Week 27 – Grand Canyon to Moab

Week 27

Last week we left Los Angeles and checked out Joshua Tree National Park in the California desert and spent my birthday at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. This week we are headed to Zion National Park and Capitol Reef National Park in Utah.

Day 185 Mon 10/09

This morning we left the Kaibab National Forest free dispersed camping spot right outside of the Grand Canyon National Park and headed back to find a parking spot in the park for the day so John could run down the South Kaibab Trail to Phantom Ranch and then back up Bright Angel Trail.   My brother and I did that route 3 years ago yesterday and I was itching to go with John again this time but I was not prepared.  If you are not 110% certain that you can do it, it is not something to do on a whim…John caught the shuttle at 7:15 for a 7:30 am start.  It was a chilly morning but the high is only supposed to be 55 at the top and 72 down at Phantom Ranch which is ideal conditions.  The sun is out and there is a wind so that should keep it cooler too.  When we did it before it was a cloudy day so that helped to keep it cool in the canyon too.  John’s predicted time was around 6 hours to allow for some photographing and stopping for a snack and a chat with folks staying at Phantom Ranch before climbing back out.  He finished in 5 hours and 40 minutes and immediately wanted to eat, have a beer and take a warm shower.  After his warm shower, we went to eat pizza in the lodge.  He thought he was going to puke though and could not keep his body temp up so he bundled up in his sleeping bag for an afternoon rest after eating a bit.   John had met a couple from New Zealand hiking the route down this morning and they shared that they prefer vacationing in the states over New Zealand, and this is not uncommon for foreign travelers we have met so far.  John said the South Kaibab Trail was so rutted out from mules and traffic since last time we were here that it was difficult to run.  He saw Jim Walmsley, holder of the R2R2R fastest known time record, so he was a bit star struck too.  While John was out I walked with Cooper on the Rim Trail to the Trail View Overlook and saw views of the Bright Angel Trail down into the canyon.  Tonight, we took the shuttle and checked out the sunset at Mojave Point before leaving the park.  It was freezing and not that spectacular…We were both underwhelmed, unfortunately.  After we got back to the RV we drove to a truck stop outside of park down the road in Cameron, UT for the night.  The fires in Napa area started last night and are devastating!   I am so glad that my Brother Barrett and SIL Jessica and nephew Beckham are not there otherwise I would be going crazy…I grew up with a real fear of natural disasters and every night before I would go to bed I would pray that there would be no natural disasters and I would list them out…PLEASE God do not let there be a tornado, PLEASE God do not let there be fire…I would even have (and still do have) reoccurring nightmares about them…So, these fires in the middle of the night without warning are straight out of my worst nightmares, and I can’t even imagine the real life trauma these people will face in their future.  I pray for protection, perspective and perseverance for all those who have been affected and are still battling the blaze.

Day 186 Tues 10/10

This morning we woke up at the truck stop in Cameron, and it was cold!  Arizona is in mountain time but does not acknowledge daylight savings time unless you are on Indian reservation land so we never know what time it is…so confusing!  John fixed a few things on the RV (the solar battery connection to fridge and gas detector) because we were woken up at 4 or 5 am with the gas detector screeching at us…Apparently the fridge was connected to the house battery which is no good anymore, so he switched it over to the solar batteries and we are good to go now!  After he put everything back together we drove to Horseshoe Bend, and hung out there for a few hours.  When we were in this area 3 years ago we did not even know about this place and through social media (Instagram) it has blown up!  They are expanding the parking lot and building more infrastructure because of the crowds.  This area is unique for being run by NPS because it does not have guardrails so crazy people can take selfies as close to the edge as they want…and kids can run crazy too.  John chit chatted with another full time #vanlife couple from Austin, TX who had been on the road for 2 years and are adventure photographers.  Tonight, we headed to the Walmart in Page, AZ, and it was packed with RVs.  There were some interesting ones too.  We met a couple from Holland in the parking lot and shared some travel stories.  John decided he likes this time of year in the parks because it is all foreign travelers and he likes to hear their stories.  We were able to watch the sunset over a nearby canyon, and set up a fun family photo shoot…not bad for a Walmart parking lot!

Day 187 Wed 10/11

This morning we woke up in Page, AZ at the Walmart, and decided to hang out at Lake Powell for the day and blogged.  Tonight, we drove to a free BLM camping spot near Zion National Park in Mt. Carmel Junction, UT.  It was a great spot by the Virgin River with trees rustling in the wind.

