My OperaZion
Friday, July 7, 2006 12:54:09 AM
From: Valley of Fire State Park
To: Zion National Park
Miles: 152
MPG: 42.3 (The worst yet. Very disappointing.)
Success! Turned out we had been moments away from Poodle Dog Rock all night. (All sleepless night, that is. The temperature never dropped much beyond 90.) So without further ado, here is Poodle Dog Rock:
We went straight to Zion from there with only a quick stop at a convenience store for coffee. One of the few other patrons there was a long-haul truck driver wearing, we kid you not, spurs. Complete with the little spiked wheely thingies that you kick the horse with to get it to run faster. We really wanted to take a photo of him, but then thought better of it. We left wondering just how much faster an 18-wheeler goes when you kick the floorboard with your spurs…
We got to Zion at about 10:30 a.m.
First thing was to find a camping spot by the Virgin River – who said you needed reservations here?
They won’t let you drive personal vehicles into the park during the high season, so we hopped on the bus and went up to the Grotto, the embarkation point for the Angel’s Landing trailhead, billed as a “a strenuous four hour hike with precipitous drop offs.” Yeah, right, we thought. These national park rangers always exaggerate.
Not this time. We gained at least 1200 feet and 2 miles in the first 45 minutes. Feeling quite proud of ourselves we reached the summit…or maybe not. Reaching the actual summit involved another 50 minuets and 550 feet of straight up assisted by chains bolted into the side of the cliff we were clinging to for dear life.
In the end, it was all worth it. (We can say that now that we have safely reached the bottom.)
We wuz here!
To: Zion National Park
Miles: 152
MPG: 42.3 (The worst yet. Very disappointing.)
Success! Turned out we had been moments away from Poodle Dog Rock all night. (All sleepless night, that is. The temperature never dropped much beyond 90.) So without further ado, here is Poodle Dog Rock:
We went straight to Zion from there with only a quick stop at a convenience store for coffee. One of the few other patrons there was a long-haul truck driver wearing, we kid you not, spurs. Complete with the little spiked wheely thingies that you kick the horse with to get it to run faster. We really wanted to take a photo of him, but then thought better of it. We left wondering just how much faster an 18-wheeler goes when you kick the floorboard with your spurs…
We got to Zion at about 10:30 a.m.
First thing was to find a camping spot by the Virgin River – who said you needed reservations here?
They won’t let you drive personal vehicles into the park during the high season, so we hopped on the bus and went up to the Grotto, the embarkation point for the Angel’s Landing trailhead, billed as a “a strenuous four hour hike with precipitous drop offs.” Yeah, right, we thought. These national park rangers always exaggerate.
Not this time. We gained at least 1200 feet and 2 miles in the first 45 minutes. Feeling quite proud of ourselves we reached the summit…or maybe not. Reaching the actual summit involved another 50 minuets and 550 feet of straight up assisted by chains bolted into the side of the cliff we were clinging to for dear life.
In the end, it was all worth it. (We can say that now that we have safely reached the bottom.)
We wuz here!
