Travels With Abs - Bryce National Park 7/3/2009

We had a very comfortable stay at Ruby's Inn, just outside Bryce, for 2 nights. It was almost a small city in itself, yet without a hint of what was waiting for us at the park. We went by coach to the park, but the Bryce Shuttle also makes the trip from Ruby's Inn.

Since it is not a great distance from Zion to Bryce, I expected the parks to be very similar. What a surprise when we burst upon the glory that is Bryce. The erosion in Bryce differs from that in Zion to form very different terrain.

The rocks are similar in color to Zion, but the formations are quite different. Bryce was our introduction to hoodoos.

We began our morning with a 2 mile hike beginning at the far end of the Rim Trail, progressing to Inspiration Point. It was a wise choice since the trail seemed to be downhill hiking in our chosen direction. Those of us who live at sea level have to struggle just a little at those higher altitudes.

The hike was fairly easy and there were plenty of stops to allow us to exclaim about the view and to benefit from Darrell's learned guidance on flora and fauna.

After lunch, we headed to the corral for an hour of horseback riding. The top wrangler checked us out and decided which horses would be suitable. We walked over to the cowboys who found the horse, then helped each person mount, and gave instructions on handling. Abs rode "Goozeberry," a mule that claimed her heart immediately. The wrangler told me I was to ride "Winnie," so I duly reported my message. No one knew which horse that was and I began to wonder. Back up the chain of command, the word came down that it was "Queenie." Those Utah accents will get you every time. "Queenie' was a tall horse. I felt like a contortionist as I tried to get my foot in the stirrup that hung about waist high.
The trail began as a flat and easy stretch of path leading toward a grove of trees, then the cowboy leader brought the group to a stop.
"We will be climbing the trail. Give your horse his head and he will take you along. He has done this a whole lot more than you have, so trust him." This speech was just a little ominous.
Not only had we been placed on the best horse for us, the horses had been lined up in a particular way. I discovered the horse in front of me lagged behind a lot, so "Queenie," who kept her nose resting on the forward horse's rump, would nip him every once in a while to speed him up.
The flat trail quickly turned to a steep climb with a drop-off alternately on the right and left sides. The horses and mules stayed to the drop-off side because the trail was softer there. I trusted the animal, although I don't know how she could see where her feet were going, but I did not trust the trail not to give way and send us crashing down the hill.
Abs, who claims to be afraid of heights, just talked and looked around at the scenery.
"Weren't you frightened?" I asked her later.
"No," she said. "I just let go of the reins and let the mule have its head like they told us to do. It was FUN!"The ride was fun, and I managed to snap a few photos as I bounced along. I think the animals had been saving everything up for one particular area on the trail, near a switchback. Almost every one of them made a contribution to Horse Latrine Pool (my name for it, not theirs).
We had a nice ride and survived thunder and lightening without mishap or rain. An hour later we were dismounting back in the corral and congratulating each other on our, much improved, horseback riding skills.

We headed back to the Ruby's Inn for dinner, swimming, and an early bedtime.

Travels With Abs - Zion National Park 7/2//2009

We boarded a coach, bound for Zion National Park, right after breakfast. We would be staying a couple of nights near Bryce, but we got to keep our room in St. George, so we only had to take a few things with us. Nice! It was less than 2 hours to Zion and we had videos (of dinosaurs) to watch on the way. I have been amazed there are so many dinosaur videos. I thought, the flawed, "Jurassic Park" was about the only thing out there, but National Geographic and Discovery Channel have a lot of different options.

Zion National Park is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, the oldest national park in Utah. A National Park pass gets you in for "free", and free shuttle buses will take you for a ride all the way round, where you can get off and on at will. The ride on the way in has a commentary on the park and its geologic features. We traveled to "The Riverside Walk" and hiked to the end. It follows the Virgin River along the bottom of a narrow canyon, is fairly easy, not paved, and partially shaded. Fortunately, there was good cloud cover, so we didn't suffer from the extreme heat we had been seeing in St. George. There were plenty of stops along the way to learn about the geology, plant, and wildlife of the area from Darrell and Marcia, our patient leaders.

Abs soaks up a lesson in geology.
This site was below an area that had suffered from a forest fire. When it rained, the waterfall was black, leaving traces of soot and debris on the face. Of course, we did not see a waterfall.

.
Maidenhair fern thrives in the cracks of the rocks. If we had seen a waterfall, there would surely have been a small one here at one of the hanging gardens.

The "Great White Throne," a grayish white expanse of rock that towers over Zion Canyon and is the main landmark for the park.

