Day 19: Bluff, Utah day 1: hike to Moonhouse

After a good night's rest and a quick review of the weather, we decided to stay another night at the Desert Rose Inn. We got ready at a leisurely pace before heading out for our first hike. We were armed with detailed maps and incredible directions from Drew and Carrie. The sites that Drew and Carrie recommended are not on the maps, and they’re not marked with trailheads either. They seem to be passed on through word of mouth. Luckily, Drew and Carrie thought we were cool enough to get to these incredible ruins, and so shared their maps and information.
We drove out to the BLM land, which is huge. It had a paved main highway through it with all of these dirt roads or paths shooting out from it. Some were labeled some were not. The paved road turned into a dirt road through the mountain climbs. The views were stunning; the rocky mountains and canyons seemed to go on forever.

After about 20 miles on the main road, we turned off onto a bumpy dirt road. 4-wheel drive seems like it would be mandatory out here. Drew said to avoid the roads when they were wet, and you could see why. The rocks and red dirt could really turn slick. Despite growing up in Colorado, and so having plenty of snow driving experience, Drew said he slid Carrie’s Subaru 30 feet in the rain.


We followed the dirt road for what seemed like a very long time. I think it probably took about an hour to go about 8 miles. We parked in a little pull out, where there happened to be a little podium with a self-pay box and a billboard with a few facts about the area. There clearly is a ruin site near here, as the postings give a few facts about the Basketweaving people who inhabited the area from 1070 to 1200 AD. However, there was nothing on the road or the map to mention this. It seems to be set up so that if you know where you’re going you can find these incredible historical sites.
Before setting out on our hike, we made ourselves a hearty lunch. All of our camping stuff is in the car, so it’s easy to stop off on these deserted roads to cook a meal. We had skipped breakfast, and so had a hearty lunch of salami sandwiches and top ramen soup out there in the open space. There was literally not a soul around; the only evidence of other beings was the coyote tracks.



We hiked the flat desert-like landscape for about a mile before we found ourselves at the edge of a canyon.


Sure enough, across the canyon were some rock dwellings built into one of the cliff’s layers. Next came the tricky part of the hike: we had to climb down the canyon, cross the ravine, and climb up the other side to view the ruins. Thank God I went to the climbing gym with Clint a few times, the experience gave me a bit more confidence for the descent. As I mentioned before, there was no trail, but we did spot a few cairns (rock stacks) that seemed to be placed at the best places to climb up or down.
Once down, there was only a little bit of water in the ravine, which we easily jumped over.




Finding our way up was harder than we anticipated. We climbed up a tree, which had been used as a ladder, but once up to the first layer, we couldn’t find our way up to the next layer. We had to climb back down and retrace our steps along the water before finding another way to climb up.


I cannot describe how it felt to get up to the ruin, but I suppose I’ll try. It’s so rewarding after a little bit of climbing and hiking to find a pristine site that hasn’t been roped off and surrounded by tons of photo-snapping tourists. We felt like archeologists, and yet the site was a sure thing.







It turns out that we should have obtained a special permit to be out here, but we really had no idea since there weren’t really signs, and there were certainly not people.



Once learning about the permit, we got pretty nervous and so hurried through the site. It gives one hope in humankind to find such an old site in such good condition. No ropes, no entrance fee, no graffiti.
Climbing back up the canyon was easier than the way down, and we made it back to the car without any trouble. It was dark by the time we got back to Bluff, and we opted for a dinner of backpacking macaroni and cheese in our hotel.

Day 18: Zion NP to Bluff, UT

We packed up camp and reorganized our overfilled car without making breakfast. We were eager to get on the road, since we figured our drive would only take 4 or 5 hours. We like to try to get to a place before dark so we can properly check it out and possible get in some exercise. We took several highways: 9 out of Zion to the 89 south, 89 to Page, Arizona, where we picked up 98. We took the 98 to 160, which runs through reservation land, and 160 to 191 north, stopping at Bluff. Sounds like a crazy round-about route, but it really was the most direct path to eastern Utah.

Boy were we wrong in our estimation of time.

We stopped briefly at on overlook to view the Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell,

but by then it was past 1 pm and we hadn’t had breakfast or lunch.

