June 8th – Moab to Kanab: The day started very early for us today. The winds were forecast to be high, picking up in intensity all day so we thought it best to be airborne by first light which occurs here about 0550.  Up at 0400, we packed, grabbed some coffee and breakfast and headed off to the airport about 15 miles away. Arrangements had already been made for our early departure with a late evening fueling, and drop boxes for the hotel and car keys. All went according to plan and we Wild Mama lifted off just as the sun peeked over the horizon.

The morning air was still and cool – only 56 degrees – and in spite of density altitude, Wild Mama was flying great. We followed the highway back down to Moab as we climbed out to 8,500’, then turned to the southwest-ish following the Colorado River on the east side of Canyonlads National Park. We passed the lookout point where we had driven just 2 days before and saw the “back side” of the view: still quite magnificent. Lighting plays an important part in mountain viewing – the brilliant colors of the high noon sun were washed away with the morning but as the sun rose ever higher in the sky the kaleidoscope of colors started to return from the tops downward.

My job was fly, so Ellen go the “view” side of of the plane and I paid attention to the River, meandering our say to the southwest. The winds aloft were already up to 18-20 kts (headwinds, naturally) but the ride was mostly smooth with an occasional warble as we passed a high peak. In short order we had arrived at Lake Powell and made the turn at Page, AZ for the last leg to the west toward Kanab. This route took us right over “The Wave”, the rock formation that we had tried to get a hiking permit to see. The BLM only issues 20 hiking permits per day for The Wave and you have to apply by lottery in February for a June permit. We were not successful in securing a permit among the 1600 applicants for the 20 slots. But we had a back-up plan. Today, however, we get the aerial view. We got the GPS coordinates and headed to the spot. You could see the swirls and the colors of Paw Hole for miles out. We circled the area, Ellen snapping photos of all of the Wave-like features we could find. The Coyote Butte North area contains The Wave but the south area (where we DID secure a hiking permit) has many other Wave-like features which will have to satisfy our appetite for swirly rocks.

With SD cards chock full of photos, we made the last leg to Kanab where we landed on runway 1 with an ever increasing 5 kt wind. It was good to be on the ground: we had an outstanding flight but we know what is coming and we succeeded in beating the winds to Kanab. Our rental car place did not open until 0800 so we clean and cleaned out the airplane until it was time to call. We had reserved a 4x4 Jeep for the next few days as the terrain and the driving conditions on some of the roads to the trailheads can be a little slick or sandy. We had not anticipated such an early arrival so we had an extra day available to us, so to speak, and headed off to plan the day, deciding on Willis Creek Slot Canyon via Skutumpah Road (we called this “Stump the Chump” Road because half the time we were not sure where it was leading us).

We departed on highway 89 to the south, then north on Johnson and off into oblivion on Skutumpah Road. We were happy to have the 4x4. The road quickly went from paved to smooth gravel to rumple strips the morphed into a sand pit as we started winding our way down the mountain. We stopped at many points along the way for scenic views and to admire the many wild flowers that are growing along the road. After passing the clay wash – deemed impassable if a rain storm would happen to come by – we crossed Bull Valley Gorge where a pick-up truck veered off the road (back in the 50’s) and became lodged in the Gorge where to one could extract the truck. Over the years, dirt and sand were applied to make the bridge that we drove across today. Believe me, it was NOT a standard DOT issue bridge and, again, we were happy to have the 4x4. Shortly thereafter we arrived at Willis Creek Slot Canyon and prepared for our hike.

We selected this slot canyon because it was billed as an easy kike as opposed to many that require ropes, carabineers and experience. They also billed this hike as “flat” but we quickly learned that “flat” from the perspective of a Utahan differs greatly than from that of a Floridian. We descended into the canyon to start the hike, following the creek the whole way – at least the trail was easy to follow. This slot canyon in not as skinny as many: in some spaces you could touch both sides of the canyon while in others we were able to walk side by side. The walls towered over us and we felt an instant cool down of about 15-20 degrees from the high noon heat of the day. You could imagine the effect of the water flowing over the rock for millions of years, ponding and pooling in places to produce a rounded hollowed look punctuated by sharper points. The lines and striations in the rock showed the geological history of the area and produced that Wave-like pattern but this time in shades of gray. Those interior rocks were quite cool to the touch in many places we could see layers of smaller rocks imbedded in the lines.

We continued along in and out of small slot canyons until the creek trickle into the sands and stopped. Rounding the bend, we saw an arch beckoning us to continue further down the trail to the next canyon that seemed just a short walk away but we had already covered the roughly 1 hour we calculated to make the inward portion of the hike and decided to turn back, lest we end up at the other end of a 13 mile one way path and far away from our car with no cell phone service. The view from the other direction looked strange and we could not recognize some of the landmarks we had seen on the way in. Fortunately, the creek provided all the direction we needed and we made it back to the trailhead and the car in short order.

In lieu of returning through the rumple strip road, we opted to continue to Cannonville and onto the highway. We drove back up out of the canyon and then continued on a series of ups and downs on a narrow, sandy path with a straight drop off to our right. I drove on the left to leave as much space as possible between us and the canyon below, hoping that no cars were motoring the opposite direction. We crested one hill to encounter a vast rainbow vista: a spread of greenery, the pink and yellow mountains lay against the brilliant blue sky. Quite awesome to behold! We arrived back on a paved road to the south of Bryce Canyon national Park in a series of Parks and other protected areas. Cresting another mountain the hoodoos came into view: it was a sea of tri-colored hoodoos standing tall overlooking the plateau and calling our names to stop at the next scenic view area.

The stop was Mossy Caves and the hoodoo trail (our name because it was lined with hoodoos off in the distance).  It was a magical area with a waterfalls, hoodoos and the only cave sporting humidity in the area – humidity sufficient to support the growth of moss in the desert. We pressed on up through highway 12 then made the loop back to highway 89 and back to Kanab. It was already 1800 and time for us to get some dinner ad rest.

Dinner was at the Rocking V Diner, an interesting restaurant with an upstairs art gallery with local art. We finally made it to the Quail Park Lodge for the evening, plunking ourselves in our spacious retro-styled hotel room: very comfortable and very nice. We are tired after a long day and need to rest to re-group for another exciting day tomorrow.

June 9th – Toadstools, Grand Escalante, Best Friends:  We got a good night’s rest last night and had an easy day today. We got off just before 0800 to head off to the Grand Escalante Visitors Center to see what we wanted to do. Since we got in so early, we had a whole extra day to play with. We made it to the Center with 5 minutes to spare until the last lottery for the Wave for a hike tomorrow. The final 10 slots were up for grabs and there was a room full of hikers, including us, who put their names in for the slots. Unfortunately, luck was not with us for the Wave and our last opportunity to hike the Wave was gone.

The Center volunteers suggested taking route 89 south for some nice hikes and scenic drives so we said “why not” and set out to the east. The toadstools were the first hiking stop. This is considered back country hiking but at the mildest form. Good thing. The trail lead through the wash and appeared to be pretty easy until we hot 2 dead ends following the foot prints in the sand. We could see where we needed to go but did not see the most obvious path to get there until we spied the 81 year old man on top of the toad stool mound and hollered up to him to point to the trail. Seems his family made the same error and it was their foot prints we followed.

The toadstools were interesting formations that we dubbed “hoodoos in training”. They look, well, exactly like toadstools or mushrooms. There were several varieties in shades of whites and reads. Having our fill of toadstools, we wandered back out to the car to head out on Cottonwood canyon Road, said to be an exquisitely beautiful drive. It did not take us long to realize that following this road to its ultimate destination would leave us insufficient time to make it to the Best Friends tour scheduled for 1500 this afternoon so we abandoned the mission and opted for smaller and lesser dirt roads on the way back along highway 89. We found Paria Township Road/585. This road was to hook to 584 and loop back out to highway 89. We entered into a small valley then popped up over an embankment to see an array of colors the likes of which we had not seen to date. There were more hues of greens and browns mixed beneath a rainbow of compressed layers. None of this was visible from the highway in spite of our being within a stone’s throw. We 4 wheeled our way around until we hit a point of 584 where the rocks in the road looked somewhat bigger than the eight of the undercarriage of the Jeep so we did a 180 and headed back to the highway for the trip back to Kanab.

The Grand Staircase Escalante, we learned, is a series of plateaus formaing a staircase. The lowest level is the chocolate (where Kanab sits), then vermillion, white, gray and pink on top where Bryce Canyon is located. The area is rich with vast, still unexplored wilderness areas. We only scratched the surface.

Our final planned activity for the day was Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and Rehabilitation Center. The facility sits on 3700 of their own acres and 30,000 leased acres from the BLM. There is a horse house; dog house, cat house, bird house, bunny bungalow, pig, goat and sheep house and they take all unwanted and homeless animals to live out their lives there if they cannot be adopted. We toured the facility and got to spend some quality kitty time with some of the residents. Also wandering bout the property are all of the wild animals that regularly inhabit the area including the wild turkey and coyote that we saw. We walked through Angel’s Rest, the pet cemetery and listened to the tranquil sounds of the wind chime trees, purchased in dedication to lost pets. It was an amazing facility.

Our unplanned stop was to the cave and hidden Lake on the Best Friends property. We hiked back about 1 mile or so to a shallow cave with a hidden lake inside. The rocks were very Wave-like and the smell of moisture and the cool temperature in the cave were enchanting to us humidity dwellers. After this full (easy day for 2 “type A’s), we headed back to prepare for a full day tomorrow in Bryce Canyon.

June 10th - Bryce Canyon: Bryce Canyon has been on my gotta do list for years, and today I got er done. Ellen and I took the most popular hike in the park, the Queens/Navajo Loops trails: a 3 mile hike from the rim down to the bottom of the hoodoo spires over 600' below.

We descended along a gentle slope among the hoodoos and pine forest wondering how we were ever going to get to the bottom. Every turn was another opportunity for a view more exciting than the last. The hike was billed as a 2-3 hour loop. By the time 40 minutes passed we were beginning to wonder about the trip back up to the rim of the canyon. Departing the Queens Loop, we veered off to the Navajo Loop which was more along the lower canyon level and through a lush forest of pines. The day started cool and with the winds lingering from yesterday, it was not a bad hike at all, but a bit cool for my taste. It seems that while I was busy checking the weather for our anticipated Tuesday morning flight to Sedona, Ellen was wisely checking then forecast for today. I should have known something was up when Ellen emerged in long pants and a long sleeve shirt and I was still in shorts and a tank top. It seems we had a failure to communicate. But I digress ...
 
Back wandering along the trail, we saw a new variety of flora including Paintbrush, Rubber Rabbitbrush, Sego Lily, Mazanita and Arrowleaf Balsamroot. A chipmunk passed by doing his little chipmunk happy dance as he gnawed on some stems, then scurried off ahead of us as if to say "follow me". As we emerged from the Forrest we could see the hoodoos come back into view and it occurred to us that we started this adventure looking down upon the giants. We were now standing at their bases with nowhere to go but up.
 
There was a short set of stairs build into the side of the canyon the have you the introduction to the ascent. The remainder of the ascent through the hoodoos w a series of switch backs - and steep ones at that. With each switch you could look back to marvel at your accomplishment on the rise to the top. It was helpful to turn around too; not only to see where you had been but to admire the scenery from whence you came. As I neared the top, I could hear the theme song to "Rocky" playing in my head, envisioning his climb to the top of the stairs. Upon reaching the "summit" it was a such an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and a breathtakingly beautiful view. I stood mesmerized by the sight, the feeling of being back on top of the world and stared out at the multi-colored canyon walls trying to burn the image in my brain to savor it for a long time to come. This is what I had come to see.
 
We finished our hike exhilarated but hungry and paused for a bit to nosh on our lunch at Sunset Point before wandering off through the remainder of the Park. The remainder of the afternoon was spend on the Park road, stopping at all of the viewing spots along the way and spotting various specimens of flora and fauna.

We headed back to the hotel early to get some rest for tomorrow when we do our hike in the Coyote Butte South area. Passing by the small towns heading south along Highway 89 we encountered the same local Sheriffs sitting along side of the road and thought this odd that they always seemed to be there. As we passed the last spot we recalled seeing the Sheriff on our northbound trip we slowed to take a good ander inside the car only to find a dummy cop posed behind the wheel. How incredibly genius - slowing the tourists and saving the taxpayers bundles for salaries!