Zion National Park, UT & Grand Canyon NP North Rim, AZ

We found a very nice campground, Zion River Resort in Virgin, UT which is about 8 miles from the Zion Park entrance.  Full hookups, wifi, pool, hot tub, free land line phone and we were backed right up to the river.  Little pricey but you're getting what you pay for here!

Once setup we hit the pool and then the river to cool off as it was a "dry" 98 degrees:

Then we headed into the park to for a short visit.  Right away we ran into a doe and this little fawn (with very large ears which seems to be a trait of all local deer):

As you drive into Canyon Junction the Great Zion Arch catches your attention:

We drove the Zion Mt Carmel Hwy through  the 1.1 mile long pitch black tunnel through the mountain (little spooky) to a very different landscape from the other side (which included a bonus rainbow):

We were joined by our niece Kelly late our 1st night after a little scare for Suze & I.  We pull into the airport in St George, UT and it's shut down.  Moved to other side of a very large town.  New address not recognized by our GPS.  With a little help from locals we made it just as Kelly was walking out of the terminal!

Our first day we drove up Kolob Terrace Road - nice road to drive in places:

We stopped at the Wild Canyon Trailhead to hike to the Northgate Peaks viewpoint.  Not too difficult 4 mile hike with some great scenery from the viewpoint:

Further down the road we checked out the reservoir (nothing to see here), we drove down the West Rim Trail which required a high clearance vehicle (not worth it) and also stopped at the Lava Point Overlook (pretty nice view):

Later that evening we caught some beautiful scenery around Canyon Junction in the park just as the sun was going down and the moon was coming out:

These were among the highest peaks in the park over 8000+ ft high:

and if you look closely you can see the moon coming over the mountains:

Another day we drove into the park and took the park shuttle bus all the way up the restricted road to the Temple of Sinawava (end of the road).  Shuttle buses run constantly and there are about 9 stops along the way.  We hiked the Riverside walk up to where the Narrows trail (through the river) began:

Yes, the river is the trailhead

There's a local store that will equip you for the rest of this hike: special shoes, hiking sticks and neoprene socks, as the water is 40-50 degrees.  Also watch the weather as flash floods occur here (one did later this day).

We did run into a lot of very friendly squirrels (evidently the fed squirrel is not the dead squirrel around here):

Another one for you GH!

We hopped the shuttle back to the Weeping Rock stop and hiked the short steep trail there:

Kelly & Suze along the trail

The rocks constantly weep water which brings along minerals and provides a source for other interesting slimy stuff to grow:

From here we caught the shuttle to the Grotto where we had a nice picnic lunch before attacking the Emerald Pool trail.  The 3-4 mile trail wasn't too bad and we chose to check out the lower emerald pool which was over-rated. However the rain waterfall overhead at the time was pretty cool:

After the shuttle ride back to the visitors center with a bus load of wet hikers, we decided to go back to camp and clean up & eat before heading back into the park for an evening drive.  We drove the Mt Carmel Hwy through the tunnel again and found herds of big horn sheep scaling the mountain walls:

The layered rock formations on this side of the park are very unique:

On our way back to camp from the park we caught some great sunset action on the surrounding mountains:

Our last day here we decided to take a trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona (Kelly's birth state).  We had to stop at the tunnel in the park to let some big rigs come through so it was a good time to take a shot of the Canyon walls:

The views from the Visitor Center parking lot on the North Kaibab side started us off:

We walked out to Bright Angel point where there were 4,000 ft drops with no railings:

We next headed to Point Imperial where there were more incredible views:

We then made our way all the way down to Cape Royal stopping several places along the way including Angel's window:

You can see the Colorado River below through the window

Kelly & I were feeling a little adventurous (her more so than me) so we made out way out on this cliff at Cape Royal:

Great visit to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon NP.  Haven't been to the South Rim in a while but this seemed much nicer and a lot less crowded.  Zion NP was great too!  We're now off to Bryce Canyon NP for a few days.  More to come . . .

Pit Stop- Salt Lake City, UT

On our way from Jackson WY to Zion Nat'l Park in UT we stopped in Salt Lake City for a couple of nights.  While we were there we hooked up with Charlie & Janet who had just flown in and were headed north to the Glacier NP area.   We stayed at the KOA Salt Lake City which was better than expected for the surrounding area.  Full hookups, cable and wifi (that didn't work) in the $40s.  They had a pool, etc. but way too many people under 3 feet for us!  We hooked up with C&J and hit Antelope Island.    We did see some pronghorns:

It was an overcast day but the scenery was still pretty nice:

We did see a herd of buffalo and tons of birds including this group of pelicans flying in formation:

We also caught this coyote on the hunt:

Later that day we hit downtown Salt Lake to check out Temple Square.  What a beautiful area the whole square was with flowers everywhere:

We were given a private tour of the Temple Conference Center (across the street from Temple Square) where we went to the roof top.  If you're in town, this is a place to visit!  The details of how much stone, weight and water is on this roof makes you think twice about walking around on it.  But the view from the top was incredible!  Here you can see the historic temple in the square:

Mitt fans around here!

