From Zion to Sin City

Sunday, 12 July, 2015

Utah, Nevada

Today’s plan was completely executed, just not on the expected timeline.  First, we started with Zion NP.  During the main tourist season (daily March to October and weekends in November), a shuttle bus goes up and down the main road from the main gates and campground up to the northernmost trailhead.  This is to reduce traffic (which is a better experience) and to reduce wear and tear on the environment.  It is actually a very nice system.  There are about 8 stops and it’s a “hop on/hop off” situation.  If you are staying at the lodge you are allowed to drive only up to that.  One of the trails (Angel’s Landing) was closed due to a fire (you could see the smoke on the top peak).  That trail is the most arduous with 27 steep switchbacks—we wouldn’t have attempted it even if it had been open—way out of our league!  There were parts where you were on the rock face holding on to a chain.    On the way up, there were different narrated segments from Native Americans, park rangers, and rock climbers talking about different areas of the park.  On the way back, we started out with a great driver who said that there was no narration on the return trip, but the proceeded to tell great stories about the area and the things that people do.  Unfortunately, we got off at the lodge for ice cream and our next driver didn’t say anything except announce the stop.  We went to the furthermost stop and took the Riverwalk Trail.  It was a lovely trail, even though it was paved (to make it more accessible).  One part of it went through the river (that wasn’t as accessible) then to the Narrows.  The Narrows Trail was almost all in water and you were encouraged to bring a jacket (even though the temp was close to 100 degrees).  We didn’t do that one, but I was intrigued.  Our trail was supposed to go near that to see the narrows, but we turned back before that point out of time concerns.  The return bus driver showed one mountain that climbers liked, but said that it was a two day climb and the climbers had to set up a hammock hanging out over the edge to sleep in.  Nope, no way, not this woman!  The Virgin River has carved out this entire landscape—pretty amazing for a small river that we even waded into.  Evidently, there is a huge flash flood risk because the ground, being mostly rock, can’t absorb the water and various flash floods over the years have caused the river to carve out the stone.   The first visitors to this area long ago included artists. They made paintings of the area and took them to show at the St. Louis World's Fair (I looked it up and that was in 1904).  People couldn't believe that such a beautiful place could really exist.  When rainwater hits the top of the rock formations in Zion, it trickles down through the rock (the bus driver said that they've tested the water and it takes 1200 years).  When it hits a non-permeable area of rock, it comes out laterally--through the rock face.  That is why the plants grow on the sides of the rock and create the hanging gardens.  Each shuttle stop had big spigots with spring water to refill water bottles and toilets that you were asked to use so that you did not use the “natural facilities.”  As with the other parks, we wished that we had more time to hike—even though we were all exhausted from our hike (the heat probably had something to do with it).  Today’s sunscreen seemed to help us out—all of our sunburns are melding together and today we didn’t seem to add much to that. 

 

Joshua, not wanting his picture taken.  The cross-hatching on the rocks behind him are particular to Zion NP.

The Virgin River.

The "amphitheater"

Hanging gardens

Here the trail crosses the river

Wading in the river (with a photo bomber)

A secluded grotto

The swamp.  The water that comes out of the bottom of the rock can't be completely absorbed by desert floor, so it created a swamp.

Joshua next to a labeled model of the park.

Next we drove to our hotel in Boulder City, a suburb of Las Vegas and right next to the Hoover Dam.  We decided that we had about half an hour of sunlight and went to the Hoover Dam.  We needed to stop at security, but when Shelby waved at the security guy, he waved us on—I guess two middle-aged caucasian parents with two teenage children doesn’t fit the terrorist profile.  J  The memorial bridge parking lot was only open dawn to dusk, so we slipped in and went up on the bridge.  Hard to imagine all of the concrete that went into building that bridge, and the engineering back in the 30s to complete it.  The water levels were fairly low so that you could see a lot of the towers in the back .  Evidently they are like stoppers with holes that let the water in to drain down to the bottom of the dam.  They reminded me of the towers in the witch’s castle in the Wizard of Oz.  Shelby and I were chanting the “Oh, we, oh” chant of the guards in the movie.  According to my dad, his dad (my grandfather) worked on the dam.  He was a carpenter, and went down from Minnesota then sent his wages home (jobs were probably becoming more scarce in the early 30s).   Shelby wanted to see that statues (that were prominent in the Percy Jackson books) so we drove up and across the top of the dam.  There was also a gift shop and a $10 parking ramp as well (ours was free thought there was a police officer waiting for everyone to leave so that he could close the gates) 

Then after a quick dinner at Panda Express, we drove into Las Vegas to see the lights on the strip.  Driving through all of that without knowing where I was going was a bit nerve-wracking.  I finally found a parking lot next to Bally’s and didn’t see any signs about being towed.  Then we walked, and walked, and walked.  Everything was bigger than life.  Joshua was ecstatic, Randy hated it, and Shelby and I were interested.  Seeing show girls out on the sidewalks with their big headdresses and tiny costumes was surprising.  A lot of street performers and glitz and lights.  At one point, I looked at my watch and it was midnight—you couldn’t tell it from looking around; the sidewalks were packed with people walking and the streets with cars.  We caught the light show at Bellagio's (see the photo at the top) then headed back to the car.  By the time we got back to our hotel it was 1:00.  We were all exhausted and went straight to bed!

The Paris area

the New York area (complete with Statue of Liberty an Brooklyn Bridge)