Meeting the Characters at Utah Goblin Valley State Park

Utah has so many national and state parks with such unusual natural rock formations it hard to suggest one over the other.  In Southern Utah one that I am certainly glad we veered off the beaten path to see is Goblin Valley State Park.  I’d seen pictures of it on the internet so had a basic idea of what to expect.  I can’t imagine what the early pioneers thought.

Standing on a plateau looking across the valley is like being transported to some science fiction movie set.  The goblins are spread out in groups, some larger than others.  Some are lonely sentinels.  They look like cartoon characters standing rigid in the morning sun waiting for instruction to move.  They jump from the imagination of a child into realty.

The Utah State Parks encourage you to get down close and gritty with them.  When you take the walk down to be among them you realize how large they are: ten, twenty, thirty feet tall.  These very unusual red sandstone formations are the results of millions of years of exposure to the elements and changes along the earth’s surface.

Each seems to have its own personality.  Some are smiling, some appear to sleep, others look thoughtful, and some are just plain terrified of the humans among them.  We were they in the morning hours but I would have love to have seen this park at night.  The stars shine bright in the wide open stretches of Utah and goblins probably come alive.

HOURS

6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

PARK FEES

Day-use fee: $15; $10 Utah seniors 62 and older

Camping fees:
Main Campground: $30  ($15 extra vehicle fee)
Yurts: $100 + tax

Group Overnight Camping:
Group Campground: $100 + tax for up to 35 persons, $3 per person after that.  (8 vehicles or 4 RVs max)

DIRECTIONS

Approximately 216 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.
– 24 miles south of I-70 on Highway 24, turn at Temple Mountain junction, follow signs 12 miles to park.
– 20 miles north of the town of Hanksville on Highway 24, turn at Temple Mountain junction, follow signs 12 miles to park.

Address: 

PO Box 637

Green River, UT 84525

Phone:435-275-4584

Riding Ol' Johnson To The Bottom of Bryce Canyon.

Around 1960, when I was 10 years old, my grandmother’s two sisters took a trip to Grand Canyon.  One of the highlights of their trip was a mule ride to the bottom of the canyon and back.  It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.  Now I may have made the second best mule trip to the bottom of a canyon, only this time it’s Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.

Sheryl and I headed out to this rough and wild country in a RV we rented in Las Vegas.  Bryce Canyon was one of our stops.  Our first view of the canyon was late afternoon when we took a guided ATV tour on ranch land that is adjacent to the park.  The tour is operated by Ruby’s, an old pioneer family concern that has had land here since before Bryce Canyon was a national park.  However, the ATV tour only goes the edge of a small remote section of the park and not actually into it.  This just whetted our appetite for the mule ride to the bottom that we planned for the next day.

This is the link to Ruby’s website: https://www.rubysinn.com/activities-in-bryce-canyon/guided-atv-tours/

Bryce Canyon is impressive when you walk up to the rim and stare across centuries of erosion that have left a surreal landscape of spires the Indians called hoodoos.  The colors are muted shades of red, brown, beige, grey and white.  Hoodoos are created when the harder layer of rocks on the surface form cracks that let the lower level of softer sand stone erode away.  What is left is a spire that may vaguely resemble a human body and head in which Indians believed spirits resided.

We checked at the lodge and were sent to the corral.  There were about 20 mules saddled and raring to go.  Well, maybe not raring.  More like standing there in a trance.  There were only six riders this afternoon guided by a true to life cowboy named Joe.

We were introduced to our mules and quite by happenstance Sheryl was assigned a black beauty name Paris and I got a white mule named Johnson.  Since we are both from Paris, Texas we thought this very coincidental.

We got a short lesson on mule driving.  Pull back for whoa, pull left for left, pull right for right, and sit straight in the saddle.  Later on I found out why this last bit of information is important.  I was putting my life into the hands of a mule named Johnson that I had never met before who was clopping along on a trail just a few inches from a 50 foot drop or more!  He and I were supposed to bond over the next 2 hours.

It turned out that Joe guided our group and Paris (Sheryl) and I (Johnson) were #2 and #3 on the trail ride.  Joe instructed us to stay about 3 feet behind the horse in front of us.  And off we went down to the bottom of the canyon.

