tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66107666124210850742024-02-08T09:14:32.673-05:00Red rocks glowingMy ever-present wanderlust will be somewhat satisfied by a late spring long weekend escape to Zion National Park.
Since Rover (yes, Rover is the little red dog in the photo! Can't your mascots write?) has volunteered to write the journal for this adventure, I thought a picture of him from last year's wanders in Zion would be perfect here.
hiking photography UtahDenise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-51682732586254239612009-01-17T08:49:00.000-05:002009-01-17T08:55:16.471-05:00Introduction<b><i>A start, a journal written by Rover...</i></b><br />
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<i>Greetings and bounces! <br />
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Denise said that I really should introduce myself before I start talking about our trip. My name is Rover. I'm a little red dog, and I travel with Denise. I jumped into her panniers just after she started her journey across America on <a href="http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/denise2002xc">two wheels</a>, and I've been traveling with her ever since. I contributed a couple of journal pages on our <a href="http://hiking.topicwise.com/doc/denise2007deathvalley">trip to Death Valley</a> late in 2007, and you know what? I decided that creating pictures with words can be fun. <br />
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I've been whispering to Denise every day, telling her that I want to write a whole trip journal, not just a couple of pages. This trip is only three days, so I figure that this is a good journal for experimenting. Don't you think it's a good idea? This way Denise can concentrate on taking pictures, and I'll work on stringing all of the words together. Oh, this is going to be so much fun! </i> <br />
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<center><br />
<img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456219373_QcLPy-500x500.jpg"><br />
<i>Oh look! <br />
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I was playing with our baby computer - an ASUS Eee - and I thought I'd see if I could grab a photo of me sitting next to Denise's big camera. And look, you can see a reflection of the screen with a picture of me and the camera in the camera lens. <br />
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Funny...</i><br />
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<img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/221858297_gDU9Q-500x500.jpg"><br />
<i>This is really a better picture of me. Denise took this one as we were tramping up Mosaic Canyon in Death Valley National Park.</i></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-62349562616464499452009-01-17T08:30:00.001-05:002009-01-17T17:26:13.389-05:00Table of Contents<blockquote><blockquote><table border="1" cellpadding="20"><tr><td>For now, please use Blogger's list of posts in the sidebar to follow my trip in reverse sequence. I plan to flip this blog on its head so that the posts flow from oldest to newest (like the table of contents in a book), adding a real Table of Contents and a Page by Page sidebar entry, and adding (better) next and previous links at the bottom of each post. <br /><br />I probably won't be able to make these changes for the next several weeks. <br /><br /><br />...Denise, January 16, 2009</td></tr></table><br /></blockquote><br /></blockquote>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-68639056254378979772008-06-12T09:33:00.001-04:002009-01-17T09:42:49.448-05:00What's that quiet click I hear?<i>Denise was pretty busy playing with her camera as we wandered. She walked, I pranced, and the camera kept clicking away. <br /><br />There are photos in this journal, but there are more in Denise's photo galleries. And you can view the photos in her galleries splashed across your whole screen if you'd like - just click the <b>slideshow</b> button in the upper right of the photo gallery window. <blockquote><blockquote>Oh, if you're in the gallery slideshow, you can get control of your computer back again by moving the mouse and clicking "return to gallery" or by just clicking the Esc key.</blockquote></blockquote><br /><br />Denise created four photo galleries for this trip, one for each wandering day, and one for shots that crept in as we walked in Springdale in the evening. <br>You can enter the photo galleries at <a href="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/gallery/5150568_h2Y9P">Red rocks glowing - June 2008</a>, or you can go directly to the individual galleries: <ul> <li><a href="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/gallery/5150485_u2pN4">Observation Point</a> <li><a href="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/gallery/5150082_EPrB8">Canyon climbing, river flowing</a> <li><a href="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/gallery/5149207_LaUj7">A last morning's ramble</a> <li><a href="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/gallery/5149975_JQyHB">Evening captured</a> </ul><br /><br /><hr><br /><br />Curious to see other places that Denise has wandered over the years? Start at <a href="http://www.denisegoldberg.com">denisegoldberg.com</a> and join her wanderings! If you are curious about any of her photos or wanderings, you can sign Denise's guestbook here or click the <u>Questions? Contact me</u> link on her photo pages. You can leave me a message at either place too. <blockquote>And yes, this is still Rover writing. Denise promised I could write the entire journal. I wonder if she'll let me write the <a href="http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/denise2008acadia">next one</a> too?