Grand Teton National Park

Because Husband is working as we travel I wasn't sure (when planning) if we would be able to see Grand Teton National Park.  Thankfully my mom was uncompromising on this.  She and my dad drove all the way from Michigan and they wanted to see this park.  Because our experience in Willard Bay was so terrible we decided to leave on Friday after Husband got off of work instead of waiting until Saturday morning.  Because of that decision we ended up driving 250 miles starting at 6:30 p.m. and ending at 2:00 a.m.  I know that it doesn't seem like 250 miles is that many...but these are back roads-curves-35 mph-deer & elk around every turn-miles.  It was SLOW going in the dark.  I really don't recommend driving late at night when pulling a rig.  We've done it, but it's not fun.

However, there is nothing like waking up with this view in this wilderness.  We were there from June 21-24.  It was cool - even cold at night (in the 40s).  There are many wonderful adventures and hikes to do and we could only pick a couple.  Our first, and most ambitious, was hiking the southern part of Jenny Lake to Hidden Falls.  This hike was about 3.5 miles and had significant elevation change.  I think it took all of us to our limits - especially Sister (4).  It was amazing and beautiful.  Here is just a sample of the amazing nature that was all around us.

At one point we were walking up a trail and my dad spotted this beautiful deer laying the the grass next to the path.  Many people stopped to take pictures and it just laid there posing for us.  Here I am borrowing my mom's picture because she really captures the animals better than I with her zoom lens.  

Somehow, against the advice of National Park brochures, our party became separated.  Brother and Husband went on ahead.  Sister and I were in the middle and my mom and dad were in the rear.  Looking back I don't think this is a good practice, but we were all going at our own paces (or at least I was going with Sister's pace).  While Sister and I were alone a yellow-bellied marmot crossed the path right in front of us and scurried up the hill on the other side.  It was no more than 5 feet from us.  At the time we didn't know what it was, but we later found a taxidermy example of one in a museum. Regarding our group being separated - thankfully I had a walkie talkie and my mom had the other one.  Husband and Brother waited for us at the waterfall and then we all waited for mom and dad and communicated via walkie.  The waterfall was a wonderful place to sit, relax, and look at the view.

From the falls we "only" had to walk a half of a mile to a boat that took us back across the lake.  That last part of the walk was notable because of the river by the path.

The boat ride was enjoyable and welcome after such a long hike!

The second day we opted for a much less strenuous adventure and walked the Lakeshore Trail at Colter Bay.  This is a 2 mile hike on fairly level ground with amazing views of the lake and the Teton Range.  Oh! Look a picture of me in profile!  I'm always the one taking the pictures, but this time my mom was there too!

I think this is funny - this is me taking a picture of my mom (left) taking this picture (above)!  It is fun to have two sets of pictures to look through!



It was an overcast day and we even had a few sprinkles, but it was a beautiful walk and much of it was in the woods.

We saw one deer on this hike as well, though I was too slow with the camera and only got it's rear as it walked behind a tree.  We also saw bear sign!  I later showed this picture to a ranger who confirmed that it was probably black bear claw marks. We also found fur nearby, but we didn't actually see any bears in Grand Teton.

And we saw beaver sign! (thanks for the good pic mom!)

I will share some final pictures.  As a group we did see one moose, but it was quite a distance and we couldn't get a good picture.  My mom and dad however had two sightings of this cow and calf!

I really wish we would have had more time to explore this amazing place.  I will talk more about this when I review the campground in my next post.  Any trip back to Wyoming must include a stop at Grand Teton National Park.  I did not get enough of it!

Willard Bay State Park South Marina, Willard, UT

NEVER GO HERE.

Let me start by saying that there are downsides of booking in advance - that is you may be tied to a place that sucks for a week.  Such was the case with this dud of a "campground."  In reality it is a large parking lot with full hook-up stations for RVs and a poorly maintained pit toilet.  Oh, and it comes with millions of bugs that swarm and if you are lucky they will decided to use your trailer as their home and they will breed and swarm and follow you for a week after you leave.  Yes.  That is what happened.  We are damn lucky we headed to higher elevations with cold nights because I am quite confident that if we would have stayed in warmer temps we would still have our stowaways. 

