We left Lost Dutchman State Park and headed to our Shabbat destination, Bullhead City, Arizona, a four-hour and 19-minute drive that took us over eight hours.  Snow was the reason; as we kept driving higher in higher in altitude, the snow kept falling in the mountains of northern Arizona. 

Driving through Kingman, Arizona we were right in the middle of it, with a good deal of snow on the ground.  Several highways were closed in different areas and we were down to a standstill three separate times.  It seems there are truckers who do not know how to drive in snow and jackknifed (three of them were FedEx).  This stopped traffic (again and again) until the transportation department could clear the road.  However: we had coffee, food, and a bathroom in the RV and were not in a hurry to get to our destination.  And the snow-covered mountains were beautiful.

Bullhead City Municipal Campground is a comfortable place on the Colorado River just down from the Davis Dam, and across the river from the Nevada state line.  We could see in the distance a whole row of casinos, but they held little interest for us.  Having the beauty of the river behind us did.  Shabbat was comfortable and quiet.

Sunday morning, we hit the road for the final leg of our trip – to North Las Vegas.  We made a short stop to photograph some petroglyphs on Inspiration Rock that we discovered while taking a Shabbat walk.

February 24 – 25, 2019

It was only a two-hour drive to NIRVC in North Las Vegas where we will be storing the RV for the immediate future.  It is part of the same organization that owns the storage facility we were using in Atlanta, and since our future trips will be in the western part of the United States, it will save us some cross-country driving time.

We took Monday to get our van ready for storage, and then started on our journey home.

It was an easy drive from Tombstone to Saguaro National Park, a park split into two sections about 30 miles apart: one on the east side and one on the west side of Tucson, Arizona.  The park is part of the Sonoran Desert and it is filled with many different varieties of cacti.  But the one after which the park is named?  Well, who has not seen photos (if not the real thing) of these majestic plants?  The saguaro (pronounced “sa-WAH-ro”) cactus, the one that looks like a person except taller and more handsome, has an ideal habitat here, below the sloping hills of the Tucson mountains.

Saguaros grow slowly at first, about an inch per year for the first six to eight years, and it may take 70 years before they sprout branches or arms (although some never grow arms).  They reach full height, 40 – 50 feet, at about 150 years.  The tallest can go up to 75 feet.  They are the universal symbol of the American west and they grow almost exclusively in the Sonoran Desert.

Saguaros collect water through their shallow roots that can reach as far as they are tall, which is how they survive in the desert.  Flowers appear in early summer: bats, moths, honeybees, and some doves feed on the nectar; doves, bats, javelina, and fox eat the summer fruits.  Birds find homes in the saguaro cactus as well – woodpeckers, for example, make nest holes in the trunks and larger limbs.

In 1933, after pressure from conservationists, a 62,000-acre section of the Rincon Mountains was set aside as a national monument (this is the eastern side).  From 1933 to 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC – remember them?) constructed picnic areas, roads, and water control dams in the park.  Saguaro became a national park in 1994.

We chose to visit the eastern side of the park, the Rincon Mountain District.  It is the larger and older of the two districts and has the most mature plants.  We spent a good part of the day driving the scenic eight-mile, one-way, Cactus Forest Loop Drive, stopping at every overlook, as well as hiking two different trails, dressed in our sweatshirts and jackets – but at least it wasn’t raining or snowing.

What we saw were saguaros, old and young, as well as prickly pear cactus, and other desert plants.  Every national park we visit has something special.  And seeing these magnificent cacti, “the monarchs of the cactus world,” it is easy to see why the U.S saw fit to protect them.

Lost Dutchman Sate Park – February 20 – 21, 2019

We liked the name, Lost Dutchman, but did not know the legend behind it.  As the story goes, the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine is a rich gold mine hidden in the southwestern United States, generally believed to be in the Superstition Mountains near Apache Junction, Arizona.  The mine is named after German immigrant Jacob Waltz (Deutsch in German, thus Dutchman), who – some say – discovered the gold mine in the 1870s and, before he died, told his caregiver the location of the mine.  She sold maps of the site location, and over the years (till recent times) people have searched for the mine.  It has never been found.  There are many who believe the mine never existed; some say there is some basis to the story as, after Waltz’s death, a small amount of rich-quality gold was found under his bed that was not characteristic of gold found in any other known mine.  But the legend continues, and the searching continues; unfortunately, some searchers have died in the unforgiving mountains. 

And there is a second legend at play here: How did the Superstition Mountain range get its name?  Legend (again) says that the farmers of the area heard from the Pima Indians stories about “strange sounds, people who disappeared, mysterious deaths, and an overall fear of the mountain.” 

A little more about the Pima Indians legend:  according to their traditions, their god (who happened to be the butterfly, as a butterfly can lead you to water in the desert) saw that the people were becoming selfish and greedy.  It decided to drown all the evil ones – but first gave a warning, telling them that a flood would come if they would not repent.  Only a prophet and a few of his followers listened; they took refuge at the top of Crooked Top Mountain, and for two moons the rains came and covered the land with water.  Again, their god spoke, and said that all people should return to the desert valley to till the soil, but any evil ones who remained will be turned to stone.  Interesting.