</blockquote></i>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-83391142674922329942008-06-10T09:32:00.001-04:002009-01-17T09:41:57.420-05:00Zion curiosities<i> As we traveled on the park shuttle buses, we listened. Many of the drivers chatted as they drove, and one actually played a recording that he had made about the park, and about the formation of Zion Canyon. <br /><br />Remember that wonderful map that I bought for Denise before we headed west? A good chunk of the details that we absorbed from listening to our shuttle driver apparently came from the information on that map. (Or possibly someplace similar - I bet there are many sources for the same words.) <br /><br />I found the descrption of the Grand Staircase very interesting. It's the area between Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon. What I found fascinating was that "the bottom layer of rock at Bryce Canyon is the top layer at Zion, and the bottom layer at Zion is the top layer at the Grand Canyon". <br /><br />Most of the rock that we saw in Zion are Navajo Sandstone. According to the information on our map, the steep cliffs are from 1600 to 2200 feet thick. Apparently they are the tallest sandstone cliffs in the world. <br /><br />Shades of red sandstone combined with the erosive powers of the Virgin River created sheer beauty. <br /><br />I found this quote in the National Park brochure for Zion National Park, credited to John Wesley Powell, 1895, to be very fitting: <blockquote>"All this is the <b>music of waters"</b>.</blockquote><br /><br /></i>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-51758241696713741692008-06-09T16:00:00.001-04:002009-01-17T09:41:05.887-05:00Heading home<i> Well, we're heading home for a few days anyway, until our trip next week to Acadia!<br /><br />We're at the Las Vegas airport, waiting. Our plane is here, sitting at the gate, with a scheduled departure at 4:05PM. When we arrived at the airport the monitors were showing an estimated departure at 4:50PM. Why the delay? Apparently there is a line of severe weather in the midwest stretching from Chicago into Texas, and all air traffic to the northeast has been put on hold. <br /><br />Maybe if the flight leaves later we can go through calm instead of crazy air. That would be a good thing because Denise really doesn't do well on roller-coaaster flights. She already took her normal Dramamine. I wonder if I should suggest that she take another one. What do you think?<br /><br />Denise borrowed our baby computer for a bit, and guess what? She discovered that McCarran Airport has free wifi access. Nice!<br /><br /><hr> <br />We're in the air now, late, but not too late. We took off at 5:10, which probably puts us in to Manchester at a little after 1AM. I'm hoping for smooth air (for Denise, I <b>like</b> roller coasters!), and for a big push from a tailwind. That would be nice, wouldn't it? <br /><br /><hr> <br />Oh look - I popped up to the window at exactly the right time to see the Grand Canyon. Wow! That's really big, isn't it? It's funny, Denise told me a story about when she was there, standing at the North Rim, absorbing the beauty. She overheard someone saying that they didn't like it because it was too big. I suppose some people could see it as overwhelming, but it's so beautiful! And that was looking at it from really far away. <br /><br />Denise visited the Grand Canyon before I started traveling with her. I think I'd like to see it in person. I know Denise has bunches of places on her travel list; I think I'll ask her to add the Grand Canyon to that list too. <br /><br /><hr> <br />I wonder what time it is on the ground underneath us. Denise switched her watch back to eastern time, and it's 10:00PM at home. I think we're floating over Nebraska right now, or just east of there. The sky above us is still light. The puffy clouds underneath our airplane are just starting to wear shades of pink. Oh, it's fading away, becoming gray. What an odd vantage point for watching the sun set, an airplane window. <br /><br /><hr> <br />Home again... The big bird landed only a half of an hour late even though we left Las Vegas a good hour behind schedule. The wind gods were kind to us and gave us a bit of a push. <br /><br />Time for sleep, and for dreaming of our next trip...<br /><br /></i><br /><br /><center><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456230994_7gHaM-500x500.jpg"><br /><i>I thought I'd pose with this wonderful bronze character near the visitor center. <br /><br />You did want a parting photo of me, didn't you?</i></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-84228890608885828332008-06-09T12:15:00.001-04:002009-01-17T09:58:55.050-05:00Photos: Following the river<center><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/311553958_VgeSe-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/311554125_URqV3-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456234385_imPQr-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/311554375_bM2ZY-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456234580_946z9-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456234749_mwzmj-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456236224_QVXsz-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/311555536_SiMU3-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/311555736_mnoc5-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/311553572_tebXB-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/311553825_LQQ2z-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/311557404_FT7sG-500x500.jpg"><br /></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-55593545027039941932008-06-09T12:00:00.001-04:002009-01-17T09:38:05.189-05:00Wind blowing<i> Crash! The window blinds were flying. Denise & I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of wind howling. She popped out of bed to figure out what caused the big noise, and she adjusted the blind so it wouldn't crash against the windowsill again. Back to sleep... The wind was still howling in the morning when we greeted the day. <br /><br />Breakfast first, then off to