Zion - Part One: National Parks and Ghost Towns

We left Seattle on the second part of our trip after spending a few days at home. We drove straight through, for about 24 hours, passing through Eastern Washington, Oregon, Idaho and most of Utah before reaching Zion National Park. We went through rain squalls, bug attacks, high winds, soft sunrises and scorching hot sun to get there. We passed many places we'll be adding to our list of future exploration needed. Our list seems to keep getting larger and larger, even as we tick so many boxes off of it. Ah, the life of the perpetual traveler... 

Eastern Washington looking lovely. En route to Utah

Love the four to eight watch on ships for the sunrise. It was beautiful on the interstate as well. Somewhere in Northern Utah.

We stopped first at Kolob Canyon in the Northwestern part of the park. It's gorgeous and completely unsuspecting from the interstate that rushes by it. A place not visited by many. The park ranger there mentioned a few good BLM sites for us to camp at, as the sites inside Zion were all full as predicted. We ended up heading into St. George to the Costco to refuel and along the way found an amazing spot we couldn’t pass up. Red Cliffs Recreational Area.

Geoff... seriously sweetie you're definitely looking the wrong way. Loving the red pavement by the way. Kolob Canyon, Zion National Park, Utah.

Click for full effect. Panorama of Kolob Canyon, Zion National Park, Utah

Kolob Canyon looking out across the plateaus. Zion National Park, Utah

Since starting our trip I’ve really come to appreciate the National Forests, State Parks, BLM land and Recreational Areas. These places are usually very well kept and scarcely visited compared to the National Parks they tend to be near. I can’t recommend them enough! The camping is either cheap or free and, for the most part, we’ve found them to be more spacious and private than sites within the National Parks. Red Cliffs is hands down our favorite camping spot to date. It’ll be hard to beat with the sites nestled into the cliffs that give this place its name. We watched the sun set over the cliffs and mountains of Zion in the distance and tried to sleep in the hot, hot heat.

Geoff exploring our new fav place to camp. Red Cliffs Recreational Area, Utah

A well deserved adult beverage at our campsite at the Red Cliffs Recreational Area, Utah

Sunset over the Red Cliffs Recreational Area, Utah

The following morning saw us explore our site a bit more meaning we got a late start heading into Zion. Oh, and it was a Saturday. Zion National Park works slightly different from the other parks in that no park visitors may bring their vehicles into the valley during the busy summer months. They have a free shuttle service that runs from 6am to 9:30pm every day of the week to the parks most popular trailheads and sites. A shuttle goes by about once every 4 to 8 minutes so you’ll never wait long. There is also a free shuttle from 9 different spots throughout Springdale, the town that resides on the park border, as parking within the National Park is scarce and this allows guests to explore the town and spread the love to many of the small businesses trying to make a go of it here. As we didn’t get to the park till almost noon we decided to ride the shuttle around and not do any large treks, as the heat of the day was really intense bouncing off the canyon walls. We did stop at Weeping Rock, which turned out to be incredibly neat and refreshing! 

Geoff crossing the mighty Virgin River in Zion National Park, Utah

Our necks really started to hurt after a while here in Zion with the cliff walls towering hundreds of feet above you.
Zion National Park, Utah

So a little run down of Zion. The incredible cliffs and walls of Zion Canyon are made of sandstone slowly eroded away over millions of years by the Virgin River. That’s the easy and short explanation. I won’t get too deep into all that but should you want more I’m sure the Internet is there for you. Now, throughout the canyon you’ll find cracks and arches with water streaming out of them while everything else remains dry as a bone. Rains that fall high on the plateaus seep down through the soft sandstone till it meets a harder layer it can’t permeate then is forced out through the stone laterally till it finds the cliff wall to escape to. This can take years, like hundreds of years even. From there it weeps and drips down the rocks where delicate ferns and flowers have taken up residence creating lush hanging gardens in the middle of an arid landscape. The trickling waterfalls coming straight out of the side of the canyon walls provided some much welcomed cool water in the hot sun.

The Weeping Rocks of Zion. All around is dry and arid yet here water pours out of no where to sustain delicate plant life.
Zion National Park, Utah

Enjoying the refreshingly cool waters seeping from the rocks at the Weeping Rocks in Zion National Park, Utah

We hopped back on the shuttle and took the bus all the way to the end of the line at the Temple of Sinawava. From here there is a one mile “paved” path along the Virgin River. There are many spots for brave visitors to take a dip in the cold water while all around you are postcard picture perfect scenes that will eventually give you a sore neck from looking up so much. We walked the path out to the end where the trail for the famous Narrows begins. We were not prepared to take this on today and it seemed far too busy so we decided we’d try to arrive early the next day and see how far we could get.

