First trip west

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Dear Buzz and Sherri--

What's interesting to me is how you seemed to hit your stride after a week or so soi that your Wander-lust kept growing stronger and stronger! The same thing happened to Edna and me, so that now we even sleep with our sleeping bags as comforters on our bed at home!

Do you have a map that shows your stops in order? If you do, will you share it? (I'm thinking of reconstructing one, if you don't...)

Mark & Edna

 

[buzzman]

Mark,

I think you are right. The longer we traveled the more we got into the "wander" mode. The last 3 or 4 days of our journey we just didn't want it to end. I think we tried to cover too much territory on this trip and on our next one we will attempt to limit our area. Maybe just concentrate on one or two states?

A map of the route is a good idea. I was thinking of doing that and posting it later if I can figure out how to do it. Your suggestions and ideas of how to do it are welcome.

 

[Jack]

Buzzman

One thing that is really enjoyable about your postings, is that they have in part been in "real time" - that is "on the road". My apologies for my digression into internet access, but we too are currently on the road, and internet access at variolus points (Zion NP at the moment) have provided a new way of looking at our trip and the trips of others. We in fact have covered some of the same ground through Nevada and Utah.

 

[buzzman]

Jack,

Glad to hear from you on your trip. My next post will be at Zion. I hope the current weather is not causing you any issues. We had to change our route a little due to weather and did not get to visit as much of southern UT as hoped. There is always the next trip, however.

Start a trip report and send pics.

 

[terrisjoy]

Jack thanks for the info. Where did you get your 120w solar panel? Did you install it yourself or did FWC? Sounds like a great idea for alternate power and a way to be kind to the camper battery system. Terri

 

[terrisjoy]

Nice pictures! Thanks for sharing.. If you go back through Vegas, theres a small campground called Redrock. It's breathtaking! Doesn't have the facilities that rv park has and is only open from Sept. through May ( i think) Redrock Canyon is west of Las Vegas, take Charleston Blvd West, it's a 15 min. drive from the I15. Enjoy, Terri

 

[buzzman]

Zion NP

After a one-night stay in Las Vegas we headed out toward Zion NP. One of my main goals this trip was to visit southern UT. On our west bound leg the weather was a little bad in southern UT so we skipped it and went south. Now on our way east the weather was much better...at least for a couple days.

We took I-15 out of Las Vegas to St. George UT and then Hwy 9 to Zion. It was a very scenic drive.

We camped in the Watchman campground next to the visitor center.

We took the Park Service free shuttle bus into the park. The park didn't allow private vehicles into the park, and actually the shuttle was good if somewhat "touristy". We got off at several different stops and took some short hikes on designated trails. It's sort of difficult for my pictures to capture the beauty of this place because I was always just looking up. I couldn't get any real good "big picture" shots that show a larger portion of the park. Here's a few pictures from inside the park.

One of the streams that helped to cut down through the Navajo Sandstone and create the Zion scenery

Some of the trees were in full color

The steep walls of Navajo Sandstone

The next morning we headed east on on Hwy 9. The views were great, the road was curvy and we went slow.

A good view of some cross bedding in the Navajo Sandstone...signs of ancient sand dunes.

We would have liked to spend more time in Zion and do more hiking and see other portions of the park, but the weather forecast was looking bad so we decided to leave the next day. The crowds were down at this time of the year, which was nice.

 

[DLN]

buzz,

Once again great shots and report. We're looking into a Zion trip in the next couple of years and would be interested in any addition information on Watchman CG. Did you have to make reservations? Which camp site look the best? What dates were you there? How crowded was It? Thanks in advance.

 

[buzzman]

DLN,

We visited Zion on Oct 31 and Nov 1. Our shuttle bus driver said that this was the first weekend this season the park wasn't real crowded. The Watchman CG is for RV's and is first come first served, and self check-in. It was not crowded when we were there. Cost $18 for water and electric. We stayed in site A3. It was nice. Typical park campground. Most of the RV sites seemed about the same and were sort of dispersed with trees and shrubs between. It was within easy walking distance of the very nice visitor center, and the bathrooms and a hiking trail. There is another CG named "South" near the visitor center, mainly for tent campers but I was told they will let truck campers stay there too.

If I were to visit Zion again, I would probably go to some of the less visited areas of the park, such as driving up the Kolob Reservoir Rd Scenic Backway which gets you into the western and northern portions of the park. But if you haven't been to Zion yet, you should probably stop in at the main visitor center and see that portion of the park first...if you can stand the crowds. As with most of the popular national parks, they get heavily visited and crowded during the summer. I like to try to avoid the crowds, but it's not always possible if I want to see the beautiful national parks.

 

[DLN]

buzz,

Thanks for the reply. We will likely go to Zion in early November as neither of us is real heat tolerant, especially me. It's nice to here Watchman is a bit dispersed, can't stand wall to wall RV's etc. Less than perfect camping conditions is the price you pay at the NPs, but they do offer a great one time experience and are therefore worth some tolerance. Thanks again.

