Zion Day 2; Scenery Upgrade

I woke feeling like I had no sleep at all. And being the pull out bed from the couch in the cabin appeared to be lopsided, with a few of the braces looking bent and out of sort which made the mattress lean from left to right at about a 10 degree angle meant, as tired as I was, I still slept an uneasy rest.

We had a big day ahead of us though and as poorly as I slept, knew there was no time to lose in A)we had to check out at 11am to move to our newer, posher digs, and B)it was the first time my Parents were visiting Zion, which of course meant me being the expert with all of my one, count em', one previous visit meant either a glorious moment or one from the “what the hell was I thinking?” file.

As we began to pack I experienced the first benefit of Zion Ponderosa, and our cabin lodging meant I could walk over to the cafe/restaurant and fill up my big blue decades old coffee mug and the $2.50 price was well worth it, as was my breakfast of day old Costco sandwich, strawberry shortcake cups....minus strawberries and whipped cream, and a handful of baby swiss flavored Cheez It's which was rapidly becoming my favorite snack of all time, running neck and neck with Snyder's Buffalo Wing flavored pretzelsbits which I covered a couple of years ago when we camped at Lake Lopez.

We packed and headed out on the road and as I promised my family, I stopped at the first attractive looking turnout and made everyone get out and take a quick mini hike that I billed as “hiking preseason.” Truth be told, I kind of wanted to gauge my parents attitude and from this determine what trails we could walk and which we would avoid at all cost. And as luck would have it, we had a nice hike and every seemed content and happy.

We entered the main parking lot and were lucky enough to find a parking spot even though there were signs posted everywhere that lot of was full and cars must park in the city and take the Springdale UT shuttle to get back into the park. We filled our water containers and hit the first shuttle content to do the River Walk trail which is one of the easier trails in the camp.

And much to my surprise, my mother seemed to really enjoy it. As a matter of fact, even though she had knee replacement surgery a few years ago she was leading the charge. As we walked through the huge expanse of rock that accompanied us on both sides, she was was a merely a blip on the forward views as what I thought would originally was going to be “stop if you need to stop” turned into “is she ever going to stop.” Dad meanwhile was content to hang in a shady spot and enjoy the scenery, and quite frankly, my ill advised foray into Scout Leader, had made me a bit jealous he had the option that I didn't. And the walk on the river walk is always a bit bitter sweet as it is the trailhead to “the Narrows,” one of the most famous and picturesque parts of the park...but also can feature knee high water and some rough currents which sometime does not always go hand in hand with camping with the family.

The hike was also noted for the overaggressive squirrels in the park who not only jump on your lap to try and get a snack from you, but would also climb on your back pack and literally attempt to open it to get what every the could..I'm guessing the squirrels in the park were probably famliar with every flavor of power bar in existence. I also noted the signs that had graphic injuries from squirrel bites were gone which made me sad, nothing more I like the being out in the middle of nature with huge signs featuring a bleeding hand. It was Zion's version of the lady who smokes through her trachea.

We stopped for lunch at the Zion lodge, which was quite nice and not too shabby for food quality. I once had the worst meal of my life at the restaurant at the top of the Aerial Tramway in Palm Springs by which all other park restaurants are judged. And this was not too bad, I had a Utah microbrew lager, which was refreshing after the days activities. I later stopped by the one liquor store in town and drew a smile with the same Utah Microbrew offerings....the best name being “Polygamy Porter.”

We finished our lunch and refilled our water containers at one of the many parks Spring Water Taps. They basically take the parks own spring water, treat it, and then have various spigots around the park for hikers and campers to stay hydrated with. A very nice touch and sensible arrangement given the heat and the terrain. I cant help but think if Zion were California some dopey bureaucrat would be charging 2 bucks for a 10 oz bottle of water.

It was the midday and we made the walk up to weeping rock. The trail was not far but certainly was fairly steep. The wife was concerned it may be too step for my mother but fueled by her best day ever she made good time, made all the sweeter by 3 deer foraging by the trail roughly 15 yards from us. One was a young male, was just starting to sprout some antlers. They were nice enough to pose for us.

We made the final steps to weeping rock which is always a great experience. Not only is the view phenomenal, but the reason it is called “weeping rock” is because the moisture from the top of the mountain filters through the rock which gets released on this overlook which creates this amazing rain type effect. In the heat the drops felt great falling on the top of my head, and I wasn't the first as many of the hikers were using the raindrops to moisten their bandannas and hats. I even found a consistent trickle of water that I opened my mouth to and drank from...the water was cool and had a slightly miner-ally quality to it....not surprising there as it was filtering and falling from the rocky granite.

