Day Fourteen - to Vegas

This has been a day of contrasts. We  started off in Hurricane and went up the I15 to Zion-Kolob, the northern part of the park. It was far quieter there and we decided on a couple of hikes. The first was to the Timber Creek Overlook Trail which was quite short and we had a good view of the northern mountains.
The second was the Taylor Creek  Middle trail which passed through the canyon, crossing the wash literally about 40 times to end up at the Double Arch Alcove.
Phil, I bet you can't guess what we saw at the end? See below, can you guess what it is?? Andrew was quite scared but I got quite close to it to take photos!
We then motored back to Vegas. We went down the Strip which was quite hair-raising with all the traffic. We tried various hotels but they were all in the $300+ bracket. Then we saw a Motel 8 opposite the Mandalay Bay. It was $70 per night and suits us very well! If we don't make it back you'll know why it was so cheap!
We had dinner at the Hard Rock Café outside on a balcony ,then we hit Caesar's Palace where we managed to spin out our meagre bets for about 20 mins on the Blackjack and roulette.
We catch the plane at 1530 and should be back Thu morning about 0930. It's been a great holiday with highlights of Glacier Point, the Mist trail and Nevada Falls, the Icebox and my favourite, the Narrows.

Timber Creek Overlook

 

Taylor Creek

 

The Double Arch Alcove

 

View out of Canyon

 

Phil, what's this?

 

A Tarantula Hawk!

 

Day thirteen - Zion

We went into Zion this morning, just 30 mins from our hotel. We did 3 hikes. We travelled up to the top of the valley by bus (no cars are allowed) - the bus system does work very well. First hike was from the Temple of Sinawava - the Riverside walk. But the best bit was that it takes you up river to where the river stretches from side to side. From there we changes to sandals and were able to wade up river to the Narrows - where the walls of the canyon close in  and the cliffs are about 4,000 feet high. We had to be careful as there was a high risk of flash floods from storms like the one we had last night. However this was definitely up there with the other two best hikes of the hols - the Mist Trail and Icebox Canyon.

We then did two other hikes - Weeping Rock (lovely rock overhang with water gushing down) and the Emerald Pools trail plus the Kayenta extension with some excellent views.

By then it had started to storm again so we did well to do the Narrows first in the morning. The heat seems to build in the morning under the sun, it then clouds over and storms later pm. Generally the weather has been very pleasant here though at about 75F(22C).

We checked hotel prices on the way out, they showed a steep decline as we got further away so we ended up in the same place (Rodeway Inn, Hurricane)!

Tomorrow we'll do some of the remoter parts of Zion - Kolob Terrace Road and Kolob Canyons, before heading off to Vegas in the afternoon.

Pretty rubbish internet connection today, I hope this loads up OK!

Day Twelve - Valley of Fire and onto Utah

We started the day visiting the Valley of Fire and doing the "White Domes" trek with a good slot canyon - almost identical to those in Arizona! This time without the rattlesnake thank goodness. We then went on to do a trek called "Fire Wave" so named because of the interesting rock patterns at the end of it (see photos below.) It was then decided that for the last couple of days it would be nice to visit the parts of Zion National Park in Utah that we didn't manage to do on the last trip. As a result we drove up through Arizona and some strong winds and encountered our first rain on the trip. We arrived in the town Hurricane, Utah this afternoon just outside the park. The plan for tomorrow will be to go into Zion National Park and do some hikes there. We'll likely stay just outside the park somewhere maybe in Springdale or Rockville but that could change seeing how things go.

Valley of Fire White Domes trek

 

The Fire Wave

 

Iguana, nearly a foot long!

Day Eleven - Red Rock

We set off from our Casino Hotel this morning. We filled up with petrol - $2-30 a gallon which is almost the same price as a litre in the UK. I paid more than that for our gallon of reserve water!

We travelled along to  Red Rock NCA just outside Vegas. We did two trails there. The first was Calico Tanks which was a good trek through multi-coloured rock (buff, pink and red sandstones plus older limestone on top though faulting). The second was Icebox Canyon which was a great trek into a canyon finishing in a climb up to some pools under an overhang.

We're now in NE Las Vegas in the Aviation Inn. Tomorrow we head off to Valley of Fire State Park.

We Watched the Rugby on the PC this evening - not good!

