Weekend road trip

Whew, what a week"end". Karen had a few days off, so we packed up the van and headed south. Our plan was to go to Vermillion Cliffs area in Kanab, UT and try to get a permit to hike the wave. Unfortunately, 84 other folks had the same idea, and we were no one of the lucky 10. Soooo, we drove to wire pass and hiked in to the junction with Buckskin Gulch. Though we only hiked about 1/2 mile downwash and maybe 1 mile upwash, we got LOTS of cool sites. What an amazing area. Make us want to do the whole hike to the Paria river junction, though would have to wade some of the holes? Might be worth it.

We decided to stay around and try our luck on the next morning as well. Better odds (only 64 people), though same results. So we pulled out the map and headed for the north rim of the Grand Canyon. On the way to Glen Canyon dam, just out of Page, Az we saw this beautiful "site". Note the pollution ring above the stacks. Glad we need the energy!

Anyway, driving out of Page to the south was amazing. Desert and red cliffs. Until we started driving up to Jacob Lake, then from Pinyon pine to Ponderosa and high forest with COOL temps. The drive from Jacob Lake to the North Rim is one of the best in all the parks I have been to. Once we arrived we B-lined it to the campground to get a site. As luck would have it they had one, on the LAST night they are open for the season. Lodge, food, store, water, all was being shut the next day. We took the site and headed for a look at the edge in the Grand Lodge. Nice place, though can't imagine it would stay there with any earthquake above a 7.0. Anyway, pretty deep hole in the ground. Some smoke and hazy clouded the air, but could still see well. We got up the next morning and headed down the Kaibab trail with intentions of only going a short way. About 3 miles later, we decided to turn and head back up. This is where I learned, never let Karen lead. Took us 1.5hrs to walk down, but curiously, the same to walk back UP!! Maybe I should have stopped to "take more pictures". Actually, over the 3 day weekend, I took 184 pics, that I have whittled down to "only 66".

We then headed home, planning to go to Zion and camp to brake up the drive, however as luck would have it, all campgrounds were full. Decided to head home. Great trip! Van is key!!