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Adventure Travel, Attractions, Benefits of travel', Camping/Hiking/Outdoors, Gift of Travel, Gifts for Travelers

Give the Gift of Travel to Spark that Wanderlust, Check Off that Bucket List, Have a Life-Enhancing Experience and Memory to Last Lifetime

November 24, 2023 krubin723 Leave a comment

Looking through the giant clock at Musée d’Orsay to Montmartre. A great gift for a traveler headed to Paris: the Paris Pass (parispass.com), which bundles admissions to this extraordinary city’s major attractions including the Musée d’Orsay, an Eiffel Tower tour, a scenic cruise down the Seine, at up to 50 percent savings, and you skip the walk-up ticket line © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin,Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

What could be a better gift than giving a part of the world, some memorable, life-enhancing, life-changing experience, something from their bucket-list, perhaps? Give the gift of travel.

The gift of travel can be everything from the trip itself (even create a registry so that lots of friends and family can contribute), to pre-arranging some experience or activity to enhance a trip: a dining experience; a spa visit; admission to a museum, attraction or cultural event; a cooking, baking or jewelry making class; a hot-air balloon ride; rock-climbing adventure; walking tour; bike rental, to purchasing a gift-card or gift certificate that can be applied to the bigger-ticket items and give flexibility for when. And what trip doesn’t require some special gear? And if you time it right, you might also be able to benefit from holiday savings, even on the more open-ended gift cards or certificates.

Gift cards can open up doors to travel, or take the sting out of the pinch to a traveler’s, couple’s or family’s wallet. Gift cards can be that extra spark that gets your loved one to finally depart on their bucket-list experience. And more and more travel companies – hotels and accommodations, cruises, tours, theme parks, sightseeing, spa visits, restaurants and dining, and even transportation companies from airlines to Amtrak to Uber to a Maine Windjammer Cruise – now offer gift cards. The beauty is you can give the amount that works best for you and the recipient can choose the date. (And check if you can apply Black Friday/Cyber Monday discounts.)

Here are some examples:

Globus family of brands Gift Certificates, redeemable for tours and cruises, come in denominations of $50, $200 & $500. Gift Certificates may be used in conjunction with any promotion offered at time of booking and they are transferable (https://www.globusjourneys.com/tour-gift-certificate/).

Tauck Tours eGift Cards, available in any amount, are valid for any Tauck land journey, river or small ship cruise and Tauck Bridges family adventures. They can be redeemed by phone or online at Tauck.com. https://www.tauck.com/guest-travel/egiftcard.

Contiki’s gift card can be used on any Contiki trip; the voucher certificates include a personalized message, can be sent electronically or printed, and do not expire. https://www.contiki.com/en-us/resources/travel-gift-card 866-266 8454.

Historic Hotels of Europe, an exclusive collection of independent and unique hotels, castles, palaces, country houses and other properties handpicked for historic importance, quality and unique story, throughout Europe, offers a gift voucher, valid for five years, in amounts from 50-1500 Euros ([email protected], https://historichotelsofeurope.com/gift-voucher).

Rarely do you find a historic hotel that played such an integral role in a nation’s history as the Sofitel Legend Grand Hotel Amsterdam, a member of Historic Hotels Worldwide © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

You can purchase gift cards for stays or amenities at Historic Hotels of America, Historic Hotels Worldwide, Beyond Green and Preferred Hotels & Resorts (all brands of Preferred Hotels & Resorts), through the iprefer.com. Gift Cards can be used for services, experiences, and stays at participating hotels and resorts in hundreds of destinations around the world. Gift cards do not expire. Purchase online at giftcards.iprefer.com.

Noble House Hotels & Resorts gift cards may be used at its collection of hotels, resorts, spas, restaurants, marinas and adventures across North America, among them, the Jekyll Island Club Resort, Jekyll Island, Georgia. (https://www.noblehousehotels.com/gift-card/)

*Jekyll Island Club, Jekyll Island, Georgia, one of the Noble House Hotels & Resorts © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Small Luxury Hotels, with over 500 hotels in more than 90 countries, makes it simple to send an SLH Gift Card – just choose the occasion, select the amount, and finish with a personalized message. https://slh.com/about-slh/gift-cards

New England Inns & Resorts Association gift cards can be redeemed at 300 lodging properties all over New England and can be purchased in any amount you choose. The cards never expire. Make a reservation directly with the property of your choice and let them know you will be using a New England Inns & Resort Gift Card. Present the card at check-in. https://www.newenglandinnsandresorts.com/gift-cards

Independent Collection Hotels & Resorts, a division of HHM which manages 240 properties across North America, offers gift cards for its portfolio of independent Luxury and Lifestyle, Resorts, Premium Branded and Branded Select. Among them: The Rittenhouse, Whiteface Lodge in lake Placid, MacArthur Place, Sonoma, https://www.independentcollection.com/gift-cards

With a Gift Card from Historic Inns of Savannah, choose from six award-winning boutique hotels in Savannah’s famed historic district https://www.historicinnsofsavannah.com/

*Loved my stay at the Hotel Hannong, ideally situated walking distance to everything in Strasbourg, France, booked on hotels.com *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*.*

Hotels.com (an Expedia company) gift cards unlock hundreds of thousands of places to stay worldwide, including major hotel chains. The gift cards are available in denominations from $10 to $2,000 and there are no expiration dates or fees. Also, Hotels.com also has a secure gift registry where friends and family can contribute toward a Hotels.com eGift Card – great for honeymoons, babymoons, graduation, or any other group-gifting occasion. Here’s fine print: Usable up to balance only for new hotel bookings at www.hotels.com/gc. Only one gift card can be redeemed per online booking, but multiple gift cards may be combined into one gift card with a maximum value of $2000 by visiting the balance transfer tab found at www.hotels.com/gcbalance. Not redeemable at hotel locations or if you choose the Pay at Hotel option online. Not redeemable toward existing bookings or Packages. https://www.hotels.com/lp/b/giftcards (For balance or information, visit www.hotels.com/gcbalance or call US Toll Free 1-888-999-4468.)

*Use a NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation gift card to book a campsite at Watkins Glen State Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

New York State’s Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation gift card is usable at 8,500 campsites, 850 cabins, 135 cottages and 18 golf courses throughout the state. Use for fees associated with camping walk-ups, golf reservations and greens fees, camping supplies, boat rentals provided by NYS Parks (not for vehicle entrance fee, concessionaires, or Department of Environmental Conservation facilities). Purchase online at https://shop.parks.ny.gov/store/gift-cards/ for any dollar amount and have no expiration date. They can be used with the NYS camping reservation system (Reserve America), https://www.reserveamerica.com, 800-456-2267.

Cruiselines also make it easy to purchase gift cards, and even gift registries so that family and friends can contribute to purchasing the cruise:

*Major cruise lines including Royal Caribbean make it easy to purchase gift cards © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Royal Caribbean pre-paid gift card is similar to a gift certificate. These digital funds can be used for Royal Caribbean International or Celebrity Cruises cruise bookings and redeemed by booking online. The gift card will be sent to the recipient via email on the delivery date you choose. For same-day delivery, most gift cards are sent within an hour of your purchase. Royal Caribbean (www.royalcaribbean.com/programs/gift-cards, 866-562-7625)

Norwegian Cruise Line makes it possible to gift onboard credit, wine, gourmet treats, spa visits, or create a registry so that bunches of family and friends can contribute toward a cruise (https://www.ncl.com/onboard-gifts).

Also: Disney Cruise Lines (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/featured/holiday-gift-cruise/); Carnival Cruise Lines (https://carnival.ourgiftcards.com/); Princess Cruises (princess.com/giftcard); Holland America (https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/plan-a-cruise/giftcard)

*Maine Windjammer Association provides e-gift certificates that will be honored by any member of the fleet © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Maine Windjammer Association provides e-gift certificates that can be ordered in any denomination, and will be honored by any vessel in its fleet. The gift certificates never expire and can be customized with a special message. Order online. You can have your e-certificate sent immediately or schedule it for a future day. ([email protected],800-807-9463; https://www.sailmainecoast.com/windjammer-sailing-gift-certificates/)

Gift of Experience

Give experiences that turn a trip into a wonder that lasts a lifetime.

*See more of Prague with the Prague Cool Pass © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You can pre-purchase a city-sightseeing pass that provides admissions to the most popular sights in cities like Prague (PragueCoolPass.com); Amsterdam; Berlin; Dresden; Paris (parispass.com); New York City; Philadelphia. Wilmington, Delaware & the Brandywine Valley’s 2024 Brandywine Treasure Trail Passport provides access to 12 of Greater Wilmington’s top cultural attractions. Check out Go City, which sells passes in over 30 destinations from major metropolises like London and New York to oceanfront oases like Sydney and Oahu – 1,500 attractions, tours, and activities worldwide, saving money over purchasing individual tickets, connected on your smart phone (GoCity.com, 800 887 9103).

Gift certificates from Broadway.com can be redeemed for tickets to any Broadway or Off-Broadway show currently playing in New York City (https://www.broadway.com/gift-certificates/).

Drive an exotic car, learn to fly, rock climb, skydive, bungee jump, take a hot-air balloon ride. Virgin Experience lists some 5000 different experiences in 122 regions from 600 “best in class” partners that their gift card can be applied to: Go to Food & Wine Gifts, Adventures Experiences and other listings. Easy return, no expiration, free exchange (https://www.virginexperiencegifts.com/action-and-adventure, https://www.virginexperiencegifts.com/ (for Black Friday, use GIFT20 for 20% off).