We left the trail and boarded a shuttle back to civilization. There was no commentary on the way back "leaving ample time to reflect on your journey and the scenery." Most were too tired to carry on conversations and the shuttle was filled, with visitors from many different countries as well as our folk. However, Abs and An, the similarly aged friend she had made on our trip, were in deep discussion. An had been given a "beetle farm" for her birthday one year and, since they had seen a lot of beetles on the trail, the girls were discussing the life cycle of the beetle. Everything went smoothly until they got to the reproductive cycle.
"How do they have babies?" Abs asked.
"One gets on top of the other and jiggles, then the female lays eggs." An replied.
There was not one snicker on this crowded, silent bus full of adults, but several people expressed their appreciation of the lesson as we departed. There was a lot of laughter after exiting.
It is against the rules to feed the wildlife, but some people feel they are above the rules. Here a cute little squirrel feasts on forbidden fruit. The squirrels were not intimidated by the human monsters who towered over them.

Could there ever be enough time to explore this beautiful park? I only know that I plan to return to camp, or rent a cabin, and attempt every trail in the park! I would like to make that every trail in every season, but that might be pushing it.

Our group moved on after a box lunch in the commons area. We were headed for Bryce where we would be staying for a couple of nights. During the trip by coach through the beautiful canyons, I took more photos out the bus window.Although this one appears to be the work of a super grader, the face of this mesa was actually scored by winds from opposing directions.

More scoring and examples of faults, uplifts, and such. DH would have loved all this.

Here is a naturally formed arch in the cliff. There were several of these.

We traveled to Bryce, but the beauty of that park was not to be revealed until the next day. After dinner, we went to the local rodeo. It consisted of locals who were breaking in new horses to the events, and practicing or learning. It was very family oriented and did not appear to push competition. There were a slew of young children who were gamely learning to ride whatever they were put on. One father led his daughter through a barrel race by holding on to the reins and running in front of the horse the whole way. Another small child was, I am convinced, not out of diapers.
Rodeoing is a tough life. My dad gave it up after my mother laid down the law early in their marriage, but I still have a lot of admiration for those who can face a bull or a bucking horse.

Travels With Abs - Wednesday July 1st - "Tracking the Dinosaurs"

Wednesday morning started off with a trip to the Snow Canyon sand dunes to hunt for "dinosaur eggs." Darrell McMahon, our education director, presented information on dune formation. His use of foam props and photos, provided good visuals and encouraged the children to pay attention.

We examined tracks and track ways as we headed out over the dunes. It had been a busy place overnite.

The children had been in instructed in proper exploration techniques for paleontologists, but excitement reigned during the actual "dig" and everyone scrambled.

After much excitement and scurrying into the sand like little crabs, the groups unearthed their finds. Abs' group found several "Cantaloupeasaurus eggs."

Andrew Milner joined the group again and we headed to a special area designated "No Trespassing." Unfortunately, some people can't read and they had taken a backhoe into the area a few months earlier. Large slabs of terrain containing dinosaur tracks had been removed. Some were found being sold on e-bay. One of the most unfortunate parts of the theft is the loss of information. Many artifacts which could be priceless are rendered almost worthless by their removal from the site without proper documentation.
I was fascinated by the changing terrain and scenery in Utah, all within a short distance.
(Yes, those were taken out the window of the moving bus. What was your first clue?)
It amazes me that people make these finds in the, seemingly, middle of nowhere. We could see the tracks better from a higher vantage point. This was quite a hive of activity about 200 million years ago.

I was finally learning to spot the tracks. Some were were more obvious than others.

After a morning devoted to learning and a delicious lunch at the Electric Cafe, it was time for the children to let off some steam. An afternoon at the local water park was just the place to cool off and expend some of their energy. It was a busy day. The children were still raring to go, but the grandparents were delighted we were staying in for the evening. Everyone enjoyed pizza and spent the evening watching movies about....what else?....DINOSAURS!

Travels With Abs - Dinosaur Discovery Site 6/30/2009

Abs and I were in St. George, Utah, to participate in the Elderhostel Program on dinosaurs. "Researching" dinosaurs has long been a favorite activity of 8 year old Abs, and I was to see on this trip just how much she had learned on her own. I had made her a series of T-shirts with different dinosaurs out of fanciful fabric and she wore a different one every day. I had also decorated a black canvas bag with an creature I had taken from a dinosaur coloring book my mom had given her. She took one look at the bag and loved it, but informed me that the animal was not a dinosaur.
"Well, what is it then," I asked rather huffily.
"It is a dimetrodon and it lived in the Permian period....BEFORE the dinosaurs," she said matter-of-factly.
Yes, I did learn a lot on this trip.

Our first activity on the first day was a trip to the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm, a dinosaur museum in St. George. The site was discovered by a farmer who was leveling the site for building. Fortunately, he stopped the work and called the University of Utah. A portion of the site has been left intact and the museum was built over it.
The bones and fossils recovered here are from the Jurassic Period, about 195 million years ago when the area was a large lake. I tried to imagine a lake in the surrounding arid area which boasted a temperature of 100+ degrees while we were there. It was difficult.

The museum has a collection of authentic dinosaur eggs which have allowed them to study eggs, nests, and embryos of the dinosaurs.

The photo below is of a single block of dinosaur tracks on display at the museum. There are over 49 individual tracks, many in rows, which give evidence of the way the track maker moved.

A Therapod footprint.