the park! <br /><br />It was a non-trail start to the day. We jumped off of the bus at the Court of the Patriarch's, wandering up a short path for a good view of the peaks, and then down to the river to watch the water smoothly flowing, then tumbling over rocks. <br /><br />We started down the road, heading in the direction of the visitor center, the park entrance. The first half of our jaunt was along the road, a road without traffic. There were the shuttle buses, some folks wandering on bicycles, and an occasional service vehicle. For the most part it was very quiet. Down the road, looking, absorbing the sight of the canyon walls changing color as the sun inched higher. We stopped a lot, sometimes to look at the colors behind us, sometimes to sneak down to the river to watch the flowing water, sometimes to follow the flash of color from the wildflowers. <br /><br />At Canyon Junction, our feet led us to the Pa'rus trail. No more cars! Just other people looking, absorbing the beauty. We crossed the river several times, floating across some sturdy but still pretty bridges. At one point Denise just stopped on the bridge and stared at the river. She stared, and smiled. There was a bird flitting about, dipping down closer to the surface of the water, flitting up again. It looked like a hummingbird, but it was big. There are nine varieties of hummingbirds that hang out in Zion. Of those, there are six that flit here in the spring, and only some of them hang out in the area near the river. I know Denise has a bird book at home. I hope that I can figure out which of the hummingbirds we saw. <br /><br />Oh, we saw little hummingbirds all week, on all of our hikes. We only noticed one of the big birds. <br /><br />We walked a little further, still along the river. A big bird flew by, a big but familiar bird. It was a great blue heron. Those birds hang out in a lot of places, don't they?<br /><br />Hey look! What a beautiful bird that is, with bright blue wings, almost like an artist's painting. Denise had to look a a few times. She kept seeing that splash of bright blue, but when the bird landed, prancing on the ground, looking at us, well it almost looked like its face was gray. That bird had a very fitting name too - it was a bluebird.<br /><br />Before we headed out, we had another smile moment. As we walked slowly through the exhibits outside of the visitor, we paused to watch skittering lizards playing games. They were playing in pairs, but the pairs kept changing. Running, looking at one another, changing directions, They were moving so fast that Denise couldn't catch them with her camera. Funny and beautiful.<br /><br />All too soon it was time to end our visit. I know we'll be back again; I don't think Denise will ever take Zion off of her list of <b>must visit again</b> places. <br /><br /></i><br /><br /><center><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456229916_gdHR4-500x500.jpg"><br /><i>It was hard to get a photo of one of these beautiful birds. I wish that we were a little closer, and I wish that we could have stayed in this one spot watching the bluebirds for longer. But I'm so glad we were able to share some space with this blue-winged creature. <br /><br />And what a fabulous shade of blue! </i></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-42683641898405542942008-06-08T17:45:00.001-04:002009-01-17T11:20:12.799-05:00Photos: Late day captures<center><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311607402_x7BMq-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311607496_BijhL-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311607656_apfLk-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311607750_RZDcG-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311607837_hqdcE-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311607938_GqZVZ-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311606849_XFY6r-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311606969_fykDH-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311607092_hAoFn-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311607314_mxDaZ-500x500.jpg"><br /></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-33925517239294537342008-06-08T17:30:00.001-04:002009-01-17T11:29:29.516-05:00Photos: Riverside Walk<center><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311620735_qScmK-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311622605_Jgpty-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311623147_H58Vv-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311623508_LqhBG-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311623784_CM3C7-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311627376_A5ETX-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311627465_YeUwH-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311627565_RfVzx-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311627889_47bwG-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456267950_cgYwv-500x500.jpg"><br /><i>Oops! I guess we shouldn't wander away from the trail here. I wouldn't mind having a conversation with a snake, but Denise really doesn't like them. I think she must be a little bit afraid.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311628306_Dwv46-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311629308_Mxxey-500x500.jpg"><br /><i>Hanging out in a little bit of sunshine seems like a good thing to do, doesn't it?! </i><br /><br /></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-62251118581049957192008-06-08T17:15:00.001-04:002009-01-17T11:41:30.462-05:00Photos: Hidden Canyon<center><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311617489_QcojJ-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311617628_yqFWM-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311617953_Ar3Vb-500x500.jpg"><br /><i>Nope, this photo isn't crooked! (Photos that aren't "straight" make Denise a little crazy, didn't you guess that?)