September 17 through 24, 2015

Sep 17

It’s still raining and only 37 degrees when we get up. Our plan is to stay in Yellowstone as long as weather permits, and we’re starting to wonder. We abandon a tiny walk at around 10 up a small hill across the road, with only 2 pics of the RV at the campground, and spend the rest of the day with the heater on, wrapped in cozy blankies. There is snow on the ridge behind the little hill. We relax and research the Grand Tetons and Bryce Canyon for next week.

Sep 18

Yeay! It’s dry! As the clouds in the distance lift, we can see beautiful snow on the mountain peaks across the valley. It’s melted already behind our little hill. I make lots of snow pics to catch the rising sun just right. The sky is blue again. All the same, we retrieve the foam inserts from the “basement” and put them into the roof vent openings. Because we’re leaving tomorrow we can use up the leftover fresh water so we do a load of laundry. In the afternoon we’re off to give the wolves one more chance. We bring a picnic dinner. We first check out the Tower, great rock formations, Henk makes more snow pictures. On our way to Lamar there is another traffic jam. Bisons again? No, a momma bear with a baby below the road, rangers directing traffic. How do you always know where the wild animals are, asks a bystander. From you, says the ranger, you all stop in the middle of the road ;). Further down we can’t go over Blacktail Plateau, that road is closed now. After another bison jam we pull up at a parking area in Lamar Valley and see two specks on the opposite side – grizzlies, according to the man with the enormous lens. We watch for a while, move to another parking area, eventually get bored and cold and decide to leave the wolves for a future visit. Henk does get a few more lovely snowy mountain shots.

Sep 19 Saturday

Today we start on our way south towards Los Angeles. Our next stop is in the Grand Tetons, not very far, so we enjoy a leisurely breakfast and don’t get our act in gear until 9:30. There’s frost on the car, on the picnic table, and on the RV roof – I know this because I’m up there to get the solar panel down. I always do the roof barefoot, but today I think I’ll keep my socks on. It doesn’t help at all, my toesies get very cold. And wet. ;)

Apparently there’s a bicycle event today, and the bikes on both sides of the road without shoulders makes for tense driving. We try Grand Prismatic Spring again, but passenger cars are using all the RV/bus spots :( . On to the South Entrance and the Tetons. We see a few red fall colors, so far all there was was yellow aspen and barely yellow willows. We get to Colter bay campground by 1:30, we’re so lucky again, there are only two spots left. Except it’s for only one night instead of two, because they’re closing tomorrow morning for the winter. We grab a quick lunch and go off on their loop road right away to compress two visiting days into one.

We see the snow-covered Teton range already but it gets better and better as we drive on. Henk makes awesome pictures. A ranger at the south entrance gives us a nice souvenir map. It’s not a long loop so we can actually finish it comfortable before dinner at the Colter Bay Lodge. We don’t unpack the RV at all because we’re off again in the morning.

Sep 20 Sunday

It is freezing this morning – not freezing cold, but frost on the car and the picnic table. It’s lovely and crisp, and it warms up nicely by 9. We dump old and pump fresh water, then we leave Colter Bay. The first stop for pictures is almost right away, at Oxbow Bend, from where you can see the morning sun on the mountains reflected in the water. There are also Canada geese reflected in the water, swimming as well as tails up. We’ve never seen dabbling geese before.

Along route 26/89 towards Jackson Hole we notice long stretches of low, flimsy fences. Maybe still there from the past – and the bison on the ranches don’t seem to consider it necessary to stop at them ;) Henk takes a few more photos of breathtaking mountain views at Teton Point Turnout and then we squeeze the bus through Jackson. Here we choose between a few routes to Utah; whichever route we take, we have to follow the valleys between the mountains. I think I know which one Henk means, pick the wrong one, but no difference. It's a great drive. We follow route 26 south – southwest around the Grand Tetons, then northwest-west, between the Snake River Range and the Caribou Range. We feel lucky that it rained so much the last few days, because there wouldn't have been snow on the Grand Tetons otherwise :) When we crossed Wyoming before on route 80 we saw only a few mountains, and this doesn't the state any justice; the northwest part is gorgeous.

On route 26 we cross into Idaho near Alpine Junction. We notice right away on the roadside warning signs that what is “wildlife” to be watched for in Wyoming, is “game” in Idaho. Slighty different outlook... Not that we see any, we're back to cows in the river plains. After lunch at a pretty overlook we reach I 15 in Idaho Falls – the first highway since Rawlins, WY. It's not as enjoyable but it does go much faster. In Utah we pass a full hundred miles of billboards from Ogden to south of Salt Lake City. We find the WalMart in Payson by dinner time, get groceries, make dinner, and relax.

Sep 21

Today is a short ride. We drive through sagebrush country with yellow blooming rabbit brush along the road, a bit further south also junipers. No tumbleweed or cacti yet. Late morning we leave rte 25 again and hop onto state route 20 W ? 89 S, over a minor pass north of Markagunt Plateau. It's more mountainous, steep, and more decidious trees. We don't recognize them. When we get to route 12 we see the red rocks, go through a few red rock tunnels, and reach Bryce by 12:30. One of the only campsites left is severely precarious and we suffer a few heart attacks parking the RV enough off the path, close to the stone wall. After giving our blood pressure some time to come back down we go for a short hike down the Navajo Trail, 1 mile down and 1 mile up. This is a steep zigzag down between the hoodoos, around the buttress, and another steep zigzag back up a little further between other hoodoos. Awesome. Bryce is one of the most amazing places we have ever been to.