We spent two nights and one day at Lost Dutchman and loved every minute.  It was cold at night, but nice during the day, allowing us to take a couple of easy trails in and around the campground.  Mostly, we just chilled.

Every state park we have been to on this trip (Abilene, Davis Mountains, Lost Dutchman) has been great.  Lost Dutchman, about an hour from Phoenix and two hours from Tucson, is a jewel.

A long drive through the flat desert of three states, Texas – New Mexico – Arizona, and we arrived at a town that all Americans of a certain age can relate to: a town that lives in the memories of all of us who grew up watching cowboy TV shows and movies – Tombstone, Arizona of the late 1800s. 

Founded in 1879 in what was then the Arizona Territory, Tombstone became one of the last boom towns in the American frontier. This was Apache land, and its chief was the famous Cochise, a key war leader during the Apache Wars against the U.S. government from 1861-1872.  But people from the eastern states came, drawn by the discovery of silver, and the town grew significantly in the mid-1880s.  In fact, it was the fastest growing city between St. Louis and San Francisco and, in its prime, it boasted a population of 15,000-20,000.

Eventually, though, the mineshafts began to be dug deeper and the mines flooded when the water table was struck at 520 feet.  The town was able to pump water out of the mines for several years using a railroad tanker car of oil per day to run the pumps, until one day the tanker car was unknowingly filled with salt water and ruined the pumps.  Mining began to slow to a halt and people started to leave.  In the early 1930s, there were about 150 people living in Tombstone.

But Tombstone calls itself the “town too tough to die.”  It saw two major fires in the 1880s that nearly destroyed it, but managed to quickly rebuild both times.  Today, approximately 1,500 people call Tombstone home.

It was fun spending a day in old, historic Tombstone.  The main street, Allen Street, has the original buildings – very well-preserved – that are now home to stores, restaurants, and saloons.  We could not resist watching a humorous, tongue-in-cheek-reenactment of the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral – possibly the most famous gunfight in American western cowboy history – between the lawmen: Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday and the cowboys: Frank and Tom McLaury and Ike and Billy Clanton.  The fight lasted about 30 seconds and about 30 gun shots, but its fame in western folklore has been the subject of many books and movies.

We followed that with an interesting 25-minute show on the history of the city. And, of course, as we walked the streets, we just had to stop into the stores.

On a side note (literally), Tombstone is also the home of the Tombstone Flute Company where Bill bought a beautiful native American flute.

The next morning, we woke to find a layer of snow covering the ground and the RV.  Snow in Tombstone Arizona, go figure! At least we can now say we really have winter camped.

Texas has a little-known treasure, Big Bend National Park, a place many have never heard of and even fewer have visited, even Texans.   As we traveled hundreds of miles, through mostly flat desert, there was barely another car on the road.  Our destination, Big Bend National Park, is in such a remote part of southwestern Texas that there is zero cell phone reception anywhere near it.  Gas stations and grocery stores are few and far between and the park strongly recommends you stock up on supplies at either of two nearby (it is all relative) towns, Marathon or Alpine (Alpine is 80 miles away, Marathon a bit less) if you are staying in the park.  Is it worth it?  Unquestionably, yes!

Big Bend National Park was established in June 1944 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, just days after D-Day.  The majestic beauty of Big Bend is as unique as its natural environment.  Three totally different ecosystems come together to exist side by side: desert, mountains, river. 

Big Bend lies in the northern part of the Chihuahuan Desert, the most easterly and southerly of the North American deserts, where summer ground temperatures can reach up to 140 degrees F at mid-day. 

Big Bend’s Chisos Mountain Range is the only mountain range entirely within the boundaries of a national park.  The drive through it was stunning.

And the river: 118 miles of the Rio Grande River runs along the park’s southern boundary and separates Mexico from the United States.  The name, Big Bend, refers to the U-turn the river makes, defining this boundary.

Among the park’s animal inhabitants are the Mexican black bear (which are making a comeback in the park), panther, coyote, golden eagle, and the road runner (beep, beep).  But animal life is very diverse in Big Bend, and the park hosts nearly 450 species of birds, 75 species of mammals, 67 species of amphibians and reptiles, 40 species of fish, and a host of insects.  The desert is full of plants that have adapted to the climate; wildflowers bloom after a rainy period and many plants remain dormant until a rainfall comes.

We entered the park through the northern entrance; after checking out the Visitors Center, we got back in the van and drove a few minutes to a fossil exhibit of prehistoric animals.  Though the archeologist in charge of the project for exhuming the fossils found at Big Bend wanted to display his discoveries where he dug them up, the display location had to be changed due to thieves helping themselves to his team’s discoveries. They are now displayed in glass exhibition cabinets.  The exhibit was interesting, especially (but not only) if you are into dinosaurs and other such creatures; seeing actual skeleton parts (just the heads were huge) was fun.