My parents met us here and we stayed together for the better part of three weeks.  Luckily for them they did not stay for the entire week (we did so Husband and I could work).  Let me give credit - that this place has Verizon 4G coverage.  My parents wisely moved on to the Grand Teton NP before us....but I get ahead of myself.  The website says that this place has a beach - yes, it does at the campgrounds in the north part of the park - just jump back on the freeway and travel north some 7 miles.  Then re-enter the park in the north where there are lovely campgrounds and you will find the beach.  The South Marina is meant for people who have boats.  And who love bugs - little white fly, knat-like things that swarm in the air like a cloud.  By the time we left our trailer was COVERED in them.  They were also attached to the bottom of our slides so when we brought in the slides (when we left) we brought them inside the trailer.  Oh, and we left one night early.  We were scheduled to leave on a Saturday, but instead we left on Friday night after Husband got off of work and we drove until 2:00 a.m. just to avoid staying there another night.  

When we left we drove an hour then stopped to gas up and grab dinner.  When we got out of the truck the swarm was still swarming all around the trailer - we looked like Pig-Pen from the old Charlie Brown/Peanuts cartoon.  It was unreal.  We were killing those bugs for a week...I actually think that the birds, robins, in Cody, WY finally got rid of them for us.  The robins were always under our trailer and I think they were eating them.  

Getting back to the Greater Salt Lake City area - While in the area we did visit a very nice Children's Museum in Salt Lake City as well as the grounds of the Salt Lake City Temple in order to see the gardens that I had heard much about.  However, I had some meetings and was wrapping up teaching my summer class so we didn't get to do much more.  This was a very disappointing "campground."  The Children's Museum was 5-star and the gardens at the temple were very pretty. 

Sand Creek RV Park, Torrey UT

Sand Creek RV Park is a fantastic campground six miles from the West entrance of Capitol Reef National Park.  The owner, Harry is friendly and accommodating.  He takes you to your site on his bicycle.  He offered us the use of a collection of bikes behind the office and the kids really enjoyed riding around the park.  I was sorry we only stayed for two days, but the Verizon signal was terrible and Husband would not have been able to work.  We stayed over the weekend just long enough to spend one day at Capitol Reef.

It's a small park with an amazing view.

There are hammocks in trees, community fire pits, a group shelter, wildflowers, flowers, a vegetable garden, the view, and the bikes for loan.  The park has showers and restrooms that are clean and well maintained.  Harry encouraged us to walk anywhere on the property and explore and enjoy our stay.  There was a very friendly atmosphere.

Pros:

• Price was good at $44/night for full hook-ups
• Pull-through sites
• Amenities
• Views
• Vibe

The downsides include the width of the sites and the lack of cell coverage (Verizon).  We have two deep slides and when we extended them one was practically over the firepit of our neighbors.  If they would have lit a fire they would have burned our trailer down.  I think they realized that and either graciously or begrudgingly did not build a fire.  Here is a view of the slide side of our trailer nearly over the neighbor's firepit.

I didn't feel we were taking up too much room on the other side either...the sites were just narrow.

One last picture to get the full picture from the other side...

We enjoyed our time there and would recommend this park for anyone visiting Capitol Reef.

Capitol Reef National Park

We visited Capitol Reef National Park over Father's Day weekend.  Husband is off work Sat through Monday so we booked two nights in an RV space near the National Park and spent the whole day Sunday exploring the place. 

It was an overcast day with scattered showers.  The clouds made it a nice day to be outside and a beautiful sky, but hiking was a bit troublesome (which I will come to in a bit).  The park made up of beautiful rock formations rising on either side of the main road.  In some places there are beautiful red rocks that rival those in Sedona, AZ. 

Elsewhere you see white domed shaped rocks that look like capitol buildings - part of the inspiration for the park's name.  Early explorers called it a reef because it was hard to cross - as a reef is to sailors....I think this is a strange name for the park, but at least it is not named after the first settlers. 

We opted for the Hickman Bridge hike ranked "moderate" with a 400 foot elevation change and nearly 2 miles round-trip.  It put Sister to the test as the majority of the climb came at the beginning of the hike.  First to hike out of the canyon and then up and across the rugged, rocky terrain above.