*Context offers walking tours with experts of dozens of destinations including Athens © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Context Travel offers personal walking tours with experts in 60 cities across 6 continents. Skip the line and off-hours access to popular sites in the world’s cultural and historical capitals. Tours range from half-day to 7-days plus. Context Travel also offers the “gift of learning” – virtual and in-person sessions with top experts– you can explore the Colosseum with an archaeologist, uncover masterpieces of the Louvre with an art historian, or explore the palaces of Istanbul with an architect — from home, or in person. Gift cards are redeemable for 100s of tours and experiences in any city, can be e-delivered immediately or at a future date and can be personalized with your message (https://www.contexttravel.com/gift-cards).

Spafinder, a compendium of resorts, wellness centers and day spas, makes it easy to purchase giftcards. Take 25% off $200+ with promo code VIP25; get $20 off $80, Spafinder.com

Theme parks can be a very, very pricey vacation for families. Gift cards can put the vacation in reach or enhance the experience. Disney’s gift cards can be purchased in denominations of $25 to $500 and used for “practically” all things Disney – theme park tickets, resort stays, merchandise, dining and experiences at Disney destinations. Redeemable at shopDisney.com, Disney Store locations in the U.S., participating locations at Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida, Disneyland® Resort in California, Disney Cruise Line®, and Adventures by Disney®. https://www.disneygiftcard.com/.

Also consider gifting some of the really special experiences, like Zookeeper for a Day at Busch Gardens (www.buschgardens.com), or sleepover “Night in the Museum” experiences at places like National Air and Space Museum, International Spy Museum, American Museum of Natural History, Cincinnati Museum Center, California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

*A great gift is purchasing admission to a major attraction like Harry Potter: The Exhibition, now on view in New York City © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Also think about pre-purchasing tickets to museums and attractions, like Harry Potter™: The Exhibition (50 W. 34^th St., www.harrypotterexhibition.com); The Museum of Broadway(145 West 45th St., www.themuseumofbroadway.com, “Billy Joel- My Life, A Piano Man’s Journey” exhibit at Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (97 Main Street, Stony Brook, www.TheBillyJoelExhibit.com).

For the skier/snowboarder, consider purchasing lift tickets, lessons, rentals, perhaps even a multi-day, regional or local pass (EpicPass.com, IKONPass.com, snow.com, ski.com). Get Ski Tickets is an online marketplace to purchase date-specific discounted lift tickets, lessons, rentals, group lift tickets and season passes (https://www.getskitickets.com/, 970-233-7040, [email protected]) and gift certificates (https://www.getskitickets.com/gift-certificates/).

Fantasy Camp!

There are any number of fantasy camps to satisfy, well, every fantasy. If you can fantasize it, there is likely a fantasy camp to realize it.

Want to play baseball like a major leaguer? There are baseball fantasy camps with teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Atlanta Braves (mlb.com). Basketball: 76ers Fantasy Camp is the inaugural NBA fantasy camp, www.76ersfantasycamps.com).

Hockey goal, Jim Craig’s goalie stick and equipment from the 1980 Olympic gold-winning ‘Miracle on Ice’ on display at the Olympic Museum in Lake Placid, NY. In the Miracle On Ice Fantasy Camp, join players from the gold medal winning 1980 USA Hockey Team and skate and compete in the 1980 Rink © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Join players from the gold medal winning 1980 USA Hockey Team for this annual Miracle On Ice Fantasy Camp, in magnificent Lake Placid, NY – host city of the historic 1980 Winter Olympic Games. Skate and compete in the 1980 Rink – Herb Brooks Arena where USA conquered the Russians and shocked the sports and political world. (https://lakeplacidolympiccenter.com/todo/miracle-on-ice-fantasy-camp/)

Space Camp, an educational camp on the grounds of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center museum near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, provides residential and educational programs for children and adults on themes such as space exploration, aviation and robotics (www.rocketcenter.com/SpaceCamp, [email protected], 800-637-7223).

Also: Broadway theater (Broadway Fantasy Camp, broadwayfancamp.com), Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp, an interactive musical event that takes place in various locations worldwide involving various Rock Stars on various dates.(rockcamp.com; gift cards available, (https://gift-cards.rockcampevents.com/)

For many, being able to participate in important science research is also a fantasy. Earthwatch makes it possible to support research that responds to global challenges – from climate change to human-wildlife coexistence to sustainability – while engaging local communities, and offers more than 40 field research expeditions around the world, with opportunities for teens and adults and no prior experience needed (Earthwatch.org, [email protected]).

Getting There or Coming Here

*Several airlines, such as Southwest Airlines, have gift certificate programs © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

You can purchase gift cards on many airlines: the Delta Gift Card is redeemable for any Delta Air Lines flight worldwide and for any Delta Vacations package that includes airfare, no expiration date (https://www.delta.com/us/en/gift-cards/overview) and Southwest Airlines (no expiration date, fully transferrable,usable for passenger travel,https://www.southwest.com/gift-card/).

Prefer riding the rails to boarding flights? Amtrak gift cards are available in an amount up to $500. No fees. Never expires. Have it emailed or sent through the mail. Redeem for travel online, in the app, by phone or in staffed stations. (May not be used for onboard purchases) https://www.amtrak.com/giftcards

Memberships Have Benefits

Gifting family memberships in a favorite museum, zoo, aquarium, preserve, historic site or attraction gives a sense of “ownership” and encourages multiple or multi-day visits as well as giving access to benefits – from special access to events and openings, discounts and promotions, magazines.

Think about gifting membership in such stellar institutions as the American Museum of Natural History that transport near and far, back in time and into the future, and ignite a love of travel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Support important institutions – and find unique gifts – from the American Museum of Natural History (members enjoy free admission, special access and previews of new exhibitions, and discounts on purchases with member ID (get $20 off membership with code MEM22); the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chicago Museum of Art, any and every important museum, hall of fame, attraction, zoo such as the Wildlife Conservation Society which operates the Bronx Zoo among others (www.wcs.org).

Smithsonian Institution, not only has an excellent store and catalog of excellent expeditionary trips (Smithsonianstore.com), but I treasure the Smithsonian Magazine, which also provides membership benefits, access to gifts; subscribe to the magazine and get gift subscriptions to share with someone else, smithsonianmag.com).

Also check out the memberships and gift possibilities at: Sierra Club (produces an excellent catalog of trips, sierraclub.org); Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (also check out the trail shop for gear like jerseys, trail guides and such, railstotrails.org), Parks & Trails NY (which hosts the annual Cycle the Erie 8-day, 400-mile camping/biking trip, pkny.org); Audubon Society; Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation; World Wildlife Federation).

Not able to visit? Many of the great museums, iconic institutions and organizations offer some of the most interesting, innovative and creative items in their gift shops and you can support their mission by shopping online or through catalogs (check out holiday specials, discounts). It can be the way you bring home a real NASA astronaut’s outfit from Kennedy Space Center (www.kennedyspacecenter.com).

Travel Gear

Also appreciated: the gear, special clothing, photo equipment that a trip (expedition, voyage, journey) entails, but may feel guilty about purchasing or simply tapped out.

Our favorite go-to places (especially when you catch holiday deals, sales and closeouts): REI (top trending gifts, gifts by activity, by price, www.rei.com/s/gifts-for-travelers, 800-426-4840); LL Bean, 888-610-2326, llbean.com; Sun & Ski, sunandski.com, 866-786-3869 (gift cards available); Eastern Mountain Sports, 888-463-6367, ems.com; Tennis Express (gift guide online, TennisExpress.com), Bass Pro Shops, www.basspro.com; Patagonia (Patagonia.com); Paragon Sports (paragonsports.com). And of course, luggage – one great site Luggageonline.com (Save 15%, 888-958-4424).

*A bucket-list, once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Galapagos is all the more memorable with the gift of a waterproof camera © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

What trip doesn’t involve photos! B&H consistently has best inventory, prices and holiday specials, efficient delivery, excellent customer service, delivery and return policies, www.bhphotovideo.com, 800.606.6969, 212.444.6615).

Great stocking stuffers so appreciated by travelers are socks for hiking, running, endurance, skiing, biking, hunting, work and lifestyle: Bombas (get 20% off, https://bombas.com/) and Darn Tough (www.darntough.com).

A subscription to a travel magazine like Travel & Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler (cntraveler.com) is also a great gift to inspire and inform. National Geographic; there is also a National Geo Kids edition. (https://ngmdomsubs.nationalgeographic.com/).

IT’S THE BEST TIME OF YEAR – FOR SNATCHING SAVINGS ON VACATION TRAVEL IN 2024

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© 2023 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/KarenBRubin

Adventure Travel, Ecotourism, Outdoors Adventures

New Brunswick Roadtrip: Mesmerizing Hopewell Rocks

September 26, 2023 krubin723

Walking on the ocean floor at low tide. No place demonstrates the drama, the power of the “highest tides in the world” as at Hopewell Rocks, the stellar attraction of New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, with Dave E. Leiberman, Laini Miranda & Eric Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, www.goingplacesfarandnear.com

What does it mean that the Bay of Fundy “has the highest tides in the world?” Until you actually walk on the ocean floor one hour, then scurry back to kayak through openings in the sea stacks which have turned into sea caves the next, it is hard to wrap your head around. And no place demonstrates the drama, the power of the “highest tides in the world” as at Hopewell Rocks, the stellar attraction of New Brunswick, Canada.

