Zion, Crystal, & Kansas

THE NARROWS - one of the iconic hikes in Zion NP

I took my wife to Zion Nat'l Park (my 3rd time here) and we finally did the Narrows. Fun slog through the river! Most of the time the water was just below the knee and only one spot was it higher (just below one's crotch). The water temp was 56 and air temp went from 55 in the morning to over 80 by the time we got "out" of the Narrows.

Starting off, the crowds were not too bad. If you waited maybe 15 seconds for a photo, all the people also hiking in the river would be gone in front or behind you. But when we headed back and got close to the trailhead, there was a steady stream of people every 30 feet! If you go, go early!

From Zion we scooted 5 hours over to Moab UT for dinner in a restaurant. We then followed the Colorado River along a small highway until we got back to the freeway. Million dollar drive! We would have camped along here, but it was raining off and on and I did not feel like wrapping up a wet tent after a night in the rain.

Just outside of Grand Junction CO is the Colorado National Monument. We did the top rim drive and several hikes here. And no, my camera is NOT tilted, that is how the plateau tilts.

That is a dry river at the bottom of the canyon, it is not a road. Colorado National Monument. *How the Grand Canyon was made.

A couple hours east of Grand Junction one comes to the ghost town of Marble CO and the old Crystal Mill. One definitely needs a good 4x4 vehicle to get here (I love my truck)! Or hike the 4 miles one way, which I would say half of the people did. The bulk of the other half paid for guides that came in UTVs. I was ok with the road, but half-way my wife got out the truck to walk the rest of the way down this cliff sided single lane, two-way (sheesh) rocky old mining "road"!

I have been trying to get here for 30 years! Finally made it and by happenstance came when the aspens were brilliant.

One of my planned stops on my drive home was in Lost Spring KS to check out this forgotten old church.

And another stop was in Hiawatha KS to check out this cemetery memorial. I spent an hour just walking around it. The wife died first, so the husband created this time capsule of them thru the decades - 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. Very touching. Except the bitter look on his face when he was "alone".

I finally got home at midnight but woke up the next day at 6am. It took me over a week to unpack and wash everything - especially the truck!

I was gone nearly 4 weeks. It was a great trip!

I took my digital camera for easy color images (ie posts above), my Nikon F2 film camera with 4 lenses, and my 4x5 camera with 3 lenses. That said, I created a small photo book from my digital color images on The Wave.

Additional images coming soon

Additional images coming soon