Month: May 2022

We chose to travel Highway 12 North and East through the heart of Utah. We were blessed to see so many different uniques landscapes during the day trip to our next destination.

Highway 12 through Escalantes to Arches and Canyonlands

Every moment of our travel day led to our excitment of seeing Escalantes, Arches National Park and the Canyonlands. Some of our kids have recently visited these areas and have given us some great information in order for us to have a the best adventure!

So we learned that Arches National Park has recently established a “timed entry” – with reservations on line. We booked our time to between 8 -9 am. It worked out well and we enjoyed our time at Arches. Our first stop – Balanced Rock!

Dennis had a bit of a hard time holding up that balanced rock with the perfect pose while Lorree got situated with the camera (what fun!)

We hiked up Windows Road to see Turret Arch and North Window Arch. We were impressed again at the creativity of God in forming these rocks into amazing scultptures for us to experience.

What a great photo op through the arch – Victory!

We saws lots of these old-timer cars and the drivers dressed to match the period. How Fun!

The next day we set out to explore the Canyonlands National Park. It was pretty much a drive through area but we did stop at several places along the way. More beautiful country!

We enjoyed all the beautiful vistas and the vibrant and colorful plants along the roadway through Canyonlands.

Getting back to Colorado! There was a definite change in scenery from rocks, dirt, and canyons to green landscape, trees and bright blue sky! Our planned route eventually led us to Durango, Co, our next stop on this adventure! We are getting so close to home, but we wanted to check out the location of our next SOWER Adventure for June: Cross Bar X Youth Camp, just east of Durango.

Just North of Durango is a great National Forest Campground – Junction Creek Campground. We found this to be a great place to settle and un-wind a bit before our last day of travel to our cabin in the mountains!

Just past Guffey, coming around the corner on the last mile home – is one of our favorite views, that’s Pikes Peak – home sweet home! Wonder what adventures we’ll soon have at Selah Acres? (Just a hint, we never saw “this” coming – check out the next blog!)

As we entered Utah we were amazed at the variety of scenic vistas and changing landscape along the way. Our first camping reservation was at Cannonville, UT. From here we would visit Zion, Bryce, and several off road sites that proved to be great exploring surprises for us!

We were introduced into Utah’s canyon lands when we first drove through Red Canyon leading into the Bryce Canyon area. We soon became very familiar with the hoodoos (geographic rock formations often described as having a “totem pole-shaped body.”) that make this area so unique.

First up – Bryce Canyon!

Our first view of Bryce Canyon was an overlook where we could see for miles – it was a vast panorama with colorful cliffs, rocks, hoodoos, and foliage all blended into a beautiful landscape.

We spent a day just driving the canyon ridge and stopping along the way for views and photos. It was calming with a sense of excitment – wondering what the next view would be like. We would often just stare into the live picture before us – no words, just thoughts of God’s majesty.

We came across this “Natural Bridge” at the same elevation as our cabin in Colorado. It’s really not a bridge but an opening in the wall supporting more hoodoos and a beautiful formation to see!

And then there was this bird, a very large bird! It seemed to be everywhere we were. It’s height was from below the shoulders to the top of the head. From the scriptures: Mat. 6:26 “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” This fowl was well fed! …and a great reminder that we are very well loved, taken care of, and blessed!

Whew! What . A . View! There are many opportunities to hike down into Bryce Canyon for spectacular views and for once-in-a-lifetime experiences. We chose to just observe from the top – looking down into the canyon (because hiking down also meant hiking UP!) …and we had already hiked every vista outlook. We needed to just enjoy a quiet picnic lunch!

An off road adventure we stopped to explore!

Between our campsite and Bryce Canyon, there was an option to explore something called “Mossy Cave”. This is one of our “off the road adventures” that proved to be pretty fun! It was a hike into a canyon similar to the Bryce Canyon area. We found ourselves looking up at the rock formations that we have previously been looking down on – such a different view!