**Our tales of The Narrows deserves it’s own blog post so you’ll have to wait a minute for that one.**

After arriving back into town aboard the shuttle we wandered in and out of shops, stores, rock shops (which are EVERYWHERE in Utah and I really don’t know why…) and settled on a Mexican spot for the weakest margarita I’ve ever had, and a quesadilla. Right! Utah… Ridiculous rules about alcohol. Ugh.

The Rock Shop, selling giant pieces of glass for $4.00 a pound! Sooooo pretty and so many different colors. We almost bought one... almost. Springdale, Utah

We watched this lil nugget flit around a sidewalk garden as the sunset on the rocks around us. I could have watched her for hours.
Hummingbird in Springdale, Utah

Once again it was over 100 degrees well into the night and neither of us slept well. The following night we’d get a hotel after our bodies were bruised and tired from taking on The Narrows.

The following day before leaving the Zion area we wandered around the Ghost Town of Grafton. Originally settled in 1859 as a cotton growing project ordered by Brigham Young it was named Wheeler. The town was destroyed by flood and resettled as a farming community and renamed New Grafton after the town in Massachusetts. There's quite a bit of history here with the last resident leaving not until 1944. The town has been used in many films including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We toured the old schoolhouse and two homes that are still standing. The apple and pear orchards have seen better days but are still bearing fruit that the free roaming cattle seem to love. We then toured the old cemetery and learned a bit more about the more violent times in Grafton with disease and fighting with the local tribes wiping out many of the towns residents. It was erie and beautiful at the same time and gave us a new appreciation for the modern day conveniences we are privileged to have. I can not imagine how hard life would have been trying to settle a new town in a completely inhospitable environment.  (sorry I couldn't pick my fav pictures from this spine tingling place)

I can see why this is a popular spot for filming old westerns. Grafton Ghost Town, Utah

Me swinging on a swing that sits on the spot of an old swing that killed two of the towns young residents.
Grafton Ghost Town, Utah

So many stories here.
Grafton Ghost Town, Utah

Look at this handy work in dove-tailing the pieces of lumber.
Grafton Ghost Town, Utah

Erie interior of one of the last standing houses in Grafton, Utah

The front porch and brick work in one of Grafton Utahs last remaining houses.

You can see the signs of restoration in place to keep what's left of this historic town in tact.
Grafton, Utah

The cows love these long forgotten orchards in Grafton, Utah

Geoff making friends with Grafton, Utah's only resident.

Erie interior of another home in Grafton Ghost Town, Utah

What story does this home in the Ghost Town of Grafton, Utah tell you?

Wooden headstone in the Grafton Ghost Town Cemetery, Utah

After refilling our water supplies at the Visitors Center in Zion we took the amazing road up and over Zion, through an amazing mile long tunnel with several “galleries” cut into the side of the mountain offering a gorgeous view from within the tunnel. When it was completed in 1930, after 10 years of construction, the Zion - Mt. Carmel Tunnel was the longest of it's kind in North America. On the other side of the mountain, the landscape changed drastically. The same sandstone that we saw in the canyon took on otherworldly shapes and patterns. We watched a large herd of Big Horned Sheep for quite a while before continuing our journey.

The Great Arch of Zion. While this arch doesn't go all the way through the rock it's still impressive seemingly floating there hundreds of feet into the air. Zion National Park, Utah

Heading into the mile long tunnel in Zion National Park, Utah

Geoff taking in the views from one of the "galleries" cut into the mountain side through the tunnel in Zion National Park, Utah

The oddly different sandstone shapes on the east side of Zion National Park, Utah

This cheeky big horned sheep being all perfect in Zion National Park, Utah

Checkerboard Mesa in Zion National Park. The vertical and horizontal cracks in the rock are a rarity and the bright colors make it look like a checkerboard, hense the name.
Zion National Park, Utah

Where Zion ends and the rest of the world begins...
Zion National Park, Utah

On exiting Zion National Park we were greeted by a herd of Bison before heading on to our next stop – Bryce Canyon National Park. But that is for another post. 

Look at the Buffalo roaming!! Just outside Zion National Park, Utah

Till next time - Fair winds my friends.

Marsha and Geoff