We camped just outside the western entrance to the park, near a town called Terlingua.  The campground does not have a lot to brag about, but the surroundings (mountains all around and spectacular sunsets) were breathtaking.

The next day we took two outstanding hikes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  The first was to the Boquillas Overlook and Canyon Trail.  Each turn of the trail provided a beautiful view of the Rio Grande River.  On parts of the trail we were so close to the river we could wash our hands in the water, and we did.   

An interesting side story is that Mexicans who live on the other side of the river come over, display their works of art on rocks, and leave an empty jar for people who would like to make a purchase.  (This works on the honor system.)  We have heard that for a small fee they will also row you across the river (to Mexico) where you can walk or take a mule ride to the local village and have a meal.  The return trip is included but don’t tell the border patrol (we’re sure they are aware of this system of commerce since it has been going on for years).

The second hike was the Santa Elena Canyon Trail that follows the Rio Grande into a gorge with high rock walls on either side.  The drive to get to the trailhead took an hour along very twisting curves; the trail itself had ups and downs and it was one of the best hikes we have taken.  The silence of the Santa Elena Canyon makes it easy to forget that the Rio Grande is an international boundary.

Big Bend has entered our list of favorite national parks (Glacier, Yellowstone, Acadia, Carlsbad Caverns (Sima), Canyonlands (Bill), and now Big Bend.  It is 800,000 acres, and the park headquarters is more than 100 miles from the nearest highway, hospital, or shopping mall.  Big Bend National Park is beautiful and quiet and remote, and the mountains and sky seem never-ending.

Davis Mountains State Park – February 15 – 16, 2019

We left Big Bend in the morning and drove to our Shabbat location, Davis Mountains State Park, a beautiful state park about 1-1/2 hours away.  On the way we met up with Border Patrol which is stationed just before Alpine, Texas, about 80 miles north of the park; they were stopping all cars with the usual questions (from where, to where, U.S. citizens?).  

We decided to do laundry in Alpine in the old section of town which also has a number of interesting stores: a lovely independent bookstore (you almost don’t see them anymore) and other boutique/gift shops.

We arrived in Davis Mountains in early afternoon – another park built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

We have become more and more intrigued by the Civilian Conservation Corps in our travels, as so many of the U.S. state parks we have visited were built by the CCC.  As mentioned in our last post, the CCC was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 by executive order and as part of his New Deal.  The purpose was to provide work – manual labor – to unmarried, unemployed men.  The work included planting nearly three billion trees to help reforest America, constructing trails and lodges, upgrading parks – including state parks – and updating forest fire fighting methods.  The CCC can be said to be the first instance of public awareness of the need to protect the natural resources of the United States.

Such was the desperation of so many people in the 1930s that within three months of its founding, over 250,000 men signed up.  They were provided with three meals a day, work clothes, medical care, and training.  The enrollees were paid $30. a month, $25. of which was automatically sent to their homes, thus providing their families with the means to buy food and necessities.  The minimum time for enrollment was six months, and many young men stayed for several years.

The CCC was phased out in 1942, after Pearl Harbor.  Most of the men who enrolled in the CCC were drafted; although they did not have military training, they did learn things that benefited them in the military and in life – discipline, hard work, and learning to live with others.  During the nine years of its existence, over three million men participated in the Civilian Conservation Corps. 

We cooked and set up for Shabbat in a very nice campsite at Davis Mountains.  There are some short trails just near our campground which we were able to do on Shabbat; the weather was great, and the surroundings were lovely.

Rain, Rain, Go Away – February 10, 2019

Saturday night at Hot Springs, Arkansas – it started raining and didn’t stop.  On Sunday, we began driving and, like the rain, we did not stop.  We were headed towards Abilene, Texas; since it was a Sunday and there was very little traffic, we drove all the way through Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth (it seemed like one big city).  We stopped for the night at another KOA, not as attractive as the one at Hot Springs, but it did have full hook-ups and, in the cold and rain, we really appreciated it.

Abilene State Park, Texas – February 11 – 12, 2019

We arrived in the rain but it stopped (finally) in mid-afternoon and, after settling in at our campsite, took a walk through the park.  Out of season, it is very quiet; maybe half a dozen other campers in the whole park.  In our area of the campground there is only one other RV, a lovely Texas couple that makes us look young; we hope we keep going as long as they do.  The air was fresh and the walk was invigorating.

Abilene State Park is beautiful; 529 acres of woods, open areas, and a stream running through it.  As with many of the parks we visit, much of the early development of the park was done by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a public work relief program that operated in the U.S. from 1933 to 1942 for unemployed, unmarried men.  The CCC put a lot of people to work in those years, and this is the result.  Some of the structures are still standing; note the beauty of the water tower (not in use now) in the photo.

