Zion part three

 

The only way into the canyon

June 12 2024

It was evident from early on that the day would be as hot as the last two. I had hoped to get Millie into the park today so at least she could say she’d been there even if it was just for a trolley tour. 

Millie was adamant that she did not want to go, reason being the scorching temperatures and the crowds, I was turned off more by the flood of people than the temperature, but it was an easy decision, she didn’t care to go and neither did I. 

We decided to ride back into the town of Hurricane. There are two thrift stores and a Habitat for Humanity ReStore there. The continuous stream of traffic heading toward the park reaffirmed our decision to write off the Canyon Scenic Drive portion of the park. 

We browsed the 2nd hand stores, I think we bought one audio book, We donated a grocery bag of books and DVD’s to the church thrift store. Next we moved to the edge of town  to the Walmart. We spent about fifty bucks for food and supplies, it all fit in a couple small bags.

Lunch

It was now lunchtime and I had already picked out a restaurant. The Rooster Run Cafe was my kind of place, a step above your classic diner. We both ordered Fish and chips and devoured our plates.

We just enjoyed the rest of the day, in the evening we sat outside on our little plot of green grass and enjoyed the cool air.

After thoughts about not seeing the scenic drive. 

We did see a lot of the park; we drove the east side road and the Kobal Terrace road. If we had been able to get back in the park, we would have glimpsed the upper canyon from the confines of a packed bus. Somehow, that doesn’t sound like an enjoyable experience.

This is the way I see them

Foremost, we are reasonably healthy for our age, but we live at 31 feet above sea level, the road thru the main canyon is 4000-4500 feet, hiking any of the trails would be going higher and we have not trained for the exertion the altitude combined with 100+ degree temperature would subject us to. I recorded temperatures today at the RV of 117 degrees in the sun and 105 in the shade.

And then there’s that………..let me phrase this without sounding pretentious, my personality doesn’t require a lot of people around me. There were a lot of people at Zion.

We can always come back if we want to, but we probably won’t. We can placate our loss by reminiscing about all the really fantastic places we have been. I conservatively estimate we have traveled over 100,000 miles in two motorhomes and the travel trailer.

And it's not over yet!