Rodeway Inn Saint George St. George

As expected I did wake up with sore legs and decided pretty rapidly that the three hour drive to Bryce (with the three hour return) could wait until Friday and that it would be advisable to find something local to amuse myself with.

Did you know that St George is known for two things (apparently)? Firstly the LDS (aka the Mormons) and for its outlet malls. Now, those of you who know me should not have too much difficulty ...

... the stretch from Amboy to Essex as it is pretty barren land – what this must been like in the 30s and how people managed it I can only wonder.

From Route 66 I took a short trip in I40 before getting onto US95. My sat nav was doing a fine job of keeping me of the freeways and I was loving it. I nearly wrecked the Gee-Whiz on a level crossing on US95 – it was a bit rougher than the ones near me in Sussex and I sure I left a small piece of ...

... sooooo hot in my boots. So off to St. George I go which, apparently, is WAY bigger than Cedar City...and way warmer ;o) So here I am. I was very grumpy yesterday. Very tired. I wasn't sleeping well for a while...first cause of my hip (majorly tweaked after a heroic save from landing on my ass in a creek...), then early mornings in Zion, and then, just because...! But, I slept better last night. They have a Costco here and everything...it's been soooo ...

Who's idea was it to start a climbing road trip through the rockies in the middle of Fall????
Oh, yes... it was ours.... We managed to get to st. George UT, home of the Red Hills. We got here monday at noon, and climbed some on Prophesy wall (usually used for multi-pitching, but we used the first pitch as a sports climb route ...

... and was eventually abandoned in 1992 when an alternate water source was established and the channel was converted into a hiking path. It took eleven years to dig the canal, with volunteer labor doing the work for eight of those years. As mentioned yesterday, I am fascinated by the varied color of the hills in this area. I confirmed that, in addition to the ancient sand dunes that provide yellow and red rock and soil, and the white of ...

... 200', topped out at Vail Pass at 10,100' and then bumped up and down (mostly down) until bottoming out in St. George at about 6,000'. Two things stick out from this segment. The first was realizing my low-gas warning light was on (for how long I didn't know, but the miles-to-empty display said 0) and every exit sign had an interesting asterisk on it: "No ...

Oh firstly >> has anyone over there got some spare rain?.....we're kinda in need of some. Breakfast, pack and off south down I-15 to Zion National Park - it was 93F when we left circa 10am and it kept getting HOTTER - Zion is slightly higher but still BAKING. Zion is one of our favourite National Parks - we took the bus down the canyon and were still amazed by the scenery. Huge mountains either side. A large landmass got pushed up millions of years ago....here's the stuff ...

... worthy though. here come the adjectives. we treked far up into the narrows of the canyon, the walls closing in on us and the canyon twisting and turning and serpentine. At its mouth the huge rocks stand up like titans, red in body and with white heads. the years leave individual marks on the stone, in different colours and shapes and lines. water thousands of years old seeps over and through the rock and drips out silver over cliffs and precipices. along the bottom ...

... and Canyonlands National Park (Islands in the Sky). Afterwards visited Goblin Valley State Park and Capitol Reef National Park and then into Dixie National Forest for an escape from the opressive heat of the desert! Lastly visited Bryce Canyon National Park and returned to Las Vegas to drop the car off and fly to San Diego where the adventure continues...

... Wishyouwereustravels, etc. I finally settled on KEDD. You figure it out. Anyway, welcome to our travelogue. This is just my way of letting you keep up with our travels and enjoy our adventure. Certainly much more effective than trying to send out individual e-mails. Feel free to send us a response. We look forward to hearing from you over the next several weeks. It is early morning, June 1, 2005, and we will soon ...