<br /><br />Oh! When big cracks in the rock expand - must be the effects of water - sometimes huge blocks just come crashing down. </i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311618567_HHHuC-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311618938_b6hGU-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311619044_wKxzA-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311616939_Np8Mp-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311620091_5jyet-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311620206_vYWrF-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311620345_8Zutm-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/456275156_i87aW-500x500.jpg"><br /><i>Ah, this is our turning around point. I would have been quite happy bouncing a bit further up the trail, but Denise was concerned that she would have problems coming down again. She really doesn't like exposure...<br /><br />I didn't want her walking on her own, so I pranced back down the trail with her.</i><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456275288_PxeD6-500x500.jpg"><br /><i>But before we turned around, Denise thought this was a good spot for a photo of me. It is, isn't it?</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311620473_MQn63-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/456275454_GMVQ7-500x500.jpg"><br /></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-75944414519947314752008-06-08T17:00:00.001-04:002009-01-17T09:34:38.870-05:00Animals posing<i> Denise was toying with the idea of hiking Angel's Landing today, weighing that against tramping up a trail where she hadn't traveled before, Hidden Canyon. Angel's Landing is the more popular of the two hikes, and it seemed like all of the people on our shuttle bus this morning were heading here. The choice? This shouldn't surprise you at all if you're familiar with Denise's travel preferences. We headed out on Hidden Canyon trail, rated as <blockquote><b>Strenuous:</b> Long drop-offs. Not for anyone fearful of heights. Ends at mouth of narrow canyon.</blockquote> You do know that Denise doesn't like standing or walking along edges with steep drop-offs, don't you?<br /><br />Hidden Canyon shares the beginning of the trail with Observation Point. Even though we had covered the ground before, things looked different the second time. We walked up and up until we came to the trail to Hidden Canyon, a sharp right turn off of the trail we started on. That trail went up and up too, in a set of narrow switchbacks. The surface underfoot was a little less stable, sandy, with occasional floating rocks. And then the trail turned away from the switchbacks, turning inward. There was a narrow set of steps up a steep grade, steps narrow enough that a person who was much wider than Denise wouldn't fit on the stairs. Yikes. There were sections with chains attached to the canyon wall, chains to grab onto for a more secure feeling as the hike edges up a very narrow spot. We slowly moved up the trail, and then we came to another section with a security chain attached to the rock. This time the surface underfoot was swirling slickrock, varying angles, all leaning away from the chain on the wall. Denise started to walk this section, then thought better of it and turned around. She figured that even though she had an uneasy feeling that she would make it up the trail. It's coming back down again that really bothers her. <br /><br />We didn't quite make it to the end of the trail, but what we saw was beautiful. No regrets about cutting it a little short... <br /><br />Funny, we talked to some other people who also didn't finish the trail. There was a couple who passed us just when we turned around. We saw them later on another trail, and they said they didn't go much further than we did. Then there was the group of people who were studying the trail map just as we came off of the trail. Denise shared her experience, and one of the women in that group said that she didn't like exposure either. They headed up, and when we saw them on another trail a little bit later they admitted that they didn't go much further than we did. Very interesting. I wonder how many people don't finish the 'steep drop-offs' trails.<br /><br />Unfortunately when we turned around we discovered that one of Denise's knees is misbehaving. It doesn't like to go down hills. Oh! That's really not a good thing here since most of the trails are all downhill on the way back. You know Denise though - she wasn't willing to stop walking, so we chose a (mostly) flat trail after we came down from Hidden Canyon. <br /><br />At the end of the road is the Riverside walk, a paved (and crowded) trail running from the Temple of Sinawava to the point at which the river totally fills the canyon. To go any further we would have had to walk up the river. No, we didn't walk in the river, but we did walk up to it, we jumped across some rocks, and we felt that very chilly water. Brrr! The water was a pretty shade of green, calm in places, and flowing wildly over and around rocks in other places. <br /><br />The trail was crowded with a lot of other people, people who were walking slowly enough to be happy to share some of their experiences. We spent some time chatting with a couple from England, we shared some bird-watching with a woman who shared our fascination with the hummingbirds flitting around, we saw Sandy & Neil once again. They are a couple from Houston (well, really from England, but they are in the states for a few years) who we met on the Observation Point trail yesterday. And Sandy shares Denise's fascination with photography... <br /><br />And what a good animal day it was! We saw deer hiding in plain sight off the side of the road. They blend in with their surroundings really well. I wonder how they do that?