Capitol Reef NP -- a surprise in the desert

Our friend Mac told us that his favorite desert campground was at Capitol Reef NP because there were lots of fruit trees and if anything was ripe, you could pick it.  I told him he had spent entirely too much time in the hot sun if he was telling me a story like that.  Turned out, he wasn't kidding.  This lush, tree-covered oasis along the Fremont River was settled by Mormon pioneers who planted trees like crazy, especially fruit-bearing varieties.The Park Service has maintained the orchards, replanting them as necessary over the years.  The campground along the river is shaded and cool even though huge desert rocks tower over it.  No wonder the Mormons stopped here.  They must have thought they were getting close to the Promised Land. 

The mule deer in the campground were so tame they came within twenty feet of our picnic table (left).  They thought nothing of wandering over for some of the green grass thet grew around the bath house -- heck, this sure seemed like better pickings than eating cactus across the road in the desert! 
We claimed the Purple Jersey (well, we DID ride from the campground on our bikes) next morning at the restored village where a couple of nice ladies served fresh-baked pie and coffee for breakfast.  We had blackberry pie at 9 am -- Jeff, are you reading this???

Hiking the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon

These are the weirdest rocks ever.  Hoodoos are rock formations caused by wind erosion, but a  Native American legend says that the people were turned to stone by the coyote god because they weren't well-behaved enough.  If you look hard you can imagine that -- they DO look like people in all sorts of poses and positions.  We worked our way along much of Bryce Canyon rim, so we saw the same rocks from about 240 degrees.  No matter how you look at them, they keep changing and look different in different light.

The Bryce Canyon Lodge is one of the only original park lodges from the early 1920s, and it's a beautiful building that's been well-maintained over the years.  It's open year 'round, so might be a fun winter destination -- snowshoeing and X-C skiing are winter activities in the park.  I found this raven hanging out in a tree outside the Lodge.  He definitely wanted me to notice him -- and cooperated by sitting still until I had snapped his picture, then moved just enough to give me another view of his very handsome self.  The ravens in the big parks have turned into shameless hucksters -- they LOVE to show off for visitors, and make sure you notice them by rudely squawking until you pay attention to them.
     Next stop -- Capitol Reef NP.

Zion National Park -- flowers in the desert

The drive to the East Entrance of Zion National Park is without a doubt one of the most spectacular scenic drives anywhere in the US.  The road winds up and up for something like 27 miles, clings to the sides of rodk walls, and shoots in and out of tunnels carved right through the mountains. 

Every turn reveals a postcard-picture view.  The red rocks tower above you and the light seems to come from within them.  They seem to glow with colors too bright to be real, but they are.

     We found a space at Watchman Campground, in with the big RVs, and enjoyed being close to the Visitor's Center and the shuttle bus routes.  Riding the park shuttles was the best way to get around, and we spent one whole day riding up and down the canyon, stopping to hike down to the bottom of the canyon and taking pictures everywhere we looked.Two of Zion's most famous rock formations -- beloved, we're told, of vertical-wall climbing fanatics -- are The Three Patriarchs  (right) and Angel's Landing (left, above).  There is actually a hiking trail all the way to the top of Angel's Landing, featuring a summit approach only 3' wide with thousand-foot dropoffs on both sides.  We decided NOT to attempt that one.

I was interested in the wildflowers that grew in all of the parks, but none of them were as spectacular as the Angel's Trumpets that were all over Zion.  These night-blooming shrubs opened their big white blossoms in the evening and closed up in the heat of the day, and when we first encountered them after dark on a walk back from a ranger talk, I was sure they were fakes.  The plants grow several feet high, resenble shrubs or bushes, and are entirely wild.  A park ranger told us that they "love it here" and do best in the hot, arid climate.  They were certainly the showiest wild flowers we found anywhere.
     Next stop:  Bryce Canyon NP, where we plan to "hike the hoo-doos."
    

The road less traveled

     The North Rim...it has to be one of my favorite places on Earth, and I'm writing this from the viewpoint if having done FOUR great parks in the past week or so.  The NR is beautiful, uncrowded, has everything we needed and nothing much that we didn't.  The park gets only about 10% as many visitors as the more-famous South Rim of the Grand Canyon, mostly because it's really remote and hard to get to.

We spent two nights here, hiked the trails and rode our bikes between the campground and the Lodge, Visitor Center and the General Store (which has groceries, ice, laundry and showers -- all the basic necessities!)  The NR's "spokescritter" (every park needs one, right?) is "Brighty", a burro once made famous in a childrens' story about his real-life namesake (named for Bright Angel Creek, which runs down the canyon from the North Rim).  When we found a toy version of Brighty in the NR Assoc store, we decided Max needed him and then had to figure out how to get our new friend back to the camper.  I'm not sure what the real Brighty would have thought of our solition, but it worked well for us.
     Next we're off to Zion, Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef NPs ("The Grand Staircase").