Those of you that know us well know that when we get hungry, we get grumpy. And let me tell you, we were in danger zone. We decided to stop in Page for some food since it was the last main city on our route. Any of you ever been to Page? It’s right up there on our list with Idaho Falls. The town seems very depressed. Turns out that it was originally built up when the dam was being constructed. Once the dam was constructed, Page turned into somewhat of a ghost town. A few years later, a power plant went up and so the town became populated again.
We found a burger joint on the main street called R.D.’s Drive Through. We decided it would be best if we stopped for our lunch since our respective blood sugars were so low. The burgers might as well have been from Burger King (Clint says that Burger King would have been better), but the milk shake was good, and so was the break.
We resumed our drve through the desolate reservation land for several more hours. It was dark by the time we reached Bluff. Bluff is a very small town; it is sandwiched between BLM land and Navajo Indian Reservation land. It was so dark when we arrived that we weren’t sure how small, so we jumped at the first hotel opportunity there was - The Desert Rose Inn. After 3 nights of camping, and our 4 hikes, we were pretty rank. We were both in dire need of a shower and a change of clothes. The Desert Rose Inn even had a washer and dryer so we were able to do a load of laundry! After starting a load of our dirty and very stinky clothes, we showered and headed out for dinner. The hotel receptionist pointed us in the direction of the Twin Rocks Café, which was about a mile from the hotel. The dinner was pretty good, and we were starting to really feel good about Bluff. I had the Navajo taco-a large slab of fry bread (about the size of naan) topped with chile and lettuce and cheese. It was perhaps more of a tostada, but the fry bread was doughy in the middle. I had started with some homemade chicken soup, which was delicious, so I barely made a dent in the large taco. Clint had chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes. It came with a homemade wheat dinner roll, which was the highlight of his meal in my opinion, but he liked it. After dinner, we called it a night.

Day 17: 3 hikes in Zion

We must have slept in, because we didn’t get into the car to head out for our first hike until 11:30. Many of the other campers had already left. In fact, many of them had cleared out for good. We weren’t sure why, because the bad weather had passed, and the forecast for today was good: a high of 54 and a low of 34. The visitor center posted a very handy 7-day weather forecast for both Zion and Bryce Canyon every day. Our original plan was to spend 2 nights in Zion before heading north to Bryce Canyon, but after watching the weather pattern, we decided against it. Bryce Canyon is double the elevation of Zion, so lows were below the 20s at night. Zion really has a lot to offer, so we’re not too disappointed. Now we just have to come back to visit the other parks.
We decided to stay another night in Zion, but as there was a 40% chance of rain for tomorrow, we had a lot of hikes to get to. The three hikes that we were interested in depended slightly on good weather: Angels Landing and The Watchman for the clear views, and The Narrows for avoiding flash floods.
We packed a lunch and headed first to Angels Landing.

The good weather and the late start perhaps, brought all sorts of people out. The hike up was just over 2 miles, but there was some good climbing. The rock is just so incredible here. It looks the same as at Observation Point, and yet different.

There seemed to be more cavities in the rock, but the terrain was similar.

The guidebook says that this hike is not recommended for acrophobes, but since it said the same about the Observation Point trail, I thought nothing of it. Wrong. Angel’s Landing is no joke.

After 2 miles, the path turns into a rock with some chain mail nailed into it. Our new guardrail was the only way we knew which way the trail went in some spots. My heart raced from anxiety instead of from fatigue.

The views were beautiful, but I’ll take the safer, albeit longer, Observation Point trail.


The way down was scarier than the way up, but we were back on solid trails before too long. We stopped for lunch about a mile from the bottom, and enjoyed a view of the river before the sun hid behind a mountain and we got cold.


Our next hike was only 2 miles round trip, and was really more of a flat amble than a hike. The Narrows trail started just a few miles down the road from the Angel’s Landing trail.

It was a pretty walk, but after a few minutes we noticed that other people had something that we didn’t. In fact, it was beginning to feel like Yellowstone all over again. You know-where everyone has a tripod and a ridiculously large pair of binoculars and we have mini pocket size ones? Well, everyone on the way back from the hike is wet from the knee down and most of them also have special shoes on.

It turns out that the exciting part of the hike is off of the trail and through the river. The Narrows is in between two towering rocks and must be stunning, because people are crossing the river 2 times to get there. 4 times if they wanted to come back. And don’t forget that the high for today is in the low 50’s.


