Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

You can read Part One here.

You can read Part Two here.

It was a short, but beautiful drive to Zion National Park.  Here’s the route we drove:

INFORMATION ABOUT ZION

(From the nps.gov website):  Almost 12,000 years ago Zion’s first peoples, who are now almost invisible, tracked mammoth, giant sloth, and camel across southern Utah. Due to climate change and overhunting these animals died out about 8,000 years ago. Humans adapted by focusing on mid-sized animals and gathered foods. As resources dwindled 2,600 years ago, people tuned lifeways to the specifics of place. Such a culture, centered on Zion, differentiated over the next 1,500 years into a farming tradition archaeologists call Virgin Anasazi.

The Anasazi moved southeast 800 years ago, due probably to drought and overuse. Soon after, Paiute peoples brought a lifeway fine-tuned to desert seasons and thrived. In the 1860s, just after settlement by Mormon pioneers, John Wesley Powell visited Zion on the first scientific exploration of southern Utah. By hard work and faith, pioneers endured in a landscape that hardly warranted such persistence. Flash floods destroyed towns and drought burned the crops. Only the will to survive saw Paiute, Anasazi, and European descendants through great difficulties. Perhaps today Zion is again a sanctuary, a place of life and hope.

Located in Southwestern Utah, Zion National Park encompasses some of the most scenic canyon country in the United States. The park is characterized by high plateaus, a maze of narrow, deep sandstone canyons and striking rock towers and mesas.

Zion National Park is a showcase of geology. Geologic processes have played an important role in shaping Zion. The arid climate and sparse vegetation allow the exposure of large expanses of bare rock and reveal the park’s geologic history.

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Of all the spectacular places we visited on this trip, Steve and I agree that Zion was our favorite.  The next time we go back for a visit, we’d like to spend several days there, as we’d like to explore some of the ‘nooks and crannies’ only accessible by leaving the road system and hiking.

Route 9, aka Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, which connects Rt 89 (from Bryce) and I-15, travels directly through Zion National Park. Whether or not you plan to stop and explore Zion, you’re still going to have to pay the $25 entrance fee (good for 7 days) if you travel this road.  (I wonder what the system is if you have a daily commute through Zion on this highway?)

Another scenic drive within the park (Zion Canyon Scenic Drive) is open to private vehicle traffic off season (Nov-March), but only accessible by free shuttle bus during the tourism season.

Since we were coming into the park from the East Entrance, and Springdale (where we were staying the night) was out the South Entrance, we decided to enjoy Zion as we drove through and check into our hotel later that afternoon/evening.

We were absolutely enthralled with the landscape around us. The colors of the rocks and the sand glowed in neon hues in the sunshine.  We stopped frequently to take photos and video footage, enjoying scenic overlooks, and taking short walks to get closer to the foliage, caves and rock formations, and the beautiful Virgin River which runs through Zion Canyon.

The weather was just perfect, with warm sunshine, a slight breeze, and temperatures warm enough to only require a fleece jacket. No hats or gloves were required, and after our rather chilly adventure at Bryce, we were very happy about this!

Notice Steve at the far right of this pano?

I love the way the trees arched over the park road:

We exited the park in the quaint and very pretty little town of Springdale. What a backdrop the townsfolk have the privilege to enjoy on a daily basis!

We chose the Desert Pearl Inn for lodging that evening, and were very pleased.  We opted for a 2nd floor King room, even though there is no elevator, because the ceilings are vaulted - making the room seem even more spacious.

The floor in the living space was a gorgeous wood planking, while the bathroom area had beautiful tile. Both floors were heated for comfort. Each room has a terrace or balcony and we had a fabulous view of the mountains and the river below. Mule deer frequented the river and yard, and were a pleasure to observe.

Overhead, huge beams crossed the ceiling, and further research on the hotel website revealed that those beams (and all of the wood throughout Desert Pearl Inn) is reclaimed old growth Douglas Fir and Redwood from the the historic Lucin Cutoff railroad trestle that once spanned the north end of the Great Salt Lake. You can read more about this railroad and the wood here.

