and it required scrambling and leaping among rocks. So fun!

Being among the beauty really was special. Also, the learning aspect was very engaging! For example, the Cyanobacteria take 100 years to form a healthy crust on top of desert sand which helps absorb water allowing plants to live. See the darker brown area near the tree? That is millions of microorganisms sticking the sand together. Don't step there!

 And! I got to see an actual water bear (Tardigrade) habitat! My students love these amazing microbes can survive up to ten years  without water. Here is their ten foot deep water habitat ( including the sand). This will eventually turn into an arch.

The juniper is fascinating too! It can cutoff  nutrients to parts of its body allowing other parts to survive. The top half of the trunk is actually dead while the bottom is alive with roots through the rock.

And! There is water in all of this rock which is doing all of the eroding. Check out the wet spot here ....

Oh and I guess we should have seen some arches! Here we go..

And elephants! Love!

Then Salt Lake City. The lake isn't visible from here which was slightly disappointing. We did see the Mormon stuff, actually from our hotel.

And then closer..

And of course a brewery... Or two!

Golden ale!!! Oh missing Beatrice....

But she may not be missing us...

Grand Teton and Yellowstone tomorrow!

From Zion to Outerspace

Zion Day 2: Hike up the Narrows in the Virgin River

It was definitely a different and cool way to enjoy the river that flows at an steep 71 feet down over 100 miles. To compare  the Coloroda is 50 ft, which is why this seemingly small river can carve and flash floods beware!

This thoroughly exhausted us, well at least me because of a couple sleepless nights (wind and some flu-like thing I got) and the heat. So we headed to town for the local brew pub, then coffee shop to wait out a passing storm.

I was quite nervous about our tent, but alll was well.

We have been indulging our dorky sides by doing lots of ranger talks, the mountain lion talk, the night sky talk which was actually at our campground, then the ride with the ranger for the geology of Zion.  

Had a morning sighting of the big horned desert sheep.

Then off to Bryce:

Felt like we were on another planet. The temperature of 72 degrees also made it feel other- wordly.

Then a wildlife encounter with my new second favorite animal, the Utah Prairie Dog. They are very chatty, interactive with each other and rather curious about passing people and you'll see below, cars.

There are only 7,000 of these cuties left! Which means I will most likely be adopting one tomorrow( ya know pay to get the stuffed animal and it goes to help the critter). Tee- hee!

Mark chauffeured me around the entire park to see the view points.

Check out how the clay is literally dripping down the limestone! 

Apparently underneath of all of the "hoodoos" are the rocks of Zion and Grand Canyon, but it is eroding slower because of its elevation and lack of water flow.

Finally I regained my strength and some breathing capabilities and we did a little hike. Hum those switchbacks aren't so little!

Totally worth it though.

Through the Queen's Garden and up the Navajo loop. To see Thor's Hammer.

After a quick shower ( they are always being closed for cleaning) and some lodge pizza, we are going to enjoy our second ranger talk about the prehistoric creatures that used to be swimming around here, including ammonites ( related to the chambered nautilus) and some neato  dinos.

Holy Mule Ride, Batman!

Holy mule ride, batman!

Though we tried to have a positive outlook to the next day's mule ride 5,000 feet up a canyon with endless cliff drop offs and harrowing switch backs, our thoughts and dreams were of falling off our mules.

The morning bell brought a pancake and egg breakfast with our mule riding mates. We mounted knowing it would be another 6 hours of heart throbbing and rushing adrenaline, but hoped it would be easier than the day before because at least we didn't have to lean back and press our feet forward? Right?

Alas, the Kaibab trail was not as friendly as the Bright Angel. The trails were more narrow, steeper and filled with uneven cobblestone for our miles to slip and stumble on, which they did. I passed the first hours in petrified silence as we rode paths with nothing between us and the Colorado river hundreds of feet below. 

At our first break there seemed to be a break in the terror. Look at the picture to see the flatness of the top of the inner gorge.

Unfortunately, this lasted but a few moments until wooden stairs and even steeper up hills came our way. I couldn't control my heart rate or irrational fears and for about an hour all I wanted to say was "can I get off a hike up?" But I was literally too scared to speak, I was too busy gripping the saddle for dear life.

Finally, courage came and I spoke my words and off that mule I went. Mark too. There were only 2.5 miles to the top of the canyon and we both  felt enormous relief to not be riding on the mule on this treacherous trail at its highest point.

Though it was the mule walk of shame, I felt no shame. Now we can say we muled and hiked! The hike was definitely difficult as it was completely up hill, but it was easier to avoid looking over the ledge. Mark felt that he wasn't even afraid of the heights after he left the mule. I never having a fear of heights, will probably forever have one now. I could not look down the entire hike up.

We used the rest of our day to decompress and it did take the rest of the day. Lunch on the rim, grocery shopping for our next two weeks of camping, setting up our new beauty of a tent and campfire time.

I keep noticing that people make themselves do crazy things on vacations and in some ways hope that we will never do something this crazy ever again. I guess we can say we are proud to have made it down to the bottom and 3/4ths the way up to truly embrace this spectacular and miraculous work of God.

The Scariest Mule Ride in America

So the day finally arrived that we had been planning for almost a year. We woke up this morning grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to check in. At this point our fear level was about a 2.

We met with the manager of the mule company and he discussed the next two days. He explained how to control the mule and to never let the reins drop and stay hydrated. He then explained that we would be getting on the mule and that that was our last chance to bail on the trip. Our fear level was probably at a 5.

We went to the bathroom which is where I resigned myself to the fact that we must do this and if I died, it would probably be quick!

We mounted out faithful steeds and were off. Mine mule, Matty and Lauren's Chisom seemed calm and ready for a day of work. On the first switchback, which had about a 900 foot drop, I began to shake like a rattler. My fear level was an 11...out of ten.

However, as we continued on our way we became more and more comfortable, just as long as we didn't look down. 

We stopped for a lunch of high protein, high salt snacks at a surprising lush stream and forested area and continued into the lower gorge which was far flatter and far hotter. 

We enjoyed our ride seeing miraculous rock formations and small streams until about the last 20-30 minutes. As we approached Phantom Ranch, we began to ascend the trail. This worried us due to the old adage of what comes up...

As we approached the bridge to the ranch, we noticed how high we were. We had to descend a set of switchbacks which were far steeper than any we had yet seen. Lauren's mule, who had a habit of tripping made this portion of the trip terrifying. My mule, who was very sure footed, was ok except for the fact that we were at such an angle that I felt I was going right over the edge into the Colorado River...after hitting about 1000 rocks. 

We trekked through a short tunnel and over the bridge, width of the entire Colorado and finally, arrive safely at the ranch. We were incredibly sore and our nerves were shot, but we really enjoyed ourselves. After laying comatose in our cozy cottage for an hour or so, we went down to the "crik" to sit in the water. 

We then visited our mule friends who were resting in their pen and headed to our steak dinner.

Although terrifying, if you get the chance you must do this trip. You will see amazing sights and an experience you cannot get anywhere else.

Zion! It really is!

We had a restless night of boiling and wind bombarding our tent with sand, so we quickly headed to Utah!

The sandstone canyon and cliffs surround a desert oasis at Zion National Park.

You can see the lush green below that is from the Virgin river.

This park has an efficient shuttle system to all of its highlights to prevent traffic, so we took it to the Emerald Pools trail for a little hike.

It was like walking on a beach uphill, but there were several rewards like this water spray.

This tree that found a home in a crack in the rock form.

And these pools filled with tadpoles.

And finally another pool with the shear rock face as it's backdrop.

Campsite view: