Nine Days In Utah 2005
Friday July 15 - Two families and Gina met at the Las Vegas airport and drove in 120 degree heat to Springdale Utah. It’s a small town just outside Zion National Park.
Saturday July 16 - HIKE THE NARROWS We rented special river shoes. They were boots made of neoprene (with ankle support). The Springdale town shuttle bus got us to Zion in five minutes. The National Park shuttle got us to the far back of the park in 45 minutes. We spent all day hiking up the rocky river. At a couple of spots it was so deep we had to swim. Rocks were everywhere, sometimes forming tight (narrow) canyon walls. Most of the afternoon was spent jumping off the shorter (10 foot) boulders.
Sunday July 17 – Tubing down the Virgin River. Two and a half hours pinballing off rocks. We then drove to Bryce N.P. and checked into a mom/pop hotel (1940’s) hotel just outside the Park. After dinner and before dark we drove 15 minutes into the park to view the Hoodoos.
Monday July 18 - A morning two hour hike down into Bryce Canyon. We made it to Queens Garden. There you can see a formation in the shape of Queen Victoria. In the afternoon all nine of us took a horseback ride toward Red Canyon. During cocktail hour, we argued who was the most sore.
Tuesday July 19 – A very early start (7:30) to Lake Powell and our houseboat.
The choice was either a long way around on route 89 or two hours on a dirt road through Cottonwood Canyon. As self titled “extreme tourists”, we chose the winding dirt road. Three of the five kids got carsick.
The next four days on the houseboat are a blur.
It took us three hours to motor (while towing the power boat) to one of the 95 fingers on Lake Powell. It was called Warm Creek and we drove the houseboat straight into soft dirt/sand. We dug anchor holes into the land and stayed parked for the four days. We had a little shoal we called our beach. Next to the shoal was a spot for the power boat.
Tubing and skiing before coffee. More tubing after a water and sunscreen break. Connor said when informed that is was 10:30 am, “I thought it’s around 3:00.”
Final gas totals: 91 gallons = over 300 dollars. And that is just for the ski boat.
After four days we returned both boats, To top off the Extreme Tourist Tour; we drove to the Grand Canyon. Then a five-hour drive to Las Vegas. The group checked into a casino at 11:30 pm on a Saturday night wearing flip-flops and t-shirts. All of us were sunburned and dirty. We fit right in.
The 7:30 am flights home on Sunday were a little early. What a trip.
Rick Reed,
July, 2005
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