Utah Road Trip

Utah Roadtrip.
We did a loop starting from Zion and ending at the Grand Canyon, starting Nov 5th.
Winter is supposed to be off-season which means GREAT WEATHER, lesser people, cheaper hotels!!
The best part of the trip was the weather. Perfect for hiking, warm without the sun burning you!! The Weather was fantastic everywhere except for Bryce.
People? Bryce, Arches .. had maybe 20-30 people .. Canyon lands in single digits. We had most of the parks all to ourselves.
Off season hotel rates usually mean half the price.


Day 0
Zion .. 750 miles .. 12 hours.
We started at 9:00 pm ..
at 2:00 am .. got a traffic ticket at 101 mph !!
Great start !!

Day 1 Zion

We reached Zion .. at about 9 am ... got to the campground ..
Weather was in the 50's. We could get a campsite easily .. since winter is the off season (campsite booking online is stopped after Oct 31st. In winter it's on a first come basis. Since few people opt for it, you stand a good chance of getting one.)
Slept for a couple of hours before we got moving again.
Zion was beautiful .. the fall colors are unbelievable .. lot of yellows .. a little orange.
The road .. has a reddish hue .. the first NP where I saw a road of a different color ..
Pic: Chequered Rock
Hikes we did:
Weeping Rock(0.5 mi).
Riverside walk(2 mi) gets you to the Zion narrows .. you can't walk in the narrows in winter .. since it's filled with water and there are chances of flash floods when it rains.
The Emerald Pool hike is about 2-3 miles depending on whether you decide to cover the Upper, middle, lower pools. It ends in a waterfall ..





Day 2 Bryce
It was raining when we left Zion .. and the park looked even better .. washed !!
Bryce was next, it’s a couple of hours away.
The rain followed us all the way to Bryce.
We still hiked the Queens Gardens and the Navajo pass hikes.
The hoodoos were beautiful. Canyons are the effect of erosion. Hoodoos are tall thin spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins and badlands. They are composed of soft sedimentary rock, and are topped by a piece of harder, less easily-eroded stone that protects the column from the elements. More at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_(geology)
The rain ensured that we couldn't camp. We stayed at the Red Ruby Inn .. right at the entrance. 57$ a night. Rates double in summer.
Pic: Bryce Amphitheatre











Day 3 Bryce/Arches
Thought we'd do a lot of hiking on Day3 .. but . it had rained all night .. (real good Indian rain ) .. and the morning brought some snow as well.
It was a blizzard and we got out of there as fast as we could .. we were in Arches in another 6 hours (282 miles). (You can drive along 12 and 24 which is the scenic route .. but uncertain weather .. forced us to take the rather safe 89 , 70)
Arches was nice and sunny.
Delicate arch was the first hike .. an uphill hike .. .. 3 mile roundtrip .. really impressive!!
Also the Windows .. great views at sunset !!
Pic: Broken Arch

Day 4 Arches/Canyonlands
Morning we got onto the Devils Garden primitive loop trail.
Most of the trail is over rock. Carefully placed cairns ( a cairn is small stones placed one atop the other) .. litter the way and provide you direction. We did get lost once. Overall 7.2 miles roundtrip ..
You get to see a few arches along the way .. including the biggest of me all .. the Landscape arch !!
This hike they say is a little difficult, gets slippery in the rain, but is well worth the walk. Unlike most trails that get monotonous .. this managed to keep interest ..since the terrain kept varying.
A couple of other minor hikes ..
Pic: skyline arch


Canyon lands - Island in the sky.
Canyonlands has 2 entrances.
'Island in the sky' is about 40 minutes from Arches.
We got in there at about 4:00 pm, so we had an hour and a half before we ran out of daylight.
It was raining .. at short intervals .. and we literally had to drive through clouds .. and that when we knew where the name came from !!
The views were unbelievable.
At the Green River overlook, it opens to a vast vast .. huge immense .. open space .. it's about a 1000 feet drop .. and you can see the Green river .. etching through the landscape .. its jagged edges .. snaking/cutting through the land.

