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Zion National Park ~ Dry & Wet Hiking Galore!

27 Thursday Apr 2017

Posted by Ed and Marti Kirkpatrick in Travels

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

#Zion National Park, Emerald Pools, River Walk, Springdale, The Narrows, Utah, Virgin River, Whiptail Grille

Continuing south on the extremely barren Extraterrestrial Highway (375) from little Rachel, NV we picked up US RT. 93 to State Rt.168 and onto I-15 E.  Approaching the northwest corner of Arizona the landscape improves particularly as the road starts to run along the Virgin River which is just beautiful.  Pretty quickly we were into Utah where we headed for RT 9 on our way to Zion National Park. 20161016-_EKP2806-Pano

Named a national park in 1919, Zion expected 4 million visitors last year!  Thank goodness it was mid October which is towards the end of the season. With only 3 roads in the entire park, each covering a different area, the incredibly popular Zion Canyon section is nearly overwhelmed with visitors. During most of the year generally, March/April until October/November a free shuttle service provides the only access to this section, unless you’re an extreme hiker!  We camped under the Guardian at the Zion Canyon Campground & RV Park in Springdale which is just inside the park and at a shuttle stop.

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Whack-A-Mole Wheels, our first evening in Zion.

Riding the shuttle all the way to the last stop, Temple of Sinawaza, we did the River Walk which runs along the Virgin River.  Just a 2 mile roundtrip this is an easy paved walk and allowed us the time to do a second longer hike afterwards.

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Hanging Gardens along the River Walk trail.

Catching a return shuttle we hopped off at The Grotto Stop where we climbed the 2 mile Kayenta Trail to connect to the Emerald Pools Trail at the Middle Pool.

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Looking back down the canyon at the Virgin River from Kayenta Trail.

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Emerald Pools Trail

From there we did the steeper climb up to the Upper Pool which was rather sad as a pool goes but the cliff face….WOW!

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Standing at Upper Pool looking up the wall.

then on down the Emerald Trail to the Lower Pool and across the Virgin River to catch the shuttle at the Zion Lodge Stop.

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End of the hike.  Marti did NOT tell me she was going to drag me 5 more miles after I did 2 on the River Walk trail…  I was cooked.

All in all, this hike was probably 5 miles and well worth it especially because I saw my very first California Condor flying high over head!  Very massive and very exciting!! but he disappeared back over the cliff top before Ed could get a picture.

The Narrows was our plan for the next day’s hike.  One of the most popular hikes in the park it goes up into the beginning of Zion Canyon.  Accessed at the end of the River Walk this end of the Narrows is called Bottom Up because it starts at the bottom of the beginning of the canyon and you’re mostly walking upstream IN the Virgin River.  Even though we got a late start and the water temperature was 49* we put on our sneakers, grabbed a walking stick and caught the shuttle back to the River Walk, which we did at a pretty good clip, and then headed off for the real hike, into the river and canyon.

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The Bottom-Up into the Narrows.

Surprisingly we got use to the cold pretty quickly.  Of course after a while we were also numb.  🙂  While we had a lot of fun, I would like to do it sometime when it’s warmer and we have an earlier start.  That evening after changing into warm, dry clothes we had a wonderful meal at The Whiptail Grill.  Listed as Mexican it is not what you might expect and we highly recommend it!

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Heading out of Zion on 9 East the next morning.

To leave Zion we planned to continue out Rt. 9 the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway which requires going through a 1.1 mile long tunnel which has size restrictions.  At 11’4” high and 7.5’ wide you have to buy a $15 pass which allows you to drive down the center of the tunnel. The Park Ranger at the entrance calls the Park Ranger at the other entrance who stops and holds that traffic and when the tunnel is empty, you get to proceed.  Very civilized 🙂

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That hole in the cliff is a window in the tunnel… No kidding, they put windows in the tunnel.

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… I may have illegally stopped in the tunnel so Marti could snap a picture out the window. The tunnel window…

Zion is truly magnificent; Ed says he likes it better than the Grand Canyon because for him in particular it’s more accessible.  We managed a decent look around but there is much more to do, so join us and put it on your MVL (Must Visit List).




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Along River Walk.

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A bit further on the River Walk,  Ed thinks, but we don’t really remember clearly.  Alcohol was not involved, it came later.

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Approaching Upper Pool which is located under the white streaks in the lower right corner.

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Looking straight down the canyon from the same spot as above.  The wall is on the right hand, Upper Pool is behind me.

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Continuing on down to the lower pool trail, Marti may or may not have crossed the chain to get close enough to the edge to take this photo lying on her tummy.

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Ed picking his way across the knee deep, fast flowing and cold Virgin River in the Narrows.

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In the Narrows.

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Marti in a shallow spot headed for the sunny spot.

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Our view from where we sat to have our lunch, granola bars and  oranges.

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A place where the Virgin River turns and the canyon narrows seem to box you in.

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Some peoples to give a sense of scale.

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One of the prettiest and more open spots on the wade up the river.

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Water cascading down the rock face of the canyon.

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Marti has never used a walking stick until this day and she is very thankful she did.  This is the entire width of the canyon, wall to wall and the cliffs are hundreds of feet tall. We did not make it to Wall Street which is the famous really narrow and tall cliff section where the cliffs are 1500 feet high.  It was too late in the day, too cold and we still had to walk back out. Next time.

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In the very, very dark tunnel approaching one of the several windows.

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An incomplete Nature made window

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On the other side of the tunnel on RT 9 East, the park is very different with wonderful hikes but we couldn’t park our rig.  We will have to come back when we can rent a car.

