RonnieAdventure #0077 - Zion National Park, Part 1, Washington County, Utah

First impressions can sometimes be deceiving. The first time I visited Zion National Park was in the middle of the summer -- the temperature was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (with no breeze), the main road up the canyon was overly crowed with bumper-to-bumper traffic, and there was no place to park a vehicle at any of the trailheads. Talk about a disappointment! I could not believe they made this place a National Park, so I did not return for over 25 years.

When I finally returned it was in September and it was a totally different experience-  the weather was ideal, the colors were beautiful, there were no privately owned vehicles on the main canyon road, a new visitors center had been constructed that incorporated a large parking lot for private vehicles, and there was an efficient shuttle system that carried people up and down the canyon - for FREE! Thus, over the past decade Zion has become one of my favorite National Parks in the Southwest and we have visited there often.

Our recent trip in November, which is later than we typically visit the Park, most of the leaves had fallen from the deciduous trees located along the Virgin River; however, we did find a few spots that still had some beautiful colors. There were only a few tourist in the Park, so a number of animals were feeding close to the road. I almost missed a picture of a nice buck that walked by me before I could get my camera out of the case and take a picture.

Since I didn't take many pictures on this trip, I'm including some file pictures from other Zion Visits. In May of 2011, we had an exciting canyoneering adventure in Birch Hollow. Even though the water was a little on the cold side, it was one of those trips that you never forget.

 

Angles Landing is a great hike, but not advised if you are afraid of heights. The last part of the trail is very narrow and you have to hold on to a chain as you cross a narrow ridge and then ascend a fairly steep rock face. You also want to start earl in the morning when it is cooler and the trail is in the shade.

 

 

 

 

Most people that hike in "The Narrows" do a bottom-up day hike and just start from the road at the bottom of the canyon. It is not easy walking against the water current when you are going upstream, so day hikers typically only go a short distance up the canyon and then return back down the river to the road. However, for the more adventuresome, you can do a top-down trip and start at Chamberlain's Ranch and then hike all 16 miles down the canyon in one day (or if you are lucky, you can get one of the few overnight permits). This trip is not recommended if you are out-of-shape or not accustomed to hiking in water over slippery rocks. (All of my pictures were taken before the confluence with Deep Creek and Kolob Creek. The water was too deep and the current was too swift after that point, so I kept my camera in a waterproof container for the rest of the trip.)

 

 

 

RonnieAdventure #0076 - Lost City Museum, Overton, Clark County, Nevada

As we were driving past the Lost City Museum in Overton (Nevada), we notices a sign indicating that November was Native American Heritage Month and there was a special celebration at the museum featuring Navajo dancers. This seemed like a great unplanned RonnieAdventure, so we decided to stop and watch the dancers perform.

It turned out to be a great stop because the dancers were just starting their performance and other members of their tribe were serving Navajo Tacos. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of standing in line to purchase food while my wife looked at the handcrafted Navajo jewelry, so the stop turned out to be more expensive than I had anticipated. Oh well! The money went for a good cause!

The Anasazi people occupied this area from about A.D. 200 until about A.D. 1800, and then for some unknown reason they abandoned the area. No one knows for certain where the Anasazi people went, but it is believed that they became the Pueblo people of Arizona and New Mexico.

In 1935 the CCC built the current museum building on an Anasazi site that had been excavated and the CCC also reconstructed a pit house and other pueblo dwellings on he site.The museum primarily contains Anasazi artifacts, but there are also spear points and other hunter artifacts dating back almost 11, 500 years. However, little is known about the early hunters, or their culture, that used this area before the Anasazi.

RonnieAdventure #0075 - Valley of Fire State Park, Clark County, Nevada

If you ever visit Valley of Fire State Park at sunset, it becomes obvious how the park got its name. As sunrays low on the horizon strike the red sandstone, the rocks give off a brilliant red colors and appear to be on fire!

The red sandstone was deposited about 150 million years ago and then over the years the wind and water have eroded the rock deposits, creating the picturesque landscape that can be enjoyed today. The erosion has also exposed a number of petrified trees that can be reached easily by short walks from paved roads.

Starting as early as 300 BC, Native Americans visited the area for hutting and food gathering purposes and  possibly for religious ceremonies. Consequently, very nice examples of rock art can be found at several locations throughout the park, particularly where there are springs or tanks that collect water.

In more recent years, the CCC built various improvements in the park that include some stone cabins for passing travelers to use as emergency shelters. The stone cabins stand vacant today, but are a great reminder of a time when transportation between cities was much less reliable and travelers never knew where they may have to spend the night.

The CCC also built roads to more remote parts of the park so that travels could enjoy the unusual rock formations that are found farther from the main highway. Many of the formations take on shapes of birds, animals, and even an elephant's head!

At the north end of the interior park road is the White Domes hiking trail, which leads to a small slot canyon and an old movie set that was used in The Professionals with Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin and Claudia Cardinale. Other films that used the Valley of Fire landscape include Airwolf (TV show 1984-1987), Total Recall, Star Trek Generations, Domino, Angel of Fire, and Transformers.

At night, the rock silhouettes are intriguing and the park is far enough from Las Vegas that there are beautiful view of the moon and stars. I finally broke down and bought a Valley of Fire annual pass, so I'll probably spend more tine out here in the next twelve months.