Day 5
Canyon lands - Needles district
It's 2 hours from Arches.
Chesler Park trail was about 8 miles. There is the loop that is 11 miles.
Most of the first 8 miles is over rock. Extremely varied terrain, interspersed with elevations and drops.
The hike is not at all intense. The views on the way are a lot better than those for the other trails here. (Our original planned hike was the Confluence overlook, 11 miles. But that is pretty much over flat terrain.)
Drove to Mesa Verde, Colorado (3 hrs, 144 miles). The campgrounds were closed !!
Motels in Cortez (nearest town), were in the 45-55$ range. Pic: needles


Island in the Sky
To reach the Island, take US Highway 191 to Utah Highway 313 (10 mi/16 km north of Moab, or 22 mi/35 km south of I-70) and then drive southwest 22 mi/35 km. Driving time to the visitor center from Moab is roughly 40 minutes. Pic: island in the sky

Needles
On US Highway 191, drive 40 miles (60 km) south of Moab or 14 miles (22 km) north of Monticello, then take Utah Highway 211 roughly 35 miles (56 km) west. Highway 211 ends in the Needles, and is the only paved road leading in and out of the district.


Day 6 Mesa Verde Spanish for "green table",
Known for its cliff houses. From approximately A.D. 600 through A.D. 1300 people lived here.
Has over 600 cliff houses.
The only tour open in winter, is that of the Spruce house.
You can get good views of all the other houses as you drive along the park. So you do not really miss anything going off season.
At an elevation, so gets some snow and is a lot colder than Cortez.
Drove to Glen Canyon, Page. 245 miles, 6 hours.

Day 7 Glen Canyon
Glen Canyon was dammed and flooded with water to form Lake Powell. Environmentalists do not like it, but the canyon looks great with all that water in it. There is a short drive along the lake across the dam. The visitor center also conducts 'Dam tours'. Closest city, Page.
Horseshoe Bend is phenomenal. A short ¾ mile hike takes you there.
It's difficult to get a full picture hence pointing you to some already published pictures.
The second one here was taken using a fisheye lens
http://www.webshots.com/g/poster/54/35554_poster.html
http://www.travelsw.com/southwest-trips/southwest-trips-arizona/horseshoe.htm

Day 8 Grand Canyon
Our original plan was to hike the canyon. But we got sick and couldn't do it. Anyways .. we still did go there.
It was raining all night in Page. When we drove in the morning towards the GC (140 miles, 2.5 hrs), the weather looked good. A slightly overcast day though. We got in though the East entrance. It had snowed everywhere. The trees on the side were white. Nothing on the way here could have given us any inkling on expecting snow !!
We couldn't see inside the canyon .. since the fog was really thick.
(The backcountry pass for camping in the canyon needs to be booked much in advance. No refunds if cancelled, but you can book for a future date. Good info at http://www.nps.gov/grca/backcountry/ )
As we got out through the south entrance, 25 miles from the East one, the sun was shining bright .. and it looked like summer.
It was a damn good day to hike .. but looks like we'll have to do it some other time.

Hiking Half Dome, Yosemite.

Started for Yosemite National Park, Friday evening .. 4th of July (2005) long weekend.

Had a one point program.. To hike Half Dome !!
Sneha drove all the way .. and as I slept she drove us halfway into Sonora. Wrong place to be in !!
I had to get back into wakeup mode .. and get us back to 120East and Yosemite.
(It's about 187 miles straight in .. and should take between 3.5-4 hrs of relaxed driving from San Jose.)
We checked three campgrounds just outside Yosemite .. and they were all full. We reached the Yosemite West entrance, Big Oak Flat at 11:00 pm.
We had no hope of getting a campground inside ..since all of them get filled more than a few months in advance. We were all set to park in the Happy Isles Trailhead Parking, sleep in the car and hit the trail early morning.
Just for kicks, we decided to check whether there were any campgrounds that were slightly populated ..and we did find a couple of kind folks who were willing to accommodate us. We split the fees.. 10$ our share !!
The tent that we have is pretty nice. Gets up in less than 4 minutes. We woke up at 5:00 am .. Heated some pre-cooked food. Had a quick breakfast. De-tented and headed for the trailhead.

The parking lot at Happy Isles is where the action begins. It's a good half mile to the trailhead .. where directions, maps etc are displayed.
Half Dome is approximately a 17 mile round trip. Total elevation gained is 4800 feet.
Usually takes 10-12 hrs to cover.
Enroute is the Vernal falls.
The Mist Trail takes you to Vernal falls(317 ft high). It's about 3 miles away and the trail is well cut. There is some climbing involved since the increase in elevation is pretty steep. It takes a staircase of 600 granite steps to get to the top. Also we got soaked as we walked past along this trail. The mist from the falls really gets you for more than half a mile and you are seriously wet at the end of it. It's nice on a summer day and you don't really mind it.
At Vernal falls there is a railing that pretty much takes you to where the water starts falling. This rainy season, water levels in Yosemite were more than 175% above average. So the volume of water that was falling and the speed at which it travelled made it quite a sight.

