August 5-6, 2017 Hoodoos to Home
This is the second half of my trip back from Glacier National Park after dropping y spouse off last night at the SLC airport.
Got up early, about 7, after a good night’s sleep. Started the day with an OK, typical Hampton's Inn breakfast. Nothing wonderful, but filling. I got there early so there were still grapefruit slices in the fruit bowl. By the time I left there were lots of people down for breakfast, but contrary to my prior Hampton’s Inn experiences, the staff came out with lots of refills.
I had thought about going on the Mormon Temple tour, there was room on the 9:00 tour, but I decided that I would rather get to Bryce National Park. So, after leaving a thank you note from the Volt to the Prius, I left the hotel by 9 and headed down I-15 with a fully charged battery. Drove about 3 hours on the highway and then turned off on to route 20 and the route 89. Climbing most of the way. The route seemed vaguely familiar, but while we visited Bryce in the mid-90s, I think that we came from the south after visiting Zion, so I do not think I had previously driven on these roads. Stopped in Panguitch, a small town at the rest area and for gasoline. Gas was expensive. As I continued to the park it began to rain, initially lightly and then heavily. I did not think that it rained here in the summer, let alone much at all, but for a while it was really coming down. I imagined walking around the park in my poncho. The last road was route 12 and it took about 4 hours to get there.
Before I got to the Park I entered Dixie National Forest. I stopped in Red Canyon. The rock formations were striking. There were lots of tall, colorful, spires and other fantastic forms of rocks that are called Hoodoos. These are part of the Claron Limestone Formation and are created by the repeated freezing and thawing. I learned that the red, yellow and brown colors came from iron oxides while manganese oxides create a lavender tone. I parked and took a short hike. Up, around and through the rocks. Also saw some bristlecone pines, but not as many as I had seen in the CA. forest. I ended up at the Visitors Center. It had some beautiful, but expensive paintings of the area. There are some hardy plants out there, including the bristlecone pines.
As I turned into what I thought would be the Park, I first entered Bryce Canyon City. A large collection of hotels and restaurants that were surprising to be found inside the Park, but convenient. I saw a sign warning that parking was limited in the Park and advised taking the shuttle. So, I parked in the satellite lot and after showing my senior pass and getting my map, I hurriedly boarded the shuttle. To my dismay the shuttle began a circuit of the hotels in the city before entering the park. I ate lunch on the shuttle from my accumulated collection of fruit and leftovers.
Studying the map while on the shuttle I realized that it only went about a quarter of the way into the Park. Turned out not to be a problem since by now it was about 2:30 and there was a lot to see and do in what turned out to be the northern quarter of the Park.
I exited the shuttle after about 10 minutes in the park at stop #4, Bryce Point. After short walk out to the point, I gazed out in amazement into a wild topography of shapes, forms and colors. Bryce is misnamed as a canyon. It really is a series of horseshoe shaped amphitheaters that have been carved into the edges of the Paunsaugunt Plateau by the tributaries of the Paria River. I thought that a comment I saw on a plaque by Mormon settler Ebenezer Bryce that was “a hell of a place to lose a cow”. The Native Americans’ name for the area translated to “red rocks standing like men in a bowl-shaped canyon.”
There are hiking trails that descent to the floor, but I opted for the Rim Trail. It was a relatively flat trail that wound its way along the amphitheater affording spectacular views of the rock formations. Even though the trail was largely at or above 8000 ft. I had not difficulty with it, but I did walk through some light rain. I took too many pictures and by the time I reached Inspiration Point my phone/camera was almost out of power, so I had to forgo many pictures. Parts of this trail marked a water shed boundary between water that flowed ultimately into the Colorado River and water that flowed into the Great Basin. The latter has no outlet to the sea so all that water either is absorbed into the ground or evaporates. I walked about 2.3miles until Sunset Point.
I needed power in my phone to make a hotel reservation so, missing Sunrise Point and trails down to the floor, I left the trail at Sunset Point and caught a shuttle to the Bryce Canyon Lodge. There, as I charged my phone I learned that the Lodge was built in the 1920s by the Union Pacific Railroad which was interested in stimulating tourism and competing with its competitors who were building Lodges in Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Canyon Parks. The UP-tourist Park loop encompassed Bryce, Zion and the North rim of Grand Canyon Parks. It was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood who designed the Lodges in the parks mentioned above. Its lobby was smaller than those I saw in the other lodges, but it had a huge stone fireplace and it had a large brick porch that was equipped with lots of chairs and benches that I used while my phone charged. I purchased a long sleeve tee shirt on sale in the gift shop. By now it was after 5 and I decided that I did not want to drive too far, so I made a reservation at the Virgin River Hotel and Casino where I had stayed before, just across the state line in Mosquito, Nevada. The usual $27 hotel room on Booking.
