Bevan cleaned his chainsaw for the last time this summer. I'm so glad he was kept safe and never got hurt this season. You never know what could happen when you cut down extremely large trees. I went with him once and it was the coolest thing I've ever seen! Unfortunately I left my camera in the car. He then got a whole week off before he went back to start his winter job. What to do, what to do.
Earlier, I was brainstorming ideas of how we can get the most of our parks pass before it expires. Glacier never happened, but southern Utah is always a possibility, especially in the fall! It turned out to be a very interesting trip. We left Sunday afternoon and spent the night camping outside Toquerville. It reminded me of camping outside Price, in the hills: broken bottles and washing machines covered with shotgun holes.
Monday morning, we drove into a very chilly Zion National Park. We got our permit to hike the Subway on Tuesday and checked on the weather. According to the predictions, Monday was to be the last warm day for a while. I was really hoping that would change! We hiked to the top of Observation Point. I thought it was prettier than Angel's Landing, but that's just me. That night we camped outside Zion, down by the river. What a nice day.
Tuesday came with cooler temperatures, but nothing to worry about. We got a leisurely start up the Left Fork and made it to the Subway around noon. It was such a pretty place, well worth the 5 miles of bushwhacking it took to get there. We ate lunch and played around a little bit, although the water was freezing and I could only dream what it would be like to hike it 90 degree temps. That weather forecast was starting to become a reality.
Wednesday came with snow on our tent and Bevan with a cold. Snow? Sickness? Our southern Utah adventure wasn't turning out how I would've hoped. We did a few short hikes on the east side of Zion and headed towards Kanab. I had to cancel our overnighter in Kolob Canyon because Bevan was getting worse. I didn't think that backpacking in the snow and sleeping in 20 degree temps would've been good for him. We checked into a motel where he slept for 2 days and waited out the cold weather. I was able to drag him out to Pipe Springs for an hour, but after that, he crashed again. How did I occupy myself during this time??? I toured the western movie sets and hit up the local thrift store. That pretty much sums up our time in Kanab.
Friday morning came with Bevan feeling a little better, so we packed up the car and headed out to the North Rim. This was the highlight of the trip for me. I haven't been back to the Rim since I worked there during the summers of '01 and '02. Everything looked pretty much the same, except the Kaibab plateau looked a little more burnt, but that's normal. The Grand Canyon was beautiful and it was a lot warmer (of course, it was the last day of our trip!) Bevan got tired listening to all my stories of adventures in that place, but there was so much to talk about! Everywhere I looked started me on another memory. The lodge was closed but an old friend, Mike Hobbs, was still running the gift shop. He first asked how Neil was. Oops, wrong sister! Just like old times.
We started back towards home along old highway 89. I drove while Bevan was doped up on cough medicine. I got thinking how different this trip turned out. The weather was cold, my man was sick, but there was nowhere else I'd rather be! I can never get tired or red rock, desert canyons, or eating campstove-made instant oatmeal in gloves, hat, and a puffy coat!
Earlier, I was brainstorming ideas of how we can get the most of our parks pass before it expires. Glacier never happened, but southern Utah is always a possibility, especially in the fall! It turned out to be a very interesting trip. We left Sunday afternoon and spent the night camping outside Toquerville. It reminded me of camping outside Price, in the hills: broken bottles and washing machines covered with shotgun holes.
Monday morning, we drove into a very chilly Zion National Park. We got our permit to hike the Subway on Tuesday and checked on the weather. According to the predictions, Monday was to be the last warm day for a while. I was really hoping that would change! We hiked to the top of Observation Point. I thought it was prettier than Angel's Landing, but that's just me. That night we camped outside Zion, down by the river. What a nice day.
Tuesday came with cooler temperatures, but nothing to worry about. We got a leisurely start up the Left Fork and made it to the Subway around noon. It was such a pretty place, well worth the 5 miles of bushwhacking it took to get there. We ate lunch and played around a little bit, although the water was freezing and I could only dream what it would be like to hike it 90 degree temps. That weather forecast was starting to become a reality.
Wednesday came with snow on our tent and Bevan with a cold. Snow? Sickness? Our southern Utah adventure wasn't turning out how I would've hoped. We did a few short hikes on the east side of Zion and headed towards Kanab. I had to cancel our overnighter in Kolob Canyon because Bevan was getting worse. I didn't think that backpacking in the snow and sleeping in 20 degree temps would've been good for him. We checked into a motel where he slept for 2 days and waited out the cold weather. I was able to drag him out to Pipe Springs for an hour, but after that, he crashed again. How did I occupy myself during this time??? I toured the western movie sets and hit up the local thrift store. That pretty much sums up our time in Kanab.
Friday morning came with Bevan feeling a little better, so we packed up the car and headed out to the North Rim. This was the highlight of the trip for me. I haven't been back to the Rim since I worked there during the summers of '01 and '02. Everything looked pretty much the same, except the Kaibab plateau looked a little more burnt, but that's normal. The Grand Canyon was beautiful and it was a lot warmer (of course, it was the last day of our trip!) Bevan got tired listening to all my stories of adventures in that place, but there was so much to talk about! Everywhere I looked started me on another memory. The lodge was closed but an old friend, Mike Hobbs, was still running the gift shop. He first asked how Neil was. Oops, wrong sister! Just like old times.
We started back towards home along old highway 89. I drove while Bevan was doped up on cough medicine. I got thinking how different this trip turned out. The weather was cold, my man was sick, but there was nowhere else I'd rather be! I can never get tired or red rock, desert canyons, or eating campstove-made instant oatmeal in gloves, hat, and a puffy coat!
