Colorado, Snow Canyon State Park in Utah, and Year End Wrap-up

 

Well so much for seeing the sites in Colorado.  I had a whole route planned out for us to take to check out some of the ski resort areas before heading to Utah but a winter storm was in the forecast so we made our way across Colorado in a hurry to avoid the storm.  Unfortunately we didn't get to visit with our friend, Dave, who we met at Snow Canyon a couple of years ago.  He was finishing up a Ranger assignment in Western Colorado before heading home to the Denver area.  

We drove most of the way across the state on I-70 and made an overnight stop at the Elks Lodge in Grand Junction, Colorado. 

Check out this electric setup!

Ah, the days when diesel was so cheap!  $1.93/gallon.

The next day we drove in to Utah to the Butch Cassidy RV Park in Salinas to spend the night.  We did not like this campground.  It had too many long term residents and the sites were too close together.

 

The Campground Office

  

I especially did not appreciate the sign on the front door to the office, "Due to the bullsh*t virus we are unable to keep our tent area and bathrooms open at this time."

 

 

The next night we made it to St. George, Utah and stayed at the Elks Lodge.  They have an awesome property with the RV sites surrounded by red rock. 

 

The Lodge was closed because one of the volunteers came down with Covid so they shut it down for three week but the RV parking was still available.

 

 

 

This Elks Lodge gave us several opportunities to visit our favorite park, Snow Canyon State Park, to do some hiking.

It doesn't look it from the photo but that is a steep petrified sand dune to climb!

Oh good, a photo stop so I can catch my breath!

And then the hike back down off the petrified dune.

The Elks Lodge RV area did get more busy with RV's coming and going during the three weeks we stayed there.  There is a two week maximum stay allowed but they were not that busy so the camphost let us stay another week.

One weekend we had a visitor.  Al's brother, Tino, drove from Anaheim, California to stay with us.  We hung out and took him on some hikes. 

One day Al took Tino on his favorite hike in the park.  Padre Canyon is a 7 mile hike into a canyon, up and over the saddle, and down the other side through soft sand on the way back to the visitor's enter. 

The guys found some painted rocks along the trail.  I always enjoy finding painted rocks when I'm hiking.  Some people are very talented.  

Look at that painted rock to the right of the backpack

Tino asks Al if he's trying to kill him with this hike!

 

 

Tino recovering.....

Al cooked us a delicious shrimp pasta dinner with bacon to fill our bellies.  Al tried to replicate the recipe from my cousin, Rob, in Amarillo, Texas.   It sure was good!

After Tino recovered we did some more hikes in the park.

Al on top of Petrified Dunes

Our Hammer friend hiked with us too.

Tino enjoyed most of the hiking at Snow Canyon

Hermanos

Enjoying the view from the overlook

Hiking Snow Canyon is as exhilarating as a roller coaster!

After Tino left, and since we were so close, we made a day trip to Zion National Park.  

Luckily I learned before hand that we needed to reserve tickets for the shuttle that takes visitors deep into the canyon.  This new process was set up because of Covid.  

We took the shuttle to the end of the line which is where one of my favorite hikes starts, The Narrows.  The water was too cold and we were only visiting for a day so we didn't hike in the water to get deeper into the canyon on this visit.  Lots of people rented dry suit waiters, boots, and a hiking pole to do the hike that day.

Instead we did hikes to the Upper, Middle, and Lower Emerald Pools.  The Middle Emerald Pool trail was recently reopened after years of being closed so that was exciting.

 

 

Upper Emerald Pool

Interesting sun reflection in the Middle Pool

Middle Emerald Pool

Runoff from Middle Emerald Pool going down to Lower Emerald Pool

Then to finish the trifecta, the Lower Emerald Pool

After hiking, we relaxed on rocking chairs at Zion Lodge.  It's a great place for a picnic under the giant cottonwood tree. 

 

We got back on the shuttle and rode it back to the visitor center to drive back to the Elks Lodge.  Zion National Park NEVER disappoints!

We did more hiking at Snow Canyon.  The Johnson Canyon trail is only open during certain months every year so when it's open we get to enjoy this trail.  

Al took me on the Padre Canyon trail.  I think he's done that hike like 16 times now.  Me, maybe 7 times.  Soon it will be renamed for him!  

It's a long and tough climb up to the saddle

Then coming down the other side

After a couple of days of recovery from the Padre Canyon hike we did Scout Cave for the first time.

We hiked up to the two caves

View from inside one cave

 

 

I can't believe we never did this hike before.  I was much better then I imagined it would be.

 

Looking for another hike to do we walked from the Elks Lodge to the trailhead to do this last hike. 

This photo was taken through an arch on the Chuckwalla Trail area.

Look who Al captured

 We can't say enough about our love for Snow Canyon State Park! 

We had great weather while in the St. George area, a visit from Al's brother, Tino, caught up with the Park Managers and volunteers at Snow Canyon, and another visit to Zion in the 18 nights we spent in the area.  Unfortunately it was time to leave this area and make our way south towards our winter destination.  

We spent one night at the Elks Lodge in Boulder City, Nevada and some nights at our friend, Bill's house in Prescott Valley, Arizona.  

 While with Bill we did one awesome hike around Cathedral Rock Loop in Sedona, Arizona.  It was a 7.2 mile hike to and around the rock formation.

Can you see the church?

Then it was off to Mesa, Arizona where we spent the winter volunteering.  More on that next time.

Here are our stops for 2020 once we picked up the new trailer in July.

Despite Covid, the wildfires in the Pacific Northwest which caused us to head east instead to South Dakota, and selling and buying a new trailer we had a good year of travel and managed to stay healthy.