Day 2: A walk in the morning and another in the afternoon, totally surrounded by nature.  The day was beautiful, about 14 degrees C, with lots of sun. We saw a couple of deer and took pictures of a cardinal.  Lots of river water and standing water after the recent rains.  And all along we kept saying, this is why we are here.  We like driving and seeing the scenery, exploring new places, living the small RV life and – most of all — finding the peace and quiet in nature.  And, once more, we realize how much we like the state parks of America.

1:00 am (February 4), the cab picks us up at the house, an hour’s drive to the airport, five hours on a cramped KLM flight to Amsterdam, two hours to find our next flight, more room, much better food, two movies and very little sleep on Delta for 9-1/2 hours, only one of our suitcases made the plane, an hour’s ride to the RV storage facility, and we are finally at our RV home. 

What was interesting was the technology involved in tracking the luggage, knowing immediately that it made a later flight from Amsterdam to Atlanta, being informed by Delta that it has arrived, and following its way on a map (via computer) to our RV (we got delivery at 9:00 pm the same day).  In a combination of what can be called Uber and the post office, Delta utilizes a service called Roadie which matches things that need to be delivered with folks who just happen to be driving that way.

The weather was very nice during the two days we spent at the RV center while we got over our jet lag and stocked up on supplies.

February 8^th, 2019 – It is so Cold in Hot Springs, Arkansas

As we needed an extra day in Atlanta to rest and finish a few projects on the RV, we made a two-day trip into one on Thursday, covering 578 miles.  It’s supposed to be an 8 ½-hour drive according to Waze but with stops, not traveling over the speed limit (which we’re convinced Waze assumes you do when it estimates travel time), and a very heavy downpour of rain, it took us 11+ hours.  We were glad that we took the advice of our neighbors in the 43-foot RV next to us and left Atlanta really, really early.  Out at 4:00 am, we missed all the traffic of going through downtown Atlanta, gained an hour crossing the Alabama state line (from Eastern to Central time), and missed rush hour in Birmingham.  Both Memphis, Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas were easily traversed.  We stopped at about 7:00 am at a gas station/rest stop in the middle of nowhere to fill-up, daven, and eat brunch.

The bad news but mostly good news:  At a gas station (somewhere else) our RV had a minor disagreement with a guard post pole; it only dented a piece of trim which should be easily repaired.  We ended up (at the end of our long ride, but still mid-afternoon because we were smart (?) enough to leave at 4:00 am) at a beautiful KOA (Campgrounds of America) in the middle of the woods with full hookups, electric-water-dump connections, and plenty of space between campsites.  We will be here for Shabbat too.  However, the weather dropped by almost 40 degrees F in one day (so we were told when we arrived at the park), to -5 Celsius at night. The really good news – so far, our furnace and cold weather options on the RV are keeping us comfortable and preventing the water hoses from freezing.

Day 2:  A Visit to Hot Springs National Park

We took a campground shuttle to Hot Springs National Park, and were introduced there to a bit of Americana.  Hot Springs National Park is unique; unlike most of the national parks, which we usually think of as being fairly large and totally in nature, Hot Springs is in an urban environment.  It is a geological wonder: rainfall seeps into the rocks, travels deep into the earth where it percolates downward, and increasingly warmer rock heats it at a rate of about 4 degrees F every 300 feet.  Eventually, the hot water, at an average temperature of 143 degrees F, travels up through faults leading to the surface to form a hot water stream.

American Indians, the Spanish who first came to the area, settlers, and tourists have found that bathing in the natural, pure hot water to be relaxing and beneficial to health problems.  In 1803, the U.S. acquired the area in the Louisiana Purchase from France, and in 1832, the government set aside this parcel of land to protect it as a natural resource, calling it the Hot Springs Reservation.  It was declared a national park in 1921. On a side note, there was an ongoing debate with Yellowstone as to which was the first actual national park. It was settled as such: Although Yellowstone was the first declared national park, established in 1872, Hot Springs claims the first area ever set aside by the U.S. government to preserve its use as an area for recreation.

A city was built around the streams for travelers seeking the benefits for what ailed them.  Bathhouses were built, and through the 1940s Hot Springs was a sought-after destination for people with health problems of all kinds.  The waters were thought to be a miracle cure for almost any ailment. Today, there are two bathhouses/spas that are open, a third was turned into the park’s Visitors Center, a fourth into a brewery (the only brewery in a national park), and a few other buildings are undergoing renovation.

We spent the about five hours at the park – taking a tour of the Visitors Center, a former bathhouse which is also a museum in which many of the original rooms have been preserved, visiting the bookstore/gift shop, walking down the Grand Promenade, and taking a hike through some of the surrounding area (the park has many short and longer hiking paths).

We also filled our water bottles from one of the fountains that are found in the park.  People, we are told, come from all over with empty bottles (we watched a few fill up gallons and gallons of water to take back with them); the water is that good and it is free.  The park collects about 700,000 gallons of water a day for use in the bathhouses and drinking fountains.

Returning to the RV in early afternoon, we prepared for Shabbat. Did we say it was cold in Hot Springs?  For the last three days the temperature has dropped to below freezing at night and just above freezing during the day.  This is called winter camping, and we survived.  The van stayed warm and the pipes did not freeze.