 

[Jack]

Jack thanks for the info. Where did you get your 120w solar panel? Did you install it yourself or did FWC? Sounds like a great idea for alternate power and a way to be kind to the camper battery system. Terri
We are very glad that we installed the solar panel. Here's the link http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1360&highlight=solar

 

[buzzman]

Zion NP to Glen Canyon NRA

I had really wanted to visit more of the national parks in southern UT after leaving Zion, such as Bryce and Capital Reef and Canyonlands, and get out into some of the back country a little, but the weather was looking sort of wet and snowy and cold and we didn't want to deal with that. So we decided to stay to the south. Therefore, after leaving Zion NP we traveled east on Hwy 89 to Glen Canyon NRA. This turned out to be a very scenic drive along the southern edge of Grand Staircase-Escalante NM.

Vermilion Cliffs along Hwy 89

We stopped at a turnout along 89. You can see the dirt road to the Paria movie set in the background.

Another photo of sites along Hwy 89

When we got to the Glen Canyon NRA area we pulled into this scenic overlook. It was a great panoramic view.

Way off in the distance on the right edge of the picture you can see Navajo Mountain, about 35 miles away.

The dam

We camped at the Glen Canyon RV park in the NRA by the lake. A so, so place, but there are not too many options for camping around here. We are now on the Navajo Nation and although there is a lot of open land here, it is not public land. The Navajo Nation is very large, seems to be about the size of the state of Ohio!

Our camp site

One of our camping neighbors. A pretty cool little truck camper. I didn't talk to these folks, but by the truck license plate it looks like they were from Switzerland.

 

[buzzman]

Glen Canyon to Monument Valley

After our one-night stay at Glen Canyon NRA we decided to head toward Monument Valley, via Hwy's 98, 160 and 163. We started to experience some strong winds on this day...and they seemed to be mostly headwinds. Bummer!

Here's another view, looking north from Hwy 98, of Navajo Mountain out in the distance.

Just north of Kayenta on Hwy 163, we could see Owl Rock and Agathla Peak along the road in the distance.

Agathla Peak up close

Owl Rock

More photos along Hwy 163

Approaching Monument Valley

Here's some photos taken from the Monument Valley visitor center overlook.
The two Mitten formations

We could have driven down the road seen here farther into the park, but park rules limit how far you can go without paying for a guide. We decided not to go.

We departed Monument Valley north on Hwy 163. The great views continued.

 

[buzzman]

Canyon de Chelly AZ

Our next stop was at Canyon de Chelly (du shay) National Monument near Chinle AZ. I had never heard anything about this place prior to this trip, but it is a must do visit if you are ever in the four corners area. It is truly a gem of geological beauty and Native American history. And I don't think it's very heavily visited. It's still in the Navajo Nation however, and there are a few Navajo residents living inside the park boundaries and some vendors, which were not a problem. There are several ancient cliff dwelling sites, some hiking trails, and lots of overlooks, especially on the south rim.


Here's a few pictures.

Cliff dwellings

White House ruins down there. We hiked down to these later in the day.

Buzzman

White House ruins up close.

Spider rock...lower right in the shadow. Not a very good picture of it.

Sherri on the edge of the abyss.

Camping was in a valley near the visitor center and was first come and free. There are not a lot of options for camping around the Chinle area. However, the park campground seemed only about half full when we were there.


Our camp site

 

[craig333]

Wow, great pics. Monument valley is on my short list of must see places.

 

[buzzman]

craig333,

Glad you enjoy the photos. Monument Valley is a neat place to visit. I hope I'm not hogging the WTW trip reports section to much with this lengthy report and numerous pictures.

 

[ScottBailey]

What?!

I hope I'm not hogging the WTW trip reports section to much with this lengthy report and numerous pictures.

Um, keep posting!

 

[EdoHart]

Like Scott said.



Um, keep posting!

Those are great pictures. I wish I was somewhere on that route.

 

[DLN]

That's not hogging at all, it's sharing a great experience, keep it up.

 

[buzzman]

Canyon de Chelly to Oklahoma Route 66

This section of our trip covers a lot of ground. We are heading east now and the grandeur of the mountains and big canyons is behind us. I know Oklahoma may be getting a little far to the east for a Wander the West trip report but here it goes anyway.

We left Canyon de Chelly and drove south on 191 and made a quick stop at the Hubbell Trading Post NHS. Unfortunatley, I forgot to take a picture inside the cool old general store that's still operating.

The old horse stables

Inside the horse barn

We continued east and stopped at the El Malpais National Monument just south of Grants NM. This is an area of widespread lava flows. It's difficult to see, but there is lava under the brush and trees.

We spent the night in Albuquerque. The next morning, the weather was once again keeping us from going up into northern NM, so we continued eastward. The winds were fairly strong and the skies were looking pretty evil when we got close to Amarillo so we spent the night there in a hotel. There was a tornado watch box covering the area ahead of us.

The next day we continued on I-40 into OK. Portions of I-40 in OK are in very poor condition. It reminded me of some of the poor roads in the third world countries I saw during my navy days in the 70's. At Clnton OK we jumped off and decided to drive on old route 66 for awhile. Just happens to be a Route 66 Museum there.

A stop at and old gas station.

Here's a couple shots of the quiet old route 66. Notice the raised lip on the edge of the road.

Near Hinton, we stopped for lunch at a picnic area along the road. The facilities were a little "rustic", but it was peaceful and quiet.