<br /><br />There were some very funny little squirrels running around. They didn't seem to be begging, but they were certainly not afraid of people. And there were some rather stupid people who were trying to pet the squirrels. Yes, I know that it's not nice to call people stupid, but trying to pet a wild animal just isn't a good thing to do. Denise actually told a little girl not to reach out to the squirrel. She sort of listened, but then the girl's mother reached out to the squirrel herself. Dumb. <br /><br />Denise was happy that the squirrels hung around long enough to capture some pictures...<br /><br />Then there were the skittering lizards. They pose so nicely, and sometimes they even look like they are doing push-ups. That is before they scamper off again, running up or down vertical walls.<br /><br />What other wonderful creatures shared our space today? There were butterflies, robins, and hummingbirds. There were deer, and squirrels, and lizards. I think Denise managed to capture some squirrels and lizards with her camera. She might have convinced a robin to pose for her too. <br /><br />Tomorrow? It's a traveling day, but we will be spending the morning in the park before heading back to Las Vegas to head for home on one of those big airplane birds. It looks like there are two hikes jumping out at Denise. On our last morning here last year we took the bus out to Court of the Patriarch's and walked back from there. That's a real possibility for tomorrow. The early morning light was beautiful, and walking next to the river is tempting. The other possibility is the Watchman trail, starting right at the visitor center. I wonder which trail we'll follow...<br /><br /></i>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-70746694652304952382008-06-07T19:30:00.001-04:002009-01-17T11:47:39.262-05:00Photos: Encroaching evening<center><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311665446_LPvJ5-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311665561_ga3Yk-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311665664_bVXPF-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-39295053817454251472008-06-07T19:15:00.001-04:002009-01-17T15:01:15.308-05:00Photos: Heading down<center><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312135952_xGU6C-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312127939_vCvWm-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312135942_66ton-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312136700_BkGtz-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312137903_iE4wL-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312138092_ME5Yi-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312138730_kenK6-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312139981_QnDjo-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312132729_pJYqP-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312134207_KniVK-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312135323_b5X3u-500x500.jpg"><br /></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-29863434238985753592008-06-07T19:00:00.001-04:002009-01-17T14:55:28.484-05:00Photos: From the top...<b><i>...Observation Point</i></b><br /><br /><center><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312130423_ZExKM-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/456359454_ZsvRa-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312130937_Uvj4F-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312132342_o3C5D-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312132700_ggxhA-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312133442_g489k-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312133775_c7tog-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312134118_zuRXB-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312134694_dDpKn-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312135044_qDHCs-500x500.jpg"><br /></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-71901339235463544152008-06-07T18:45:00.001-04:002009-01-17T14:40:32.804-05:00Photos: And up again<center><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312121680_CJ8yu-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312118957_GtpQy-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312119144_4Gopw-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/456339371_NbHsS-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312124695_hD35x-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312125405_hrEnT-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312122990_k9Wdp-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312128398_fMqW2-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312129549_XWjG9-500x500.jpg"><br /></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-68222508512978111102008-06-07T18:30:00.001-04:002009-01-17T13:59:59.298-05:00Photos: Into narrow passages<center><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312118011_kRFm5-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312115269_ZDRw9-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312119424_vM28y-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312119904_sHR6U-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312120387_dRz2q-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312121376_yEAvQ-500x500.jpg"><br /></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-10654243920371922502008-06-07T18:15:00.001-04:002009-01-17T12:00:07.746-05:00Photos: Rocks tilted up<center><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311657070_vdaBB-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311658012_CaM6f-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311656652_b5yTJ-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/311656813_6pQWK-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312116051_vHji9-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312116267_wEbEP-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312116444_DBnDj-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312116747_CZ6Uh-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312117357_iHzok-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/456283767_eTn4Z-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://www.denisegoldberg.com/photos/312117495_fd8F8-500x500.jpg"><br /></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-35524225992553967002008-06-07T18:00:00.002-04:002009-01-17T09:26:05.100-05:00Cactus blooming<i>Early morning, a good breakfast gave us a good start to the day. It was warm enough to eat at the table outside of our room, breathing in the fresh air, eating good food. What was this morning's treat? Eggs rolled in a burrito nestled in black beans, fresh fruit, muffins that jumped into our pack for a mid-day snack. Yum. Even I liked this meal. (What? Denise always shares, and I eat people food. Didn't you know that?)