Parry Lodge Kanab

Early start today for Lyn and Ioan, as they wanted to tackle the Narrows like never before! They were up at 5.30am, and in Zion for 7am. They were one of only a few people on the first shuttle bus up the canyon, and got out at the Narrows drop off point. After the mile walk to the starting point, they were able to get in the Virgin River, where they immediately froze! Very rare experience,as it's normally so hot it's a ...

... the sandstone until it hits shale and then sweeps through to the surface 1,000-4,000 years later. Lunch was at The Grottos, followed by the trail to Lower Emerald Pool, where we encountered a rattlesnake crawling in the woods 3-4' off the path. He was quite the "photo op" for the countless hikers. Zion is the most impressive park we have seen. Looking up at the multi-colored layers of the cliffs and the majestic peaks of ...

... in the central to southeastern part of Utah, you have to go through Moab. They have reduced the speed limit, but Main Street has become a 4-lane monster dividing the town. There are pedestrian crosswalks but you take your life into you hands trying to use them, as opposed to Springdale where you could cross just about anywhere. As I heard one local telling the bus driver on the shuttle, "We're not Jackson Hole - yet." Hope it stays that way for a while.

... to name but we spent the night in the same room that Yvonne De Carlo slept in only a few decades ago. I mentioned a surprise earlier....Dinner was the surprise. We were taken down the other end of town where we we FORCED to dress up as soldiers and indians etc and make believe were were making a cowboy film. Don't worry, we bought the photo's to prove it. We had such a great time.

... down the Virgin River to the campground. Rested for the afternoon. Day 73 - Monday, September 1, 2008 - Labor Day - Zion NP to Grand Canyon NP Stopped at a coffee shop with internet in Springdale. Saw 2 folks from the church service - again - weird. Checked e-mail and weather. Drove on until Pipe Spring National Historic Site in Arizona. Had lunch then look around ...

... the "monument" we passed through the "Vermilion Cliffs", beautiful pink-hued cliffs with fantastic striations. According to the leaflets and guides we have read there are even more stunning ones than what we saw. <br><br>We arrived in the town of Kanab mid-afternoon and found ourselves a wi-fi signal so that we could check our email and upload some blog. After a couple of hours in a car park we headed north-west ...

... what we did all day in the bottom of the Canyon! It was seriously 130 degrees in the sun! Needless to say we spent the entire day covered in sunscreen swimming around in the Colorado River. For these hikes in the Grand Canyon we had to wake up at 3:00 am to be able to hike out while the temperatures were somewhat moderate (80-90). After that we stayed a night camped on the East rim and then drove to the Antelope Canyons the next ...

... moved up the valley towards Mesquite and were buzzed by a B52 bomber doing low passes in preparation for the airshow. It was flying as slow as a Jumbo jet and just seemed to float down the valley.I resisted, I had got away very well with 2 half days of Star Trek and an air show on top of that would have been a bit unfair. On route we stopped to add a tyre gauge to the expedition ...

... The area has been inhabited for over 2500 years. First by Anasazi, Navajo, Piute, Mormons and now it is National Monument. The draw to this land was the vast grasslands and a natural spring that flowed year round. Hiram Bingham found the area for the Mormons. He knew the spring could not support a city but could support a lot of livestock. So he built a fortified house over the spring and set it up as a ...