By this time my mother was in full Zion mode and wanted to tackle all of the trails, including the Angels landing, but my dad wasn't fairing so well and by this time the summers afternoon heat was in full effect which meant it was time to hit the grocery store and get back to the lodge. We were fortunate in that we settled for a cabin for the first night but the next two nights meant we were moving to a full vacation home.

Arriving to the home at Zion Ponderosa was a total 180 from the cabin- spacious, a strong wifi signal, a hot tub, bbq, enough real beds to sleep our party, and a beautiful view from the living room that made the drive and the toil completely worth while. And being a fully stocked vacation home, meant we had a real coffee maker, a full size fridge, laundry, wine glasses, and everything one could ever long from on a vacation including directv. I wasn't quite sure if this was the best vacation home ever or the cabin we stayed in the previous night just sucked.

I bought some chicken from the market along with some bbq sauce and some sausages, I was hoping the kitchen would have salt and pepper and some tongs-Ill be damned if they didn't have fajita seasoning, all purpose seasoning, and a full bbq kit with tongs and every other conceivable bbq tool one could every want. I was almost thinking a red apron would be packed in there somewhere as well to complete the BBQ supply 101. Hell, they even had a heavy duty metal cheese grater and a lemon zester as well. 

To finish the blog entry, the rest of the night was enjoying our bbq with a bottle of Concannon Merlot, spending some time in the hot tub, a quick shower, and then a good nights rest on a mattress that was stable, level, and devoid of metal framework protruding into the lower vertebrae.

Day 2 Lopez Lake

Continued from Solvang/Lopez Day 1

The next morning we got up and ate our pastries we had bought in Solvang and Tomoko had brought out some new japanese coffee contraption. It looked like a tea bag but you would tear off the top and attach it to the side of your cup pouring hot water into the top to make a nice cup of coffee. Of course being I had my big blue over indulgent american style coffee cup by the time I filled it and drank it didnt pack much of a punch....i threw in a couple of tablespoons of instant coffee to streghten it up a bit.

Those japanese think of everything...the hello kitty version should be out next month,

Down to the marina we went picking up some more firewood(Eucalyptus @$5 a bundle no less!) and inquired about renting a boat. Sadly they no longer rented the patio boats I remember and the women working the counter mentioned that the wind would make boating something better to do in the morning. I applauded her for her honesty and said No a couple hundred times as the Kids picked up anything in the market within reach asking “can we buy this, can we buy this, can we buy this.” I told alex the only thing I was going to buy him was the pouch of red man chewing tobacco they sold behind the counter....I don't think the woman behind the counter found it that amusing.

Back to the front desk we went as we had neglected to bring a trail map. At this point Alex spotted the first Wild Turkeys of our trip....about 10 of them to be exact. We snapped some pics and headed out to take what the trail map said was the most strenuous hike the park offered....much to the kids chagrin.

Yes....I have wondered what they taste like and if its legal. 

Being the trail started a good ½ mile from the campsite and we didnt know exactly how strenous the word strenuous was we took the liberty in parking in the closest camp site to the trailhead and being since there was only 1 family camping in the entire section of sites we figured it would be small potatoes and parked in a site by a large white water cooler.

Soon it became very apparent that strenuous meant strenuous not as an example of length but of height as the longer we hiked the trail the more sheer the angle of the hill became. I always use a hiking stick but its generally for show and protection in the event of god only knows what...but in this case, and trust me when I say it, but this was the first time the hiking stick actually came very much in handy the way up and down. As we climbed each hill there would be a slight turn and another hill that certainly did not sit well with Alex who may it well known in no uncertain terms. I finally told him that this was the highest hikable peak in the park and think of the accomplishment once we achieved reaching it...he mumbled something about roasting marshmallows and we journeyed on. Soon we finally reached the last peak and alas we were standing at the highest point of the park. The hike revealed the challenge from the top as the van looked like a mere blip by the water tower. There was a nice cool breeze and the views of the lakes on one side and the rustic farm on the other were fantastic. Somehow the conversation turned into how we yell “echo” in the US but in Japan they yell “Ya Ho.” I let the kids give an initial Ya Ho before stepping to the plate and letting out a bellow that earned high fives from the kids as my Ya Ho reverberated through the lake and valley. We all laughed and took in some water for the descent but not before Dusty answered natures call. I snapped a few pics that I will reserve for close family members only.

The View from the Top of the Mountain Facing East

The view of the lake from the top...look closely to the left of the water tower and you can see a tiny white
speck that is our minivan....and another tiny white speck of an irate camper wondering whose car that is
and why are they parked in his campsite.

Making the trip down the hill was much to steep to simple walk down...especially since I was wearing some old jogging shoes as opposed to actual hiking shoes or boots. After landing on my fanny and pulling Dusty up once or twice as well we finally make it down walking side step...on Tomoko suggestion. Worked like a champ!

