Our journey further into the desert has commenced with trading pine trees for palm trees, and red Utah sandstone for barren mountain landscapes. All in an effort to stay warm and dry for the colder seasons ahead. In a way, it feels like we’re chasing fall, but that’s quickly diminishing into places with mono-seasons and we are here for it.

Las Vegas Bay Campground is located on the northwestern edge of this park. We stayed in one campsite for two nights then hopped over to another one for the remainder of our visit here. (Note to self, always always choose the “no generators allowed” section of a campground if that is an option, this was our first experience of having that as an option). We moved due to two noisy generator users who also would mosey into our campsite at all times with unsolicited advice to us about the area. Thanks but no thanks, this is not a time to be a space invader! #realitiesofcovid

Our second camp spot featured incredible vistas of the Las Vegas River that feeds into Lake Mead. We were happy to be parked near the sounds of running water, morning birdsong, and yipping coyotes, and away from the machine noises of generators. Just say no to gas people, off grid solar and batteries have served us well this entire trip. I’m so glad we made the investment into that system.

After the requisite drive down the Vegas strip (completely over stimulating and glad we stayed in the car), we shifted back into our nature mode. There are plenty of hikes around this huge playground, the first we chose was the Historic Railroad Trail a robust 4 mile jaunt over to the Hoover Dam. We explored the concrete giant and it’s surroundings (most everything was closed so it kept the crowds away), learned quite a bit about hydroelectricity, admired the Art Deco flourishes that reflected the dam’s construction time, then headed back the same way we came. Although the trail was a mild grade and relatively easy, the desert heat and monotonous trek back really wiped us out. We found some ice cream in Boulder City and headed back to camp for an early dinner and bed.

Worth noting, we’ve all been sleeping really well this leg of the trip. When the sun goes down around 5pm, we end up cooking in the dark, eating in the dark (aided by headlamps and small exterior lights), then clean up and by about 7:15 are done with our activities for the day. On the rare occasion we watch a downloaded show or play a game, but mostly we sit outside and listen to the night scape and watch the stars. It’s a simple form of entertainment that is good for reflection and relaxation. After this wind down it’s really easy to fall asleep somewhere between 9-10pm. This simplicity coming from a compulsive late to bed person, where I’d be checking social media or news far later into the night than I care to admit. I rather like this reset and hope to continue this evening practice wherever we end up in the World. And now that we’re on Pacific standard time we all also tend to wake up early, well-rested, and ready to start the day.

The next morning we did a quick trail called Owl Creek, where we wound our way around a small canyon that was filled with evidence of owl habitat. After the dam hike from the previous day, the shorter hike in a cool canyon was a welcome reprieve. We headed back to camp early this day for a restful afternoon and a grocery store run. It’s still hard to force ourselves to slow down when we’re in the parks, even if we’re staying a longer span of time. While some of us (the ladies in camp) are content to stay home and bake or craft, the boys are generally after an adventure or jaunt out into the wilderness. Looking for opportunities where everyone is happy and can do what they want is our current tension that we are navigating.

Wednesday morning we chose to do a longer drive north to learn about the remnants of an old Mormon pioneering town of St. Thomas. Hard to imagine, but some hearty people settled here as a passing point between Salt Lake and Los Angeles. That is, until the reservoir was planned. Also hard to imagine, living and working somewhere your whole life and having a government dictate that your town will soon be under water and you should take their offer to move and settle elsewhere. Well, thanks to climate change and receding water levels, many of this ghost town’s foundations survived and reappeared along with its history. It was a very educational walk for all of us.

The rest of our week here was peaceful and slower-paced. Either the boys have acquiesced or we’re all good and tired now. We took plenty of rest days, helped a fellow camper with a dead battery, wandered up and down our camp plenty of times, and basked in the warm desert sun. We’ve been lingering longer in one place going week by week instead of 3-4 days as we head into late fall and have shorter daylight hours to recreate. This means slow home cooked meals and plenty of lounging around with exploring mixed in vs the other way around. I am rather enjoying this rhythm and hope to continue it through winter.

We arrived through the remainder of the snowstorm to Red Cliffs Campground north of St. George. It was a harrowing drive over a winding, snow-packed mountain highway but Zach handled it like a champ. The campground’s notice sign said it was full, but since it was a Monday we decided to give it a circle to see if anyone had recently departed. Fortunately, that plan panned out for us! We scored a great site (A plan “b” hadn’t been formulated so we were feeling quite fortunate) and decided on a longer stay so we could split our time between Zion NP and getting resupplied in St. George.

Day one in Zion was epic. We hiked up to Angel’s Landing (but skipped the chain climb because it was super crowded), and went for awhile longer up on the West Rim Trail. After our legs were good and tired we trekked back down and hopped on the shuttle to the Riverwalk Trail at the end of the line. Overall, we got in about 10 miles before returning to our car and taking a drive up the Zion – Mount Carmel Highway. This drive was reminiscent of Going to the Sun Road in Montana with huge rock walls, amazing vistas, a tunnel from 1930, and endless views. Once day one was complete, ice cream was quickly consumed and we all together skipped dinner on account of being too tired to cook.

The following day we took off from hiking and exploring to get our laundry done errands run in a suburb of Saint George. These days are always a little stressful because you’re going back into civilization and with covid numbers on the rise we are really trying hard to avoid places where people congregate. A mask mandate was only just imposed in Utah last weekend and people around this area are still not wearing masks. We decided to sit in the car and wait for the laundry there but in the course of lots of getting in and out, listening to the radio, etc. we drained the car battery and (Zach) had to walk down the road to a Walmart for a replacement. (In hindsight, we’re glad this happened in a bustling town vs. in the middle of nowhere). Overall this stop was a pricey one for the car with wipers and a windshield also needing replacement but in the grand scheme of things Lafawnda the Lexus has had very low maintenance costs, especially considering all the hard miles we’ve put on her this year.

The next day we were back to our exploring selves, this time driving to the northwest side of Zion and hiking in the wilderness area. There was a lot of snow still on the ground from the system that had hit us in Bryce, so our 4 mile hike was a wet and muddy one but still lots of fun. The view at the end was the most rewarding. And seeing only a handful of people on the trail was even better vs. the busy main part of the park we had explored the other day. We only spent two days in Zion but we felt like that was a good taste of the area. Perhaps we’ll return here for some more technical activity after winter, there’s lots more to explore but it was once again time to move on to warmer climes.