On the road -- Durango, CO

   Sorry there aren't any photos here yet -- all we did is travel today, and didn't stop to look at anything except gas pumps.  But we're in Durango, probably the nicest town on the Western slope of the Rockies.  The campground is nice, has wi-fi and the best feature: the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge RR runs right through the grounds.  I imagine we'll be awakened in the morning by a steam whistle..  Craig can hardly wait.

I was, however, a little disturbed when the lady who checked us in added (after telling us about the pool, laundry and wi-fi access) "We had bears in the campground last night, so please don't leave any food outside."  THis wouldn't have surprised me in one of the National Parks, but in TOWN???  Guess I'm not in Iowa anymore.

Schuyler -- thanks for the road music.  I'll admit now that I was braced for three hours of Weird Al Yankovich, so was quite pleased with the assortment -- especially the traveling music from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Cars,  All that vintage BB was nice -- I thought we had all of it, but you foiund some we don't have and it was fun to hear.  But then we got to CW McCall.....

Actrually, we drove over Wolf Creek Pass this afternoon.  It is pretty much like the song says (minus, thankfully, the missing shift knob and the failed brakes).  There is one really scary downhill stretch-- miles  of 7 percent grade, complete with hairpin turns and switchbacks.  The runaway truck ramps aren't like the nice loing sand pits we saw in Georgia and Tennessee -- these run uphill at about 10 percent and if you run off the end of one I guess you fall off the other side of the mountain.  Glad we didn't have to use them.  Westy per'formed very well, once he let us know that he wanted to be downshifted once in awhile.(Craig: '"We're floored and we're slowing down." ) We did indeed, end up in downtown Pugosa Springs -- no feed store in sight, but there is a definite dead end where you have to turn either left or tright to avoid slamming ointo a rather nondescript building.

Tomorrow we should see the North Rim, although we have yet to plot a route.  Don't know when we can send another post, but I promise, Sue, to take more pictures and get them up when we do.

Knitting on the Road: Will we EVER get out of town?

     Departure minus 18 hours, and we aren't even close to being ready to leave.  Craig and I have been planning this trip to the Southwest for more than a year, and when our grandson Ben agreed to move in and keep our two very spoiled cats happy while we're gone, we had the last detail taken care of and could get ready to leave. We're starting at  the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and then going to as many National Parks in Utah as we can visit in a couple of weeks.  This will be a combination car camping, bicycling, hiking and backpacking trip, so our VW Westy is going to be packed to the max.  PLUS, I am working hard to get work ready for the fall galleries and shows, so knitting on the road is not just a boredom reliever this year -- it's necessary.
     The question is:  how many skeins and balls, patterns and tools can I fit into a 14-gal Rubbermaid tub??  That's the amount of space I get, and I'm lucky to be getting it.  After we squeeze in all of our clothing, food, water, backpack and bike gear, maps, guidebooks and all the necessary electronica to keep us moving there is precious little space left, and we have to make every inch count.  We're both pretty good at packing light, but when we're bringing stuff for at least three different sports and we're going where there aren't any Targets to replenish from, the load is bigger than either of us likes.  I admit to a few redundancies -- rain jackets even though we're headed for the desert, extra blankets 'cause we both HATE being cold at night, that big bag oft trail mix because I only like the kind with M&Ms (might not be able to find it away from home).
     I'm planning on lots of knitting on the road, along with a good vacation and some time to spend with Craig away from work and the daily grind.  Keep checking this blog and also Craig's blogsite bikerepman.blogspot.com-- we'll post details of our adventures as often as we can get in internet connection.

Dyeing Silk in South Dakota

     Several dye workshops are on the schedule for later this fall and winter.  On a recent visit to South Dakota to visit Sue, we spent a morning dyeing several pieces of silk, mostly just to see what would happen.  Results are great -- now we're ready to try some more tricks.  This is great practice for the September workshop in Watertown, SD  (dyeing sock flats) and another coming in November for both flats and skeins. 

Sue found a great little microwave (at a thrift store) that works fine and did a good job on fibers -- and no worries about contamination with food.  This one is easy to haul around and it'll go with us to Watertown in a few weeks.

Once we knew the microwave worked, we mixed up a dye bath and got to work.  We only made about a pint of yellow solution, but it was enough to immerse this piece of silk in.  We set the color and were very pleased that none of it ran when we rinsed the piece -- the fiber absorbed every bit.

We hung it out to dry, and went on to other pieces.  The scarves looked really neat hanging from her deck railing -- all the colors were fun to see, and much brighter than they look in these photos.  We each dyed a silk t-shirt the same shade of pale blue, and gave ourselves a challenge -- think of other things to do with it to add more color, surface design or pattern.  Next time we get together we'll show them off.