Zion National Park

According to the commentary on the shuttle bus in the Zion Valley, Zion is an ancient Hebrew word meaning “Place of Refuge”, and one can imagine the early settlers finding this magnificent secret place and feeling safe and near to the presence of the Creator – everything is SO big, and the road leads one down, down, down, through deep gorges and one-way tunnels, winding back upon itself in an unbelievable series of hairpin bends until at last one reaches the valley floor and the road runs next to the river that carved this gorge in the first place – a small, unassuming river flowing along peacefully, looking deceptively calm and gentle.

Mighty rock faces rise vertically next to the water, and the valley is green with cottonwoods and grass. At the visitors’ centre cars are left in a series of car parks and shuttle buses take visitors to various points of interest along the river, where well-kept trail paths make walking along the river a joy.

The animals in the valley seem almost to enjoy the exposure to humans, and the little squirrels we saw stood on hind legs and posed – no, really, they DID! Mule deer ran across our path, and munched the new leaves on the tree nearby, completely oblivious of the camera clicks of delighted tourist! Despite the number of  people there, the silence and overwhelming peace left one with a lasting sense of having been in a very special, deeply spiritual place of refuge, and we left there very aware of how small we are, and how privileged to have been given a glimpse of  Zion.

Bryce Canyon

The weather looked really doubtful the morning we were to go to Bryce Canyon, one of the highlights of Canyonland, but we decided to go anyway, and we set of undaunted by the heavy clouds that kept hiding the sun. After an hour’s drive we began seeing the first spectacular rock formations, and that was only the beginning of a wonderful day.

  The weather was very unpredictable, bright sunshine one moment and then, to our disbelief, it began snowing – or was it fine hail? – we were not sure, but whatever it was, neither of us has EVER been so cold! We were at the furthest end of one of the viewpoints, absolutely awestruck by the beauty, when the clouds covered and it came down, catching us trying to run back to the truck at an elevation of 9100 ft!

 It is so hard to believe that all these amazing rock sculptures are the result of wind and water erosion - they look like the completed work of  a master artist, carefully planned and executed.

 The river visible in the distance is partly responsible for the erosion that sculpted this canyon.

We were chilled to the bone, but exhilarated and exhausted by the time we finally returned to camp, after a satisfying if unusual day of sightseeing!

The tiny specs on top of the rock beside the left-hand tree are people at the viewpoint, staring in awe at the scene before them.

PS:s We returned two days later, in the sunshine, to take better pictures of the rock formations, as most of our original photos were very dull due to poor light – and we enjoyed it just as much second time around!

After Los Vegas

We began the drive from Las Vegas to Glendale on a cool morning, (what a relief after the blistering heat of the previous few days,) and the countryside was simply desert, best described in Afrikaans, ‘n dorre, verlate landskap!

An enormous stone mountain appeared in the distance, torn down the centre by a huge schism in the rock, and to our amazement, the road headed straight for the opening, and down we went!

The scenery was awe-inspiring and Sid had a difficult drive on the winding, steeply descending road.

Gradually the countryside changed, and by the time we neared Glendale, we were driving along a fertile little valley, flanked by the rocky mountains that characterize the whole area.

We stopped to have a look at Moqui Cave, discovered by some Mormon farmers two generations ago and developed into a pub and dance-hall, which apparently operated until fairly recently before it was turned into a museum, where dinosaur footprints discovered in the area are on display, along with other interesting bits of local history.

 

Bauer Ranch RV Park is a pretty, rural park on a farm, right next to the road, in an apple orchard in full bloom – what a sight! Despite a very muddy site, we were soon unhooked and set up, and spent the rest of the day pottering around the village, and planning our trip to Bryce Canyon (about an hour’s drive away) the following day. We fell asleep to the sound of rain on the roof of our Huisie – soporific indeed!

Las Vegas

After a long, hot drive through Mojave Desert (pronounced Mohave) it was a relief to arrive at the RV Park in Las Vegas, aptly named the Las Vegas RV Resort! It is one of the most highly acclaimed RV parks we have been to, many stars on all assessments, and the facilities bear that out – level tarred sites, sparkling pool, well-equipped gym, clean restrooms with gallons of hot water, ice machines, lovely lounge, very tight access control, they have thought of everything to make the camper’s life a pleasure, and the staff are welcoming and friendly. The neighboring casino runs an hourly free shuttle bus into town to The Strip, where it all happens, and once we had set up camp, we headed off to find the shuttle. Well, there are shuttles and SHUTTLES – this one is an air conditioned bus the size of a Greyhound! 