<br /><br />Today's 'where to hike' decision came very quickly. The choice? Observation Point trail, rated by the National Park Service as: <blockquote><b>Strenuous:</b> Climbs through Echo Canyon to Observation Point. Excellent views of Zion Canyon.</blockquote>Zion National Park has done a very cool thing. No one can wander in their own cars. The only motorized transportation allowed within Zion Canyon - except for the rangers, of course - is the park shuttle bus. We rode the bus to the trailhead for Observation Point, and then we started up the trail. <br /><br />We pranced up and up and up some more. Oh! Yes, you're right, I pranced, and Denise walked. I think that prancing is more fun, don't you?<br /><br />We passed through shaded sections, parts of the trail dappled with sunshine, eventually changing to all sun. There were distinct differences in the trail sections, from wooded, to (almost) a slot canyon, from hiking on a park-service-paved trail, to a natural rock surface, to sand. Up, up, up...<br /><br />Wind, howling wind. Denise had to hold on the the canyon wall for stability a couple of times, and I only posed for a couple of photos. It was so windy I might have blown away! We could feel the wind, but we could hear it too. The sound of swirling wind enveloped us as we came around the corners of switchbacks on the trail.<br /><br />The top was a long time coming, but it was worth the tramp. From the top of Observation Point, Angel's Landing was visible. Oh look, the elevation of Angel's Landing is 5790 feet, and Observation Point is at 6507 feet. No wonder it seemed so far. It was! <br /><br />Switchbacks were visible from the top, but they were far away. The switchbacked piece of the trail is on the lower section of trail, but it was visible from the upper section of trail. It's pretty amazing to be able to see a pattern to the trail from that far away. <br /><br />I think that it's a later than normal wildflower season here (based on the flowers we enjoyed when we were here last year, two months earlier than now). I rememer seeing beautiful tiny flowers when we were here last spring. We are here two months later than last year, and the flowers are just amazing. And the cactus is in bloom. Wow.<br /><br />There are so many different things to see. A few chipmunks posed for us, but not enough. And I think they probably are some kind of ground squirrel, one with multiple stripes down their backs. And there were skittering lizards too. I hope that a few more of these animals agree to pose for us tomorrow. I think we still need more pictures.<br /><br />Ah, it's time to go down. Down, down... And then up a little more to visit Weeping Wall. <br /><br />It was a day of good conversations, a day of leap-frogging other hikers on the trail. I guess everyone was taking turns exercising their cameras or finding a time for a little rest. Denise asked another photographer about his tripod since he was using the brand she is looking at - Gitzo. He let her pick it up, and wow - that's light. He was using a tripod head to allow him to do panoramic shots. That was heavy, but what a cool thing. I think we'd better start with the basics though, and I think that's what Denise is thinking too. <br /><br />It was a good day, but a day of tired feet. My paws are tired too - from prancing up and down the trail. <br /><br />Tomorrow? I'm not sure where we're going. Denise is thinking about the Hidden Canyon Trail, but that shares the start with the trail we did today. I think Denise was considering Hidden Canyon on the way back from Observation Point today, but we were both pretty tired so we skipped that today. How long was the Observation Point trail? The park service shows it as 8 miles. It was almost entirely uphill on the way out. Climbing, climbing. From the end of the trail we were looking down on Angel's Landing, and that was quite a bit below us.<br /><br />Dinner? A nice veggie lasagne. Then we came back to the room to write for a bit. And then? We went out for ice cream!<br /></i><br /><br /><center><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456226594_22rZz-500x500.gif"><br /><i>You know that Denise doesn't like standing close to the edge when there is a steep drop-off, don't you? I can't believe how many trails in this park are marked with these little person and rocks falling signs. And we still manage to find places to hike that make Denise happy! </i></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-86212423792838018562008-06-06T09:20:00.001-04:002009-01-17T09:22:04.510-05:00Flying<i>We're flying, target Nevada. And then we'll be driving heading to the north and east, passing through a corner of Arizona and on into Utah. <br /><br />I remember the drive last year, and I remember the terrain changing from flat and dry, the road rising, the land along the side of the road rising even faster, passing through a canyon. I remember this section of the road being otherworldly beautiful, and I remember Denise almost stopping. She knows better though. Stopping along the side of the road when the cars are absolutely flying by is just not a good thing to do. I remember her thinking that particular chunk of interstate would have been good to traverse on her bicycle. <br /><br />I wonder if I'll be able to control Denise's desire to stop on the interstate to take pictures. What do you think?