It started out alright in terms of the weather - it was cloudy as you can see but it didn't start raining until we were getting really close to the bridge.  Additionally Brother and Husband went way ahead of Sister and I which made me anxious.  At some point Sister decided she was going to catch up and she started practically running uphill and I could barely keep up with her!  When I look back on my pictures I am stunned how few I took because I was too busy going!  At one point the trail goes along a wash and it was there that I panicked about the oncoming rain.  Of course if you live in the west you hear about flash floods all of the time.  Additionally at the Visitor's Center there are notices about being under cover when storms come and to be aware of flash floods.  When we walked along the dry wash with the threat of rain looming I became concerned about be separated from Husband and Brother and whether we should turn back.  So with Sister as my guide we speed-walked in order to catch up with the boys.  We did so as the rain began and we were very near the natural bridge.  The boys were not concerned at all and I was the only worried one in the group.  I agreed to hike on until we could see the bridge but when it was visible I took one picture and said that we had to head back now in the most motherly tone possible.  The rest agreed with the rain now falling steadily and Husband and I both in only t-shirts and shorts.  Thankfully both kids wore their jackets - though none of us own any rain gear!

This is the one picture I took as I insisted we turn back.  Follow the trees back to the smallest...The smallest trees in this picture are behind the bridge, the opening or arch in the rock is why you can see the smallest trees.  The bridge is center in the photo.  It is a terrible picture for all the work it took us to get there.  But at that point I think I had convinced Husband we were facing flash flood conditions and he and I were very cold so we hiked out, in the steady drizzle.  No, no flash flood.  We were perfectly safe, albeit wet.  When we got back to the truck, our safety assured, Husband pointed out that we didn't even really see the bridge.  The three of them were disappointed and then I felt badly about worrying so much.  Being the mama is a difficult job.  So it was not a very satisfying hike in that respect.

A second disappointing aspect of our visit was that none of the orchards were open.  This park maintains the historic orchards of the settlers and allows visitors to pick from the trees when they are ready.  A ranger told us that cherries would be available "tomorrow" !?!?  Are you kidding me?  We are only there for one day and we miss cherries by a day!!?? Cherries are one of our favorite fruits, I wish he would just said "no the orchards are closed" why even tell us how close we were to enjoying heritage varieties of cherries?  Brother was really bummed because I read the website to him before we visited and it seemed to promise access to one or more orchards at that time of year.

Finally we attended a Ranger talk about the ancient people of the area and the petroglyphs they left behind on the rocks.  I have a pretty decent picture of these petroglyphs.  Starting at the bottom left of the picture, notice the brick-like rocks, above that some lighter colored larger boulders, then in the backwards J formed by the lighter rocks on the left side of the photo notice the petroglyphs on the red rock.

The kids got to volunteer to be a part of the talk so they were happy, however the information presented was rather general to many ancient peoples of the Southwest. 

So that was Capitol Reef.  There are many other hikes to do, but I felt like we got a good sense of the place, the history, the people, and the geology through the Junior Ranger activities.  One day was adequate for a visit, two would have been nice especially to deal with different weather.  We really liked our campground - so I will review that next.

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Cedar Breaks National Monument on June 14 ,2019 was still covered in SNOW folks!  While I found this disappointing, the kids were elated.

Though the snow was filthy and melting and generally not good to play in, my desert children saw a winter wonderland.

This area of land was just to the right of the monument's sign - I had a hard time getting them back into the truck so that we could proceed into the park.

I had read that there is a very nice Alpine Pond hike and this was what I had anticipated for us - however ALL of the trails were closed due to the snow.  Again, I was disappointed, but the kids just wanted to throw snowballs.  Did we wear long pants or coats?  No!  Shorts and t-shirts and no coats.  We just don't think about cold weather and I forget that the rest of the country has to deal with it (even in June).  (Since this lesson, I have packed the jackets many times when we head off to our adventures)

Alpine Pond Trailhead - CLOSED due to snow

Anyhow, after I wrangled my rangers into the truck we proceeded to the visitor center where we found.....SNOW!