Once again – as with our previous trips – we are a posting a summary collection of photos from our May-June 2018 travels.  Though we call it “Trip 3,” we often think of it as being our fourth excursion.  Prior to retirement and buying the RV, we took a trip in 2008 out west.  We flew to Chicago, rented a Jeep, bought an electric Coleman cooler (which a cousin recently used and it still works), and stocked up on food.  We then spent about 3-1/2 weeks traveling: ten days in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; a day in the Grand Tetons National Park, Wyoming; and four days in Glacier National Park, Montana. We also visited the Black Hills, the Badlands, and Mt. Rushmore of South Dakota – as well as other places of interest.

Thus began the thought process of traveling during retirement.

To date we have visited 39 U.S. states, 22 national parks, numerous state parks, many national and state forests, all five Great Lakes, a host of national monuments, and some big and many small cities and towns.  We drove a portion of Route 66.  We traveled on one-lane roads and huge interstates (the latter only when we absolutely had to); we crossed impressive bridges (from the old covered bridges in the northeast to the very long bridge joining the Florida mainland to Key West) over large and small bodies of water; we drove and climbed up mountains; we walked through deserts and plains.  We met interesting people of all ages from all walks of life, and we found most people to be friendly and helpful.  After all, we were in the same situation, being out in the middle of nature and enjoying every minute of it.

Some of the places we visited were grand and majestic; others were quietly beautiful.

We learned to live and eat simply.  We kept a mostly dairy/pareve diet (meat and hard cheese only when we were near a big city), and always delighted when we found new products that we could buy (thank you, CRC website).  We stayed with Chabad and visited some shuls.  We rejoiced in our quiet Shabbatot in the middle of nature.

So, as we are now well into the chagim of Tishrei, we wish you all a Shana Tova with good health and happiness and hope that your dreams, whatever they may be, will be fulfilled.

Sima and Bill

1. Meaher State Park, Alabama

2. Meaher State Park, Alabama

3. Paddle Boat, New Orleans, Louisiana

4. Sam Houston Jones State Park, Louisiana

5. Sam Houston Jones State Park, Louisiana

6. NASA Space Center, Houston, Texas

7. NASA Space Center, Houston, Texas

8. Longhorn Cattle, Houston, Texas

9. George Ranch Historical Park, Texas

10. The Alamo, San Antonio, Texas

11. River Walk, San Antonio, Texas

12. Guadalupe River State Park, Texas

13. Guadalupe River State Park, Texas

14. Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

15. Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

16. Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas

17. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

18. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

19. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

20. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

21. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

22. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico

23. Hondo Iris Farm, New Mexico

24. White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

25. White Sands National Monument, New Mexico

26. Petrified Tree in the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

27. Agate Bridge, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

28. Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

29. Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

30. Painted Desert, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

31. Colorado River at the Navajo Center, Arizona

32. North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

33. North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

34. North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

35. North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

36. Buffalo and New Calf, North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

37. Trail to Emerald Pools, Zion National Park, Utah

38. Emerald Pools, Zion National Park, Utah

39. Emerald Pools, Zion National Park, Utah

40. Zion National Park, Utah

41. Zion National Park, Utah

42. Zion National Park, Utah

43. Checkerboard Mesa, Zion National Park, Utah

44. Hoodoos, Amphitheater, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

45. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

46. Natural Bridge, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

47. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

48. Scofield State Park, Utah

49. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

50. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

51. Petroglyphs, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

52. Hickman Natural Bridge, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

53. Capitol Dome, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

54. Park Avenue, Arches National Park, Utah

55. Turret Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

56. North Window Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

57. North and South Window Arches, Arches National Park, Utah

58. Double Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

59. Sand Dune Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

60. Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

61. Skyline Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

62. Tunnel Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

63. Pine Tree Arch, Arches National Park, Utah

64. Fiery Furnace, Arches National Park, Utah

65. Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

66. Mesa Arch, Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

67. Mesa Arch, Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

68. Green River, Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

69. Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

70. Newspaper Rock, Needles District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

71. Wooden Shoe Arch, Needles District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

72. Needles District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

73. Trail Marker, Needles District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

74. Needles District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

75. Needles District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

76. Montezuma Valley, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

77. Sun Point, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

78. Sun Point Closeup, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

79. Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

80. Valley by Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

We left Canyonlands for the relatively short drive to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado.  We were just south of the forest fires and they were relatively under control (54,129 acres were burned in the area.  In total for the state of Colorado, over 431,606 acres have been burned in Colorado wildfires so far this year), so we were fortunate to be able to continue to our destination.  On the way to Mesa Verde we stopped off at the Colorado Visitor Information Center in Cortez to pick up general information about the park.  There, we were introduced to a couple of archaeologists who just happened to be at the center and were working on digs in the Crow Canyon area near Mesa Verde. They talked about finds that were 800 to 1000 years old.  Not much compared to Israel (and they were fascinated to hear that we lived in Israel), but they were passionate about their work and very interesting to listen to.