<br /><br /><hr><br />This funny big airplane that we're riding in left Manchester at 11:20 this morning. We didn't need to leave for the airport until 9:20ish, and Denise was thinkng she sneak in a quick wander on two wheels before we headed out. I thought that she should sleep later, but she set the alarm for early. Early! When that annoying sound woke us this morning we could hear water outside. Rain. Riding in the rain on purpose is not something that Denise usually does, so another hour of sleep was in order. Ah, that felt good...<br /><br /><hr><br />We're sitting over one of those wing things that extends out from the side of the plane. Wow - I wish I could sneak outside and dance on the wing. Denise told me that it's very very cold out there, and that we're moving so fast that I would end up flying on my own. Oh, and the windows don't open. I guess I'll have to manage inside by playing with words. Maybe I'll take a nap too so that I'll be fresh when we head out of Las Vegas. I think I'll ask Denise to roll down the windows in the car so I can feel the wind. I checked the weather forecast before we left this morning and I don't think that will happen either. It's supposed to be 97 degrees in Las Vegas this afternoon, and in 80s in Springdale. <b>97!</b> That's really, really hot. I'm glad we're not staying there because I hate being stuck with only air conditioned air.<br /><br /><hr> <br />Oh look at those very tall mountains below us! They are wearing a glistening cap of white. Snow! <br /><br /><hr> <br />What a long day today was. We landed in Las Vegas, picked up our car - and wouldn't you know that Denise didn't take the car that was assigned to her? She said it was too big, so she went marching back to the little office out by the cars and they happily gave her a different car. I guess it's OK to ask nicely for a change. It worked for Denise. We finally jumped into the car, and it was time to hit the road. <br /><br />It took a while to clear the outskirts of Las Vegas, but then we were just flying down the road. The speed limit was 75 for most of the way, and the cars all seeed to be sticking to 75 to 80. Wow. That section of road I mentioned before? Cutting off the corner of Arizona? It was as beautiful as I remembered, and Denise behaved and didn't stop on the side of the road. So we still only have word pictures of the slanted rocks, shades of red glistening in the sunshine, the river carving out a place for itself among the rocks. <br /><br /><hr> <br />It was a long travel day, a day for thinking of tomorrow's hikes. Time to sleep, to dream of wandering... </i><br /><br /><center><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456225589_p2ZXf-500x500.jpg"></center><br /><i>And oh! Look who we met as we were wandering through Springdale this evening, shaking off the travel cobwebs. Isn't he beautiful?</i>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-55088796119769970572008-06-01T09:12:00.002-04:002009-01-17T09:16:21.766-05:00Bouncing in anticipation<i>I can't believe our Zion adventure is almost here. Just four more days of work for Denise, and four days of bouncing around in anticipation for me. Can you tell I'm looking forward to our adventure?<br /><br />I've started collecting a few of the things we'll need for our trip. There's a little pile on the floor of the bedroom with things like Denise's passport, and her National Parks Pass, and some little (airplane-allowed-sized) bottles of sunscreen. She isn't too interested in getting ready to leave yet, but I'm sure she'll be happy that I've started to gather our important little travel items.<br /><br />I have a feeling that the daytime hiking temperatures may be a bit of a shock. We've had nice weather here, but the highs have been in the 60s and 70s. I just looked at the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/weather-and-climate.htm">weather and climate</a> information on the Zion National Park website. It shows the normal temperature range for June is from 60 to 93 degrees. (Oh, yes, that's in Fahrenheit. For those of you in the sensible metric-centric parts of the world, the equivalent in Celsius is from 15 to 34 degrees.) Wow, that's hot for hiking. Even hotter if we're tramping in the sun. And I know that some of the trails are pretty exposed. I guess we might have some sweaty days. I suppose we could always cool off by hiking up the river. I don't think Denise is thinking of doing that - especially if she's carrying her cameras - but you never know, do you?<br /><br />Denise smiles when she thinks about our trip. I know she's more than ready to get away, even though it's just for a short long weekend. We fly on Friday, and fly back home late on Monday. That gives us a good solid 2 and a half days to wander in the park. <br /><br /><center><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456224123_6aqZP-500x500.jpg"><br />Hey look - Denise just got a new "baby" camera, a Canon G9. And I think she's going to bring it to Zion. I thought she was only going to bring the big camera and lenses, but she thinks she wants this one with her too. And guess what? I think this camera is the right size for me to use. So maybe I can help with some pictures when I'm not creating the right words for the day. <br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456224138_Y2UHB-500x500.jpg"><br /><br /><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456224112_MTwc3-500x500.jpg"><br />Denise loves her 40D, but I'm sure you can see that it's too big for me to use. The size doesn't seem to bother Denise though... </center><br /><br /><hr><br /><br />We have another trip for dreaming too. Denise