 UTAH |
We returned to Utah with better camera gear (Canon Digital Rebel XT) in the context of Elderhostel. We hadn't visited Zion or slot canyons or Monument Valley our first time around and this is just what this Elderhostel trip offered. And it was a photography oriented trip...couldn't miss that. Following is a record of some marvelous photos, some by me and some by fellow Elderhostelers.
We flew into Las Vegas, not Linda's favorite place, on our Air Advantage miles on American Airlines, and took the van to St. George. The St. George van delivered us to Dixie State College's Inn. The facility was perfect for Elderhostelers providing breakfast when needed. Knowing about the Bear Paw on Main Street made good lunches available to us. We had to spend an extra day at the end of the trip, since a seat was not available on Monday, but for retired people this is doable.
Zion National Park |
Apr. 14th |
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Apr. 15th |
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The River Walk |
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then kayakers came along. |
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Pa'rus sunset shoot |
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Sunrise photo shoot |
Apr. 16th |
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Altar of Sacrifice |
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Shuttle throughout the park |
Travel to Lake Powell (Wahweap Lodge) and cruise on the Canyon Princess |
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...who can recite cowboy poems and stories at the drop of a hat |
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Glen Canyon Dam |
Apr. 17th |
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Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service) |
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Navajo Tribal Park and Upper Antelope Canyon |
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Travel to Monument Valley |
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Sunset photos of Monument Valley |
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Explore Four Corners |
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Sunrise photo shoot |
Apr. 18th |
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Suzie Azzi, 93 year old still at her loom |
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Textures |
Mikey's example of sand pattern |
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Fred's image of wood |
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Linda's image of the timbers supporting the hogan |
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People |
Apr. 19th |
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More Sand than Stone climb of Tooth Rock with Albert Newman and Fitz Cahall in Alpinist magazine |
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Michael Schafer, our other guide |
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While living in Yosemite he has pioneered many new rock climbs with difficulties up to 5.13 and accumulated over 20 ascents of El Capitan. |
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Elderhostel - Adventures in Lifelong Learning |
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Our first experience with the arranged guided tour. This one was really attuned to our capabilities as hikers and our need for creature comforts. Our days were spent on the trail in some of the most magnificent landscapes in the world. We met people who liked it so much they spent all of their vacation wandering there. One girl we met had 9 weeks of vacation (German postal employee) and she was wandering alone among the crags and washes, loving every minute of it. This one is a premiere desert hiking experience.
BACKROADSCanyonlands Arches Inn Trip, Utah, September 21st, 1996 (Taken
partly from the cryptic notes in Linda's Daytimer) - VACATION! Took the 10:30 flight on Delta to Salt
Lake City. The view of the vast fissured landscape with the snow-capped La Sal Mountains
in the background from the small plane to Grand Junction, CO was spectacular. As I
remember, we walked to the Holiday Inn from the airport since they were within easy sight
of one another. The town seemed fortified by mesas all around. We ate Mexican at WW
Peppers and swam in the hot tub. Totally relaxed, not thinking about the expedition to
begin tomorrow. We had had some misgivings about hiking 11 miles per day and moleskin
recommendations, etc. We didn't know how hard it might be on us.
September 22nd - Young Chris Selby and Stacy Smith, hike leaders,
picked us up in the colorful red Backroads van. At 47ºF, it was a beautiful, clear day
with a thin layer of clouds. Decked out in our cowboy hats and hiking boots, we drove to
Moab, Utah over mountains which we soon found were clothed in copses of quaking aspens.
Some of the copses were gold, some still green. No amount of begging would get Chris to
stop the juggernaut so that Dave, Stieglitz wannabe, could capture the quaking gold. I
should have turned off his ignition key but we had promises to keep and such moments are
better kept in our memories.
Arches National Park - The whirlwind Day One began at 9:30AM
meeting our compadres on this trip in a blind canyon beneath the shade of a pinon pine.
There were the couples, Dave and Linda from Durham, Tom Laird and Maureen Breslow from
Calabasas, California; and the singles, Jane Brooks of Richmond, VA, Barbara Maynard of
Oakland, CA, Allison Gordon of Philadelphia and Katherine Oakley of New York city. We
began to hike the 3.93 miles up the Devil's Garden trail to Navajo Arch with visits to
Pine Tree, Tunnel, Double O, Landscape and Partition arches along the way. These were but
a few of the world's greatest concentration of natural sandstone arches, over 1,500
arches have been catalogued in this area.
Delicate Arch - Our afternoon hike was to this adopted symbol of
the Arches National Park. It is the one most featured on postcards, hiking magazines, etc,
with a purple and red sky at sunset. Passing the remnants of the cabin at Wolfe Ranch,
across the swinging bridge we began our uphill climb. Dave was worn out and after the long
climb along the slickrock beneath some cliffs in the intense heat we had to stop every few
minutes to rest. Stacy was "sweep" for this hike and knew instantly the reason
for my debility. She unwrapped the cure, a package of Starburst chewy candies, and offered
me a handful. These with a few gulps of water from our Backroads water bottles and we were
on our way again, energized. Finally, after 1.5 miles, we rounded the cliffs and found a
spectacular sight. A bowl of sandstone a few football fields wide with Delicate Arch, the
45 foot high handle on the other side. Awesome, as Linda commented. On our way back down,
the skies lowered and darkened and a cloudburst threw lightning bolts to the east
of us. To this day, we carry Starbursts for that extra energy we need
for those medium hikes that turn out to be strenuous. Round trip was
3.17 miles.
