day 10, Coral Pink Sand Dunes and Grand Canyon

For my final full day, there were a few things I wanted to see. I still wanted to see Paria Town Site, and Grand Canyon was still down there. I was thinking about Coral Pink Sand Dunes, since I discovered how close it was to Kanab, where I was staying. I looked it up, and discovered they had Native American pictographs. I decided I would go there, then, if there was time before going to Grand Canyon, I would swing by Paria and then take House Rock Road south to GC.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is a little way west of Kanab (the opposite direction from the other places). Actually, eight miles north, and then another 15 miles southwest. It's not a huge park, like Zion (nor enormous, like GS-E), but it's still pretty good sized. I got to the visitor's center, and there was nobody there. This wasn't good, since I had no idea how to get to the pictographs. Finally a ranger showed up. Looked like he got held up somehow. He gave me a map and I bought my pass, and I went back up the road.

I stopped at a little parking lot and walked up a sand dune to an overlook. When I got out of the car, I saw an older man standing up there. When I got up there, there were some ATV's racing across the dunes. Quiet hours had only just ended, so there weren't too many of them. I would have preferred to get some pics of some pristine dunes, but a few tracks aren't a big deal, and may even add some interest. I found the noise a bit irritating, though - those things don't have mufflers. But this other guy... as soon as I got up there, he let loose about how horrible these people were. He called them just about every name in the book. I was like, "uh huh." Somewhere near the middle of his rant he said, "they just have to find something pristine and put their fingerprints all over it!" And then he decided that wasn't strong enough, and added, "wipe their anal glands on it!" I didn't stick around too long.

I got a map from the park ranger. In looking more closely, I see that the place I was going is not in the state park. Interesting. It's on BLM Wilderness Study Area land. Odd, since there were a lot of off-road vehicles. I left the pavement down one of those sandy 4WD roads. "CAUTION: Most Unimproved Routes require Four Wheel Drive (4 WD) and High Clearance due to deep sand and exposed rock ledges !!!" I had my rented Jeep Cherokee, with it's not-exactly-high-clearance and not-exactly-four-wheel-drive. As you might expect from a place named for its sand, there was a lot of sand. And also more of those rocky patches. The difference between here and Coyote Buttes is that these "roads" saw a lot of ATV use, so they were formed a little differently. There were a lot of "moguls" and banked turns. It was kinda fun in places. "The last leg of the driving journey about 1.8 miles and is narrower than the previous route and may damage your vehicle's paint." All the leafy and pine branches left marks in the paint, which would probably disappear after many wash and wax cycles, but there was one heavy branch I hit that left a deeper scrape. Still not through the paint, though. I eventually made it to the end, and fortunately, I didn't meet anyone coming towards me, because I saw few places wide enough to pull over and let an ATV by.

I parked and loaded up my pack. I wasn't quite sure which way to walk, but I only saw one way out of the parking area. I followed a path down the side of a canyon for a little way, but soon decided I needed my tripod and went back up to the car. I came back down, but soon realized there was no way down into the canyon any further. Scratching my head, I went back up to the parking area. I still didn't see any other trails. I went back over to the "interpretive panel" and noticed a trail that led from it, that was kinda hidden from view by some bushes. This was it. Up high on the canyon, it was desert. Rock, sand, cacti, gnarled pine trees. I could hear water running, down in the bottom, and it was very green. The trail went out to a point, and then wound down into a forested valley. Shortly thereafer, the trail ended at a large alcove in the sandstone, and there were many figures painted on the wall.

I stood there for quite a while looking and absorbing. Then I set up my tripod a took a lot of photos. I'll tell you more about it when I get the pictures developed.

On my way back up, I passed a few people, and more were waiting in the parking area. They were had all come in ATV's and other such off-road vehicles. They were surprised to see my Jeep Grand Cherokee. *grin* By the time I got back out of there, it was well past noon, and there was no way I was going to have time to see Paria Town Site, so went down to Grand Canyon.

The weather was a little better than the previous day. There was no snow and there was some sun peeking through the clouds on occasion. I first went out to Walhalla Overlook and Cape Royal. By the time I got out there, there was some real sun. Out at the farthest point is a paved path that leads to Angel's Window, a large window in a rock wall. You can see it from one point, and then the path goes out onto it. The trail continues to a point where you can see the eastern side of the canyon, including the Colorado River in the distance. When I got back to the car, the rain had come, but it wasn't very hard. I stopped at another vista where they had info about the natives that lived in the area several hundred years ago. There's an area on the river where they've identified several hundred archeological sites.

Since I was there, I drove back down to the Visitor's Center and wandered around the lodge a bit. I talked to the rangers about condors for a bit. I was out looking into the canyon when some guys were wondering where Bright Angel Trail was, on the far rim. I had recently read about it, so I knew exactly where it was. It's on a fault line that runs across the canyon, so it's easy to pick out. I didn't tell them about the fault, so I'm not sure they believed me about the trail's location. Turns out the guys were going to be running the trail the next day. There's a page of warnings in the park brochure about the North Kaibab Trail, which leads from the North Rim to the River. It's 14.2 miles and drops 5600 feet in elevation. Bright Angel Trail, on the other side, is 9.3 miles long and ascents 4400 feet. Does that sound like a fun trip?