We were very privileged to have St. George's City Paleontologist, Andrew Milner, as our guide through the museum. He patiently gave explanations and answered questions about his work and all the things we saw. He gave a detailed explanation of using a track way to discover how an animal moved and sat. These types of discoveries often shed new light and negate previous theories.
After lunch, the children divided into 3 groups and spent the afternoon learning to make plaster casts from the coordinator, Marcia; identify and put together bones from various dinosaurs with Darrell McMahon, the education director; and exploring wildlife with Teal. Abs was delighted to finally see a real stegasaurus plate.
"It was much larger than I expected," she told me.Lovely, delicate- looking Teal, had caught some local critters and allowed the children to examine them closely. I was surprised when Abs was delighted to do a little snake-handling. A true conservationist, Teal was releasing the critters back into the wild at the end of the day.
All work and no play, makes a very dull child. The children hit the pool before dinner to work off a little extra energy after a long day of exciting learning.

Travels With Abs - "Kanab, Utah to St George, Utah"

Since we didn't have to be in St. George until late afternoon on Monday 6/29, Abs and I decided to take the scenic route. Our first stop was Pipe Spring National Monument, the tithing ranch of Mr and Mrs Anson Winser. The house / fort was know as Winser castle. It was built to withstand the Indian attacks, which never materialized, from the friendly, local Native Americans. I was able to use my National Parks Pass here and Abs was given a checklist which kept her busy, interested, and she earned a Junior Ranger badge. There were several rangers available to answer questions and relate information. We learned about different types of lizards in the area and watched rangers reestablishing native grasses. They were incorporating a modern micro-drip system to ensure success.

A Paiute Native American man and a young HS intern gave information on the Native American way of life and demonstrated the technique for extracting fiber from flax to make fishing nets. The natives would take the main tripod when moving and add fresh branches for protection from the elements. In cool weather, they would put the opening towards the fire and sleep with their feet in that direction to stay warm.

I had noted a small place on the map called the Coral Sand Dunes and we set out to find it. It was an intriguing name for a site in the Mountains. We turned, according to the map and drove slowly and carefully over dry, dirt roads, trying to avoid the potholes and rocks.

The map showed this section of unpaved road connecting to the paved one which led to the dunes. As we approached the paved road, a car whizzed by from the left and hurried ahead. Obviously, there was a better way and our map was just old. We weren't sure exactly what we were looking for or where it was, but we had a full tank and a couple of hours to look. We did finally find our destination. An unassuming State Park area that cost us $6.00 to get in and we only had an hour to stay.

However, I felt the time, effort, and cost were worthwhile. The lovely little park actually had rose pink sand dunes and we were early enough in the day to find them unspoiled. Apparently, The wind whips through the rock formations which are close together, and the erosion of the rocks is deposited in fine grains in a calmer area. Thus, sand dunes. Probably a fairly simplistic explanation.

Curiosity satisfied, we hurried on to St. George and arrived just in time to settle in before the introductions of everyone in our program. We went to the cafeteria of Dixie College for a dinner, buffet style. They provided rolls, tossed salad, potato salad, jello salad, mixed yellow and green beans, and chicken with a sauce. I was too engrossed in visiting with my fellow participants to notice what Abs was doing until it was too late. She by-passed everything else on the buffet and feasted on 8 dinner rolls. she did not even like the pecan pie for dessert.

Travels With Abs - "Kanab, Utah"

Kanab, Utah, is a sweet little town that, by chance and hard work, became a favored site for the making of western movies. We stayed at the Parry Lodge in the Frank Sinatra room. All the rooms are named for movie stars but, we learned later, Sinatra never stayed in our room. He stayed at the Parry home.
One movie was filmed in Kanab in the 1920's and Parry made it his mission to spread the word. He took a lot of photos and traveled to the 4-5 movie moguls to tout the town. They bought the idea and many western movies were made there over the next few decades. One of the last ones was "Josie Wales..." Filming the people traveling in one direction, then filming them in the opposite direction made it seem that they had traveled a long way and to an entirely different area. That was part of the beauty of filming in Kanab and the surrounding areas.
The people of Kanab rose to the occasion and became extras and stunt men just doing the things that were an ordinary parts of their lives - roping, riding, wrangling, etc. The Parrys arranged entertainment, including the townspeople in the festivities. Thus was born a successful business.
So, we had an interesting and restful time in Kanab. Went swimming, did laundry, and went to a local church on Sunday mornng. The church was a mixture of Methodist, Lutheran, and, United Church of Christ (DOC). Quite friendly and informal. Recently completed, this little church was a result of people working together to make it a reality. I was told that the Mormon people helped, even though they had no vested interest. That's one of the nice things about a small town.

Saturday night, we went to a screening of one of the old movies filmed in the area and almost made it through the whole thing. It starred Tom Mix, a young Tom Mix, and had a lot of hroses, riding, and the always loaded six-shooters in it.
We were only 1 1/2 hours away from our destination, but did not need to be there until Monday.