I got back on the shuttle before some more rain and headed out of the Park at about 6:15. I decided to take what I thought was a scenic short cut to get back to I-15 on the road to Nevada so I took route 14 into the mountains. The road was scenic, but it was windy and many ups and downs. I got as high as 9900 ft. at Midway Summit and passed Duck Creek and stopped at Navajo Lake. By the time I emerged at Cedar City I had a scenic, but slower experience.
Driving on I-15 through Arizona I passed through Virgin River Gorge. This is a beautiful, spectacular stretch of road, but even at that late hour it was over 100 degrees. I got to the Virgin River casino hotel at what was 8:15 due to the time zone change, so I thought that I had some time to use the buffet that closed at 10. I got a first-floor room and after waiting for a lady to move her car from the front of my room, I tried to plug in my car, but came up about 1 ft. short.
After I was seated at the buffet I was told that I had only 20 minutes to eat because they were closing. Apparently, the buffet stayed on Mountain Time. Probably a blessing in disguise since it limited my eating, but I felt robbed of the benefit of the buffet.
November 6
Got up early and swam in the hotel outdoor pool. Even then it was in the80s. After the swim, I checked out the breakfast buffet. No one stooped me so I just sampled some eggs and ice cream, which I did to get to eat the prior night. I got out by 9:15 and stopped for gasoline at the same station we had stopped on the way up 8 days earlier. The tank read 416 miles and it was only 366 miles to LA so I tried to drive straight through. I had to stop to go to the bathroom in Barstow, CA. and while there I refilled my water bottles with ice. It was over 100 degrees all the way home until I got near to LA. When I got home I parked at a charging station and immediately headed to the ocean to immerse myself in the cool waters.
This is the second half of my trip back from Glacier National Park after dropping y spouse off last night at the SLC airport.
Got up early, about 7, after a good night’s sleep. Started the day with an OK, typical Hampton's Inn breakfast. Nothing wonderful, but filling. I got there early so there were still grapefruit slices in the fruit bowl. By the time I left there were lots of people down for breakfast, but contrary to my prior Hampton’s Inn experiences, the staff came out with lots of refills.
I had thought about going on the Mormon Temple tour, there was room on the 9:00 tour, but I decided that I would rather get to Bryce National Park. So, after leaving a thank you note from the Volt to the Prius, I left the hotel by 9 and headed down I-15 with a fully charged battery. Drove about 3 hours on the highway and then turned off on to route 20 and the route 89. Climbing most of the way. The route seemed vaguely familiar, but while we visited Bryce in the mid-90s, I think that we came from the south after visiting Zion, so I do not think I had previously driven on these roads. Stopped in Panguitch, a small town at the rest area and for gasoline. Gas was expensive. As I continued to the park it began to rain, initially lightly and then heavily. I did not think that it rained here in the summer, let alone much at all, but for a while it was really coming down. I imagined walking around the park in my poncho. The last road was route 12 and it took about 4 hours to get there.
Before I got to the Park I entered Dixie National Forest. I stopped in Red Canyon. The rock formations were striking. There were lots of tall, colorful, spires and other fantastic forms of rocks that are called Hoodoos. These are part of the Claron Limestone Formation and are created by the repeated freezing and thawing. I learned that the red, yellow and brown colors came from iron oxides while manganese oxides create a lavender tone. I parked and took a short hike. Up, around and through the rocks. Also saw some bristlecone pines, but not as many as I had seen in the CA. forest. I ended up at the Visitors Center. It had some beautiful, but expensive paintings of the area. There are some hardy plants out there, including the bristlecone pines.
As I turned into what I thought would be the Park, I first entered Bryce Canyon City. A large collection of hotels and restaurants that were surprising to be found inside the Park, but convenient. I saw a sign warning that parking was limited in the Park and advised taking the shuttle. So, I parked in the satellite lot and after showing my senior pass and getting my map, I hurriedly boarded the shuttle. To my dismay the shuttle began a circuit of the hotels in the city before entering the park. I ate lunch on the shuttle from my accumulated collection of fruit and leftovers.