At the campground we meet our New Zealand neighbors, lament the absence of wine in this Mormon country, and Henk shares one of his last bottles with them after dinner. One of the best things about camping is meeting folks from all over!

Sep 22 Tuesday

There's a significant hike we want to do, so we should get started early; but it's real chilly, and this always makes me walk quite fast. That is no good on a significant hike, so we change plans and go on a car ride instead to Kodachrome State Park and/or a fairy waterfall miles down route 12. First we stop at the BLM visitor center. We didn't know this, but apparently the BLM administers the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. The lady at the desk tells us about Willis Creek, a little stream that winds through five slot canyons, each next one deeper (taller?) than the one before. If those dark clouds over there rain uphill from you, she says, over Bryce Canyon, she says, you have no more than 40 minutes to get out of the slot canyons. You should have enough time, just keep an eye on the clouds, she says. Oh, and you need a vehicle that's high on its wheels to get to the trailhead. We do, it's not raining now, it's sunny and pleasant; so obviously we take off for Willis Creek. Find the dirt side road, check; 6 miles up and down and through other creeks that run across the red dirt, check; trailhead, check; and we're on one of the best hikes ever. We step or hop over or through the creek for almost 3 miles. I take to carrying a flat stone to help me ford the next wider bit of creek with my feet still dry. At numerous places we can touch both walls at the same time. The pebbles in the creek are every color of the rainbow, every color of the cliffs in the area: purple, dark red, pink, orangey red, orange speckled with red, yellow, white, green, blue, grey. I fill my pockets with little stones in every hue – and find out days later that of course you're not allowed to remove anything from the N.M.... oops... The slot canyon sections get deeper and deeper. The walls are mostly blackened with time, except where recently (geologically speaking) a giant chunk fell out. The chunk lies in the middle of the creek. The walls have those scalloped waves in them from eons of pebble-loaded water churning through the creek. We look up to see if it rains over Bryce – we don't want to be churned ourselves – and realize, no way can we see, we can only see a narrow piece of sky directly above. Geez. Good thing the sun is shining, that gives confidence. Eventually we turn back, hop and step and both get our feet wet, have lunch on a flat rock in a wider piece, and get back to the car with the sun still bright. It's not that far into the afternoon so we swing by Kodachrome. It's OK. If we had gone to see it first we would have thought it was neat with it's weird sandstone columns.

Sep 23

The nights are pleasantly chilly here and we sleep well. It's our last day of vacation: tomorrow we drive to L.A. a see Deirdre, Jeff and the kids on Friday :) We eat a hearty breakfast and around 9 we start the hike we wanted to do yesterday: the Fairy Loop trail, a loop along the canyon rim, down to the bottom, up and down and around hoodoos and slickrock, past the Tower Bridge formation, and back up to the rim. We bring enough granola bars and dried mango but not enough water (never enough water), make many, many stops for pictures and to catch our breath. There are ridges, washes, and crumbling hillsides, beautiful reds and a deep blue sky. Awesome awesome awesome. 6 hours, 9 miles, declares the fitbit proudly, 139 stairs, 22k steps. We did good. We drink lots of water, shower, eat an early dinner, and then pack up for tomorrow. We want to leave super early, so we do whatever we can do to avoid diesel engine noise for the neighbors and even put the slides back in already, so all we have to do in the morning is eat breakfast and drive away. Henk left the wheels in the exact position that they were when he backed into the precarious spot so it's going to be much easier out than in ;)

Sep 24 Thursday

We're quietly sneaking out of the campground at 6:30. From Bryce to Kanab, route 12, 89 (we pass Angel Canyon and send our love to the animals in the sanctuary), then southwest to west , 389, 59, 9, through a corner of Arizona to get back to route 15, all this to avoid the minor but steep passes over the Markagunt ridge. The road takes us through the beautiful vermillion, white, pink, green-grey, black cliffs that shimmer in the morning sun. It's just like the mesas in New Mexico, the road is mostly flat and then there's a 6% drop through a cliff/mesa area, followed again by a flat stretch. There's even an 8% down near Hurricane. Yikes.

After were back on rte 15 we can tell we're in a different desert: yucca trees, creosote bushes, opuntias, no more rabbit brush and sage bush. Arizona and Nevada show their ruggedly beautiful cliffs with their ancient curved rock layers. Then we're in California where there are no rest stops. They say there are rest stops, but when you get there, they're closed and blocked off. Be aware. Nothing between Vegas and Barstow. We were hankering for lunch, so I eventually balanced my way through the bumpy bus to the fridge to make sandwiches, the bus lurched just when I opened it, a glass jar jumped out and broke. :( At least Henk spotted one of the three missing state number plates: Alabama! Now we only need Maryland and North Dakota to complete the set.

The Fall 2015 trip finished in Acton after we left I 15 in Victorville for rte 18, detoured away from and back to 18, 138, northward on the east side of the San G mountains to Palmdale, then west on 14 to the same campground as last winter. It's not looking improved much, minimally maintained, but we find a working 50W electric box so we're plenty happy.