Day 5 - Zion - Kolob Canyons

Kolob Canyons was added to Zion Park twenty years ago and is known for its radiant orange canyons. We arrived late morning to discover much cooler weather and high 20 mph winds in this higher elevation area. We knew we would be a bit cold until the sun came up fully but pushed on anyway. We drove up the five mile road to an opening revealing the glorius canyon wall (pic 1&2) and parked at the end of the road for a short hike to a high overlook of the Utah and Arizona valleys (pic).

Our second hike was a bit longer and descended 800 ft down into the valley shown in the first photo. It really began to warm up as we climbed back up! Our final hike was what I thought was the popular Taylor creek trail up to a double arch but ended up being a unmaintained but very good trail up another finger of a canyon. After a climb up a sandy brush area the trail opened to a magical meadow with green grass and orange sand trails carving through large pine trees, all the time surrounded by high orange walls(see true orange color in pic with me in orange shirt). The birds were gathered in this area singing, delighted as we were. The video below gives you a sense of this magic place (our favorite hike of the day):

http://youtu.be/HNtdzhmJZlc

We returned to town, picked up our dry pants and shoes for the final thrill ride on our final day in Zion Thursday, had a double pizza dinner, ice cream and returned back to the lodge for the night.

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Days 89 and 90 - Waterton

I started my journey north to Canada today. My plan was to head to Waterton Lakes, just north of Glacier, then to Calgary, then the Canadian Rockies parks of Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Glacier and a few others, then to Vancouver and finally to Seattle, all over the next several weeks. But first I needed the Internet! I drove south out of Many Glacier to a place I remembered having cell reception. I did some emailing and calling back home, did some research for my Canada trip and watched the final three episodes of Game of Thrones--wow, the final two episodes were sensational. This rainy, dreary day was perfect for such activities. I then drove into Canada late in the evening and to a campground set in the cloudy mountains at Waterton. The weather cleared a bit the next day and I was able to do some hiking around this scenic alpine lakes district. Waterton Lakes district from a high hill called Bear's Hump: The chipmunks at Bear's Bump were very interested in the conten...

Day 106 - Seattle

My July 4th started with a drive from Vancover to Seattle, arriving at the Museum of Flight by 11. The museum tour began with a display of the 27 U.S. Flags, made interesting by announcing the history of the states entry into the union. This B-17 is similar to the bomber my grandfather flew in WW2. A former Air Force One plane that Kennedy road on was another highlight. I stayed all day at the museum enjoying the history of aviation exhibits and finally space! I drove into downtown Seattle to checkout the city parks reserved for fireworks watching. These neighborhoods were crawling with people and would make horrible stealth street camping sites. I called several hostels and all were full... but then I found one with one bed left. I reserved the spot and drove to the hostel to find it in walking distance to the fireworks. I joined a group waking down to see the fireworks. We were joined by a few others. Two skydivers with fire flaming behind their path were followed by...

Day 93 - Calgary to Banff

After a very pleasant morning at Dave's house spent photocopying trail and scramble guide routes, enjoying a great breakfast and coffee, meeting some of Dave's extremely kind family members and chatting more about adventures, I set out for downtown Calgary. I thought a walk around a museum would be a nice change of pace, so I toured the Glenbow Museum. Two highlights were a Blackfoot Indian describing the meaning of their Tipi decorations and the Gun Scupture. The history of Alberta section was also quite interesting: fur trappers then cowboys then railroad builders then oil drillers. I then walked down to a nearby waterfront park, along a pedestrian only shopping street where a Christian pride rally was taking place, and then down quiet side streets to the park. Seeing people out jogging and playing on this Sunday afternoon reminded me of the real life I must one day return to. But not yet! Hungry and ready for mountains, I walked back to my van and left Calgary heading wes...

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