LBJ & San Antonio, Texas ~ Bits of History

30 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by Ed and Marti Kirkpatrick in Travels

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Alamo, Concepcion, Espada, Fredericksburg Texas, LBJ, Missions, River Walk, San Antonio, San Jose

As I mentioned in the last post we were in San Antonio, Texas, but before we got there we had to see “our kids”. So, after a delightful but short visit including the Bastrop Christmas parade with our “adopted” granddaughter Lily (and her mom & dad) we spent a couple of wonderful days with our daughter-in-law Christy in Austin.

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Lily and Michelle

We have posted before about Bastrop & Austin and recommend them both, especially Austin. For you RVers, although we avoid them generally, the Bastrop KOA right on the Colorado River is very good if it’s not in flood 🙂 . In Austin while tight and really basic, you can’t beat Pecan Grove RV Park for convenience, but spaces can be hard to come by and they have no website.

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Only in Texas would you ride a longhorn steer decorated in Christmas lights. Bastrop Christmas Parade.

West into Texas Hill Country on our way to Fredericksburg via US 290 we stopped at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. Actually two different locations, the first is the Johnson City District where there is an excellent exhibit detailing Johnson’s Presidency. The Vietnam War so overshadowed his presidency especially in the end that we tend to forget the amazing amount of good he accomplished. The list of major and important legislation signed by this man is staggering. There is also an exhibit about his pioneering family and their home site is on the grounds. A few miles down the road is the second district, the LBJ Ranch, or as it was called The Texas White House, where we took the house tour. While both places are interesting, if your time is limited I suggest skipping the ranch in favor of the exhibit covering the details of this political giant, in fact it should be on your MVL (Most Visit List).

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The Texas White House/LBJ Ranch. The large Live Oak is known as the Cabinet Oak because LBJ liked to hold his Cabinet meetings under it.

Fredericksburg on down US290 is a town of German ancestry and we camped at the Fredericksburg RV Park which was nice. The town is chock-a-block full of shops and restaurants and it’s a fun way to spend a day. I saw a kitchen store right off and we popped in. While they do NOT do online sales, and in fact don’t have a “true” website, Ed & I both agree Der Kuchen Laden is the best kitchen store we have ever been in period!! We were just lusting over item after item we had to have. If you have any interest in cooking, put it on your MVL!

Heading south we drove the short (little over & hour) drive to San Antonio where we stayed at the Traveler’s World Carefree RV Resort. For just a $1.20, the 42 bus stops right at the RV park and runs about every 20 minutes, very convenient for going in to see the Alamo and do the River Walk. Riding the bus as far as W. Crockett St. we walked over to Alamo Plaza.

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The Alamo has been declared a shrine in Texas and you are requested to remove your hat and take no pictures inside.  However, they can’t seem to control the local Crockett Hotel sign…

San Antonio de Valero, commonly called the Alamo, was the first Spanish Mission on the San Antonio River. Over the course of time the Alamo became a military outpost and when Mexico declared independence from Spain it remained a Mexican outpost. As Mexican politics shifted from a federalist government with extensive individual rights, to a centralist government the displeasure of those native born to Texas and the emigrants from the United States who were now the majority, began to push back. In a nutshell (you didn’t sign up for a history lesson and it’s a little complicated) this interference with Mexico’s rule lead to fighting and eventually the battle at the Alamo. Against overwhelming odds 212 of the 256 (these numbers are still in dispute) combatants were killed at the siege but the “Cradle of Texas Liberty” was firmly established along with the cry, “Remember the Alamo!”

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“The Spirit Of Sacrifice” by Pompeo Coppini 1940

The chain of missions established along the San Antonio River date back to the 1700’s and besides the Alamo, we visited three more of the five. Financed by the Spanish Crown, Franciscan monks served both Church and State. The missions were communities where the Franciscans not only converted the Indians to Catholicism, they taught them the skills needed to build the churches and shelters, to plant the crops and make all other necessities of living a settled existence rather than as hunter/gatherers. They taught them to be good citizens of Spain. Since the 1920’s the city of San Antonio has worked to protect and maintain these historic missions and we found each different from the other and all fascinating. Put them on your MVL! By the way, Mass is still held at all of these missions.

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Mission San Jose founded 1720 by Fray. Antonio Margil de Jesus.

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Mission Concepcion famous for its well preserved frescoes.

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Mission San Francisco de la Espada

We also spent an entire afternoon and evening wandering all over San Antonio’s famous River Walk. This walk below street level and along the San Antonio River is lined mostly with restaurants. The prettiest, best flood control, save the river, attract business, encourage exercise and well done city park we’ve seen yet! A delight and especially lovely after dark at Christmas time, put this on your MVL! Oh, and when you get hungry from all that walking, Biga on the Banks is very good!

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River Walk, San Antonio




 

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LBJ’s grandparents’ home in Johnson City, Texas

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President and Lady Bird Johnson’s burial site in family cemetery on the LBJ Ranch

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President Johnson preferred this smaller jet to the regular Air Force One.  He called this plane Air Force One and a Half.  There happened to be two other RV’s just like ours lined up in the parking lot at the Texas White House/LBJ Ranch.  We’re on the right.

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Mission San Jose.

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Arched walkway at Mission San Jose

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Sanctuary at Mission San Jose.

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Walkway at Mission Concepcion

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Interior frescoes at Mission Concepcion.  All of the missions were finished in fresco inside and out but few remain.  These are some of the best preserved.

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Sanctuary at Concepcion

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We waited outside Espada while this couples wedding Mass was taking place.  

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The smallest of the missions is Espada and it is very popular for weddings such as we were lucky to see.

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Along San Antonio’s River Walk

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Over 3000 luminarias with real candles are placed along the River Walk for two weekends before Christmas.

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Welcome to Texas!  It is a big state…

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