Calico Tanks showing three types of rock with multiple layers

 

The approach to Icebox Canyon

 

Andrew on the final climb

 

 

 

Day Ten - Exploring Death Valley

We started by heading to the ghost town of Rhyolite - a town apparently established during the Gold Rush but eventually abandoned after no gold was found nearby. Before the heat started to rise too much we headed back into Death Valley to do a trek into the interestingly named "Desolation Canyon." Having driven past the track to the trailhead a few times we eventually found the start and the short hike into the canyon. This was pleasant but slightly underwhelming as didn't seem to culminate in much of a view - it just continued to climb. Thankfully this was more than made up for by the spectacular Natural Bridge and Artist's Palette. A short hike into the canyon with some fun bits to clamber up similar to some of the canyons in Arizona. Whilst not quite as hot as yesterday we could certainly feel the heat (100 rather than 108). We visited the vast salt plains about 280ish ft below sea level and then finished the day driving out of Death Valley into an interesting Nevada town of Pahrump and are staying in a casino hotel! Very pleasant though with a room right next to the pool and some great food. The plan for tomorrow is to head to Red Rock Canyon and then go through Las Vegas out on the 15 towards Valley of Fire State Park.

Rhyolite

 Desolation Canyon

 Salt Plains (Badwater Basin)

 Climbing up towards Natural Bridge

 Worth the climb -  Natural Bridge

 Artist's Palette

 View of the Salt Plains for the top of Dante's View

 

Day Nine - into Death Valley

We went back into the Alabama Hills and took some more photos, this time with the sun behind us. Then we continued along the Mt Whitney portal road several thousand feet up in the eastern Sierra. There was a nice pine forest there plus a waterfall.

Then we went off to Death Canyon. We visited Father Crowley vista point before descending into the valley itself. The temperature rocketed as we descended. At Stovepipe Wells it was 109F - about 44C. The wind was very strong, at times sand blew across the road making it difficult to see. Tumbleweed bowled over the road and dust devils were dotted around.

We walked up through Mosaic Canyon. It was 107 but it wasn't too bad as it was so  windy and dry our sweat dried pretty quickly. We just had to take enough water. The canyon was lovely with polished marble sides and paper thin layers of rock.

Afterwards we tried for a room in Furnace Creek but it was sold out so we went just outside the Park to Beatty in Nevada. We're in the El Portal motel there and had a nice swim (the water was surprisingly cold). Beatty is just like a frontier town. In fact it was a gold rusk town when miners flocked to Death Valley.

Tomorrow we'll visit an old ghost town,visit Zabriskie Poing, Artists' Palette and Golden Canyon before heading out towards Vegas. We have a gallon of water in the car as well as our usual  6 bottles.

The Arch, Alabama Hills

 

Mt Whitney and the Alabama Hills

 

Falls on Mt Whitney portal

 

View towards Lone Pine from Mt Whitney

 

Road winds down into Death Valley

 

Can you spot the coyote?

 

The road to Furnace Creek

 

MosaicCanyon

 

Day Eight - Lone Pine

We visited the Mono Lake South Tufa
this morning. They are really weird shapes - originally hot springs which form limestone columns under water. Just like where life is supposed to have originated. Then the water receded and left the columns exposed. The water in Mono Lake is very concentrated as water drains in but then evaporates.

We then went to Panum Crater, the most recent volcanic crater in the US, it erupted about 600 years ago. We looked at the central cone which had layers of pumice and obsidian.

Then we went down the 395 to Mammoth Lakes where we had lunch. We then visited a fissure from an earthquake before heading south to Lone Pine where we are now in quite a nice motel (Mt Whitney). After unloading we drove up to the Alabama Hills where there are amazing views of the orange foothills against the jagged Sierras. The Alabamas have weird shapes. We found Mobius Arch that we were looking for. They've filmed a lot of westerns here including Django Unchained, the Lone Ranger and Iron Man.

Finally we had a good burger and have finally caught up with the blog as the wifi is useable!

Tomorrow we head up the Alabama Hills and Mt Whitney again before heading into Death Valley along the 190. We'll probably go north first to Ubehebe Crater and Scotty's Castle. I'm not sure where we'll stay yet.

Mono Lake Tufa

 

Panum Crater

 

View from Panum Crater

 

Down the fissure, the hole went really deep and the temperature dropped about 20C

 

Arch at Alabama Hills at sunset

 

Mount Whitney through the arch