The canyon is absolutely beautiful from the rim looking across and down but it’s even more impressive on the way to the bottom.  That is, after I got over the fear of Johnson wanting to dump his load.  Johnson was a bit on the lazy side and the gap between him and Paris was more like 30 feet than 3.  Joe kept yelling at Johnson to pick up the pace.  I finally figured out Joe was talking to me but calling me Johnson and he told me to kick him in the sides.  That’s when I thought Joe might be a bit loco but he proved it when he gave me about a 2 foot length of garden hose and told me to keep hitting Johnson on the flank to spur him on.  Later Sheryl made fun of me saying I wasn’t encouraging Johnson hard enough.  That’s bunk.  I made up my mind I wasn’t going to make poor ol’ Johnson miserable for two hours of his life as long as he kept me alive just inches away from what could be both of our demise.

The canyon itself is a maze of miles of trails.  Some you think lead up only slope back down after a turn.  Our ride ran into a couple about 50-60 years old that had become lost.  They could see where they wanted to go up on the rim but there was no straight trail there.  They had taken several mis-turns and were bewildered.  So Joe told them to follow us.  Now that should give you an indication of how fast our mules were plodding along.

Joe would stop and spin a yarn every now and then along the trail.  He’d point out some natural outcrop and even had a few good jokes.  But Johnson would have much preferred to be home.  When we started back up to the corral I thought he might get excited.  He did have moments of energy that encouraged me to hold on to my saddle horn for dear life but mostly he ignored me slapping him on the butt and had his own pace.

All told the ride was basically uneventful.  Ol’ Johnson was a rough ride, though.  He’d jostle me when he was just walking and bounce me when he felt like closing ground on Paris in front of him.  But mostly he just figured I was another day’s work and he never expected to see me again.  I can’t say I felt any different.  But thanks, Johnson, for the ride.

This is the link to Bryce Canyon Trail Rides:  https://www.canyonrides.com/bryce-canyon-horseback-riding/

Roughing Southern Utah RV Style

Ever had a hankering to take off on a vacation in a recreational vehicle?  My wife has, so we combined my bucket list destination with her transportation and off we went to Southern Utah.  Five national parks, two state parks, two absolutely beautiful scenic drives, one Indian reservation, several blockbuster movie locations, and three states have been checked off our list in 10 days.

We live in the Houston metro area so the easiest spot to travel and rent an RV is Las Vegas.  Wow!  There are lots of options other there.  One option even involved flying to Indiana and picking up a brand new RV and driving it west for the manufacturer.  That would have been the cheapest way to do it but the downside is the extra time didn’t fit our plans.

So we began comparing rental companies, the equipment available, rates, and (very important) reviews on the internet.  The top three we looked at were all pretty much comparable with each other.  So we picked Best Time RV Rentals.  Since this was our first time renting a RV we had limited expectations other than comparing it to a car rental.  And that’s pretty much how it went.

After signing a stack of papers accepting, declining, and understanding our legal and financial responsibilities we got introduced to our Winnebago Minnie Winnie home on wheels.  This is kind of important and it helps to pay attention.  After all, it is home: kitchen, bath, living room and all the things needed to flame, flush, and snooze successfully.  Fortunately a very good manual of operations was included, which we used extensively the first two days and occasionally thereafter. 

There is no driver’s test to see if you can handle this big baby but I guess the vendor has comfort in knowing you’ve just given up your first child if you mess it up.  After all, they’ve given you fair warning it’s your fault if you add a scratch, rip off the gadgets on top (including holes in the awning), or run something over on the road.  I should add here that you either video the RV in 360 or take a lot of photographs with your cell phone (or both) to record the condition of the vehicle before you drive it off the lot.  Make sure any scratches or abnormalities you find are put on their condition report!  Oh yea, windshield insurance protection is $50.  To me this is a worthy expense having had several chipped and cracked in the past on cars I’ve rented.

I have to say, the folks at Best Time RV Rentals did all this in a very affable manner.  And nothing was sneaky, hidden, or subverted.  It took less than two hours to have us on the road after we first got there to claim our vehicle.

Besides the manual they had a small plastic shoe box size container with two screw drivers (never used), electrical outlet adapter (never used), a small flashlight (never used), a short extension cord, hand held gas fire starter, and a guide to reporting an incident/accident (never used).

So if you are going to follow our lead, we headed to the closest Walmart to stock up on food, beverages, and essentials.  I’m suggesting that you also add some utilitarian convenience items.