As we got down closer to the trail head we noticed a family was actually in the campsite we parked at and were setting up camp. Kind of felt bad and started wondering if we were blocking them or god only knows what other inconvenience we may have caused and subjected them to. As we got back to the van I immediately apologized to the family who I knew must be regular campers as they were nice as can be. I offered the guy a cold japanese beer from the cooler as I know when I'm setting up camp they really tend to hit the spot. On the way back to camp Alex mentioned he must have really liked the beer as he made lip smacking sound after the first drink. Made me feel good...

That Tiny bit of trail at the very top was the highest hikable point in the park.
I was going to photoshop an arrow saying we were here but was way too much work.

We went back to camp and we were all hungry. Sadly while the kids and tomoko were content eating their japanese style of cup of noodles I had a can of sardines in and opened up a can of Bush's Grilling Beans. Later I spiced the beans up by adding some Snyders of Hanover Hot Wing Flavored Pretzel pieces to the beans which was quite delicious as it added a nice tough of spicey vinegar crunch to the smokey and somewhat soft texture of the beans. As this point I should add that the Hot Buffalo Wing Flavorer Snyder Pretzel Pieces is a fantastic snack and may be very close to my all time favorite snack that is Salt and Vinegar Boulder Kettle Chips. And no Im not getting paid to say that...but I wish I were.

We lazed around the site a little bit and then headed to the beach area of the lake. Wasnt sure what to make of the lake as on this trip it probably got no hotter then 80 degrees while we there and I was pretty sure the water temp was going to be semi cold. But as a dad Ive noticed that kids dont seem to have the cold water hangup that us adults do as we found a nice shady spot under a tree both kids went running and jumped into the shallow part of the lake. I went in after them and to my surprise wasnt too bad....still cold but not too bad. Not a jacuzzi but by that same token the brisk chill an ocean swim offers in spring. We looked at the buoy that separates the swim area from the other parts of the lake and I then decided to swim out to just like I did 12 or so years ago when I last swam there. Felt good and I only got a bit winded ¾ of the way back on the return trip when I rolled on my back and finished the remaining distance doing the back stroke.

As I got back to the shore and to the Kids I noticed a young latino couple getting into the water and the guy making the same faces I made getting in. Overhearing them I gathered that once I swam to the buoy that either the female said something to the guy or maybe he said it in some attempt at male bravado. Was funny though...I could tell the chill of the water, especially around a very temperature sensitive area of the male anatomy and the subsequent buoy swim vs the prospect of sitting at the shore on a soft blanket, in the shade, with a pretty young lady and a favorite beverage probably was higher on the wish list then making a 100 yard swim out to a marker buoy on a kids beach in semi frigid water. Good times.

Later we decided to go into town to get some fixuns for the fajitas and whatever else tickled our fancy. Making the trip to the other side of grand avenue was like going back in time. There was a movie theatre with 2....count 'em, 2 screens. One was showing the latest Tom Hanks and the other showing Winnie the Pooh. Yeah-Winnie the Pooh. The same DVD anyone with a kid 8 years or younger has in their collection was being played on the local theatre. In OC we have the multiplex-in Arroyo Grande they have a bi-plex with one screen dedicated to 50 year old Disney flicks. The grocery story was just like I remembered the midwest variety stores only difference being the produce had the areas the stuff was grown in. We picked up our goodies and went to a little bakery next door with the idea once again of getting some breakfast goodies. That idea lasted about ½ of the way back to the camp site as the kids got hold of the cookie bag and our breakfast snacks turned into our driving snacks just like that. We then got into fierce debate over the origins of the SnickerDoodle started largely by Alex asking if he could still eat a snickerdoodle despite him not liking Snickers due to the peanut factor.

We got back and started the fire and as luck would have it-the very first of the Eucalyptus log must have been filled with pitch/tar/oil or something because once it lit it started belching out thick black plumes of smoke. Had I seen that type of plume off the freeway I would have assumed that a big rig oil tanker had turned over or a roving band of Vancouver Canucks fans decided to take their act on the road. I seriously had never seen anything like it as you could see the oil bubbling out of the wood and thick as can be. Note to self-in the future stick with Mesquite and Pecan as smoking woods of choice. On the bright side it did clear my sinuses.

Fajitas were very good and I got a bit creative adding some of our pre-cooked frozen hash browns to them. I had bought some 13 inch tortillas at the groceria in lake forest so there plenty of those to go around. Once again for some reason camping food always tastes better then the food you cook at home. Honestly-a Rib Eye Steak perfectly BBQed would not taste as good as the Campground Fajita Burritos we dine on that night. 

Later we got the kids to bed and held hands as we watched the stars in the sky...only this time we were lucky enough to see a couple of shooting stars. A fitting way to end our big family day.