 

And some AMAZING views of the amphitheater from Point Supreme at 10,350 feet elevation!

 As well as other spectacular views from other lookouts.

We did complete the Junior Ranger books and attempted to attend a Ranger talk, but we were not dressed appropriately for an outdoor talk at 10,350 feet in the wind and temps in the 40s!  This is certainly a park I would love to visit again when the snow is melted so that I can see the Alpine wildflowers.  There is a beautiful community called Duck Creek Village on the UT-14 that is at 8,400 feet where I would love to park my rig and explore the area.  I have to record this fact so that I remember this beautiful mountain community when I plan my next trip!

Two Northern AZ National Parks: Grand Canyon North Rim & Pipe Spring

I can't tell you how many times I have been to the south rim of the Grand Canyon - when we first moved here it seemed everyone came to visit and we had a fun time taking each group in turn to the Grand Canyon and other AZ sites.  Last year when we visited it was very crowded and unfortunately hazy due to wildfires.  It was a bit disappointing.  I debated whether to even visit this year - but was convinced by the friendly gentleman at the RV park who said he used to work there.  He spoke about how much less traveled the North Rim is and how beautiful...I was sold!

This was my first adventure taking the kids without Husband as he is tied to his computer Tuesday through Friday.  I have to admit I was a little nervous...all natural places have some danger and. well, ....canyon...

We were all so surprised by the amount of snow we saw on the ground as we drove the beautiful AZ 67 South to the park entrance.  Much of that drive takes you through a wide meadow (the road running through it) where we saw deer grazing, and near the tree line we could see snow!

We did one nice hike along the rim and we were able to sit in the woods and work on the Junior Ranger books while enjoying a wonderful view. 

The best hike we did (albeit a terrifying one for mama) was the Bright Angel Point trail.  Brother transformed into a confident, sure-footed, sky walker (though in other setting has been known to say he is afraid of heights).  The path is narrow and in many places two adults can pass shoulder to shoulder with no extra room.  During different parts of the trail either one side or both sides of the trail are exposed to the canyon.  On the walk out to the point I had more courage, but it seemed to drain away into the canyon leaving me in a worried and irrational state.  I had to try hard to control my racing fears.  I asked Sister to please hold my hand on the way back to share her bravery with me and she obliged.  Brother said, in conversations with Husband, that I worried way to much...he's probably right.

Finally, to end the day and to complete the Junior Ranger activities, we attended a Ranger talk about the California Condor - it was a great talk we all learned a lot about these strange ancient creatures, efforts to increase their numbers, and the dangers humans pose through the use of lead bullets and litter.  In the end the kids earned their North Rim badge - it was a great day!

Pipe Spring National Monument is located in Arizona and is a natural spring with a very sorted tale of how polygamist Mormon settlers came to control the resource that was previously vital to the Native Kaibab peoples.  If you do nothing else there the movie was excellent.  After this experience I found myself having to explain polygamy to Brother, because so much of the history of the area is tied up with the so-called religious persecution of the Mormons over a practice they ultimately abandoned.  The current day ranch is run by the NPS, there is a garden, historical orchards as well as livestock and chickens.  I noticed two male NPS Rangers who appeared to be of Native ancestry working there while we visited.  One of these men also appeared in the movie and spoke on behalf of the Native cultures.  I wondered about their history in the area and their ties to this place. 

We did take a guided tour of the "castle."  It is literally built over the spring and it fills a basin in one of the lower level rooms before flowing outside to the ponds and rest of the ranch.  The ranch was owned by the Mormon church and operated as a tithing ranch until the church was forced to divest of it's business operations and adhere to the Constitution by maintaining a separation of church and state.  One of the memorable stories told about this place is that when Utah banned the practice of polygamy, sister wives were sent to this place (in AZ) when they were expecting so that their husbands would not have to go to jail.  One of the sister wives who was sent here said something to the effect of, "I am in prison so that my husband can go free."  It was a hard life in the desert even with the stolen water. 

If I hadn't seen a number of examples of groups stealing from and exploiting Native American lands and resources in my own lifetime I might have thought this was an interesting story from the past.  Instead it served as a harsh reminder that those with power have walked all over those without power then and now - we don't seem to learn any lessons from the past.

