hiking – Page 3 – Lois and Clark Explorers

OMG! This place is amazing. It is a little bit of a hike down to the view but so worth it. I couldn’t get a full view of the horseshoe because I couldn’t look over. I don’t understand people who want to go past the rail. It is so nerve racking. I had to finally leave. I left the family behind while I slowly walked that long steep passage back to the parking lot. I believe it is .75 miles one way and it is down on the way and up on the way back. I stopped several times and got back about 1 minute before the rest did.

This is one of the best views I have seen so far. OMG! If you go out west, make sure to go to Horseshoe Bend.

Before heading to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, we made a stop at the New Wave in Glen Canyon National Park, right here in Page, AZ where we are camping. The Waves is a beautiful place where you need to get a permit and it can take years. A friend of mine just posted she got her permit after trying for several years. We didn’t have several years so we opted for the New Wave. Definitely small scale but very cool.

We opted to go to the North Rim of Grand Canyon because it is supposed to have the best views, yet it is the least visited. Each year the North Rim gets about 1 million visitors whereas the South Rim gets about 5 million visitors. However, some of that is because the North Rim is only open May-Sept due to weather.

I know it has taken me a long time to upload this but we have been busy, busy, busy. Lots coming. Stay tuned for the Grand Canyon

We made it! We met up at a Walmart just before entering Utah–which was a really good idea because Utah doesn’t approve all alcohol. That would have been a shame. At least for some adults. Anyway after everyone stocked up on food we headed out. We had booked a trip down the Virgin river in tubes first. So we parked our campers and headed down the road to our river adventure. And what an adventure it was. Not your typical tubing. It was more like a combination of white water rafting and tubing. Floating along and all of a sudden fast water. Getting hung up on rocks and breaking loose, then running into the brush on the side. Super fun.

Next we went back to camp to make a quick dinner before heading to Zion for a sunset picture. What magnificent views. We had a bit of a hike and naturally, I couldn’t make it all the way to the top. Which worked out fine because this big anvil shaped cloud blocked the view. The next morning Melissa, Mike and John got up early to do a hike and Christy and I had coffee outside the campers. I am really liking this. We packed up the kids and headed into Zion for our smaller hike. Needless to say it was so crowded we would have to park outside the park, wait for the shuttle and take that in, then get the shuttle back. We did not have enough time because we had to check out by 11:00. So we went into the park and parked in a “safety” zone and ran into the visitor center to get our stamp–it was the first time for the kids. We decided we would hit Zion up on the way back.

Christy and I had already gotten the camper ready for John to load up so we met them up the road before we headed to Page AZ. On the way we made a stop at the Sand Caves. Another hike I couldn’t complete. You had to climb ropes to get to the top. I walked with Chanel and Melissa stayed with me because she had already been up and down. This was really cool.

We made it to our campground Page Lake Powell Campground and set up before we headed to the Shell Gas Station Caves. OMG there are so many places to go and see.

That wasn’t the end of the day. We went to Horseshoe Bend for a sunset and that is where I will start tomorrow. Whew it is so hard to keep up. We hit the ground running in the morning and don’t stop til late at night.

This is somewhere in Kingman on our way to a hike.

We opted to stay one more day in Kingman. We found a campground in Vegas from the 3rd til the 7th. Adults only. Woohoo. So, today we set off to take a hike. John found one and we headed over. It really was a beautiful day. The trailhead was called White Cliff Wagon Wheel. As we were driving I decided to get my hair cut at great clips–because I saw one and my hair was driving me nuts. I should have done this before I left for vacation. I really don’t like to use places like this but, John wouldn’t cut it so. Anyway, it came out ok. It definitely feels better.

Hair cut and off we went. The first set of directions took us up the mountains and onto this horrible dirt road only to come to the end on the wrong side of I-40. Looked like they filled in the underpass so we had to go back and drive all around to another underpass to get there. Luckily it was a beautiful day and we had nothing better to do. I must say, this trip has been so relaxing.

After this trail we headed into the historic town of Kingman where route 66 runs through. It is an adorable town. That’s where the quilt stores were. I got a picture of Connies and of course a video driving down. There was also a Santa Fe engine and Caboose at a park. John had to go inside the engine.

I made a short video driving down the road in Kingman. https://youtu.be/qstI4PWmHW8

After spending the day just tooling around we went back to camp where John hung out with our host and I continued to update our blog and facebook and all that stuff. I was working. Then we sat on our hosts front porch and watched the quail–waiting for a roadrunner who never made his appearance. We also had a visit from a desert wren.