The bed was extremely comfortable and the room also had a queen size sleeper sofa, kitchenette with a refrigerator, toaster oven, dishwasher, all utensils and dishes, kitchen linens, coffee pot, microwave, and wet bar sink. Each room has a wide screen TV with VCR and there is a video lending library in the office. You could easily stay here a week or more, and we would.  Off season, the rate for our river side suite, was $108 ($98 for pool side), but during peak tourism that rate increases by $60/night. Yet another reason to visit Zion in the off season.

While there was still light left in the day, we again just unloaded our bags, and headed off to do more exploring. This time, we continued southwest on Hwy 9 to the town of Virgin (about 13 miles) and Kolob Terrace Road.

Most people who visit Zion National Park never explore any further than Zion Canyon. But the park does have two other areas that are easily reachable, and pretty remarkable: Kolob Canyons (which is accessed from I-15 north of St. George) and Kolob Terrace Road, which slices through the middle of the park, in between Zion Canyon and Kolob Canyons.  We didn’t have the opportunity to explore Kolob Canyons, but we’re thrilled that we took the time to drive Kolob Terrace Road.

As you travel up Kolob Terrace Road, you pass a variety of scenery.  We saw a lot of cows - some on the road or crossing the road. They even crossed at the designated Cow Crossing signs, which we found quite humorous.  There are some stretches where the scenery is rather nondescript, and then you round a bend and gorgeous vistas unfold before you.

The road isn’t widely traveled. I think we only passed two other vehicles the entire drive.  There are private farms along the way (hence the cows), and the road goes in and out of the park boundary a couple of times. You can tell when you’re traveling within the park boundary because the road is paved a deep red within the park, while a normal gray or black outside the park.

Kolob is a word from the Book of Mormon used to describe the star nearest the throne of God, signifying a high and exalted place, a good name for a high plateau towering above the burning desert below.

The road leads to backcountry trailheads, an overlook located at Lava Point, the Kolob Reservoir, and eventually northward all the way to the outskirts of Cedar City. In the winter, the road can be closed to Lava Point due to snowdrifts and non-plowing. While we didn’t run into any snow on the ground in the higher elevations, it did start to flurry on us while we were up there, so we turned around before reaching Lava Point and headed back to the hotel.

On the way back to Virgin (about 20 miles), the sun was lower on the horizon, providing beautiful light for photographs. Clouds began to roll in (warning of the snow storm which had been chasing us on this vacation), obscuring the sun, and creating orange sunbeams which bathed the valley below. Stunning!

Here are some photos I took from Kolob Terrace Road:

Cow crossing:

This red dirt road went to a private farm. I loved the grasses in the winter sunlight!

Another pano showing the yellow grass and gorgeous mountains. Can you imagine living in such a beautiful place?

	Views from Kolob Terrace Rd Zion National Park

And the beautiful orange sunbeams. You can see the road color change in this photo as we leave the park boundary and enter private land:

On the final stretch back to the hotel, we passed some more horses enjoying their pasture. I really love the bare cottonwoods and dotted hillside as a backdrop:

Back at our room, I took this photo through the large expanse of glass opening onto our balcony:

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Steve and I were famished by then, and went in search of dinner. Many of the recommended restaurants (by the girl at the front desk) were crowded, as it was the dinner hour. We finally settled on a Mexican Restaurant (Amigos) which was just OK as for quality. After doing some research upon returning home, I see that this restaurant has gotten very poor reviews. No wonder the dining room was empty when we ate there.

The food was edible, but nothing I’d write home about. They did have an off-season price list that was included in the menu, reflecting as much as a $4 discount on some entrees. This put the prices in the range that we are accustomed to paying here in AK, so it didn’t hurt the wallet too much. I certainly wouldn’t want to pay those higher “tourist” prices for such a lackluster meal though.

The town of Springdale was decorated for the holidays. Many of the shops and private homes had Christmas lights up, holiday lawn ornaments, wreathes, etc. The street lampposts had Christmas banners and wreathes on them. It was quite festive, and I would have liked to have taken some photos of all the lights at night, but was only interested in getting back to our room and relaxing at that point.

We had a perfect day in Zion, and both agreed that it was our most enjoyable day yet (which says a lot considering the entire trip was fantastic!)

We slept with the shades up on all the windows, so that we would wake up to the beautiful views the next morning. And this is what we woke up to:

The snow had finally caught up to us.

Next: Zion to Vegas, with a stop at Valley of Fire State Park

Until next time…

Read PART FOUR here.