• 1.       Gloves: these don’t have to be expensive and I found a pack of 3 rubber gloves for $3.00.  I designated one pair to use only when I was hooking up and handling the sewer system.  Another pair I used for handling all other connections like city water and electrical.  One pair went unused.
• 2.       An inexpensive bull’s eye bubble level: they provide two tire leveling chocks but no level indicator.  It helps to sleep on a level bed.  Plus (didn’t happen to us) pilot flames go out when RV is off level too much.
• 3.       TV coaxial cable:  We didn’t get one but every camp ground had a connection to hook into their provided cable services.  We brought along our ROKU hook up and got what TV we wanted through the campground WIFI.
• 4.       Folding Windshield Shade:  Sure, the RV has a privacy curtain but it is far from affective in reflecting bright sun and heat.
• 5.       Small portable fan: We didn’t use this so much for comfort but to circulate air so the smoke detector wouldn’t go off while using the stove top or oven (which it did).
• 6.       Two cheap floor mats: Use a larger one on the ground at the bottom of the steps and a smaller on at the top of the steps to help keep the RV cleaner.

Nearly everything you’ll need to do to or with the RV while you are renting it is simple.  Hook ups were easy.  Our rental agreement provided that we return the RV with the black water holding tank flushed, the gray water tanks flushed, a full propane tank and a full gas tank.  Having done this the morning of our return it took us about 30 minutes to have the RV inspected by Best Time RV and documents signed clearing either of us from further responsibilities (except toll payments).

Here’s the link to Best Time RV website: https://www.rvsaleslasvegas.com/wp-signup.php?new=besttimerv.com

On the whole our experience was enjoyable.  The 23 foot long Winnie Minnie was adequate for two of us adults.  I don’t think I’d want to add anymore but there’s plenty of sleeping space for several children.

Here’s a link to the Minnie Winnie specifications: https://winnebagoind.com/products/class-c/2017/minnie-winnie/floorplans

I think our grandkids would have a grand ‘ol time in an RV.  Maybe next year.

 

Frozen Solid At Jackson Hole

We headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming looking for snow.  We don’t get much snow in Houston so we traded in some airline miles and headed west.  And we found it along with some record breaking cold weather.  Coldest unofficial recording we had while there was -17F.    Snow has been falling at a record breaking pace this season.  At least until we arrived.  It stopped on Friday and we arrived on Saturday.  It didn’t start again until the day after we left.

But we weren’t to be disappointed.  The lack of falling snow didn’t matter with the temperature never getting out of the teens and a partly cloudy sky keeping sun’s warmth from melting it.  Piled up several feet high.  Since neither of us ski we booked the trip to focus on photography.  It was a fabulous experience.

The vistas were magnificent.  And the wildlife sightings were great for both professional and amateur photographers. 

It seems that most visitors to Jackson Hole in winter came to take advantage of the excellent ski conditions.  Auto access into the national parks is limited as most roads are closed for the season.  We encountered very little traffic or people on our trips out to the elk reserve, Grand Teton National Park, and looking for moose over to Utah.

There was little to no competition for space to set up a tripod to catch a family of Golden Eagle working over the carcass of a goat.  The elk heard had migrated close the access road into the back side of the reserve and only a handful of cars sought them out.  For a patient photographer with a patient wife the setting was perfect.

In researching the trip we found several guide services.  We selected one and it worked out extremely well for us.  Our guide knew where to find everything, including recluse moose and eagles. 

Connecting the dots.

West Texas in January reveals thousands of acres of cotton fields that have been picked and ready to go to the market.  Unless you've seen this temporary method of storing a large compressed cotton crop with a tarp, a picture of that alone may not tell the story.  But finding one abandoned cotton plant to become the focus of the picture explains the barren field between it and the cotton modules.

Reflect upon the moment.

I've always liked images that used reflection to tell the story.  Sometimes you can anticipate the reflection, like on the beach when the wave is receding.  As a result I've trained myself to look for reflections in and around the location.  Some are quickly obvious while others reflections take a while to be discovered.

Back light to high light!

I learned more by accident than by plan how to use back lighting to high light my pictures.  Subjects in nature like butterflies don't pose and let me control the lighting.  Often, when photographing the combination of butterflies and flowers, I'll watch the activity for a while and then choose a flower on which to focus.  Then I'm ready when a butterfly comes along to load up with pollen.  The more translucent the butterfly, the more interesting the picture can be.  The butterfly, as beautiful as it is, doesn't contrast as well with the lighting from the front.