By the time I left the area, it was raining pretty hard. Probably around fifty degrees. I had no desire to see anything else. Shortly after I left, the sky cleared up. There were still clouds behind me, but none ahead. It was a nice drive through the forest. The rain was steaming off the road, and sparkling in the trees. I stopped in Jacob Lake for a souvenir and some gas. A kid came out and offered to pump my gas for me. I guess he was bored. I asked him how he got the job, and he said it was from a job fair. Turns out he was from Guam. He didn't really care for the weather.

From there, I was racing the sun, trying to make a particular vista point before the sun was too far gone. I was doing okay until I got behind some motorcycles out for a nice cruise. I didn't quite make it to the overlook in time, but there were enough other reason I missed it, so I can't really blame the slow drivers.

From there, it was back to Kanab. It was probably my earliest night home, on the whole trip, so I went back out. I drove half an hour north, and shot some photos of the Thunderbird Restaurant's sign in Mt. Carmel Junction (finally!). Then I went in and got a bowl of chili and some toast. The sky was clear that night, and the moon, having been full a few nights before, wasn't up yet. I pulled onto a side road in a canyon. I set up my tripod and spent about half an hour trying to get star pictures. I failed. :-( Not sure what I did wrong. At least I got to see the stars. There were very many of them. Very very many. I couldn't see the Milky Way, though.

Then back to the room, where I downloaded my photos and mostly packed up.

day 11, travel and Hoover Dam

My flight out of Vegas was at 4:30, but if I could get the car back by noon, I could save seventy dollars. For that $70, I'd have to sit around the airport for a couple of extra hours, so I didn't bother to try. The desk clerk at the motel mentioned a cave with a lake in it, so I thought I'd check it out. I figured it would take an hour.

Summer had told me to go up to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and ask for directions. Best Friends is a big place. People go there from all over the country to adopt or to volunteer. I drove past their rental cottages to the visitor's center. There was a group of people in the video room apparently watching an orientation video. They had a nice garden outside, with trees, grass, a pond and fountain, and blooming irises. And they pretty much own Angel Canyon. The woman at the desk gave me printed directions to Hidden Lake.

I went up the canyon past a few horse pastures (quarantine) and turned off the main (gravel) road. The directions said the road was deep sand, and for 4WD only, but I bet a 2WD car could have made it. There was a little parking area with a picnic table, and at the base of a cliff, behind some trees, was the cave. Maybe 25 feet wide at the widest, 75 feet deep, and filled with still water. Not all that exciting, but it was kinda different.

As I drove back out, I saw a sandy road do a loop up towards the canyon wall. I took it. I was happily surprised to see a fence and some Indian ruins. They were stone slabs stacked in circles - granaries. And there was one pictograph that I could see - a human figure about a foot high. It was pretty cool. I could see why they don't advertise that it's there.

I went back over the creek where it crossed a little slot canyon, and took a few pictures of a raptor and the horses. Then I headed back into Kanab, looking for some food, because I hadn't eaten anything yet. I got some at the grocery store, and hit the road.

There were two routes back to Las Vegas. One was the way I came, through Zion. The other was on the plains to the south. Not only was that way a little quicker, and I hadn't seen it yet, but I really didn't want to drive through Zion again. I didn't want to have to drive through it and not be able to stop. I had seen it, it was beautiful, and now it was time to move on.

Taking 389/59 around was a nice drive. I made good time, the weather was good and the scenery was beautiful. The highway skirts a line of cliffs for a long time. There was a place where I could see Zion in the distance, I think. Because of all the mountains, I shot quite a few pictures during the drive. I pulled over a couple of times, and occasionally slowed down, but most of them were at speed. I got pretty good at shooting with the SLR while driving. Sometimes even while looking through the viewfinder. If you set the lens at the same field of vision as your eyes, you can look through it with one eye while you keep your other eye open. You keep the two scenes lined up, and you can see as normal, and click the shutter when you see something good. :-)

It was about four hours back to Vegas. I figure I missed the 12:17 return time by about half an hour. This meant I had a couple hours to kill. I called phone support and got directions and timing to Hoover Dam from Cyn. She said that from where I was, it was a fifty minute drive there. Add the fifty minutes back, and that left me 20 to see the place. Off I went.

It was close by, but the trip is slow once you get off the highway. The road snakes through the hills, and there's a line at the security checkpoint. Then you go into the five story parking garage, and find a place on the fourth floor. From there, it's a walk down the hill to the dam. This was a completely different experience than Glen Canyon Dam. That place was almost barren of tourists. This was swarmed with them. I didn't even go into the visitor's center. Or the gift shop. Or the restaurant. I went by the huge bronze statues and flagpole. I walked a little ways onto the bridge with a hundred other tourists. I took a few photos like everyone else, then jogged back up the hill in the 90 degree sun, and headed back to Vegas.

No trouble returning the car. Or checking in, or getting to the gate. I ate a sandwich, then talked with Cyn on the phone for a while, then it was time to board. I arrived back in Milwaukee about 10 pm, went home and went to bed.

There you have it. Thanks to the two or three people who actually read all this! I hope to start working on the pictures later this week.