Friday, April 10, 2009

Friday 10th April…..oh what a hike!!

What is the best gift a guy can receive on Good Friday than two letters from his favourite girls, these letters were in my e mail box today.

Hello Les,

I am very happy on vacation for two weeks.  We have a lot of time to play with our toys and spend time with our friends.  There was a party at the Casa Hogar because it was Santa Julia´s Day! We had a mass and then lunch with some of our friends like Ms. Josefina and her son Francisco.  It was fun!  In the afternoon Madre Chuy took us to play out to a ranch. We played soccer and enjoyed very much. I miss you too!  I liked to go out to the park and play with you and I also like to see you in my English class. When are you coming back?
I send you my love and a big smile,
PaolaIMG_2177

 

Hi Les!

I am doing well. 

Yes, my front teeth are still missing but I know that one day the new ones will come out.

I would like to see the snow when it falls.

It is very hot down here. There are many flowers and a lot of birds singing everywhere. It is the Spring time!

I am on vacation and playing a lot with the other girls. 

Next week we will go back to our English classes.

I miss you too!

It was very nice to see you in the English classroom and going to the park to play.

I hope you will come back soon.

I send you a lot of hugs and kisses.

I love you,

DanielaIMG_2965

Miss those kids!!!!

Left St.George’s this morning and for a change I can say it was overcast and a little cooler.  I drove the 40 miles to the entrance of Zion National Park.  I knew with this being Easter weekend it would be very busy and about 4 miles out the signs had been placed saying the campground and parking lots were full.

There is a town called Springfield, about 3 miles from the park entrance and I knew there was one RV park here, so I pulled in at 9.30am.  A man and a woman were behind the desk and I enquired about an opening for one night and the man was “not all that friendly” and told me to come back at noon.

I went and walked through the park and saw a couple of empty spaces so I went back to the office and this time I made a point of talking to the woman.  Again the Pearson luck( except in bike riding) and charm worked yet again.  I asked the lady if I could put my name on a list as there was a couple of empty spots, she went to her files and said to me if you go walk in to the park and River spot 10 is empty you can have that for one night.  So I did the walk and it was free, so came back, paid for the spot and the lady said we have the same last name and I told her we both came from good stock.  Another Canadian key chain found a new home.

So this is river spot 10..IMG_5972

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Not a bad spot!!!!

From here there are free shuttles into the park.IMG_6043

I had done some research and there were two hikes I wanted to do the 2 days I am going to be here and I decided I would do the hardest one today.IMG_6042

Now I know I did not mention it last night but I was afraid that some of you would call me a wimp BUT when I went for my walk into town last night I put my best runners on and after about half a mile I realized I was in trouble.  I was developing a huge blister on the back of my left ankle.  It was a least the size or an orange, well maybe not that big but it was bad enough that I knocked on someone’s door and asked if I could have a band aid.  Well when I started to get ready for the hike and I tried to put my regular walking shoes on, I couldn’t the blister was too bad.

Gruesome shot coming up!!

 

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So what to do?  I decided I had come all this way and I was going to do it so put on a pair of hiking socks, taped my ankle and wore my Crocs!!!!!

So Observation Point here I come.IMG_5977

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The climb was on a path just over three feet wide with sheer drop offs on one side.IMG_5983 See the little shuttle buses?

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Even here desert colour..IMG_5984

The switch back trails I had just climbed.IMG_5986

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This one below is looking straight down!!

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Larry I would love to have seen you on these trails!!!!  Larry is my buddy with the Pilot’s licence who is afraid of heights!!!

IMG_6012 Almost there just a day at the beach!!

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IMG_6015 Two hours later made it to the top..IMG_6017

The views were quite spectacular!!IMG_6018

A well deserved lunch.IMG_6021

with my two buddies…IMG_6023 IMG_6057

A self portrait.IMG_6028

More flowers..IMG_6037

Coming down was a lot easier and I had no problems with my feet or my ankle and arrived back just over 4 hours later.

I decided I still had a little energy left so got back on the shuttle and then got off at another hike.IMG_6044

IMG_6065 This one a lot easier but also very pretty.IMG_6045

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I was back at Ramona just over 6 hours later, tired but thrilled to have seen such magnificent vistas.  Makes a difference from the other canyons I have visited where you look down into the canyon and not up like this one.

The plan tomorrow is to leave the Rv park and park close to the entrance to the park and take the shuttle and to another long hike.  Then to leave the park and find somewhere outside the entrance to stay for the night.

I am then taking one of the most scenic highways in America up to Salt Lake City, will post when I can. 

My wish is for a wonderful happy and safe weekend to all.

1 comment:

Croft said...

Jeez Les! You're as hard on your body as I am on my motorhome!

Great shots! See you back home.

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