We had heard from other campers about a trading post where authentic American Indian crafts were sold at reasonable prices, and we found this to be true.  After purchasing a few gifts to bring home, we continued on to Mesa Verde.

Mesa Verde is unique in the national parks system; it was created in 1906 to preserve the archaeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblo people, both atop the mesas and in the cliff dwellings (dwellings built beneath overhanging cliffs).  It is the amazing cliff dwellings that bring over half a million people to the park each year.  There are also viewing areas from the top of the mountain showing the valley below.

The first peoples, the Ancestral Puebloans, settled in Mesa Verde about 550 CE and lived in clusters of pit houses dug into the ground with a roof of wood over them.  These worked well, except in the rain; often, after a large storm, the buildings had to be repaired or completely rebuilt.  These early settlers prospered and by 750 CE, began to build houses above ground; in 1000 CE they moved to stone construction and by 1150 CE, thousands of people lived on Mesa Verde.  The cliff dwellings came next.

We followed the Mesa Loop trail, a six-mile loop trail with outlooks over the ruins of three outstanding cliff dwellings: Square Tower House (four-story, the tallest of the cliff dwellings), Sun Point View, and Sun Temple.  These villages, which were mostly built between the 1190s to the late 1270s, ranged from one-room houses to community centers of about 150 rooms. The cliff dwellings protected the dwellers from the elements and served as a defensive structure against enemies.

Wanting to see the cliff dwellings close up, we took a ranger-led tour of Cliff Palace, the largest of the cliff dwellings, and only accessible with a ranger (as are two other cliff dwellings).  Cliff Palace was home to about 100 people and contained 150 rooms and 23 kivas (underground rooms).  The one-hour tour began by descending to the dwellings on uneven sandstone steps and ended with a series of three ladder climbs to get back to the top.

Cliff Palace has been compared to a condominium, as families had their own rooms.  They often did not speak the same dialect as their neighbors.

By about 1300 CE, though, Mesa Verde was deserted; historians and archaeologists can only speculate as to the reasons: drought, crop failures, land depletion, social and political problems.  The Ancestral Puebloans moved south, to what is today New Mexico and Arizona – joining family members who had already settled there.  Today, descendants of the ancient cliff dwellers return to the place of their ancestors as a pilgrimage to a holy site.

That night we stayed in the park’s campground; in the evening, we heard a talk from an interpretive ranger (one-half Indian from the Lakota Sioux) on Indian flutes.  At 70-years old, he has made over 9,000 flutes by hand, and he brought and played a number of them.  The haunting melodies were perfect for the surroundings and the setting sun.  He was also a natural comedian and the program was very entertaining.

The next day we began the long trek back to Atlanta, about 1,600 miles.  We traveled in New Mexico for a while along the famous Route 66 and stayed in Santa Rosa, just east of Albuquerque.

Then, on to Oklahoma, where we camped at Foss State Park through Shabbat.  Friday night we experienced the worst thunder and lightning storm we can ever remember with the strongest of winds.  When it was over we overheard someone yell, “We survived a tornado!”  We’re not sure that was accurate, but the storm was intense.  And the RV was dry and comfortable.

On Sunday we continued east traveling across Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi (we drove through Tupelo, Mississippi, where Elvis was born), Alabama, and Georgia.  Extremely heavy rains followed us much of the way making the driving very slow, but we made it back to the RV storage facility just outside Atlanta safely, TG.

We spent our last Shabbat of the trip in a beautiful Georgia park called Shoal Creek Campground, also known as Margaritaville.  It was recently purchased from the Buford, Georgia municipality by Jimmy Buffett (hence the name).

A few days at the RV center to prepare our camper for storage, and then our return to Israel: Atlanta-New York-Ben Gurion Airport.  Our third – and quite fabulous – trip will forever stay with us.

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Canyonlands National Park – June 14 –18, 2018

We left early for Canyonlands, the final national park on our Utah circle of (five) national parks.  It was about one-half hour from our campground (which was between Arches and Canyonlands) along another of Utah’s scenic highways.

Canyonlands is large (337,598 acres) and is divided into three districts: Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze.  Island in the Sky is the most popular district, followed by the Needles.  The Maze is the least accessible – remote with very difficult roads which can be traveled only with 4x4s or off-road vehicles.  The Colorado and Green Rivers, which wind through the heart of Canyonlands, separate the districts.

Although, as the crow flies, Island in the Sky is only twelve miles from the Needles, by car it is over two hours.

Island in the Sky mesa (an isolated flat-topped hill with steep sides and horizontal strata) rests on sheer sandstone cliffs, over 1,000 feet above the surrounding terrain.  Once again, there was one road going through most of this section of the park with several overlooks of spectacular canyons and many trail heads.  We chose two trails, labeled easy.  The first was a one-mile round trip trail to Mesa Arch, which – in addition to being a beautiful arch – provided a stunning view towards the La Sal Mountains.

