Today our route takes us south, back into Arizona, where we will have an opportunity to visit the
Pipe Spring National Monument.
Pipe Spring has been a very valuable source of fresh water here in this arid desert region of the country for thousands of years. First the various Native American tribes battled for control and access to the water, later the westward expansion of the Mormon population gained control of the spring and finally the U.S. Government.
While under Mormon control a fort called Winsor Castle was built surrounding the source of the spring and we are here today to take a tour of the fort and adjoining ranch that is still in use today.
WINSOR CASTLE
PIPE SPRING NATIONAL MONUMENT
Large wooden doors are found on opposite sides of the fort so that horse drawn carts could enter, be loaded with cheese and butter, then taken to town to be sold.
The interior rooms are staged as they might have been back in the late 1800s.
Kitchen and dining room.
This is where the cheese and butter would have been made.
This is the bedroom of the telegraph operator.
Another example of a guest bedroom.
The interior courtyard of the fort.
A second floor walkway connecting three bedrooms.
Looking out over the bunkhouse roof and horse corrals.
The bunkhouse where the ranch hands lived.
There are a few dairy cows still on the property.
We were told there are a few horses on property too, but we didn't see them.
An outdoor blacksmithing shop.
The back side of the fort with the wide wooden doors.
It wasn't very much later, well, after lunch and grocery shopping, that we arrived at the Watchman Campground in Zion National Park.
We were still unhooking ROVER from THE POD when Katherine and John, preceeded by their two little dogs, Luca and Lacie, were spotted walking up the campground road towards our campsite.
We'll be spending some time exploring Zion National Park with them for the next 10-days. We haven't seen them since we crossed paths twice while roaming around Alaska last summer.
That's quite the view for $15 a night!
TUESDAY - For our first full day here in Zion National Park we got off to a rather slow start, and why not we've got 10-days here to visit the park.
After breakfast we walked over to the nearby Visitor Center to get my Passport Book stamped, request a pair of Junior Ranger books and badges to mail back to Tricia's young 2nd cousins and purchase a few souvenirs to keep for ourselves.
We learned that at 10:00AM and 2:30PM everyday they offer Ranger led "Porch Talks" on a variety of subjects just outside of the Visitor Center entrance.
We sat in on this morning's talk about the History of Tourism in Zion National Park over the last 100 years. It was very interesting and well presented by a younger Seasonal Park Ranger.
After the talk John drove drove Tricia and I, plus the two dogs, over to the eastern side of the park.
In order to get there you have to drive through the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel on the very scenic Utah Highway-9. When we leave here next week we'll be towing THE POD through this tunnel.
Any vehicle taller than 11'4" or wider than 7'10" must obtain a $15 Tunnel Permit that allows you to drive through the tunnel while traffic is stopped in the opposite direction so you can drive down the center line of the roadway.
Additonally no vehicles and trailers with a combined length over 50 feet are permitted through the tunnel. This is because of the winding and twisting switchbacks you must navigate on the west side of the tunnel.
THE POD is only about 10'6" tall, but a hefty 8'6" wide and combined with
ROVER measures about 49'6", so we should just make it under the maximum length.
EASTERN SIDE OF ZION NATIONAL PARK
This mountain side is known as Checkboard Mesa.
Here's a little sand bar where we ate our picnic lunch.
Downstream Pine Creek meets up with the Virgin River in Zion Canyon.
This desert bighorn sheep popped out of the woods right on the side of the roadway.
We noticed there were others down in the ditch next to the roadway.
Then we heard the little lambs up on the nearby rockface.
Aren't they so cute?
Lambs are usually born in February and March so these guys were only a few weeks old.
This rather large sandstone cave is being dug out by the high winds in this area.
Here is a closer look.
Zion Canyon roadway west of the 1.1-mile long Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel
Here's a short video of our surefooted friends!
We didn't get back in time to attend the 2:30PM "Porch Talk", but we did decide to jump on the Shuttle Bus and ride it from Stop #1 at the Visitor Center all the way into Zion Canyon to Stop #9 at the end of the road. We did this just to get an overview of what else we might like to see during our visit here.
And boy is there a lot we want to see. I'm so glad we have 10-days to do it in.
SCENES FROM THE SHUTTLE BUS ROUTE
THURSDAY - Yesterday we didn't do much other than attend another "Porch Talk" in the morning where we learned all about the Geology of Zion Canyon and surrounding area. After which we went to the Zion Human History Museum to watch the 23-minute film all about the park.
You can watch the same film HERE on YouTube.
But that was yesterday, today we're going to get out and start exploring some of the wonderful hiking trails found here in Zion National Park.
Today's choice for hiking is the Emerald Pools Trail. There are three pools of water along the 4.4-mile Emerald Pools Trail.
EMERALD POOLS TRAIL
Here is where our hike starts, Shuttle Bus Stop #5, outside of Zion Lodge.
Right from the start we had to yield the right-of-way to a horse riding tour.
Up into that mountain is were our trail will take us.
Once across the pedestrian bridge we went to the right, the horses went left, thank goodness.
Looking "up-canyon" from the Zion Canyon floor.
A short half mile later we could hear the waterfalls before we could see them.
Looking down at the Lower Emerald Pool from the trail.
The Middle Emerald Pool is just above that ridge.
Looking out from "behind" the Lower Emerald Pool waterfalls.
Yes, the trail goes behind the waterfalls.
This is where I turned around and headed back to The Lodge...
...while the other three kept going up to the other two pools.
A view of the lower falls from just below the ridge.
Here is the water on the ridge before going over the edge.
Check out the reflection in the perfectly calm waters of the pool.
Up ahead is the next waterfall.
It appears to come out of the center of that solid rock wall.
That's where I'm waiting for them to return, at the Shuttle Bus Stop far below.
Looking "down-canyon" back towards the campgrounds.
That's a long way down to get back to flat ground.
They finally made it back to the pedestrian bridge over the Virgin River.
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