We have been traveling along the Bay of Fundy Coastal Road, starting in St. Andrews, where the incoming tide nipped at our feet as we stood on breakers; we had to dash off Ministers Island before the sand bridge was submerged; we saw the force of the tide at the Reversing Falls in St. John, boats laying on the ocean floor until the tide returns in Alma; and at Cape Enrage, experienced once again how a rocky beach where we had just been walking, seemingly moments later, was totally submerged. Now at Hopewell Rocks, we see more intensely, what “highest tide in the world” means.

*The picturesque country road from Alma to Hopewell Rocks © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Depending on where you are on the Bay, the water level difference between low and high tide can be anywhere from 35 to 56 feet (equivalent to a five-storey building). Compare this to the most parts of world, where the average tidal water differential is 6-8 feet. In Hopewell Rocks, the tidal change is 46 to 56 feet, depending upon the season, moon phase, sun and stars, even asteroids, and stormy weather.

There are two high tides and two low tides every day in the Bay of Fundy, with a tide change every six hours and 12 minutes. It doesn’t come in like a tsunami, but flows in, rising one foot every five minutes which is faster than you realize. Consider this: A six-foot person standing on the beach with the water just up to the edge of their toes will be completely under water 30 minutes later.

The amount of water – 160 million tons – that comes into the Bay of Fundy for one tide change is enough to fill the Grand Canyon twice. With two tide changes each day, that is enough water coming into the bay each day to fill the Grand Canyon four times.

Or consider this: the amount of water that comes into the Bay of Fundy for each tide change is equal to what flows over Niagara Falls in one year and nine months.

With this in mind, we know we have to arrive at Hopewell Rocks by 8:50 am, a 35 minute drive from Alma, in order to have time to literally walk on the ocean floor amid the famous “Flowerpot Rocks” – enormous free-standing rock formations or sea stacks that have trees growing on top – and walk through the openings that have been carved out, before the tide comes in. (“Ripley’s Believe It Or Not dubbed them the Flowerpot Rocks,” Neil Hodge at New Brunswick Tourism, who organized our itinerary, said.)

We meet Johnathan, our guide for an interpretive tour, who takes us for a brief visit in the Interpretive Center which explains the geologic phenomenon, but only briefly before we go down to the ocean floor. We will only have access until 11:15 am.

The first view, from the top of the staircase is dramatic – you see these famous Flowerpot Rocks and sea cliffs, with the people looking so tiny. The beach extends for almost 2 miles.

“The Bay of Fundy is an anomaly – a series of coincidences that have added up to create our miracle,” Johnathan tells us. “The Bay is the perfect length, width, size and shape for this to work, and a perfect storm in the last Ice Age. The glacier formed rock and when it melted, 160 billion tons of salt glacier filled the Bay and over time, pushed the rocks together (conglomerate).

*Walking on the ocean floor among the “Flowerpot” formations of Hopewell Rocks at low tide © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The shape and length of the Bay (the Bay extends 200 miles) is like a bathtub – the water in the bay doesn’t have enough time to level out with the ocean – the only place to move is up. Other places have a slack tide – when the highest and lowest tide stops. [We saw this in St. John, at the Reversing Falls, where the slack tide would last 20 minutes] Here, there is never slack – a micro second at the highest point when the tide pushes back against the ocean.”

You can walk almost 2 miles along the beach at Hopewell Rocks for three hours before and three hours after low tide; “tide sweepers” are there to corral people back © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

You can walk on the beach 3 hours before low tide and three hours after (tourists think they can only cross at one time). The tide flows in at the rate one foot per minute, horizontally, one foot per 4-7 minutes vertically, up to a height averaging 46.2 ft., and as high as 56 ft.

*These colossal rock formations are actually fairly fragile; areas are marked off where there could be rock falls © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The interesting shapes of the sea stacks are because they consist of compacted sedimentary conglomerate that erodes at different rates. “What is inside the conglomerate weighs more on the right than on the left,” which is why it can collapse.

The daily ebb and flow, rush and crush of all this water carves the sea stacks and many seem to precariously balance, likely to collapse within only a matter of a decade or two. Imagine that. These rock formations have been carved over millennia and may be at the end of their life. In fact, we see the crumbling, the cliff face collapse – areas are sectioned off. Geology is an ongoing process, and it isn’t necessarily slow motion over millennia, millions or billions of years, but in a moment.

*The day in, day out twice daily flow of 160 million tons of water has shaped the “Flowerpots” at Hopewell Rocks © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There are barricades around areas where there have been rockfalls, and we see numerous examples of boulders that have fallen into crevices, and precariously balanced boulders.

Many of these formations have names related to their shape – Elephant (since it split in two, Ella and Phant), Bear, ET, Jay Leno, Dinosaur, Mother-in-Law.

*Lovers Arch is the most famous of the Hopewell Rocks formations, named because of the co-dependency of the two sea stacks – if one falls, both will fall © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The most popular – and famous – formation is Lovers Arch, named because the two formations lean next to each other and if one falls, so will the other; they are only still standing now because of this co-dependency. “It’s the most romantic spot,” Johnathan says, adding that there is at least one proposal a week here, and sometimes weddings.

The beach extends 2.4 km, depending on the tide. We see Tide Sweepers at cut off points, who begin to herd people back off the beach as the tide begins to roll in. There is actually an emergency tower for those who find themselves trapped.

*The fantastical experience of walking on the ocean floor at low tide at Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick’s most famous attraction © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We walk through Castle Cove where there are four caves, Diamond Rock, and come to a skinny Sentinel Rock, which Johnathan tells us, may fall in the next 20 years or perhaps 200 years.

These rock formations are not even that old (at least when we compare to the 350 million year old fossils we found just down the road at Cape Enrage.

*The fragility of the Hopewell Rocks is seen at how many have collapsed, are precariously balanced, or eroding at their base © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Hopewell Rocks were formed from glacial action 6000-10,000 years ago. And it seems that even on a daily basis, they are eroded just a little bit more. Johnathan says that some believe this park will last 2000 years, but some of the formations may be gone in just 20, like Sentinel Rock.

Johnathan, one of the Hopewell Rocks guides, points out the rockweed (you can eat the bulbs– delicious!) and the bladder wrack which contains super-rich moisturizer © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Johnathan points out rockweed growing on the rocks – you can eat the bulbs (seed pockets – delicious!). The bladder wrack (seaweed), yields aloe which is the most marvelous moisturizer, with 200 times more collagen than many commercial skin products (we try it).

We see peregrine falcons nesting in the rock faces.

The highest cliffs are 100 feet high. ”Adrenalin –junkie geologist rappel down – so they put up barricade.”

The water is notably brown (not blue) because the motion of the 160 million tons of water, mixing with silt from the mud flats. “The water is brown here but 20 km away, in Moncton, it is blue because of shellfish that filter the soil. You won’t find shells here.

The water off of Hopewell Rocks is brown because the constant tidal action keep churning up the silt. Also, the mudflats have billions of mud shrimp that is food for sandpipers that stop on their migration to South America © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

But the nutrient-rich mud flats produce another amazing sight: Hopewell Rocks is on the flight path of sandpiper birds migrating from the Arctic to South America for winter – hundreds of thousands of sandpipers, 35% of the world’s population– stop to feed in the Bay of Fundy for three weeks in late August/early September each year. The huge mud flat that extends for miles teams with billions of microscopic mud shrimp. The sandpipers feast and double their body weight, then fly 72 hours direct to South America without stopping. “We are heavy into conservation, sustainability so we don’t want kids or anybody to walk in the mudflats, killing the microscopic mud shrimp, the food source for the birds. A size 10 shoe, if they walk on mudflat, imprint would kill 10,000 mud shrimp.”

It’s an extraordinary experience to take Baymount Adventures kayaking tour among the Hopewell Rocks “Flowerpots” where we had only less than 2 hours earlier been walking on the ocean floor © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Speaking of food, we rush back to the cafeteria in the Visitors Center to get something for lunch (you can take a shuttle or walk the 15 minutes) before racing over to get to our two-hour sea kayaking tour with Baymount Adventures by 11:50 am, to get outfitted, get oriented, and get to the sea kayaks on the rock beach (everything is very time dependent) for “The Highest Tidal Paddling Experiences on Earth.”

It is the most amazing experience to paddle right up to the giant “flowerpot” rocks, sea cliffs, twisting and turning through small tunnels and narrow passageways in these amazing rock formations which we had just walked around on the ocean floor.

Our guides are concerned about the strong winds today, but as we paddle, a fog picks up over Nova Scotia which dampens the wind, so we have a wonderfully calm time on the water, but we still have to paddle vigorously to get back onto the shore.

A really marvelous adventure, a highlight of our New Brunswick roadtrip, especially pairing the kayaking with the walk on the ocean floor.

Baymount Adventures, 131 Discovery Rd, Hopewell Cape New Brunswick E4H 4Z5, (506) 734-2660, [email protected], https://www.baymountadventures.com/

*Paddling through the Elephant formation at Hopewell Rocks © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

In the 1950s, Hopewell Rocks was a diner and a campground; it was turned into a provincial park in 1996.