It was a beautiful hike – we had a stream, waterfalls, a cave and even ice (look behind Lorree’s hand) still hanging out in the cave! (And yes there was moss growing on the walls of the cave!)

At the end of the day we were tired – we had hiked almost six miles at over 8K elevation mostly uphill! On the way home we passed this sign: Elevation 7777 ft. Perfect! It was a wonderful day but we’d better get rested up for tomorrow!

Let’s check out – Zion National Park!

We drove into Zion on the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway (Highway 9) from the East. This way provides direct access for travel between Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, and Zion National Parks and allowed us to experience the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel and all of the switchbacks afterward! What a beautiful way to see so much of the amazing scenery!

Zion Canyon is closed to traffic so we took advantage of riding the on-and-off shuttles and hiked / explored as much of Zion as we could in one day.

One of our goals was to hike up to the slot canyon called ” The Narrows”. We did that – about 2 miles round trip. We were excited to see the river coming through the narrows canyon and to be able to sit, rest, and experience the cold river. There were slippery river rocks everywhere and we didn’t come prepared for that so we didn’t hike up the Virgin River into the slot canyon. (Maybe another day?) We enjoyed being at the “launch site” watching other groups with their water shoes and hiking poles hiking up into the canyon. It was fun to be there that day, another great adventure and more great memories! What’s next?

A slot canyon! …only a few miles from our campsite! We’ve had a slot canyon on our “bucket-list” for a while and it turned into one of our favorite adventures!

To get to the Willis Creek Slot Canyon trail head, we had to take a secluded four wheel drive road through the desert and hills. So thankful (again!) for the blessing of this truck God allowed us to own.

We had no idea what we would be seeing or hiking through. We’ve seen pictures of slot canyons – but to be here….!?!! Wow! And this is just a little one – but to us on this day it was so spectacular! We kept refering to the scripture – “hidden in the cleft of the rock”. The rocks have such an intense sense of fortitude, strength, and safety (let alone the beauty all around us!)

When a heavy rain pours down from the heavens, the slot canyon could be a dangerous place to be. The water accumulates and rushes through the canyon – creating a “slot” in the earth. It certainly has carved out an amazing creative colorful design for us to enjoy! The creek was dry this day, we’ve learned that we could have been hiking through ankle deep water – that would have been fun!

The sunshine poured into the canyon allowing us to see the lines and swirls in the rock with the contrasting shadows of the crevices.

Once again God revealed to us how great He is (and how small we are) inside of His beautiful creation. “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” Ex 33: 21-23. The “cleft of the rock” represents Jesus Christ. To those hidden by Him, that same glory means life, protection and peace!

We have such joy and assurance in our souls – Jesus is OUR ROCK – We pray you know Him!

…and then this! What is Grosvenors Arch? Let’s check it out!

Continuing on from Willis Creek Slot Canyon along a long and sometimes rough dirt road – there’s this majestic rock arch – so impressive to walk up to it!

…and then to stand underneath it… it was so massive! It is a soul stirring thing to be overwhelmed and literally in awe. It was “awe-full” and it was SO fully great!

We took a side trip off of our side trip to see the campground at Kodachrome State Park. We saw some very unique rock pillars – this looked to be a great campground.

So after another full day and over 5 miles of hiking – we cooked up some great food and enjoyed our final evening at our Cannonville Campground. We’ll be traveling Hwy 12 through the heart of Utah tomorrow – so much more to see!

It seems like every mile we go, another scene unfolds! Northeast Arizona is arid, largely free of greenery, and characterized by hills, mesas, buttes, cliffs, and canyons. We’ve seen all of these as we travel down the highway! What a beautiful changing landscape – so full of adventure!

Up ahead is Page, AZ and Lake Powell! We have reservations to camp at Waheap Campground at Lake Powell – but we’re planning to stop at the Horseshoe Bend overlook just before Page!