After driving to some of the other overlooks and viewpoints, we arrived at Grand View Point, a 2-mile round trip hike along the canyon’s edge, showcasing a spectacular panoramic view.

We returned to our campground, worn out, tired, and sweaty (well not sweaty because it’s too dry to sweat here), turned on the air conditioning in the van (though it was cooler today, only 100 degrees F at the campground), and relaxed.

Friday, we spent as a quiet day, went into the city of Moab to see about a computer issue, did some shopping, returned to the campground, and prepared for Shabbat.  While we were discussing whether to leave our air conditioner on all of Shabbat, we read that the temperature was supposed to drop about 15 or more degrees over Friday night; we decided to skip the air conditioning (it is noisy), and go with the fan, which turned out to be a good decision.  Shabbat was in the 80s and cloudy.

Canyonlands National Park Needles District

Sunday morning, we left our campground of five nights and drove the two hours to the Needles District of Canyonlands, named after the red and white banded rock pinnacles which dominate the area.  Although we have traveled on many beautiful roads, the 30+ minute stretch of road from the main highway to the Needles entrance is absolutely stunning and easily ranks as one of our favorite byways.

We decided that we wanted to camp here for the night and went first to the part of the campground that is first come, first served.  Finding a beautiful spot, we paid our $10.00 (seniors fee), put our name on the block, and went off to do two hikes.

The first was relatively short and easy, a 0.6-mile round-trip walk at Pothole Point.  Really, it looked like a moon surface, mostly rocks with potholes – which looked like craters – carved into them.  As this is summer, they were mostly dry – a few did have a bit of water – but we imagine that after a rain, when they are filled up, the surface must look unreal.

Our second walk was a 2-hour hike named Slickrock, a trail that features four viewpoints along its winding up-and-down path, each viewpoint having a fantastic 360-degree view of canyons and rock cliffs.  It is called slickrock because the paths over the rocks can be slippery even when dry (and the terrain is very uneven) – and especially so when wet.  It was a great walk and we felt a sense of accomplishment when we finished.

After returning to our RV we found a hitchhiker sitting on top of the van.

In the evening, we attended a ranger talk on petroglyphs (etchings into stones) and pictographs (paintings on stones), forms of art used by the various groups who lived in this area up until about 800 years ago.

We enjoyed our campground and campsite so much that we decided to stay an extra night and enjoy a few more, relatively easy, hikes: a short trail to an ancestral Puebloan granary and a longer loop trail to a historic cowboy camp (ranching was practiced in the area until 1975), with a few more pictographs thrown in.  [As an aside, in the 1950s, uranium mining took place here; the mining companies put in roads and generally tore up some of the rugged and beautiful area.]

In both parts of Canyonlands, the trails are marked by cairns, small rocks stacked one on top of the other.  Without these guideposts, it would be easy to get very lost.

Canyonlands National Park was established in 1964.

We called this post “Similar but Different.”  The five Utah national parks are all part of the Colorado Plateau (130,000 square miles, mostly in Utah, with small portions in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona) first explored by Major John Wesley Powell who conducted surveys of the Colorado River and its neighboring region in 1869 and 1871-72.  The five parks have common themes – sedimentary rocks (sandstone and limestone), uplift, and erosion.  They all look a little bit the same, but each has variations on these themes which make them unique.  The landscape is extraordinary, and a person must step back so as not to be overwhelmed.  We tried to do just that by choosing a few trails in each park, reading park-distributed materials and other sources, and simply trying to “soak up the atmosphere.”  With our photos to remind us, these sights will not be forgotten.

Our trip was winding down and it was time to start heading back in the direction of Atlanta.  One major point of interest remained: Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.  There was a major forest fire raging between Canyonlands and Mesa Verde, which put our being able to go there in some doubt – but as we drove on, we saw that the fire was mostly under control, and that Mesa Verde was open.

Capitol Reef National Park

After a quiet Shabbat on the lake, we left Sunday morning for our third Utah national park, Capitol Reef: a 3-hour or so drive, mostly along empty highways, with the scenery changing from green mountains, to desert, to mountains again.  Capitol Reef is in the desert but – as in Zion and Bryce Canyon – its rugged cliffs are the result of water and time.

Again, we were lucky; even though all the signs read that the Capitol Reef campground was full, we went around the signs and stopped at the campground host’s trailer.  It turned out he did have an open spot for the night and a different one for the next day, so we stayed two nights.  We loved the campground.

Capitol Reef’s defining geologic feature is the Waterpocket Fold, extending more than 100 miles – a protuberance (sometimes called a wrinkle) in the earth’s crust that has eroded into a maze of winding canyons, towering monoliths, and massive domes.  This area, which bisects south-central Utah and which was extremely difficult for early travelers to traverse, was the last area to be charted in the contiguous United States.

People (ancestors of the Hopi, Zuni, and Paiute tribes) lived in the Capitol Reef area from 300-1300 CE, as attested to by petroglyphs and pictographs, carvings and paintings on rock walls.  No evidence of Indian culture has been found since 1300.

