On the Road Again

Well, we are on the road again leaving Red Canyon in the Dixie National Forest and fortunately we do not need to cover a great distance today, only about 120 miles. After our first two days on the road to Bryce Canyon, 120 miles feels like a trip to the local grocery store.

We're on our way to Ivins, Utah, where we will spend a couple days at Sue and Fletcher's home. They live in a beautiful, large and environmentally conscious planned community called Kayenta. We were first introduced to Kayenta several years ago while visiting Red Mountain Spa for the first time. During that spa vacation we attended an astronomy field trip at a private home in Kayenta. (You know, until I wrote that sentance, I never really felt that we had a fixation on Astronomy, but now that we can link this weeks experiences with that trip several years ago, I'm definitely starting to worry...) We liked Kayenta on that first trip because we visited it at night and saw that there were no outside lights on homes, no street lights, just darkness, quiet and a beautiful night sky. When we revisited in the daytime, we were impressed by the way the design and color palette of the homes made them fit seamlessly and modestly into the landscape. It was clear to us that Kayenta was being developed thoughtfully by someone who respected the beautiful landscape. On a later visit to Red Mountain Spa we were hiking in the hills across the valley from Kayenta and it amazed us how difficult it was to discern any homes at all in the landscape of sage and sand and rock.

There are 3 routes we could take between Bryce and Ivins and we have chosen the route that winds through beautiful Zion National Park. Utah Highway 9 leads you to the park entrance, and emerges again at the park exit. What's intersting is that even though it is a state highway you have to pay the park entrance fee...it must be the only "toll" road in Utah! Fortunately, we purchased the America the Beautiful pass for this summer's travel. It cost $80.00 and it covers your park entrance fees at all National Parks and any federal land. So, let's do a quick math problem to see how we're doing...$80 pass minus $25 entry fee for Bryce minus $25 entry fee for Zion...that leaves us with only $30 till the pass is paid off...and we'll use it again at the Grand Canyon in a few days!

To really experience Zion, visitors park in a few lots and take park shuttle buses to the trails and scenic locations in the park. As you approach Zion on the highway from the east, you get a sense of its grandeur as you see mammoth rock outcroppings ith its white and red colorations. Having just come from Bryce Canyon, we're struck by the difference in the rock that makes up the formations here at Zion. You can see it in the Checkerboard Mesa that greets you early in the drive through the park. This rock formation is actually petrified sandstone!

Checkerboard Mesa:

One of the unique characteristics of the road through Zion is the tunnel that takes you down to the lower portion of the park to the west. The tunnel is 1.1 miles long, and was completed in 1930...quite a feat for that era. Larger vehicles are stopped at either end, traffic from the opposing direction is stopped, and then the larger vehicles pass through by driving down the center line where the tunnel is the tallest. As you drive through the tunnel there are three large "windows" that create spots of light in an otherwise pitch black tube.

It is a common experience to wait at the end of the tunnel for a few minutes while traffic comes from the other direction. While we waited for our turn, we spotted a group from Red Mountain Spa coming down the sidewalk toward an overlook trail that we also hiked on one of our previous visits to the spa. As they approached, we recognized the guide...it was Steve with whom we have hiked many times, and coincidentally he has become an acquaintance of our friend Sue! What a small world...and what a well-timed wait at the tunnel!

More Zion...after seeing just a few of these photos you can see another distinct difference between Bruce Canyon and Zion...at Bryce the view is down and here at Zion the view is up...

Doesn't Patty do a great job taking photos from a moving vehicle? The one below was the most dangerous for her...

When you emerge from the park onto state highway 9 you realize why you pay for using the road through the park...you're paying for the scenery as you drive, because believe us when we say that there really is not much worth taking a picture of until you get to Ivins! There is a big prison as you leave Hurricane and approach St. George, but it didn't, qualify as a "scenic viewpoint" so Patty did not require us to stop. We made the trip in about 2.5 hours, and our arrival would have been a few minutes earlier if we had not pulled in to the wrong driveway and stood waiting at the door for someone to answer. We called Sue and Fletcher from the RoadTrek, and shortly after she answered the call, Sue was viewable in our rearview mirror waving to us.

We unloaded, showered, had some chilled Rose, and went out for Mexican dinner (which in Utah may not be available with a cold beer...). As the sun set and disappeared from the beautiful Red Mountain behind our friends' house, we prepared our daily update and called it a day. Tomorrow we get to enjoy Kayenta and a special evening fund raising event (stay tuned for a detailed review by Michael, the visiting fund raiser) and get ready for the Grand Canyon!