Hopewell Rocks is the most famous attraction in New Brunswick, which before COVID, drew 380,000 visitors a year [this year 350,000 are expected] from around the world. There are especially large groups of fans in Japan.

*Truly a highlight of our visit to New Brunswick: walking on the ocean floor, then kayaking through the Hopewell Rocks formations © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“A Japanese textbook has a whole unit on the Bay of Fundy and photo of Lovers Arch. Visitors say it was a ”lifelong dream” to come.

Hopewell Rocks is designed to be a self-guided park but there are helpful Interpretive staff throughout the grounds to answer questions. And the Interpretive Center provides an excellent orientation.

The Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park has three primary access points to the Ocean Floor. Main Deck is a tall metal staircase with a spacious viewing platform, where you descend 99 stairs to the ocean floor and after exploring, A little further towards North Beach you can access by a ramp with benches strategically placed along the incline (the ramp is suitable for wheelchairs, but the ocean floor is not). You can also take Desmoiselle Beach trail from behind the Interpretive Centre.

Hopewell Rocks park admission is valid for two consecutive days to ensure you have the flexibility to see both high and low tides. Sturdy footwear is recommended for exploring the trails and shoreline (they provide places to rinse your shoes/boots). Be sure to check the tide times prior to your visit to see when it will be safe to explore the Ocean Floor.

Hopewell Rocks, 131 Chemin Discovery, Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick, 1-877-734-3429, https://www.nbparks.ca/en/parks/33/hopewell-rocks-provincial-park

*A view of Moncton from the lounge at Delta Hotel Beausejour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

When we leave Hopewell Rocks we drive 45 minutes to Moncton, a small city that’s the gateway to Northern New Brunswick (it also has the airport), where we stay at the Delta Hotel Beausejour (750 Main Street, 506-854-4344).

Moncton has a load of great restaurants and we have the best time at the Pump House Brewpub & Restaurant (5 Orange Ln, Moncton, NB E1C 4L6, Canada,+1 506-855-2337, pumphousebrewpub.ca) for its great food and fun ambiance.

Moncton is the end of our Bay of Fundy coastal adventure. Next up: Miramichi, gateway to northern New Brunswick.

Travel planning assistance from Tourism New Brunswick, 800-561-0123, www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca.

Next: New Brunswick Roadtrip: Miramichi and Metepenagiag

NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA ROADTRIP: SAINT JOHN, CITY OF FIRSTS, OLDESTS, AMAZEMENTS

NEW BRUNSWICK ROADTRIP: DISCOVERING FUNDY TRAIL PARKWAY, FUNDY NATIONAL PARK, CAPE ENRAGE

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Adventure Travel, Camping/Hiking/Outdoors, Outdoors Adventures, Road Trip

New Brunswick Roadtrip: Discovering Fundy Trail Parkway, Fundy National Park, Cape Enrage

September 20, 2023 krubin723

*Walking the enchanting trail to Dickson Falls in Fundy National Park, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, with Dave E. Leiberman, Laini Miranda & Eric Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, www.goingplacesfarandnear.com

We set out from Saint John for the 45-minute drive from Saint John to St. Martins. St. Martins, a quaint and charming little village on the Bay of Fundy, is a slow-paced and picturesque community known for sea cliffs, sea caves, two covered bridges and natural beauty. The coastline that starts in St. Martins is one of the last areas of pure coastal wilderness on the eastern seaboard of North America. It’s a popular place to come for cycling, hiking, bird watching, nature walks, rock hounding and sea kayaking.

*St. Martins is one of the picturesque communities on the Bay of Fundy with “two faces” depending upon whether the tide is high or low © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

“Communities on the Bay of Fundy are places with two faces because they have much different looks depending on whether it’s high or low tide,” Neil Hodge of New Brunswick Tourism has advised. “A trip along the Fundy Coastal Drive is an opportunity to get a feel for ‘The People of the Tides’. The tides impact people’s lives – what they can do when.’’

*The coastline that starts in St. Martins is one of the last areas of pure coastal wilderness on the eastern seaboard of North America © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We are scheduled for a 2 ½ hour sea kayaking tour with Bay of Fundy Adventures (415 Main Street in St. Martins, 506-833-2231, bayoffundyadventures.com) and excited to paddle out of this quaint fishing harbor down the rugged coastline next to sea cliffs and sea caves through two UNESCO World Heritage Sites– the Fundy Biosphere Reserve and the Stonehammer UNESCO Global Geopark. Alas, the company has to cancel because of wind and waves are too great (but we have another sea kayaking experience scheduled, at Hopewell Rocks). We hang out awhile in a small coffee place where some of the “People of the Tides” have also gathered for their morning coffee, even inviting us to come by their house for a better photo of the cliffs.

We walk the beach, already seeing how the tide flows in so swiftly – not tsunami-like as you might expect before actually seeing it – but pretty much swamping the trail before you realize it.

Had we had our kayaking adventure, we would have stopped for lunch at The Caves Restaurant (82 Big Salmon River Road, St. Martins) and had dessert at Octopus Ice Cream (404 Main Street in St. Martins).

We set out on the Fundy Trail Parkway, a slow cliffside drive, from gate to gate, that offers numerous beautiful views of the Bay of Fundy and its long, rocky coastline (great for biking). All along this magnificent route there are delightful pull-ins, lookouts, picnic areas, rest areas, hiking trails. We pack a picnic lunch with us (no restaurants on the Fundy Trail Parkway),

The Fundy Trail Parkway, 19-miles long from gate to gate, is a coastal, multi-use park with has five beaches, four waterfalls, 22 miles of hiking trails, 21 scenic lookouts and 16 observation decks.

*Spectacular views of the Bay of Fundy await along the newly completed Fundy Trail Parkway, a 19-mile long multi-use park that hugs the coastal wilderness © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We learn that the Fundy Escarpment is a 2 km-wide corridor (one km of land and one km into the Bay of Fundy), stretching from Fownes Beach in St. Martins (where we start) to the western boundary of Fundy National Park. The 1 km width is essential because most of the ecosystem dynamics of the Bay of Fundy exist within the area, including the nutrient-rich salt marshes, tidal flats and the dramatic Fundy tides. The Fundy Escarpment is one of the last remaining coastal wilderness areas between Florida and Labrador.

*Taking the cable ladder to Fuller Falls, one of the highlights of the Fundy Trail Parkway © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Traveling from west to east: we stop often to take in the views (there is so much to see and do, thankfully, Hodge at New Brunswick Tourism has given us a list of recommendations): Fox Rock Lookout and Melvin Beach Lookout. We stop to really enjoy Fuller Falls (not to be missed) – this is a gorgeous waterfall that you reach by walking down a cable ladder to a lower deck for the best eye-level view, where David, Laini and Eric are inspired to do yoga.

*Inspired to do yoga at Fuller Falls, on the Fundy Trail Parkway, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We continue on to Pangburn Beach Lookout, Black Point Lookout, and drive in to see The Cookhouse (a lumberjack camp 100 years ago, the workers needed to eat 8,000 calories per day to do the job), but has not yet open for the season. There is also the Big Salmon River Interpretive Centre, where you learn about the logging and shipbuilding history of this once thriving community in the 1840s-early 1900s. (Also not yet open for the season when we visit).

*The Suspension Footbridge on the Fundy Trail Parkway, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From here, we go to Parking Lot 8 (P8) and take the five-minute walk along the river to the 84m Suspension Footbridge. It’s a great view there as you explore the banks of Big Salmon River (once a popular salmon fishing site, the salmon are now protected). From here, we can visit the lookouts at Long Beach (From 2010 until the Parkway opening in 2016, this lookout was the farthest you could drive in the park; the beach showcases a “horizontal tide”, extending 1640 feet at low tide) and Tufts Plateau, and then continue on to Martin Head Lookout and Seeley Beach Lookout, stopping for our picnic lunch with a stunning view.

*Enjoying a picnic with a spectacular view on the Fundy Trail Parkway, New Brunswick, Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We take an easy 1.5-mile hike from the parking lot through the woods to a viewing platform to see Walton Glen Gorge, known as the Grand Canyon of New Brunswick, and the star attraction of the Fundy Trail Parkway. The Gorge is 1,000 feet across, 525 feet deep and 550 million years old, carved during the most recent Ice Age – you can see the path the glacier took to the sea as it melted, and see waterfalls coming down the rock face on the other side of the gorge.

*Walton Glen Gorge, known as the Grand Canyon of New Brunswick, is a star attraction of the Fundy Trail Parkway © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is astonishing to learn that The Fundy Trail Parkway actually was only completed in 2020, during the pandemic, after taking 25 years and $100 million to build. It is operated by a non-profit, The Fundy Trail Development Authority Inc., (admission is $11.50/A, $10/S, $6.50/5-18, $36/family, $40/up to 7 people. Open mid-May to mid-October).

Fundy Trail Parkway, 1-506-833-2019 1-866-386-3987, [email protected], www.fundytrailparkway.com

*The Parkway to Alma, New Brunswick Canada © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Leaving the parking lot at Walton Glen Gorge, we follow the sign that says Sussex and five minutes later exit the Fundy Trail Parkway. A little further ahead, we turn right at the sign to Alma and then follow this road which takes us on a scenic 45-minute drive through Fundy National Park to Alma, where we will have two-nights stay to explore Fundy National Park and environs, and have a cozy stay at the Parkland Village Inn in Alma (8601 Main Street, 506-887-2313).