just told me that we're going to go to Acadia National Park too, on the Saturday after we get home from Zion. And one of our bicycles is going to join us on that trip. (Cameras too!) Wow! <br /><br /></i>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-48521315682943326632008-04-30T09:01:00.001-04:002009-01-17T09:05:52.589-05:00Map happy<i>I made Denise smile today! <br /><br />Well really, it's my purchase that made her smile. I knew I did the right thing when I ordered that topographic map of Zion National Park for her. It popped into the mailbox today, fast delivery considering that it needed to fly all of the way across the country to get here. <br /><br />Oh, you want to know where I found the map? It was available at many sites, but most had what I would consider unreasonable shipping charges for a map that would easily fit in an envelope. I kept looking, and found it for a reasonable price (including shipping) at <a href="http://www.nwpubliclands.org/">Northwest Interpretive Association</a>.<br /><br /></i><br /><br /><center><img src="http://denise.smugmug.com/photos/456222289_26vb9-500x500.jpg"></center>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6610766612421085074.post-2911920977766674462008-04-26T08:59:00.001-04:002009-01-17T09:00:35.531-05:00Stringing the pieces together<i>Denise's work is a bit wacky right now, so it's not really the best time to disappear. She decided that a long weekend in early June would give her something to dream about, something to help keep her looking forward. It took a while to decide on the "where" though. <br /><br />At first she was thinking about heading east, to Iceland. That's been on her list of places to visit for a long, long time. A non-stop flight to Reykjavik takes 5 hours, which is just a little bit longer than flying to one of Denise's usual "out west" destinations. I want to go there too, but I think that trip needs more planning time. Probably more wandering there time too. And I think that planning way ahead of time (or wandering there a month earlier - in May, not June) will give much better air fares. Iceland? Not this year, but maybe next. The reason I say that is that wacky Denise has already purchased one book about Iceland. That will remain the stuff of dreams for now; maybe it will pop to the top in the not too distant future. <br /><br />Back to the plans for <b>now</b>... <br /><br />A wander for a long weekend needs to conform to Denise's flying rules. A long weekend and a destination far from home means it is an absolute requirement to grab a non-stop flight. Oh, and we need to be able to fly for a (relatively) reasonable cost. Once Denise stopped looking across the water to the east, she started looking to the southwest. There were three airports on her list of possibilities, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. And our spot for wandering needed to be within a few hours drive from one of those airports. <br /><br />It's really funny how Denise's decision process works. She started by exploring some different parks in the circles she drew around our possible landing spots, and snap! Faster than I could imagine, a decision was made. We're going back to Zion National Park. Can you have an addiction to a place? Because I think Denise is addicted to visiting Zion. I like it too, so I'm very happy with the decision to bounce there once again. (Oh yes, you're absolutely right that I was planting a suggestion in Denise's mind that we should go back there.)<br /><br />I've watched Denise plan trips before, but this one seemed to jump together all on its own. Decision, Zion. Plane tickets? Non-stop to Las Vegas, free! Yup, she had an award ticket waiting to be used on Southwest Airlines. There's one non-stop flight each day from Manchester to Las Vegas. The scheduled "off the ground" time is a little earlier than the flight we took the last time we flew there. That means we can easily fly, then drive to Springdale and arrive within the B&B's preferred check in time. The B&B? Last year we stayed at the Red Rock Inn, and Denise liked it enough to stay there again. When she called for a reservation the owner asked if this was a return visit. And hey - she gave us a discount because we've stayed there before! (What do you mean you think it's odd when I say "we"? OK, OK, I'm a litle red dog. But I count too!)<br /><br />One more arrangement to go, a rental car. Denise gave up shopping the different rental car companies a long time ago. She has two different corporate discounts she can use at Hertz, and she has been happy with their level of service too. (Oh, don't you know that about Denise? Service is very important. She doesn't like to be aggravated, especially when she's out to enjoy an escape). The two discounts were pretty close in price, but then she wandered over to the specials page. Guess what? She got a very special weekend deal (for AAA/CAA members), 50% off. No complaints there!<br /><br />Now all that's left to do is to dream, and to count the days between now and June 6th, our flying day. I just sniffed through Denise's map collection to see if she has a map of the park. There must be some places to wander in Zion where I haven't set paws yet, and if I find them I can plant ideas in Denise's mind. Hmmm, that's odd, all I found was the map in the park brochure. She really likes maps, so she usually has topo maps of places like Zion. Maybe I'll order one for her. <br /><br />I'm so happy that the plans are set that I've been bouncing all over. Bouncing. Happy!<br /><br />--- yes, this really is Rover writing! <br /><br /><hr> <b>Update on April 28th: </b>Psst! Don't tell Denise... I found the map I wanted online and I ordered a copy to help our dreams of trails for wandering. I can't wait to see her face when it shows up in the mail!<br /><br /></i>Denise Goldberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08049223586218975704noreply@blogger.com