4/19/2021
Direct flight from SEA to Vegas. Easy drive to SEA, but some traffic into city (10:55am departure). Parking at ExtraCar again very easy (great, courteous and efficient staff). Landed in Vegas at around 2:30pm, but waited forever in a long line for the free shuttle to the rental car center. Eventually ended up taking a taxi. Interesting “conversation”, mostly lecture, from the cab driver about why it is foolish to get vaccinated for COVID-19 (“just a flu”; you’re going to have to get a third shot, right?”). We had opted to “skip the counter”. When we went to pick up the car, though, the garage was mostly empty, and we had to wait a while for a suitable car to be “brought up”. Opted to drive out of Las Vegas ASAP, stopped at Walmart in St. George to pick up some groceries and a cooler, and at Costco to pick up bulk groceries (like nuts). A lot of food, but I have a feeling we will be eating all of it. Got to the AirBnB in Kanab just as it was getting dark, and found the place to be spacious and fairly comfortable (full kitchen and 3 bedrooms to choose from).
4/20/2021
We had hoped to hike to the “Observation Point” from the main Zion Canyon. Due to recent rockfall, however, the entire east rim trail is off limits to hikers. Jamie did some research, and we opted to drive to Zion Ponderosa Ranch,, a collection of fairly standard looking cabins, with central mini golf area and golf carts galore (with jaw dropping daily rates, why?), beyond which continued a pretty rough dirt road to the East Mesa trailhead. We parked our 2WD (Nissan Maxima) roughly 1/2 mile before the actual trailhead, as the road seemed to get severely rutted. Hike was a bit dusty and exposed, but got us to a rock ledge with a great birds-eye view of the main Zion canyon. Hazy, but pretty stunning view. A sliver of a ledge extends to the middle of the valley from the right, and is the famed “Angel’s landing”. A couple of hikers offered us binoculars, and we could then see the long line of hikers inching along the super narrow ledge.
4/21/2021
We had reservation for 2 bikes at Zion Cycle in Springdale, with pickup time of 8:00am. Which means we had to be leaving Kanab at 6:45am. One never knows what to expect with rental bikes, but we were pleasantly surprised (we think the frame was titanium, with carbon fiber forks?). Shifting mechanism could use a little adjustment, but otherwise the bikes were perfect for tooling around the park. Air was pleasantly cool, with sunlight streaming through the newly budded green leaves. Once in the main canyon, there was no car traffic (except for the frequent shuttle buses that ferry visitors to the various stops along the main canyon) and no people other than other bikers (lots of e-bikes!), as we pedaled along and gawked at the massive, beautiful rock formations. We stopped at “the Grotto” stop, meaning to hike the Kayenta trail, then the Emerald Pools, and Grotto trail. A few minutes of conversation with the ranger, though, nudged us onto the West Rim Trail, the beginning of which is shared by the mob that is trying to get to Angel’s landing. At Scout’s Lookout, we continued on the West Rim trail, leaving the hoards to push on to the ledge of Angel’s landing. Not even a few hundred feet beyond, we found ourselves enjoying the views of the plateau and the rock walls all by ourselves, save a few hikers here and there. By the time we got back to the bikes, brisk wind had picked up, and air had warmed significantly, which made the rest of the ride up to Temple of Sinavawa then back to Springdale a bit more work (headwind!!). We treated ourselves to ice cream (Jamie two scoops and one scoop for me, though Jamie decreed that this practice of ordering a mere single scoop will no longer stand in the future), which hit the spot, as we nursed our pleasantly sore legs.
4/22/2021
I woke up to the chirping of what I thought was a smoke alarm (the kind of very sporadic noise that makes it impossible to fall back asleep). Ultimately, the culprit was identified to be the CO detector, which was silenced after replacing the battery. Jamie managed to sleep through this and the enticing smell of coffee wafting up to the bedroom. We both felt beat up by the exertions of yesterday, and decided to take the day off. We read, listened to podcasts, contemplated life (but not to the extent of planning another year of vagabonding), and finally got out of the house for a local hiking trail, not three blocks from our condo, called “Squaw Trail”. This amazingly well constructed little trail took us up along the rock wall with its many fissures and colorations, to the top of the mesa, affording a vast view of the surrounding area. Bands of dark clouds were rolling in, spitting a bit of rain in several pockets, making the whole scene dramatic and moody.
4/23/2021
Another early day. We got out of the house before 7 and arrived at the parking lot of Wirepass trailhead by 9, finding about a dozen cars already parked there. BLM had high hopes of allowing hikers to scan a QR code, directing them to recreation.gov, to have people pay online for day use permit. They even installed a repeater at the location. With our T-mobile cell service, which can be spotty even in town, we decided to buy the permits online last night, and all we had to do was write out the Pass ID that came on the receipt on the fee envelope and display it on the dashboard. After a short, exposed and dusty walk along the river wash, we soon found ourselves in a beautiful slot canyon, which eventually T’ed into Buckskin gulch. Every turn along the hike revealed another set of overlapping sinuous vertical rock walls, with sunlight magically playing on the various scooped out surfaces. Occasional driftwoods and debris suspended 10 foot or so above our heads reminded us that flash floods do rush through here, doing the work of the sculptor. Eventually, the slot canyon petered out, so we turned around, found a nice shady bench, and blissfully ate our smoked salmon bagel sandwiches, surrounded by sheer walls of red hued rock. “Cathedral of the Divine”, one of the hikers offered, as we walked by.
4/24/2021
We put in some time contemplating the various hikes we could do from Kanab. Eventually, after hours of research, we consulted the resident expert behind the counter at the Kanab visitor center. Sidestep and Colorful Canyon, which apparently are spectacular, are difficult to find. We found multiple sets of directions online, and our local expert himself never managed to find the way in. Another reportedly beautiful hike, Yellow Rock, requires hiking up a mile section of really steep grade covered with loose rocks. Spooky and Peek-a-boo canyons apparently require some canyoneering skills and a length of rope to ascend and descend 10-15 foot drops. Which led us to our original plan of doing the Lickwash. This involved driving east and north out of Kanab, followed by a long but good gravel road. When we arrived, a Sprinter van was parked at the parking lot, having apparently camped overnight. After a short section of fairly wide slot canyon, the wash opened up, and we were surrounded by towering hills of various curiously angled layers of sandstone, mostly white with streaks of red, yellow, dark black stains. The layers of the sandstone, eroded over time by water and wind, resembled phyllo dough, haphazardly slapped on top of one another. On various cracks in this dry, seemingly inhospitable terrain, multiple pine trees and some stunted maple trees were valiantly trying to eek out a living. Under our feet, on the river wash, patches of bright green plants had popped up, some with beautiful purple or white flowers. Wonder how long these tender plants would survive..
4/25/2021
Break from long drives today. Forecast to be very windy starting noon. Opted for local hike, Mansard /great Diverse Trail. About 15 min drive out of Kanab, and yet another super nice trail that takes you switchbacking up the side of the mesa. Great views of the valley below. Very sandy at the top, and signs suggesting there are petroglyphs in the overhang of the sandstone bench. We looked, but could not find it. Listened to Jonathan Haidt’s “Coddling of the American Mind” during the hike and found it an engrossing story. Back “home