In the 1880s, Mormons established the small settlement of Fruita (our campground was in the Fruita historic district).  They built irrigation systems, planted orchards (which are still around, and where – in season – you can pick peaches and apples and other fruit) and led a self-sustaining life.  No more than ten families ever lived in Fruita at a time, and it is now maintained for the benefit of visitors and as a testimony to the self-reliance of a small community of people.

We took a couple of hikes in our two days at Capitol Reef.  Not long after arriving, we walked 1.2 miles to the Visitors Center (and back), along a dirt, marked path.  We watched an 18-minute movie on the park, bought a book on the circle of Utah parks (Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands), and an American Indian-style flute (made by a Mormon), which Bill will have fun learning to play.

That evening, on an after-dinner stroll through the park we saw a family of deer: buck, doe, and three fawns.

We started the second day with a ride into town to make phone calls, as we had no reception in the park, and do some errands.  We then drove through the park on the 10-mile (each way) scenic drive; it was slow going, the fastest speed was 25mph and the slowest was 10mph – and they meant it.  You couldn’t go faster or you would go off the road around hairpin turns.

The drive was worth it; the scenery was beautiful, and when we got to the end, we were surrounded by towering canyon walls on all sides.  Among the rock formations we saw on the road were Capitol Dome, named because it reminded early travelers of the U.S. Capitol and which later inspired the name of the park; Chimney Rock, a 400-foot sandstone pillar; and the Castle, a huge rock formation in which you can clearly see the various strata: Wingate sandstone on top of grey Chinle and a red Moenkopi bottom.  We confess that we do not understand that much about the geology of the formations, but the strata are clearly visible – and they are impressive.

In the afternoon we took a 2.6-mile round trip hike labeled “moderate,” which we found challenging.  (Trails are rated by length and amount of elevation from start point to end point.)  The Fremont River Trail was a very narrow path, first along the side of the Fremont River, and then straight up, a 480-foot elevation change, finishing with an amazing 360-degree panoramic view of canyons, river, trees, and cliffs – with a long snake guarding the entrance to the trail.

The third day, just before leaving Capitol Reef, we stopped off to see some petroglyphs and then went on another “moderate” hike, similar in length and elevation to the Fremont River Trail.  The hike was to Hickman Bridge (named after Joseph Hickman, an early advocate of Capitol Reef), a huge natural arch spanning 133 feet wide and 125 feet tall. The trail went up and down and up and down, sometimes over natural “steps,” sometimes over rocks, and ended at the arch through which we could see beautiful blue sky.

We have learned that using hiking sticks are most beneficial in the walking/climbing of unpaved, uneven trails.

Capitol Reef was declared a national monument in 1937 and became a national park in 1971.

Arches National Park

We left Capitol Reef for the 2-hour ride to Arches National Park, the fourth of Utah’s Circle of Parks.  The ride went through a vast expanse of hardly travelled desert for over 50 miles.  We stopped off at the Visitors Center in the park, and the ranger there suggested that we find a campground first, as they tend to fill up by early afternoon in the area.  We drove a bit down the road, found one, and they had a campsite available.  Because of the proximity of Arches to Canyonlands National Park (our next stop and post), we took the campsite for five nights, including Shabbat.  We spent the rest of the day in the nearby town of Moab, Utah doing the everyday tasks of shopping and laundry.

We started out early for Arches, which was about a 5-minute drive from our campground – but a 40-minute wait to get in as the entrance lines were very long.  Arches is not that large, and there is one road running through most of the park.  Off of this road are several viewpoints and short walks – usually between several hundred feet to 1/2mile – to the various arches.

The viewpoints are beautiful.  One, especially caught our imagination – Park Avenue, named because the cliffs on both sides of the “road” look like tall buildings (as mentioned in an earlier post, we have often thought that someone in the National Parks Service has a sense of humor when they name things).

Among the arches we saw (and Arches has over 2,000 documented arches, the densest concentration of natural sandstone arches in the world) were Double Arch, North and South Windows, Turret Arch, Delicate Arch, Sand Dune Arch, Skyline Arch, Tunnel Arch, and Pine Tree Arch.  Tunnel Arch was Bill’s favorite; Sima liked Sand Dune Arch – but they all were fabulous.

Double Arch

North Window Arch

South Window Arch

Tunnel Arch

Delicate Arch

Sand Dune Arch

Skyline Arch

The arches we see today are different from those of years ago, and they will not be the same in the future.  Wind and water do their work: rocks fall away, arches form, weather takes its toll again, and arches crack and fall.  We saw one example of such an arch – the explanation board near the arch showed photos of it before and after a large rock dislodged from the arch-opening, enlarging its size by about one-third.

Returning to our campground, we hooked up to water and electricity, turned on the air conditioning (did we say it was about 110 degrees F during the day?) and made dinner.  As it turned out, the neighbors on one side of us were vacationing music teachers and the neighbors on the other side of us have a son who is a music major at Ohio University.

Arches was declared a national park in 1971.