Zion East Side
April 28
Traveling north again, we stopped in Kanab, Utah for two nights. This is another area we have explored to some degree, but this time, we are going to do an old favorite by spending a morning driving the east side of Zion National Park to the tunnel that divides east from west sides.
The entrance to the park is about 40 miles from Kanab and an easy drive. The sandstone formations along the stretch of road are truly amazing. Making photos along here is a delightful experience.
Our first stop of the morning was at Checkerboard Mesa, a massive petrified dune towering above the canyon. Over eons, erosional forces segmented it in such a way that Checkerboard seems an appropriate name. It is difficult to express just how large these formations are. Mary standing near the base of Checkerboard, did the trick.
The rainbow colors and textures drew me in and we spent an hour walking the area. It is always a surprise and delight finding the little elements that add up to a visual story. I enjoy bringing these things together into a picture.
This early in the morning there isn’t much traffic, but as it is Sunday, I expect it will increase quickly. These first hours, though, the place seems like ours.. Traveling along the highway, we stopped at almost every turnout – both to let the increasing traffic go by and because there is so much to see that one must stop, get out, and look around.
At another stop, we walked down to a dry wash below another sandstone mountain. The seams and veins of the varied formations all came together here, with color on top of color and layer upon layer of solid rock.
The early morning light provided wonderfully long shadows and helped to highlight the flora all around us.
Traffic was increasing quickly and we soon found ourselves stuck in a long line of cars. Often this can mean wildlife on the road, but I knew from experience that in this case, it meant a hold-up at the tunnel. RV’s and trucks must make appointments to travel through the tunnel that leads to the west side of Zion. This causes delays as a caravan of trucks must travel single file down the middle of the tunnel, while regular traffic must wait going both ways. The single two-way tunnel has curved sides that sit too close to the lane and scrapes and crashes can easily happen. I wanted to go as far as the tunnel turnaround area, but after waiting about 20 minutes with little movement, we turned around and headed back to camp.
Big Rock Candy Mountain
April 29
We left Kanab and headed north again, this time ending up at an RV resort known as Big Rock Candy Mountain. This not the place Harry McClintock sang about in 1928, but you can get lemonade and ice cream in the cafe. Big Rock is situated in a canyon bordered on one side by a massive yellow mountain.
They used the location as a candy theme – coloring their associated motel in pastels and giving the rooms names such as Cotton Candy Cottage and Chocolate Chalet. It is always a little sad to see these places off-season. We were nearly the only folks staying here this day, but I could imagine the place is hopping all summer long.
We took the briefest of walks around the grounds to get a sense of the place. We walked over to the big yellow mountain, but declined to hike up to a spring we were told existed up there. Afterward, we indulged in a bit of ice cream and talked a while with the owner and her cute little 3-year old daughter.
Tomorrow we drive to Salt Lake City for another two day stay. We needed to catch up on laundry and restock before entering Yellowstone for five days of dry camping. The weather is turning cold and we are not sure what will await us there. In Salt Lake, I want to do more work on my ongoing Into the Anthropocene project, and the Kennecott/Bingham copper pit mine near the outskirts of Salt Lake is the largest mine of it’s kind in the world.
Marking Our Place 