The Strip is a vibrant street full of people, casinos, breath-taking spectacles, casinos, amazing architecture, casinos, fountains and lakes, casinos, street shows, casinos, noise and pulsing action, casinos……..we were fascinated. Even the blazing desert heat has not deterred our exploration – we sleep late, lounge around the pool in the shade when the heat is too much (a toasty 40’C in our camper yesterday, and hotter outside) and as it cools down, we head for the shuttle and into town. There are sights to be seen and enormous indoor themed shopping malls to explore – the Venetian is a recreation of Venice, including canals complete with gondolas and serenading gondoliers, the Forum is a walk through the oppulence of ancient Rome, columns, marble, domed ceilings, statues of the gods, fountains – and all the great names in fashion have retail outlets hereT We  spend hours window shopping,  and then, footsore and weary, cameras overloaded, we make our way back to the shuttle to catch the last bus home at 9:30pm. We stop for a while to listen to the singer performing in the casino lounge at the bus-stop, then walk back to the Park and fall into bed, grateful that our Huisie has cooled down to a mere 32’ by 11pm!

Into the desert – Mojave meditations

We left the Kaweah Lake RV park in the beautiful early morning mountain sunlight, and the smell of orange blossoms wafted through the windows as we drove – orange orchards all along the road for miles. The scenery soon changed though, to a more desert landscape of rocks and a few shrubs, with the occasional cactus-type tree doing its best to look beautiful in the arid landscape.

 In the transition zone we saw the strange sight of oil wells in the middle of orange groves – a way to maximize the potential of the farmland, perhaps? We were set for the town of Mojave, which promised an RV Park that is “an oasis in the desert”, and when we arrived there we took one look at the oasis and opted for the desert! As it was only lunchtime, the sight of the stoney, windblown park with broken doors on the toilets was enough to send us hastily back to our truck and we pushed on to Barstow, another 2 hours further down the road.

                                                     The Barstow-Calico KOA RV Park was far more of an oasis, its facilities were good and we were relieved to unhitch and relax! As evening came, we realized that even the desert has redeeming features. We went for a long walk after dark (amazing to be able to do that in complete safety) and the night sky was wide and lovely, complete with falling stars and a cool breeze!

Refreshed and strengthened, Sunday morning saw us on our way to Las Vegas, and   more Mojave Desert. The scenery was arid, and the road, a 3-lane-each-direction highway, was so busy we thought that perhaps Vegas was being evacuated! We passed the turnoff to Death Valley, well-named if the scenery was anything to go by, and a stretch called The Devil’s 

Playground, equally aptly named. As we crested the top of the pass, the skyline was dominated by flailing wind turbines, a surrealistic blot on an otherwise already desolate landscape. Modern technology, once again maximizing natural resources, but creating a weird effect - one almost expected to be stopped and given a number before going on! The 16 miles of steady climbing up to an altitude of 5000 ft was long and hot, and the detours and huge, aggressive trucks were daunting, and we were really glad when we finally reached Las Vegas, and doubly grateful for the very definite instructions of Tom-Tom and Garmin! 

Sequoia

Sequoia National Park yesterday, and once again I was speechless! The directions said that the entrance to the park is only 7 miles from our camp, which indeed, it is, so we decided it would be a morning outing – juice and biscuits and home for lunch – a decision which our growling stomachs greatly regretted around lunchtime!

Then the wait for the roadworks – they are in the process of repairing the road that has been carved out of the mountain, and in some places they have actually built a scaffold from the road below, to be able to work on the one up higher on the rock face! Somewhere an inspired band of civil engineers are scratching their heads as they ponder the challenges posed by such a repair…


 After a 45 minute
wait we were led – by now a long row of cars – up past the road works by a guide car, who drives up and down the 3 mile section on the hour every hour all through the day, allowing tourists through!

The drive up was beautiful, a winding road and sudden amazing vistas of huge rock crags towering miles into the sky. The colors in the bush made me want to reach for a paintbrush or my threads – how many shades of green would I need to capture the exact variety, I wonder? The redbud trees are in full bloom at the moment, and that, combined with the electric green of new oak leaves and the many other trees that are blooming too, create a color palette that would be impossible to replicate.

The Giant Forest, with the enormous General Sherman Tree, was worth all the time it took to get there. This is the largest growing tree in the world, 275 ft tall, estimated 2 200 years old, with a base circumference of 33 meters. It is difficult to describe the awe that such a giant inspires, surrounded as it is by an army of giants not very much smaller.