Alma, a charming fishing village, is home to Molly Kool, who made history as the first female sea captain in North America. Kool is the nautical equivalent of Amelia Earhart, the American who was the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Molly Kool also broke ground for women at a time when females weren’t allowed to be sea captain. (I regret we didn’t have time to stop into the Molly Kool — Albert County Museum & RB Bennett Centre.)

*It is a bizarre sight at the Alma wharf at low tide to see boats sitting on the ocean floor © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We explore Alma, and quickly realize what Hodge meant when he said these are “communities with two faces.” It is a bizarre sight at the wharf at low tide to see boats sitting on the ocean floor.

*Getting a taste of Alma at the Alma Lobster Shop floor © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We immediately get to taste Alma – lobster rolls and the best, freshest mussels ever at the Alma Lobster Shop (36 Shore Lane); a delightful dinner at Tipsy Tales Restaurant (8607 Main Street), and the hip ambiance of Holy Whale Brewery/ Buddha Bear Coffee Roasters, housed in a former church.

*Holy Whale Brewery is housed in a former church in Alma © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Cape Enrage

We set out in the morning to drive 20 minutes along a lovely coastal country road to Cape Enrage, an iconic destination with a historic lighthouse on the Bay of Fundy where you can best appreciate the coastline. Wherever we go along the Bay of Fundy, we have to be mindful of the time, because the tides determine what we can see and do.

We arrive at Cape Enrage, at 9:30 am. This place is famous for its historic lighthouse, which was supposed to be knocked down and replaced by a metal pole. Dennis Tate, a local high school physics teacher (the son of a lighthouse keeper who used to visit by boat as a boy), was so upset, he raised funds to take over the lighthouse, restore it, and turn Cape Enrage into an “interpretive center.” I think it is more accurately an adventure center, offering truly special experiences: taking a fossil tour on its rocky beach, ziplining and rappelling down its 140-foot high cliffs back down to the beach.

We start our visit on the rocky beach with two geology students who are interning here, who show us a literal field of fossils – plant, insect, tree fossils 320 million years old.

*“The rocks on cliffs erode and fall away, like turning a page in a book, exposing fossils,” Evelyn, our Cape Enrage guide says © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is astonishing how plentiful the fossils are, just about everywhere we walk we spot one. It’s why Cape Enrage is one of the sites within the UNESCO-designated Fundy Biosphere Reserve (www.fundy-biosphere.ca). We find fossils of vascular plants that pre-dated trees even before dinosaurs. “There wasn’t grass when dinosaurs lived, grass is relatively recent, our guide, Evelyn, a second-year geology student, tells us. “The rocks on cliffs erode and fall away, like turning a page in a book, exposing fossils.” (This beach fossil tour is included in the admission price, but a more in-depth, two-hour fossil tour on a nearby beach is also available).

*Walk the rocky beach at Cape Enrage to find 350-million year old fossils of early plants and trees © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The activities depend on tide and weather – we have to wait for a lightning storm to pass before Eric and David try ziplining. Then we have to wait for the tide to pull back from the cliffs before we can rappel – it is stunning to walk back toward the beach we had just been walking on, to see it submerged.

We wait out the weather enjoying a delightful early lunch in the Cape House Restaurant, with lovely views of the bay (in clear weather, we would see Nova Scotia). Meanwhile, zipliners swing past the window, so we know the weather has passed.

David and Eric get to do ziplining – a huge thrill and so fun to sail over the water at high tide to a tower next to the lighthouse. They get three runs, with the guides suggesting different techniques each time (excellent preparation for rappelling, as it turns out).

*Ziplining at Cape Enrage © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Next up: rappelling off 140-foot high cliffs back down to the beach.

None of us have done rappelling before. (David and Laini do rock climbing, and ziplining, especially when Eric and David step off backwards, is excellent preparation.)

Our experience starts with training in how to rappel. We are in the hands of gentle, masterful guides, Morgan and Isaac, who manage to alleviate any anxiety whatsoever (I am really, really surprised at myself, but it helped that earlier, I had watched a couple from Indiana rappelling effortlessly).It is that first step backwards off the platform that is the hardest (that leap of faith that seems to crop up often in life). They talk us through, all the way down.

*No fear as we try rappelling off the 140-feet high cliffs at Cape Enrage © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

When we get passed a ledge, we dangle and just let the rope pass through our fingers to lower ourselves down to the beach. You get two-hours, including the training, to rappel as many times as you like. It starts to rain heavily during our second try, but we are now so confident, the rain doesn’t faze.

This whole activity center was started in order to save the Cape Enrage Lighthouse. First built in 1838 (the light came on in 1840 and the keeper only got half pay because he only had a foghorn), the lighthouse was replaced in 1870 and then again in 1902, which is the one that stands today. When the wooden lighthouse was to be demolished, Dennis Tate and his wife, both school teachers, made a deal to take over the lighthouse, and clearly found ways to sustain it. (The Coast Guard still operates the light and foghorn. It’s been foggy and rainy and sure enough, the foghorn sounds.)

*What a difference! The Cape Enrage beach at low tide…. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The province owns the park, but Cape Enrage is operated by a nonprofit, Cape Enrage Interpretive Center Inc., and employs 12 paid student interns and volunteers. Jim Campbell (who retired from managing a trucking company), became general manager in 2020.

We wind up staying 6 hours, from 9:30 am-3:30 pm – long enough to see an entire change of the “highest tides in the world”.

*… The Cape Enrage beach at high tide© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Admission to Cape Enrage is $7.50A, $25/family which includes the guided fossil tour on the beach. You can buy separate tickets for one hour of ziplining (3 runs per person, $53.90, single run, $26.95), and two hours of rappelling (which can be three or four times plus the training, $99.95), or combination tickets that bundle zipline and rappel ($139.95). In addition, there is a separate two-hour fossil tour, Logjam, along a different beach ($19.50). (Prices are in Canadian dollars, which at this writing was about 25% less than the US dollar.)

Cape Enrage, 888-423-5454, www.capeenrange.ca.

Fundy National Park

Back in Alma, we go to explore Fundy National Park. This beautiful area has 25 waterfalls, 25 hiking trails, the world’s oldest red spruce tree (400 years old), several campgrounds, rivers, and lakes. This park, which is celebrating its 50^th anniversary this year, is part of the Fundy Biosphere Reserve — an area of 1,062,553 acres that is protected by UNESCO. (https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/nb/fundy).

Fundy National Park is huge and it would take a few days to really see it. We get a small taste of it this afternoon:

*Point Wolfe Covered Bridge, Fundy National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Driving along Point Wolfe Road bring us to the picturesque Point Wolfe Covered Bridge. “There are 141 covered bridges in Canada and 58 of them are in New Brunswick. Covered bridges are part of our historical and cultural identity. We refer to them as Kissing Bridges because back in the days of horse and wagon young couples would stop in the middle of the bridge to kiss in privacy,” Neil Hodge of New Brunswick Tourism said.

*An enchanting trail leads to Dickson Falls in Fundy National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Just a five minute drive back toward Alma from the bridge we pull into a parking area for one of the true must-see, must-do highlights of the park: Dickson Falls, the most photographed waterfalls in Fundy National Park (for good reason). It’s an enchanting walk on an easy trail through the lush forest with splashes of neon green, then on across a wooden boardwalk and bridges along a gurgling brook. It takes less than an hour to do the trail, and it is so beautiful, that instead of finishing the loop, we back track to do the trail through the forest again in reverse.

*Dickson Falls, a highlight of Fundy National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

For our second night in Alma, we thoroughly enjoy The Alma Boathouse (8588 Main Street) which graciously stays open for us. (Restaurants close early in Alma.)

Fundy National Park, the Fundy Parkway Trail, Cape Enrage and Hopewell Rocks are all located within the UNESCO-designated Fundy Biosphere Reserve (www.fundy-biosphere.ca).

Travel planning assistance from Tourism New Brunswick, 800-561-0123, www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca.