Studying the map while on the shuttle I realized that it only went about a quarter of the way into the Park. Turned out not to be a problem since by now it was about 2:30 and there was a lot to see and do in what turned out to be the northern quarter of the Park.
I exited the shuttle after about 10 minutes in the park at stop #4, Bryce Point. After short walk out to the point, I gazed out in amazement into a wild topography of shapes, forms and colors. Bryce is misnamed as a canyon. It really is a series of horseshoe shaped amphitheaters that have been carved into the edges of the Paunsaugunt Plateau by the tributaries of the Paria River. I thought that a comment I saw on a plaque by Mormon settler Ebenezer Bryce that was “a hell of a place to lose a cow”. The Native Americans’ name for the area translated to “red rocks standing like men in a bowl-shaped canyon.”
There are hiking trails that descent to the floor, but I opted for the Rim Trail. It was a relatively flat trail that wound its way along the amphitheater affording spectacular views of the rock formations. Even though the trail was largely at or above 8000 ft. I had not difficulty with it, but I did walk through some light rain. I took too many pictures and by the time I reached Inspiration Point my phone/camera was almost out of power, so I had to forgo many pictures. Parts of this trail marked a water shed boundary between water that flowed ultimately into the Colorado River and water that flowed into the Great Basin. The latter has no outlet to the sea so all that water either is absorbed into the ground or evaporates. I walked about 2.3miles until Sunset Point.
I needed power in my phone to make a hotel reservation so, missing Sunrise Point and trails down to the floor, I left the trail at Sunset Point and caught a shuttle to the Bryce Canyon Lodge. There, as I charged my phone I learned that the Lodge was built in the 1920s by the Union Pacific Railroad which was interested in stimulating tourism and competing with its competitors who were building Lodges in Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Canyon Parks. The UP-tourist Park loop encompassed Bryce, Zion and the North rim of Grand Canyon Parks. It was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood who designed the Lodges in the parks mentioned above. Its lobby was smaller than those I saw in the other lodges, but it had a huge stone fireplace and it had a large brick porch that was equipped with lots of chairs and benches that I used while my phone charged. I purchased a long sleeve tee shirt on sale in the gift shop. By now it was after 5 and I decided that I did not want to drive too far, so I made a reservation at the Virgin River Hotel and Casino where I had stayed before, just across the state line in Mosquito, Nevada. The usual $27 hotel room on Booking.
I got back on the shuttle before some more rain and headed out of the Park at about 6:15. I decided to take what I thought was a scenic short cut to get back to I-15 on the road to Nevada so I took route 14 into the mountains. The road was scenic, but it was windy and many ups and downs. I got as high as 9900 ft. at Midway Summit and passed Duck Creek and stopped at Navajo Lake. By the time I emerged at Cedar City I had a scenic, but slower experience.
Driving on I-15 through Arizona I passed through Virgin River Gorge. This is a beautiful, spectacular stretch of road, but even at that late hour it was over 100 degrees. I got to the Virgin River casino hotel at what was 8:15 due to the time zone change, so I thought that I had some time to use the buffet that closed at 10. I got a first-floor room and after waiting for a lady to move her car from the front of my room, I tried to plug in my car, but came up about 1 ft. short.
After I was seated at the buffet I was told that I had only 20 minutes to eat because they were closing. Apparently, the buffet stayed on Mountain Time. Probably a blessing in disguise since it limited my eating, but I felt robbed of the benefit of the buffet.
November 6
Got up early and swam in the hotel outdoor pool. Even then it was in the80s. After the swim, I checked out the breakfast buffet. No one stooped me so I just sampled some eggs and ice cream, which I did to get to eat the prior night. I got out by 9:15 and stopped for gasoline at the same station we had stopped on the way up 8 days earlier. The tank read 416 miles and it was only 366 miles to LA so I tried to drive straight through. I had to stop to go to the bathroom in Barstow, CA. and while there I refilled my water bottles with ice. It was over 100 degrees all the way home until I got near to LA. When I got home I parked at a charging station and immediately headed to the ocean to immerse myself in the cool waters.
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