Clint and I learned that people were renting gear in Springdale for $35. This pertinent information wasn’t listed in our guidebook or at the hike’s entrance. Regardless, we had a good time ambling about.
We headed back to our campsite and after a brief brake, decided to try out the Watchman. This hike was recommended to us by the campsite hosts, and started right behind our campsite. The Watchman wound up a mountain with a great overlook after only about 2 miles.

From the top, we watched the sun set and could just make out the campground at which we were staying.

We probably would have needed some of those large, fancy binoculars to find out tent though. We made it back to our campsite just before we lost all of the light and started our dinner. We were having sautéed habanero sausages with macaroni and cheese. That probably sounds gross. It was delicious and warm though; especially after 3 hikes. We enjoyed it out by Clint’s big fire; the sky was clear and we could see millions of stars. It was a very good day.

Road Trip Day 16: Zion NP: Observation Point hike

We woke up early to an overcast sky. The weather was cold, but really had nothing on the chill we experienced at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone. We made coffee and oatmeal and were able to enjoy them outside without getting wet. We packed sandwiches for the day and made sure everything was covered before heading out.
The hike that we chose for the day was just 8 miles up the road.

It was cold and a bit rainy out, so the trails were pretty unpopulated. Observation point was 4 miles up, with about 2500 feet of climbing, and 4 miles back down.

We climbed up through fall colors, smooth rock walls, and stunning narrows.



Parts of our hike were hot, as rock walls protected us from the wind, and we were able to strip down a few layers. As we assented, however, light rain turned to hail, and gusts of wind made us wish we had brought gloves. The view from the top was worth the cold and the climb and then some.



We looked down on the winding Virgin River and countless rock formations, including the White Throne; a light colored plateau atop red and orange mountains.


The foliage at the top of Observation Point was mostly short, dry looking brush. But, there were also a few trees, and their roots twisted around the rock to hold on. There were also a few purple and yellow wildflowers. In short, the terrain was overwhelmingly awesome. Neither of us could hurry our way up, there was just too much to take in. It is unlike anything we’d ever seen. We were definitely experiencing sensory overload.





After descending, we headed back to camp.

 It was not yet 5, but we were tired and wanted to make dinner before it got dark. We arrived to lovely campsite 71 to find that the sun was back. The mountains behind our campsite were aglow an awesome shade of orange.

We made some quesadillas and pozole soup (from a can, we’re not that impressive) for dinner, and enjoyed it in the setting sun.  We retired to our tent early, and were finally able to crack open our books. Clint is reading On the Road again, and I’ve just started my book club book, The Help. It really feels like vacation when you get to read outside. I’m not sure why. We’ve been enjoying ourselves so much on this trip so far that we’ve failed to open our books, despite the amount of free time we have.

Road Trip Day 15 - Provo, UT to Zion National Park

We ate the free breakfast provided by the hotel and loaded the cooler with ice before starting the drive to Zion. The landscape got increasingly beautiful as we headed south. The sun was shining and we made sandwiches in the car so we could get to Zion in time for a short hike. Just outside of Zion, we picked up some fresh apples at a cute, albeit touristy, town called Springdale. Springdale mainly had bed and breakfast places and rock and gem shops, but it also had character. We stopped at a cute barn for some local apples before continuing into Zion NP.
Zion is stunning.

There was way more foliage than either of us had expected.

Our campsite was right on the Virgin River and surrounded by jutting red mountains. We were really lucky to get such a nice campsite; it was on a path, so we had to park a few hundred feet away and carry our stuff down. We did not mind at all since this meant that we were not very close to any other campers, or to the camp road. There were more campers out than we anticipated as well. It makes sense when you think about it: it’s unseasonably warm for fall, and summer has got to be horribly hot. We set up camp before heading out on a short walk behind the campsite. We didn’t finish the hike, as the sun was setting, but we were so impressed with the landscape that we had to check some of it out before settling into the campground.

We headed back to make dinner before we lost all of the sun. We had the last of our salad and huevos rancheros and were even able to sit outside to eat. The low for tonight was only 48! We love Utah so far (minus Provo)! No bear boxes, or raccoon problems at Zion. Without a campfire, the wind just cuts right through to your bones, so we took this as an opportunity to get to bed early and read the guidebooks. We were both so excited to check this area out that we wanted a good nights’ sleep.