After enjoying the coolness at 8200 feet for several weeks it was time to do a major shopping trip which meant surviving desert heat at lower elevation.
Drove off the Kaibab Plateau in the afternoon at a balmy 77F. Everything looks so green and lush with our late spring rains and snows.
Yup, another fire lookout tower near Jacob Lake. I’ve climbed this 100 foot one too.
Destination Kanab, Utah where I parked at Bill’s house. This cut off an hour and a half drive to St. George to shop on Wednesday. Plus I got to see where Bill lives, nice house by the way, and I invited him to dinner at my favorite restaurant in town, Escobars. If you like Mexican food this place is the best. Just don’t show up on Saturday when they are closed.
In order to try and beat the predicted 104F in St George I left Kanab early, for me, and headed west for another hour. Thank goodness it’s a pretty drive. My routine is to go to the farthest store and work my way back to the way out of the town congestion. Costco was the first stop and I bought a new Memory-foam pad for the 5th-wheel bed. Had already put one in the truck-camper and that bed was most comfortable. The box it came in was huge and heavy and another shopper actually put it in my cart. I managed to muscle it into the back seat of the truck and now will need help getting it out. Next stop Wal-Mart, where I absolutely hate to shop. Then Natural Grocery for the last of my list. Although I seemed to just fly through each store it still took three hours and the temps were rising. Yet I needed a long-sleeve shirt inside the stores. I really don’t like AC much but in these soaring towards 100 temps guess it’s a necessity.
After a second night of dinner at Escobars, Bill’s treat this time, we sat out in his back yard talking and enjoyed a pretty sunset while the temperatures thankfully dropped to doable 70s. Sleeping was fine as the temps continued to drop and it was even a bit chilly in the morning.
Which made it perfect to take a walk with Bill’s dog Sasha on the nearby Bunting Trail amongst the Vermilion Cliffs in the morning. All the spring rains really brought out the flowers in the otherwise dry desert environment.
With only a little climb the views north spanned to the Kaibab Plateau, where I would soon return to cooler temperatures.
This is a gorgeous hike into the red rocks of southern Utah. Bill and Sasha walk here almost every morning. In fact we crossed trails with a lady he sees regularly walking with her dog Singer. I think the trail head is only about a mile from his house. Nice and convenient.
We really didn’t go far, our destination was dinosaur tracks in broken down sandstone that was once sand dunes. The three toed prints are about 12×8 inches and we could see two tracks on this boulder.
After breakfast at Houstons we took a drive around the properties of Best Friends and then to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes.
This State Park was carved out of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land basically for ORV recreation. I’m sure glad some of the dunes were spared the tearing up that involves.
Plus there are the distant views.
A quick stop at the Visitor Center to refill water bottles and I just couldn’t resist this antique.
Before long it was back to the North Rim where I saw the hybrid bison for the first time this season. And back to work on Friday. I have no desire to return to the desert heat any time soon so hiking and camping may be limited to the Kaibab Plateau for a while. I’m OK with that.
It must be amazing to have such a wonderful area to walk in so close by. How about the dino prints!!! Would love to see that
It is gorgeous and if it hadn’t been getting hot already I’d like to have hiked farther there. Maybe in the fall.
Thanks for the update on life on the Rim. Those drives to cities for supplies are memorable.
Things are lovely on the plateau. The bison herd looks healthy.
See you soon.
The bison herd is more than healthy. Staying on the plateau this weekend.
Your photos are lovely! I live in Montreal, Canada, and it gets very hot and humid here in the summer…so much so that (especially) the elderly have died if they don’t have an air conditioner.
Thank you. Thank goodness here it”s a dry heat here.
I don’t enjoy the heat, never have, I’m someone who could easily just by pass summer each year. And having lived on the west coast my entire life I am now learning how to cope with humidity. It’s awful. I try very hard to only go out in the early morning or evening after the sun has gone down. Summer just officially started and I can’t wait until the fall. Your photos are lovely as always and that dinosaur print is pretty great!
Thank you Patti. I actually prefer heat to cold but do have my limits. In fact I’ve always dreamed of living an endless summer with a touch of spring and fall thrown in.
We wondered what kind of trouble you and Bill got into last week:-) That looks like a really nice trail with the bonus of dinosaur tracks.
So now the bison have returned and I bet it hasn’t rained a drop since we left, has it?
Not a drop. We’re camping and hiking on the plateau this week.
Boy that sounds about as good as a trip to town can get. Lucky Bill to have such a really nice hike right outside his door. Beautiful flowers! We too dropped down into the heat but for a doctor’s appointment unfortunately and were SO happy to return to the cool of the mountains. This summer is unbelievable in Virginia – 97 “down there” tomorrow. So glad I’m up here. Know you are too. Met a wonderful Ranger named Lori here. You would really like her. She’s totally on our wave length.
I believe there are more hidden treasures not far from Bill’s place but they’ll have to wait until the temps drop. I’d guess many Rangers are on Our wave length.
Such an adventure, even in the heat. Here in OK, AC is a necessity. I’m not too excited during the heat of the summer to go outside and it already 80F at 7 am.
Thank goodness I live most of the summer at high altitude with rarely a need for the AC I don’t like. 80 at 7am is just too hot, plus you have humidity.
I don’t love AC either, but in this humidity we have needed it for the last couple of months. Lots of people use theirs sooner… we just opened doors and windows as long as we could. The stores all keep theirs set too cold — it just about knocks me over when I walk into the store (even if it was only a short walk across the parking lot in the heat).
But anyway — you got your necessary shopping done, saw some absolutely breathtaking scenery, spent some good time with a friend…. Sounds like it was well worth putting up with the AC …. and was a wonderful couple of days off.
I about freeze to death in the ACed stores. But this trip was worth it for the good company and scenery.
Finally viewed this entry, Gaelyn, and it sure brought back fond memories of our days on the Rim. Loved the photo of the road cutting through those beautiful, expansive, meadows. The fire tower always was a marker of our progress along the highway to Kanab. Your description of coming out of the heat of St. George and back to the milder temperatures of the Kaibab Plateau was right on. Seeing the bison was always a treat but also brought danger with visitors stopping in the middle of the road, getting out of their car, and the approaching the animals. Not good!!!
Thanks George. I’ve taken so many photos of the roads through the changing meadows. Wondering if I’ll see snow there on the way up in a few weeks. I wish they’d decide to get rid of those dang bison for everyone’s safety.