Day 188 Thurs 10/12

This morning we woke up at the BLM land campsite and drove into Zion National Park through the east entrance.  It was another cold morning!  The drive into the valley is so beautiful.  John remembered 3 yrs ago in the rental RV when we drove the opposite direction out of the valley how he thought to himself that he was glad he wasn’t going down, but now he knows how to use the brakes and low gears properly so it wasn’t as bad as he had expected.  Luckily John had reserved a campsite a few days ago so we didn’t need to wake up at crazy hours to wait in line to get a campsite.  Plus, we were not allowed in the park through the tunnel until 8 am to use traffic control for an oversized vehicle to drive down middle of the tunnel because of low clearance.  Once we made it to the valley we walked with Cooper on the Pa’rus Trail (the only one in the park that allows dogs).  We also looked into the Narrows hike for the next couple of days.  If we can board Cooper for a night we will do it.  The water temp this time of year is 45 degrees so water socks, shoes, and pants are recommended so we would need to rent those too.  John made lentil soup for dinner.  We are a few campsites down from where we stayed the last time we were here 3 yrs ago on the Virgin River in the Watchman Campground and the cell service is way better now!  After dinner, we walked the campground with Cooper at sunset, then listened to the river flow by with the windows open.  What a great location to spend a relaxing evening!

Day 189 Fri 10/13

This morning John went for a run on the Rim Trail which is past the turn off for Angel’s Landing.  We hiked Angel’s Landing 3 yrs ago, so he skipped that this time.  The views into the valley and the fall colors were spectacular.  After his run he met several folks from separate groups on the shuttle that were from Katy, TX where he is from and his parents still live.   I hung out with the animals this afternoon and when John made it back to the RV I went for a walk to the post office to return some loaned books to free up space on our bookshelf for more.  Tonight, we made a fire and relaxed listening to the rush of the river and ate leftovers for dinner.  I’m not gonna lie I did have this weird guilty feeling that we were enjoying the warmth and light of a campfire when so many will now associate that that with devastation and destruction…

Day 190 Sat 10/14

This morning I took Cooper for a run on the Pa’rus Trail again, and it was cold before the sun rose above the mountains!  We left Zion today and drove towards Capitol Reef National Park.  This was a long drive and we realized as we were driving that the temp kept dropping significantly so I checked the weather for where we were going and turns out the low is supposed to be 26 degrees…Well, for multiple reasons we cannot camp in the RV at 26 degrees!  John had bought a space heater before we went to Zion because there was a chance it would get that cold there too and we knew we had electric hookups there to plug in the heater.  So, tonight we found Wonderland RV park in Torrey, UT with electric hookups near the park for the night so we could run the electric heater to keep warm and make sure our pipes don’t burst since we are not winterized.  We made sweet potatoes stuffed with kale and black beans with a vegan avocado green goddess dressing for dinner, and it was yummy!  The animals slept with us tonight to stay warm and the heater kept us nice and toasty too!

Day 191 Sun 10/15

This morning it was COLD! But we survived the night with the heater!  The owners of the park left their sprinklers running all night so the pipes would not freeze and there were frozen water circles all over the grass.  Some RVs had not disconnected their water hoses or sewer hoses so they were definitely frozen this morning too.  We headed to the Capitol Reef National Park visitor center to get some suggestions on hikes for the day and decided on the Rim Overlook Trail but first we walked Cooper to the historic Gifford Homestead for fresh pie.  On more than one occasion John had people suggest to him that we had to buy these pies, so of course we had to try them.  The New Zealand couple in the Grand Canyon said they had pie after every hike when they were here!  We bought a strawberry rhubarb pie and walked back to the RV to drive to the trailhead.  On the uphill hike, we met a couple from Katy, TX again hiking to the top named Mary and Steve who were also Aggies, class of 84. We shared travel stories as we hiked to the top.  The valley was covered in yellow fall leaves and it was beautiful!  After the hike, we drove towards our next destination, Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.  The landscape seemed to shift every few miles and the land formations were so drastically different as we drove along.  We encountered some RV hiccups on our long drive…The temperature gauge and the oil gauge kept spiking and John would pull over and turn the engine off, look under the hood, and then start it back up and it would be fine for another 30 min then it would do it again so we just limped our way to the BLM land just north of Moab for the night.  We had internet too!  John did not have the energy to try to figure out the issue tonight, but he suspected it was something electrical and our battery seems to be acting up too…Oh and the darn radio is out again?!  We ate leftovers and caught up with John’s Mom before calling it a night. This is a mountain biker spot called Dinosaur Tracks so all the other RVs had several mountain bikes.  We even saw a night biker with their headlamp going down the trails!  The stars were out tonight!

This week we wrapped up our time in Arizona and made it to our next state, Utah.  Next week, and from now on, we will have to constantly monitor the low temperatures so we know when to find a campground with electric hookups so we can run our heater.  We are hoping for warmer evenings as we continue south for the winter months.  Next week we are headed to Colorado and New Mexico on our way to Texas for the holidays!

This week’s map below indicates our route from Grand Canyon, AZ to Moab, UT.