Next: New Brunswick Roadtrip: Hopewell Rocks

NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA ROADTRIP: SAINT JOHN, CITY OF FIRSTS, OLDESTS, AMAZEMENTS

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Adventure Travel, Biking Tours, Cruising, Cultural travel, Family Travel, International Travel, Outdoors Adventures, Summer Vacations, Where to Go Next

The World is Your Oyster: Summer Vacations with Pizzazz

June 11, 2023 krubin723 1 Comment

*The dramatic reward after a four-day 26-mile trek along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Peru © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Bucket List Summer Adventures

For those who want to ditch the tame in favor of a series of thrilling experiences you can complete on your summer break, here are trips with pizzazz for you:

1. Central Utah Backcountry Cycling: Central Utah has one of the largest stretches of true backcountry left in the nation. Escape Adventures’ six-day cycling tour goes eastward through contrasting desert scenery and high alpine forests along Utah Highway 12 (one of America’s most scenic highways) to Capitol Reef National Park. (https://escapeadventures.com/tour/utah-escalante-and-capitol-reef-national-park-road-bike-tour/)

2. Yellowstone Ranch Getaway: Get away and give back during a stay at the historic O.T.O. Dude Ranch on the edge of Yellowstone National Park. Montana’s first dude ranch offers classic adventures like hiking, horseback riding, fly-fishing, archery, sport shooting and more, as well as locally inspired cuisine and cozy cabins. Proceeds from every stay go to preservation efforts at the National Register of Historic Places-listed ranch. (https://trueranchcollection.com/yellowstone-pop-up/)

3. Galapagos, Andes + Amazon: Discover the enchanting Galapagos Islands at Scalesia Galapagos Lodge, explore the Amazon Rainforest at Sacha Lodge and experience the Ecuadorian Andes at Hacienda Piman, all in a 15-day tour. Learn about endemic flora and fauna, hike near active volcanoes, paddle tannin-rich blackwater creeks and explore the highlands of the Andes. (https://www.sachalodge.com/programs/#galapagos-programs)

4. Wine + Bike Piedmont: The Langa and Monferrato regions of Piedmont are in one of the most important wine production areas in Italy and received UNESCO World Heritage status in 2014. Tourissimo’s Piedmont Barolo cycling tour takes you into the heart of these regions, over rolling hills covered with vineyards and past ancient castles and hidden hilltop hamlets. (https://www.tourissimo.travel/piedmont-wine-region-cycling-tour)

*The amazement of seeing the Grand Prismatic at Yellowstone National Park* *© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

5. Jackson Hole Glamping: Fireside Resort offers luxuriously outfitted tiny house rental units designed by Wheelhaus a short distance from Grand Teton National Park, making it the perfect basecamp for summer adventures. Experience whitewater rafting, hiking through the Tetons and revel in the wonder of Yellowstone National Park’s geothermal features. (https://www.firesidejacksonhole.com/)

6. North Cascades Traverse: A new five-day trip from Wildland Trekking combines iconic North Cascades National Park backpacking and a stay at a remote lodge with no road access on Washington’s Lake Chelan. Backpack over alpine passes and through pristine wilderness to the lodge, then hike to views of the Stehekin Valley before returning to civilization by boat. (https://wildlandtrekking.com/trips/stehekin-lodge-backpacking-trip/)

7. Patagonia Fjords Cruise: Book a nine-day voyage through Chilean Patagonia with Adventure Life and set sail among stunning fjords, islands, glaciers, peaks and wildlife. Visit Puerto Cisnes, San Rafael Bay and Glacier, the Gulf of Penas, the isolated village of Puerto Eden, the Strait of Magellan, Tierra del Fuego and the Beagle Channel, ending in Ushuaia, Argentina. (https://www.adventure-life.com/patagonia/cruises/17283/patagonia-chilean-fjords)

*Go whitewater rafting in Big Sky, Montana © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

8. Big Sky Summer Fun: A stay at The Wilson Hotel in Big Sky, Montana, offers proximity to Yellowstone National Park’s natural wonders and wildlife, plus opportunities to hike through shaded forests and wildflower-filled meadows, float or fly fish clear, cool waters, experience the adrenaline rush of lift-served mountain biking. (https://thewilsonhotel.com/)

9. National Parks RV Trip: Blacksford rents fully stocked Mercedes-Benz Sprinter overland adventure vehicles from Winnebago with an all-inclusive pricing model that includes unlimited miles, bedding, kitchen and bath supplies, a free annual pass to the national parks, 24-hour roadside assistance and no generator fees. (https://www.blacksford.com/)

10. Yellowstone Family Rafting and Riding: This three-day whitewater rafting and horseback-riding package from Flying Pig Adventures offers families the opportunity to experience the Yellowstone National Park area like never before. The thrill of witnessing one of nature’s most iconic environments, tackling rough terrain on horseback and running class III rapids cannot be found anywhere else. (https://www.flyingpigrafting.com/3-day-yellowstone-adventure)

Looking for more adventure? Check out the itineraries in the U.S. from REI Adventure Travel (rei.com, 800-622-2236) and G Adventures (gadventures.com, 888-800-4100).

Biking Holidays

Biking trips are my favorite for the combination of experiences they offer: seeing destinations close-hand, most often off-the-beaten track out of busy urban areas; at a pace where you see a lot and do a lot but slow enough to really see and do; where there is a physical and emotional satisfaction having pedaled the distance.

Operators today offer guided tours (ideal for solo travelers) as well as self-guided (where they give you the route, the inns or hotels, and ferry your luggage point to point but you are on your own) all over the world. And don’t be deterred by concern for the distance or the hills – many operators offer e-bikes as an option.

*Bike the scenic Bruges-Amsterdam route and stay on a boat, with Boat Bike Tours © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Boat Bike Tours, based in Amsterdam, (we took their Bruges-Amsterdam tour last summer) offers a selection of itineraries in Holland, but also the region, and in addition to boat-bike trips, have sail-bike trips, and cities and nature tours (US tel.203-814-1249
[email protected], www.boatbiketours.com).

Discovery Bicycle Tours (we took their Maine Coastal trip, and this year their Quebec Eastern Townships) has a long list of cycling vacations in the United States (Idaho Trails tour is one of its most popular), Canada, Europe, Vietnam, Cambodia, New Zealand & Chile including one that is particularly interesting to me, England: Cotswolds & Stonehenge Bike Tour. As we write this, there were still spaces left on Lake Champlain Islands, Empire State Trail, Stowe Bike & Brew Weekend, Minnesota Rail Trails, Washington Cascades Trails, Idaho Trails departures, ([email protected], 800-257-2226, discoverybicycletours.com).

Wilderness Voyageurs (traveled with them on their Mickelson Trail & The Badlands Bike Tour in South Dakota; they’ve introduced tours on New York’s own Empire State Trail bike tour as well as Olympic Peninsula bike tour in Washington State), plus New Mexico, , [email protected], 724.329.1000, 800.272.4141, wilderness-voyageurs.com)

*Biking through Badlands National Park, South Dakota, with Wilderness Voyageurs © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

BikeTours.com specializes in European itineraries, including guided, self-guided, and boat-and-bike tours, with excellent value. Among the more unusual is the UNESCO Sites of Albania (which I took some years ago with an e-bike); active tours like Southern Fyn: A Tour Around Denmark’s Fairytale Island and Pearls of Dalmatia by Bike and Boat, Romantica and leisure tours like Poland’s Masurian Lake District (Upscale Lodging). BikeTours.com is showcasing six 6 and 7-night self-guided bike tours showcasing Europe’s most beautiful vineyards and wine-growing regions: Rioja: Hidden Spain – Land of Wine, Burgundy Wine Trails: Beaune to Macon on the “Voie Verte”; German Rivers, Wines & Cycle Paths by Bike and Boat; Wine & Bike in Hungary’s Balaton Uplands; Croatian Vineyards and Villages of Undiscovered Istria; Tuscan Wine Classic: Pienza to Castellina via Siena. They have also introduced a new series of day trips. (biketours.com, 833-216-0635)

*Biking among UNESCO sites in Albania with BikeTours.com (e-bike option recommended) © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

DuVine Cycling + Adventure Co. is appealing to scholars, curious explorers and lifelong learners on these three bike trips, with every mile imbued with history. Not only do the landscapes of Scotland, Normandy, and the Cotswolds feel frozen-in-time, but each place played a part in shaping the world as we know it—through theaters of war, royal revolutions, ruins of the Roman Empire, and powerful clans and castles. Duvine has an expansive catalog of up-scale bike tours (888 396 5383, duvine.com)

Butterfield & Robinson has always been known for high-end, elegant biking trips. Itineraries include Burgundy Wine Country Biking; Piemonte Wine Country Biking; Chile Wine Country Biking; Vienna to Budapest Wine Country biking; Spanish Wine Country; Tuscany wine Country (seeing a pattern?) (866.551.9090, www.butterfield.com)

Backroads was founded in 1979 by Tom Hale and has been a leading innovator in active and adventure travel every since. Active adventures highlight the special character of each destination. The company offers Biking, Walking & Hiking and Multi-Adventure Tours; Active Ocean & River Cruises, Active Safari, Active Culinary and Snow Adventures; and Dolce Tempo trips for travel at a more relaxed pace. Also Private Trips and Family Trips designed for three distinct age groups: Families with Teens & Kids (best for ages 9+), Families with Older Teens & 20s and Families with Young Adults (backroads.com, 800-462-2848)

Trek Travel is more for hard-core, offering mountain, off-road, gravel trips (Girona, Swiss Alps, Tuscany, Vermont), Ride Camps, and even experience the Women’s Tour de France with VIP race viewings and access to one of the best women’s professional teams, Trek-Segafredo, and get to ride on the route New 3 & 4-day bike tours in places such as San Diego, Santa Barbara and Vermont. Also, self-guided and trips with a boost, e-bike (Croatia, Mallorca Island,Glacier) (trektravel.com, 866-464-8735)

On the Water

Cruising is fun but we prefer cruising with a twist: small ship, river cruises, barges, canal boats, houseboat experiences.

European Waterways, a luxury hotel barge cruising company, offers an immersive and all-inclusive “gentle voyage of discovery” focusing upon the culture, history, fine wine, and gourmet cuisine of the cruise regions in nine countries. With a 6-to-20-person capacity and 1:2 crew ratio, European Waterways cruises inland waterways that are inaccessible to larger vessels. This fascinating network of smaller canals allows for flexibility, spontaneity, and ample opportunity to hop off and explore the beautiful surroundings via bicycle or on foot, plus daily, chauffeured excursions “off the beaten track” to a wide variety of attractions and activities, from wine tastings to private tours of stately homes. 877-879-8808 in the U.S., 1-877-574-3404 in Canada, or visit www.europeanwaterways.com

UnCruise Adventures operates boutique yachts and small boats carrying 22-86 guests on voyages in Alaska, Hawaiian Islands, Mexico’s Sea of Cortés, Columbia & Snake Rivers, Coastal Washington, Galápagos, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, and Colombia. (uncruise.com, 888-642-6745).