Horseshoe Bend is a horseshoe-shaped “incised meander” of the Colorado River located near the town of Page, AZ. – just downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam. We stopped to hike the 1/2 mile to the rim overlook. Whew…it was gusting at about 50 mph that day – actually pretty scary being sand-blasted with the fine desert sand – and we could feel the power capable of blowing us over the edge! For tomorrow…we booked a half day float trip down the Colorado River and around Horseshoe Bend – about 1,000 feet below!

While crossing the bridge we were amazed at the size and structure of the Glen Canyon Dam (completed in 1963) that created Lake Powell. It is a concrete arch-gravity dam and is larger than the Hoover Dam at Lake Mead near Las Vegas, NV. in every way with the exception that it is 16 feet shorter. Lake Powell is 186 miles long and has nearly 2,000 miles of shoreline – longer than the entire west coast of the U.S.A! Around it’s perimeter there are 96 major canyons to explore! This dam was the last one of its size to be built in the United States. Today, because of severe draught and water needs, there is a plan in place to eventually breach the dam and let the Colorado River run free.

The picture that Lorree is holding on your left shows the lake/dam at its fullest capacity in 1980. The picture on the right is a current 2022 picture. You’ll see more of the lake’s current emptiness coming up.

Here’s our latest adventure, a river raft float trip through Horseshoe Bend!

After checking in at River Headquarters in Page, AZ. (and being cleared that we were not terrorists) we enjoyed a motor-coach ride through a service tunnel carved through two miles of solid rock! We descended approximately 500 feet to disembark at the foot of Glen Canyon Dam. We had to wear hard hats (in case someone from up above dislodged a pebble or tossed a stone) for protection from the Bridge or Dam view point that was about 700 feet above us!

We enjoyed having Holly as our tour guide – she was a lot of fun and full of information. At times, the sheer walls lining the Colorado River were 1,000 feet or more above us – impressive!

 As we traveled downstream we learned more about the importance of the Colorado River, the explorations of John Wesley Powell, and the life of native tribes. Other historic activities we learned about included periods of government expeditions, Indian wars, Mormon settlements, gold mining, mineral exploration, and finally today’s recreational use (rafting, camping, and fishing).

We stopped and disembarked at Petroglyph Beach. We were able to hike a short distance to see century’s old petroglyphs and other fascinating artifacts. They say the petroglyph’s on the wall of the rock may have given specific directions to the only passageway through this area of the canyon, across the river, and back up the other side. It made good sense to us – fascinating!

After setting out again we entered the iconic Horsehoe Bend of the Colorado River.

We were just here yesterday looking down from above in a fiercely gusting wind but now enjoying a warm calm gentle float. We saw beautiful rock formations and plant life – literally growing out of crevesses in the rock. What a contrast, this is a beautiful canyon! We’re coming to the end of this 15 mile trip down Glen Canyon. Soon it will transition into the Grand Canyon. How do we get back up from this river?

In 1870 John D. Lee was sent to establish a ferry crossing across the Colorado River. Fast forward to the very same location it is still a busy place today! There are boaters, rafters, fishers, and backpackers all starting or ending therir adventures here every day!

We landed at Lee’s Ferry for our motor coach ride back to Page, AZ. Lees Ferry is the only place within Glen Canyon where visitors can drive to the banks of the Colorado River in over 700 miles of canyon country! Because of that, Lees Ferry is the only launch site for a river trip through the 277 miles of river in the Grand Canyon. We saw adventurous river runners getting ready to launch their rafts for day, week, and month long trips into the mighty Grand Canyon (someday – maybe????). This was another super adventure, so glad we took advantage of this opportunity!

Yikes! On the other side of the dam, we’re missing some water! At Lake Powell – so strange to see sand and desert brush growing instead of the massive full lake of water we had visited with the kiddo’s in 1996 (bottom left picture). Back then, we spent a whole week exploring the lake in a houseboat going through canyons, swimming, and sleeping on shore – great memories!

We had a good time staying at Waheap Marina, enjoying the scenery and the beautiful sunsets. The only thing we didn’t enjoy was that it was very windy most days and evenings. We’ve got more to see and do…it’s time to head out to our next stop on our Arizona/Utah canyon’s adventure!