Walking through the square itself there were several meeting halls which were beautiful inside and out:

We were able to watch while this incredibly huge organ was played:

Those are organ pipes in the background

We had a nice visit with C&J who are now off to Grand Teton and Glacier Nat'l Parks.  We're checking out Zion Nat'l Park with our niece Kelly.  More to come . . .

Grand Teton Nat'l Park - Jackson Wyoming

We made our way south through Yellowstone and into Grand Teton National Park.  The wildflower and mountain scenery along the way were beautiful:

If you're here to see the wildlife then you have to love when you see road signs like this in the park:

As we made our way down through the park toward Hoback Junction we did catch some pronghorns in the fields:

We landed at the Lazy J Corral RV Park in Hoback Junction where the owners Rod & Candy (and Rod's Dad) were all very friendly:

There's only a handful of sites here available to rent.  Full hookups, free wifi and very reasonable!  We sat on the porch with these guys and chatted while trying to catch a shot of a hummingbird:

Several hummingbirds hit this feeder constantly

Once we were setup, we headed back to the park to look for wildlife.  One of our favorite spots is Oxbow Bend of the snake river:

Looking east from here you could see a huge herd of elk off in the distance:

Herd of elk grazing in the field

We spotted some sort of white pelican (maybe?) near by:

We stopped at the Jackson Lake Dam to take a shot - no wind here at the moment:

Break out the ski and wakeboard!

We made our way to the top of Signal Hill where the view of the Tetons & Jackson Lake was incredible:

Another day we hit the Rockefeller Preserve and hiked.  Just outside the preserve we ran into this brown black bear:

He didn't look too old (yearling maybe).  We watched him dig for food and then take off into the woods (where we were about to hike . . . but he was cute!):

The hike was pretty good.  A 3 mile loop that passed by Phelps Lake:

Not much wildlife here but this little guy who sat and posed for the camera very nicely:

Another one just for you Greg!  Looks like shredded US dollars?

After our hike we headed toward the Gros Venture area.  Just outside of Rockefeller Preserve we saw this female moose in an area where we had seen moose before:

Gros Ventre is another area we had seen moose on a previous trip (and now this trip too):

Nice Rack!

From here we drove north and found a short side road to explore.  We found this doe and fawn:

This was the smallest fawn we've ever seen:

Check them out in action:

After an exhausting day of wildlife viewing we decided to hit Dornan's in Moose, WY (centrally located in the park).  They have a great deck to sit out on, good food and drinks, relatively inexpensive but mostly you come here for the view (Snake River with Tetons):

Two days here we went kayaking down the Snake River.  We dropped a bike off at a boat ramp just past the Moran ranger station and then we drove up to the Dam to put the kayak in:

Both days were beautiful for kayaking the river.  Winds were light so the water was like glass:

Very little paddling involved here as the current kept us moving at a good clip (especially when one of us paddled while the other took pictures):

One day kayaking this little beaver went swimming right by us:

and many little ducklings swimming close to their mother on the water:

They were probably staying close with this hawk/juvenile bald eagle? in the area:

Which is it?

And this bald eagle perched over the river too:

And this guy flew right over our heads:

We also spotted what we thought were moose in the river from a distance but on closer investigation, elk:

We found a couple of trumpeter swans along the way:

This one let us get a little closer:

Looks like soft fur on it's neck

Got a little tricky near the boat ramp getting out as an overflowing creek ran into the river just before the ramp.  We had to paddle hard to not get swept further down the river but all ended well (except for one of us getting a little more wet than planned the 1st day).  One day we then took the kayak over to Jackson Lake to paddle around a bit:

The lake was pretty much glass too which made for some cool mountain reflections in the water:

Another day after kayaking we biked to the Lupine Meadows Trail Head:

And to make it a triathlon kind of day we also hiked up the Lupine meadows trail.  Great scenery along the way:

After this very exhausting day we just had to go sit at our favorite watering hole deck again (Dornan's) to recuperate and take in the scenery.  This time we had the pleasure of watching a bull moose hanging out down by the snake river as we enjoyed our dinner:

We're off to Salt Lake City for a day to meet up with Charlie & Janet who are headed to Glacier NP.  Then we continue on to Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks where we pick up our niece Kelly who will be joining us for a week of hiking red rocks - should be fun!  More to come . . .