The Paiute tribe ultimately adapted to their new reality and learned from the Mormons - they are now ranchers and do get one third of the water produced by the spring.  One third remains with the NPS and the other third belongs to the cattle ranchers association of the area. 

I'm glad I saw it and considered the realities for the Native peoples, the settlers, and the Federal Government.  For in this situation the "white man" was not ubiquitous and had very conflicting ideas about "things."  It was interesting to hear how even the representatives of the government thought that the treatment of the Native people was unjust and that even among the settlers there were some who advocated a more cooperative arrangement even when they were in the minority.  This is a story of nuances, but it is also a story of Native resources being taken and a way of life and a large tribe being decimated.   One would hope the we can learn from these lessons and see the necessity of preserving and sharing this story.  

Wheel Inn RV Park, Fredonia, AZ - Review

Hello readers!  Ok, so my personal laptop died a very slow death....you should have seen the lengths I went to to make it last just one more day....there was a short in the screen and it would only display when it was almost closed - otherwise the screen would turn off - so I had to keep it at a funky angle in order to write!  It's been maddening!  The good news is, we are currently in Cody, WY and thank you Walmart for having a computer that passed Husband's specs and price tests!  In short, I have not been able to write because I didn't have a laptop and I don't use my work computer for pictures and so forth...

Anyhow. I am back in business!  I would like to include some RV park reviews for a couple of reasons - first I want to remember what I thought about the places we stayed, secondly it may be entertaining, and thirdly you may want to check some of the same places out one day!

So, this year we started our travels in Snowflake, AZ and we will end there as well so I am going to reserve that review for the end of the summer.  The next place we stayed for almost a week was the Wheel Inn RV Park in Fredonia, AZ (295 West Pratt St, Fredonia, AZ 86022). 

The park is seven miles south of Kanab, UT where you will find the closest (expensive) grocery store and some AMAZING Mexican food at Escobar's.  Oh those fish tacos!  And the shrimp tacos!  And the salsa!  I wish I could drive there right now.  Oh wait - this is a review for Wheel Inn...

Pluses:

• Large, pull-through sites 
• this is important for large rigs and people who don't like backing in their rigs and/or are not good at backing in their rigs...yet.  We are getting better, but it is always stressful when we have to back that baby in.
• No problem for large rigs and deep slides.
• Driving distance to FIVE National Parks!!!  Major selling point.
• The furthest drive is to Bryce Canyon (84 miles), Cedar Breaks (72 miles), followed by the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (61 miles), Zion (38 miles), and Pipe Springs (13 miles)  
• There is also a state park (Coral Dunes) and other sites in the area that we did not have time to visit.
• We like to park the rig and explore in the truck instead of having to hitch up and move all the time.  If we had a smaller rig we might feel differently, but hauling around 35' of trailer is a job and it is nice to just hop in the truck and head off to explore.  This was an excellent base of operations.
• We paid a weekly rate of $150 and thought that was pretty good.
• There was a pretty view from the back of the park
• The gentleman that checked us in was really friendly and gave some good information about the area.  
• Excellent Verizon signal - Husband and I were able to work on our hotspots without interruption.
• Decent WiFi - we used it to stream a bit and Brother even played a little Xbox with his cousin briefly during laundry day when others visitors were out exploring.

Huh?

• We paid a weekly rate of $150 which is what is posted on their website, but their website also said they have a Good Sam discount and I was told that was already included in the weekly rate.  This is weird.  I don't think they should post the Good Sam price - most parks give you the discount when you pay on arrival.  

Minuses:

• There are no common facilities (showers, laundry, etc)
• The entire place is one big dirt lot.  It's dusty and can be windy.

While there I used the local laundromat in Fredonia which was very nice, reasonably priced and clean.  It was not air conditioned and I was there on a hot day, but it was one of the nicer laundromats I have used.  

If you are looking for a no frills RV park that is reasonably priced so that you can explore like we did, this is a good choice.  There are a lot of parks to chose from in the area, but many are more expensive.  If you are interested in visiting both AZ and UT parks I think staying in the less touristy area is a plus.