It is travel day but we are only going about 120 miles; and unusual for us, we are making some stops along the way.  The color in long views is a bit muted by dust carried on strong winds but I can still make out all the steps in the Grand Staircase from LeFevre overlook. Vermillion Cliffs are striking but between the viewing distance and reduced visibility we see no condors today.  At the intersection with the route to Grand Canyon north rim we find Jacob Lake Inn.  It is famous for its homemade cookies.  Had to try them of course; oatmeal raisin, snickerdoodle, and chocolate chip.  All delicious but the snickerdoodles are my favorite.  The parking lots at Lees Ferry won’t accommodate the motorhome towing so we have to skip it this trip.  We cross the new Navajo bridge with its great view of the deep Colorado canyon then on to our last stop, Horseshoe Bend.  From a bluff high above we can see a tight turn of the Colorado as it winds its way between towering cliffs.  It is beautiful and awesome.

By mid afternoon we find our way to Page Lake Powell Campground.   On our way into town, we can’t help but notice that flat spots and storage lots are filled with boats of all kinds.  Most noticeable are the enormous houseboats looking so out of place perched atop pylons rather than afloat on Lake Powel.    A 69-foot rise in lake level is predicted for this year.  Maybe a few of these will make it back in the water.  Tomorrow is our Upper Antelope Canyon Tour, the main reason we are here in Page.

Interesting by-line for the family restaurant at the Thunderbird Lodge.  There is a perfectly understandable explanation, the original sign touting the proprietress’s baking skills was too small, “Home” did not fit!  ‘Ho’ was an advertising success ultimately joined by a buxom beauty on their next sign.  Whatever brings ‘em in I suppose.  We had dinner and naturally had to sample the pies.  We sampled Thunderberry (mixed raspberry and blueberry) and apple with buttered rum sauce.  Delicious.

We have an “extra” day here in Mt. Carmel (Zion east) and head out to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. We get an early start knowing that sand dune hikes can be quite a challenge in mid-day sun.

OHV tracks zig-zag through National Forest and BLM land all along our route to the park and we pass several boondocking sites filled with buggies.  Off-roading is the biggest use on the dunes but we are hoping to get the feel for the natural place before the riders show up.

As we wind our way back to the park, glimpses of dune tops are definitely pink; noticeably different than the dunes in Mohave.  The dune field is smaller too with just two large living dunes and many outlying forested hills.  I opt to not rent a sand sled despite Kent’s insistence that there could be some great video come out of that!  We could have rented 4-wheelers too.  I prefer foot power.

It is quiet, only a few walkers on the sand; and beautiful with the morning sun bringing out the unique color.  We hike to the ridge of the highest dune and find a comfy spot to take it all in.  There are many inter-dunal pools and lots of wild-life tracks.  Beetle and lizard tracks are everywhere plus a very odd track made by a grasshopper (we saw him make them else likely would have had no idea).  Larger critters have passed through as well.

From the entrance trailhead sand-boarders begin to make their way toward the sand slopes.  The first set are about our age.  Guess I could/should have tried it?!  The younger folks are a little faster, especially on the narrower stand-up boards.  Physics?  Lots more friction area on the wider sleds.  The kids likely had a bit more practice at it too.

We head back down with one last stop. Sand castle building.  I had a couple sand forms in the backpack and it worked out every well.  Wish you were here to build with me again, Willa.

Interesting factoid.  The impetus to create this park was two-fold: to set aside the unique formations for recreation (Off roading predominantly it turns out) and to protect a species of tiger beetle known to exist on only this dune field.  Not sure who thought those two objectives were compatible but they have been somewhat successful (the beetles are not yet extinct) and continue to try to make it work.

Dune riders must sleep in?  It is still pretty quiet as we head out late morning.

On our way out of Zion we check out an overlook trail off 9 just beyond the mile long tunnel.  It is the place for a bird’s-eye-view of the switchbacks into lower Zion Canyon.  As promised, the views are amazing.  The trail is kind of busy and has several narrow one-way sections where it is cut into the cliffs.  There is even a catwalk section and lots of rock steps, even and not so even.  It is a little tougher walk than most “overlook” stops but well worth it.

Angels Landing is one of those bucket list hikes.  It is a precarious narrow-ledge, chain-aided, spur trail off West Rim high above the valley floor atop immense vertical cliffs.  It requires a permit – we don’t have one AND it seems just too un-nerving.  We do the sane thing and stick with the West Rim to Scout Lookout.

This morning, West Rim Trail.  Since we are camping on the east side of the park, we go through the mile long tunnel and down the spectacular entrance switchbacks from the high lands into the canyon.  It is a beautiful ride.  We head for the Visitor Center at 7AM.  An 8 o’clock arrival makes parking a breeze and gets us on a shuttle and to the trailhead before 9.   It is perfect timing for avoiding crowds everywhere and making our way up cliff faces in the shade!  We even start out in jackets.

The trail starts with steep switchbacks, has a cool, quiet middle section though Refrigerator canyon, then resumes with even steeper switchbacks.  They name the top set of the steepest ones Walter’s Wiggles.  At 2 ½ miles up with a 1000 ft elevation change it is plenty challenging.   The trail is carved into cliff faces much of the time with dramatic drop offs and sweeping views of Zion Valley and surrounding cliffs.

Condors soar above us; sometimes roosting nearly at our same height.  We can even see one’s wing tag, J3.  He is the proud papa of two wild born Condors in the canyon and the same fellow we saw on the nesting ledge days ago.

Back on the ground we stop for lunch at the lodge then head on home to relax.  Tomorrow is another day in Zion.

Up early for the trip into town to be there when they open.  After a brief warmup it’s off and UP on I-15 through the Virgin River Gorge.  A Long hard pull coming out of camp with a slightly warm engine.  One of the quirks of this engine setup is the fan runs to cool the turbo intercooler whenever you are above 3,000-3,500 ft. regardless of the engine coolant temperature so.  Getting a real warmup before starting uphill is nearly impossible.  Off we go and guess what, the oil pressure and tach are acting normal this morning.  After discussing the situation with the mechanic and looking at his computer readouts it appears we have a faulty connection powering the ECM(engine control module) and the 6 year old batteries are below par.  So, a couple of new connectors, batteries and hours later we are good to go. Yeah, seemed a whole lot more serious the other day.

The motorhome oil pressure ran higher than usual on our way out of Vegas.  Kent changed the oil filter but there is no improvement.  We are extending our stay here near St George with an appointment at a local diesel mechanic shop early tomorrow.  His best guess based on Kent’s description is a gauge failure.  Let’s hope so as that is surely the quickest repair turnaround. More to come on this.