You also can’t beat Lindblad Expeditions for expeditionary-style cruising and soft-adventure trips, famous for pioneering Galapagos and Antarctica, Georgia and the Falklands, on its specially designed ships, National Geographic Orion, and National Geographic islander II. (expeditions.com, 888-667-2830).

*GoGalapagos’ cruise aboard the 100-passenger Legend affords a sensational family adventure experience © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

For the most perfect family cruise/travel/adventure experience we have had, set your compass to the Galapagos. Go Galapagos is a cruise and tour operator offering excellent price/quality value for 3, 4, 7 and -night inclusive cruises (two guaranteed weekly departures), You can also combine the cruise with land packages in the Galapagos, in Ecuador, and in Peru. In addition to the 100-passsenger Galapagos Legend, Go Galapagos also has two yacht-style ships, Coral I and Coral II. (www.GoGalapagos.com, 888 50 KLEIN).

*Swimming with sea lions in the Galapagos on the GoGalapagos Legend cruise © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Want to skipper your own yacht, or charter a boat with a captain and crew? Dream Yacht Worldwide, a pioneer in making sailing and sea travel accessible employs more than 600 people in 31 countries and operates in 50 destinations worldwide, with a fleet of more than 900 monohulls and catamarans. Dream Yacht Charter offers one of the most diverse fleets of sailing, yacht and boats, If offers skippered and crewed charters (dreamyachtcharter.com)

*The marvelously scenic and special time-travel experience of sailing one of the historic Maine Windjammers, like the Stephen Tabor, on Penobscot Bay © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Another really special cruise experience is sailing on one of the historic vessels of the Maine Windjammer fleet that sail the Penobscot Bay. Each is distinctive (and on a few occasions during the season (Windjammer Gam – June 12, Great Schooner Race- July 7, Camden Windjammer Festival – Sept 1-2, and WoodenBoat Sail-In – Sept 12, they gather together in scenes that evoke the Great Age of Sail. Each vessel and each cruise is different (many are themed): Windjammer Angelique, Schooner American Eagle, Schooner Grace Bailey, Schooner Heritage, Schooner J. & E. Riggin, Schooner Ladona, Schooner Lewis R. French, Schooner Mary Day, Schooner Stephen Taber ([email protected], www.sailmainecoast.com, 800-807-9463.)

Enjoy cruising at your own pace, exploring the iconic (and calm) Erie Canal, captaining your way through locks, docks, and under lift bridges. Erie Canal Adventures, out of Macedon, NY,provides completely equipped 34 foot Lockmasters, ideal for 1 couple (some prime summer/fall dates available to charter) and 41 and 42 foot Lockmasters that sleep 4-6 people (limited dates available in September). These are set up like a floating houseboat with bedroom, bath/shower, fully equipped galley kitchen, remarkably easy to operate. (www.ErieCanalAdventures.com, 315-986-3011)

*Cruising New York State’s Erie Canal on one of Erie Canal Adventures’ Lockmasters © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Solo Travel

Traveling solo is one of the big trends in travel. Bike tours are an excellent choice (I can attest). So are rafting trips, river, expeditionary, and small-ship cruises and canalboats.

Western River Expeditions suggests rafting itineraries – Grand Canyon, Colorado River, Salmon River – that have proved popular for solo travelers (https://www.westernriver.com, 866-904-1160).

Tour operators are also embracing solo travelers, offering departures that do not add the single supplement, for example, or matching up travel companions. EF Go Ahead Tours (GAT), a premier provider of culturally immersive travel experiences, announced it is introducing four new tours, for a total of 14, to its increasingly popular Solo-Only portfolio. EF Go Ahead Tours, is running its Semi-Annual Sale through June 29: Book a 2023, 2024, or 2025 tour by June 29 to lock in the lowest price and take up to $400 off of the cost of their trip. June 20 and 21, the Summer Solstice Flash Sale will offer Up to $800 off remaining 2023 tours. To make travel even more accessible, EF Go Ahead’s flexible booking policies including AutoPay lets you hold a spot with $99 down and wait 60 days before your first interest-free payment. (www.goaheadtours.com, 800-590-1161).

Skyscanner Savings Generator

Global travel site Skyscanner has launched the new and expanded summer edition of its Savings Generator tool to help travelers save big this summer.

The global travel sitecurrently searches 80 billion prices every day, so Skyscanner’s experts have crunched the numbers to share some simple dos and don’ts for grabbing the best bargain this summer.

Put your desired route into the Savings Generator to see if it’s available. If not, bookmark the page and check back because Skyscanner adds new destinations to the list.

To provide a comparison, the Savings Generator starts by displaying the average monthly flight price for your destination. From there, it shows you the best time to book your flight and the cheapest day to travel on. If you’d like to consider a less-expensive alternative, the Generator displays different destinations, their average monthly flight price for travel, and the best day to go in order to save money. (See more: https://www.skyscanner.com/tips-and-inspiration/best-time-to-book-savings-generator)

*Getting there: Skyscanner has beefed up its* ***Savings Generator to find the best fares for summer travel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com***

Travel the last week of the school summer holidays (instead of the first) and save 31%

To save big this summer, travel on a Sunday (most of the time)!

Travelers who are flexible and can fly on less popular days of the week can save up to 5% on the cost of their flights this July and August according to Skyscanner’s Summer Savings Generator. An added bonus is that airports are likely to be less crowded too. As 73% of Americans share, they would be willing to change the day and/ or week of their summer vacations to save this year, it really pays to do your research by Use Skyscanner’s Whole Month view.

There are still inexpensive deals – just search EVERYWHERE for the very best prices

To let Skyscanner’s algorithm find the cheapest deal, just type in ‘Everywhere’ with your travel dates.

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Adventure Travel, Camping/Hiking/Outdoors, National Parks, Outdoors Adventures, Places of History, US Destinations

Utah Adventure Day 8: Arches National Park, a Geologic Wonderland

March 17, 2023 krubin723

*Sunrise on the Landscape Arch, Devils Garden Trail, Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, with Laini Miranda and Dave E. Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Arches National Park is a fantastical place, a geologic wonderland, and being able to wake up before the sun in the Devils Garden Campground and stroll along the Devils Garden Trail as the formations come alive with color, is extraordinary.

Arches’ sprawling landscape of 2,000 natural stone arches – the highest concentration of arches on the planet – plus hundreds of soaring pinnacles, massive rock fins, giant balanced rocks, coupled with its accessibility and ease of getting around (well, except for traffic and difficulty finding parking) and access (through Moab) draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, making it one of the most popular national parks. Indeed, Arches is so popular (and crowded) that it requires advance purchase, timed entry reservations just to enter, between April 1 and October 31.

*Arches National Park is a geologic wonderland © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We are lucky because Laini has cleverly booked two nights at the Devils Garden campground months before our trip. The campsite reservation acts as the entry ticket and for this reason but especially because of being immersed in the landscape, this is the absolute best way to experience Arches National Park. (Devils Garden Campground is pen year-round, with 52 sites, reservations for individual sites can be made up to six months in advance; for group sites can be reserved up to year in advance, www.nps.gov/arch)

Arches is the most touristic of all the places we have visited this trip and offers such a contrast with the wild camping and communion with ancient spirits (Bears Ears), the remote unmarked hikes (Grand Staircase-Escalante), the long meandering hikes (Capitol Reef) and our search through muck and mud to find archaeological sites (Glen Canyon).

Here, we go sightseeing for the dazzling arches that give the park its name, like the amazing Double Arch, the Windows, Landscape Arch and Delicate Arch, accessed along paved paths from parking lots, with restroom facilities.

*A formation in Arches National Park that looks like Croesus had just been turned to rock © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Throughout Arches, there are formations – eroded monoliths – that inspire names, like Parade of Elephants, Petrified Dunes, Tower of Babel and Fiery Furnace, also trigger imagination. Some look so much like mudmen, we name them (we rechristen Balanced Rock “E.T.”, the Gossips we rename “The Suffragists,” and formations that look to me as if Nefertiti and Croesus had just been turned to rock.

*The formation once known as “The Gossips” we re-name “The Suffragists” Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The source of what we see is a salt bed, thousands of feet thick in places, that was deposited across the Colorado Plateau 300 million years ago when a sea flowed into the region and eventually evaporated, according to the Arches National Park notes. The salt bed was unstable and unable to hold the weight of the thick cover of rock formed from compressed debris. It shifted, buckled, liquefied and repositioned, thrusting rock layers upward as domes, while whole sections fell into cavities.

*Doesn’t this rock formation look like* *Nefertiti? Imaginations run wild in Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Faults make the surface even more unstable. From the visitor center, you can see the result of a 2,500-foot displacement, the Moab Fault. The faults caused vertical cracks and wind and water over 100 million years of erosion and weathering, ultimately formed the arches of salmon-colored Entrada Sandstone and buff-colored Navajo Sandstone.

The process is ongoing – new features are being formed as old ones are transformed.