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The end of a perfect day was our return to Moab for a feast at
the City Cafe, excellent gourmet food (Linda noted that the Chardonnay was $5). We checked
in at the Sunflower Hill Bed & Breakfast
at the end of 300 East (BTW, this type of street naming seems standard for the Mormon
towns in Utah). We did not pass up the hot tub under the tree in the garden and, yes,
there were sunflowers. The great breakfast of thick French toast with fresh blueberry
sauce, coffee, juice was prepared by grandpa (a family run business).
September 23rd - In the morning of Day Two, we met Jamie Fagan, naturalist, who accompanied us along the Lathrop trail into the Canyonlands National Park. We crossed Gray's pasture where bighorn sheep are often seen grazing, but not today.
We reach the rim of Island in the Sky, actually a broad mesa that rises 6,000 feet between the Green and Colorado rivers and descend into the canyon. We have our bag lunches in the solitude of the amphitheater. Round trip took us 6.76 miles.
Grand View Point Trail - We drive 15 minutes to the overlook
where we can "witness the churning confluence of the two rivers and observe the
remarkable scars that they have left on the landscape." On our way back to the
Sunflower B&B, Chris and Stacy play us a tape of Edward Abbey's Tales of the desert on
a boom box that they balance on the back of their seat. That night we buy our Chums (made
in Utah) so our sunglasses won't get lost on our rafting trip tomorrow.
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September 24th - Day Three was the day that we got a break from hiking. We get a great breakfast of eggs/mushroom casserole at the Sunflower and drive over to the Navtec River Rafters to embark on our morning raft trip. Robert, our guide, is a burly, cigarette-smoking former uranium miner who turned rafter after the demise of the mining operation. The only reminder of the mining operation are mounds of tailings all around the town that they don't quite know what to do with. He really knew the various sandstone strata by name, having learned it by osmosis during his mining career. At one point in our float he jumped over and challenged the rest of us to join him. No takers. But we come to a bend in the river faster than he thought we would and he had to scramble back into the rubber boat and paddle like crazy to avoid cutting our inflatable on the jagged walls of the canyon. A dog, whose owner brings him down to the river on occasion, paddles alongside for a long while. The dog is a legend and loves to accompany the rafts downriver. We pass a Mexican village along the banks of the river which was a movie set for one of the John Wayne movies. He points out the Tamarisk trees that are spreading everywhere along the rivers in these parts. They come from Asia and are replacing the native species but have been found to absorb a tremendous amount of water. The gruff guide was a lot of laughs but the water level was high that day and it wasn't white water.
The Lodge at Red River
Ranch, Bicknell, UT - The Backroads van drives us to this
picturesque lodge with its fantastic collection of western antiques. We gather in the
living room in front of the fire place to discuss the day's events and plans for tomorrow.
A 4-foot-high cowboy on a rearing horse, by Remington of course, dominates the side wall
of the room. We enjoy excellent salmon in the dining room where a model train choo-choos
around the ceiling. Excellent breakfast of Belgian waffles and sausage, sweet roll or
orange muffin.
September 25th, Capital Reef - I started out by wandering away from the group where a gravel bank which gave way, somersaulted me into the Grand Wash. My backpack hit a rock but I shook it off and they let me lead the hike between the steep canyon walls, I guess so that they could keep their eye on me. Absolutely beautiful! Lava boulders all around where they were thrown by some nearby volcano in ancient times. We lunched on Cassidy Arch. "The trail continues to the top of the plateau and then dips down into the water-carved pockets of Cohab Canyon. It was here in 1882 that Mormon polygamists and their families are said to have hidden from federal marshals." By the end of the week, they were giving me the gold medal for somersaulting. We walked a total of 8.3 miles today. No one is opting for the short hikes.
That afternoon, we took a 1½ hour ride in the red van to
Boulder, UT. A fine diamond of a motel is set in front of a bird sanctuary pond. We spent
some time viewing the birds and ducks from the broad deck along the back of the motel and
retired to the ample great room to enjoy a glass of wine and talk 
of the events of the
day. Chris, a photographer with a large fanny pack of fine camera gear, reveals one of the
by-products of his many bike trips, photos of disgusting road kills. You can read more
about Katie and Mark Austin, owners of the Boulder Mountain Lodge, in the
September-October, 1996 issue of Audubon. They are eking out their existence in the midst
of turmoil over how much of southern Utah will be designated as wilderness. That night
there was a eclipse of the moon which I tried to photograph without much luck.
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