Tips:
Don't apply any sunscreen till you cross the Mist trail .. it pretty much gets washed out !!
Can fill water at Vernal falls bridge drinking station, so you can replenish fluids.
Makes sense to remove your shirt during the mist portion of the trail, since you're anyway going to get wet.

beyond the Vernal falls..
The trail increases in elevation slowly. And you're walking mostly on mud and not stone (unlike the path till Vernal ) !!
As you reach the bottom of Half Dome (I guess they call it Quarter Dome), the climb is strictly over rock. The path is cut in at places and there are a lot for switchbacks that make getting to the top longer. We left our backpack at the bottom here. Just carried the wallets and car key. Very few people did this(maybe they were worried about the backpack getting stolen), but on retrospect this was a smart thing to do. It's tough carrying a heavy bag.

At the end of this stretch begins Half Dome's cable climb.
It takes about 45 mins to get from here to the steel cables at Half Dome.
The cables usually go up on the Memorial weekend (May end). But this year .. It pretty much got up there in the first two weeks of June.
The cables look really intimidating. The reason being that the face is sheer rock, at say a 60 degree angle. You're climbing that rock using the steel cables for support. The cable are supported by poles every 10 feet, and there is a wooden slat between the poles that support you from falling.
Since I'm not a great lover of heights it really did not look like fun. But since everyone seemed to be able to do it, it made the decision to climb easier.
(Think of the cables as a small ropeway bridge .. where you can hold onto both sides. The cables are about half an inch thick and look very sturdy.)
At the base, you find tonnes of gloves. You can easily find one your size. You need these for a grip on the cable. People also climbed without these .. so you should be okay.
(You can get gloves from Home Depot for 2-3$. Heavy duty worker leather gloves)
There was some traffic going up and down. So we took about 20 minutes to get to the top. It's a 900 foot climb. Coming down is easy since gravity helps you but if you're scared of heights and there's a traffic jam it's painful to be stuck up there and look down . It's like being stuck in a roller coaster. But unlike what people say, it's pretty easy to get up and down the cables.
We were on top of Half Dome at 12:45, so it took us appx 7 hours to get there. The trip back is about 5 hrs.
Since we started early we did not see too much sun on the way up. There is shade for most of the way . You are totally exposed once you reach the base of Half Dome(Quarter Dome).
On the way back, the sun really got us. I had a bad headache and was literally dragging myself down. 7 more miles did not sound fun when you're not 100% !!
A Tylenol and many stops along the way helped. Sneha did it without any issues. (had a major leg pain now that she's back home.)

The hike is strenous ... but very doable. I've seen a lot of blogs that make it sound very very tough. Just make sure you carry enough supplies to give you teh energy to stay in the game. We were hiking after a gap of 6 months, and did not really feel the strain. The trail gets crowded. So try and get in early. This also helps you avoid the sun. (half dome pic below)

Food and Water
Water consumed: Around 3 liters per head.
Food : Minimal. We took a lot of food and pretty much brought back everything.
I would recommend 4 litres water just to be safe and minimal food.(Energy Bars, nuts, some salted stuff (chips, snacks)are good enough)
A good site for pics of Half Dome, cables etc:
http://www.thecaliforniahikingpage.com/yosemite/halfdome/halfdome.html

Accomodation:
A. Best places to tent inside Yosemite are:
Upper Pines: Open all year.
Lower Pines: Open from March to October.
North Pines: Open from April to September.
All three sites are close to Happy Isles. Just a 5 minute drive away.
B. If you don't want to tent, options in the vicinity of Happy Isles:
Houskeeping Camp.
Very basic accommodation at Housekeeping Camp
Housekeeping Camp is about like 75$ for 4 people, and about 80 for 5 people (something close to that)
Also try Curry Village. Tents for 2 or more people.
http://www.yosemitepark.com/bookOnline.cfm?SectionID=27&PageID=60
C. Hostel:
http://www.yosemitebug.com/lodging.html
Very highly rated at: http://www.hostelz.com/display.php/2413+HI+-+Midpines,+The+Yosemite+Bug+Hostel
http://www.stayatyosemite.com/cabhos/lodging.htm#hostel
D. Camping inside Yosemite: http://www.yosemite.national-park.com/camping.htm
Camping outside Yosemite: The best websites for information: http://jrabold.net/yosemite/campn.shtml
http://www.yosemitepinesrv.com/