Sometimes the changes happen suddenly, violently. That was the case at the Skyline Arch, just next door to Devils Garden, where a massive boulder tumbled down in the 1940s, expanding the arch.

*Waking before sunrise with the moon in Devils Garden Campground, Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The most ambitious hikes in Arches National Park are to the Double O Arch (4.1 miles); the Primitive trail (2.1 miles one way, considered most difficult), and if you would do the whole Devils Garden Trail (7.8 miles, that goes to the Landscape Arch, Double O Arch, Dark Angel along a primitive trail, with narrow ledges, rock scrambling and few trail markers; be sure to take enough water— 1 liter of water per person, per hour).

We do none of these, holding out for our most ambitious hike, to Delicate Arch, for sunset but I already have my trepidations.

And, in addition to the outstanding Devils Garden trail, from the campground (which feels luxurious to us for its restrooms and running water), you can hikethe Broken Arch Loop Trail which runs past Tapestry Arch and Broken Arch, then swings south towards Sand Dune Arch and back up passed Skyline Arch before returning to the campground. (Unfortunately, we don’t have time for that hike. Next time!)

*Sunrise in Devils Garden, Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

For my sunrise hike, I do the easy, paved trail, rushing to get to a good position for photos, and then continue on to do more of it, going to where I see the famous Landscape Arch. After my walk through the easy part of the Devils Garden Trail (it is surprising how fast the sun comes up, washing out the colors), I go back to the campsite where we have breakfast.

(Actually, we have to move from one campsite to another for our second night and Dave and Laini figure out to just put the tent with the sleeping bags and stuff on top of the Jeep and drive it over, which we do by check-out time.)

*Landscape Arch, Devils Garden, Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We then set out to explore Arches.

We only have one full day at Arches National Park, and it’s the end of our hiking/camping adventure, so we kind of go with the flow. We drive to the different sites, and do short hikes up to the various formations, basically doing the tourist thing.

*An easy trail takes you to the Skyline Arch, Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We follow a route, starting with the Skyline Arch adjacent to Devils Garden. Dave climbs to the top of that humongous boulder that fell down (scary to contemplate). The Skyline Arch Trail is short and easy, less than a half-mile roundtrip hike from the parking lot and back. The arch itself is one of the more popular landmarks in Arches. It makes for spectacular photographs, owing to its position, literally, on the skyline. And its proximity to the Devils Garden Campground makes it a perfect hike if you arrive late in the afternoon. (We arrived too late.)

*Dave climbs atop of a boulder that came off the Skyline Arch © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We go next to the observation area that overlooks The Fiery Furnace, a labyrinth of narrow sandstone canyons. (Hiking the Fiery Furnace requires agility and a permit, or a ticket for a ranger-led hike that must be reserved in advance through Recreation.gov; one route is marked, but getting lost is still possible.)

*The Fiery Furnace, contrasted against snow-capped peaks, Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Next, we drive to one of the famous highlights of Arches (there are many, but this one is tops for me): the Double Arch Viewpoint and Trail. The tallest arch in the park at 122 ft., there seems to be this intricate dance between the two arches. An easy gravel path leads to the base of the two huge, arching spans. Of course Dave and Alli climb up to the arches, while Laini draws.

*There seems to be an intricate dance between the two arches of the Double Arch, Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Balanced Rock is another signature landmark and just about everyone (who can get a parking space) walks the short hike around the base for up-close perspectives. We re-name Balanced Rock E. T. because from a certain angle, it’s a dead ringer for the endearing character.

*“Balanced Rock”is a dead-ringer for the beloved E.T., Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

(The Arches National Park newsletter guide is invaluable – it recommends how much water to take, and gives excellent information about distance and time and difficulty for each of the hikes.)

Dinosaurs, Indians!

Arches National Park (believe it or not), has no food or lodging (that is, beyond the sensational Devils Garden campground) – so we drive out of the park into the delightful, hopping town of Moab for lunch at the food truck park, and a bit of shopping.

From here, we drive a short distance to where Laini promises we will encounter both dinosaurs and Indians.

*Tracks made by three-toed meat-eating dinosaurs can be seen at the Poison Spider Dinosaur Tracksite and Rock Art Trail © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We drive along Utah Scenic Byway 279 to the trailhead of the Poison Spider Dinosaur Tracksite and Rock Art Trail. It’s a quarter-mile walk up a steep, crumbly trail up a rocky hillside to two rock slabs where tracks made by three-toed meat-eating dinosaurs can be seen, as well as a wall with a good collection of petroglyphs.

This area was once a vast sand dune sea, known as an erg. These tracks would have been found along the edge of a lake between dunes. As the wind would blow across the dunes these tracks would have been gently buried in shifting sand and preserved. The preserved tracks were unearthed when the slabs fell from the sandstone cliffs above.

The trail switchbacks up the hill before coming alongside the petroglyph wall and then descends back to the parking lot. (Use caution: though short, there are a few steep areas and the trail can be hard to follow.)

(From this trailhead you can also connect to the Longbow Arch hiking trail that goes into a canyon to an arch, 2.4 miles roundtrip.)

*The astonishing Utah Highway 279 Rock Art Site, where a huge rock wall face has the most amazing sets of petroglyphs and pictographs, Moab © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

A short distance along Potash Road is the Utah Highway 279 Rock Art Site, where a huge rock wall face has the most amazing sets of petroglyphs and pictographs. It looks like a museum exhibit, except this is where they were made and it is astonishing to contemplate that this is where people so very long ago stood here and carved and painted them.

Archaeologists believe most of the rock art found here was created during the Archaic (6,000 – 1,000 B.C.) and Fremont (450-1300 A.D.) cultural periods. The art consists of pictographs (painted images) and petroglyphs (pecked, incised or chiseled images). The majority of the rock art features anthropomorphic (human forms) and zoomorphic (animal forms) but there are also curvilean lines, zigzags, wavy lines, concentric circles and abstract symbols. Sometimes both Archaic and Fremont petroglyphs can be found on the same rock art panel.

Some of the rock art panels depict religious rituals and are considered sacred sites. Some depict migration routes, fertility, hunting, ceremonies, and cosmic events.

These petroglyphs were exposed when the road was widened, and it is a surreal experience to see these magnificent, huge murals just along the road – especially because it is beside a section popular with rock climbers (one was prosecuted for rock climbing where the protected petroglyphs are).

Fremont rock art often depicts trapezoidal anthropomorphs with horns, bighorn sheep, dogs, hunting scenes with weapons, and abstract objects – and sure enough, we see plenty of examples – there are horned anthropomorphs holding shields and paper doll-like cut-outs; at the southern end of the panel, we see a large bear with a hunter at its nose and another hunter over its back. The notes say this art is 3000 to 8000 years old.

*The ancient rock-art panels are next to a popular rock climbing place © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

At the northern end of the panel, round holes carved into the sandstone underneath the left side would have once held roof poles of a structure which was excavated by archaeologists before the road construction. The rock panels extend 125 feet along Potash Road.

Sunset and Star-Gazing

We return to Arches National Park for sunset (there is still a long line of cars getting in with their timed admission tickets, but because we are camping, we breeze right in).

Laini suggests we hike the 3 miles roundtrip to Delicate Arch for the sunset, but I’m actually dreading it (my feet are actually bleeding from yesterday’s 11-mile Kane Gulch hike – the folly of hiking in boots that haven’t been broken in).

My trepidation comes from the description of the hike: The Delicate Arch hike is ranked difficult – the trail climbs 480 feet up a steep slickrock slope, and just before you get to Delicate Arch, follows a narrow rock ledge for about 200 yards). I am especially nervous about hiking the 1.5 miles back in the dark.

Laini, who has done the hike on their previous trip, admits she also has been dreading it but only wanted to do it for me, because I would have been disappointed not to see the iconic rock formation that Utah uses for its state symbol.

We set out and I ask what exactly we will see and she pulls up the photo she took on a previous trip. I suggest we not bother, but rather go to The Windows where I’ve been told is a popular place for sunset.

But before we leave the trail to the Delicate Arch, we explore the Wolfe Ranch historic site and walk a little further along a path to see an excellent example of historic Ute rock art – a huge bonus to coming here.

*Historic Ute rock art at the Wolfe Ranch site, Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The panel depicts a stylized horse and rider surrounded by bighorn sheep and dog-like animals which are typical of Ute rock art. The petroglyphs were carved sometime between 1660-1860.

The historic marker is fascinating because it also shows photos of an Ute on horseback in 1909. “The Utes’ acquisition of horses by the mid-1600s radically changed the way they hunted, worked and traveled.” Another photo depicts a Ute warrior and his bride, circa 1873. Utah’s name is derived from the Ute Indians who moved into this area around 1300 AD.

I’m thrilled we came here, and even more thrilled to go to The Windows for the sunset, which I had read in the park’s newsletter (so helpful!) is one of the great spots to watch the sunset.

*The Windows, a great place to watch the sunset in Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Windows – just across from the Double Arch where we had been in the morning – is a pleasant half mile walk. We arrive just as the light is turning the rock deep gold, to orange, to red. I find a “comfortable” rock to sit on at the bottom of the arch while Dave, Laini and Alli (of course) climb up into the Windows. Our view looks out to the Turret Arch and a wide open expanse, to where the sun dips below the horizon.

*Watching the sunset from The Windows, Arches National Park © Laini Miranda/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We drive back to Moab to stop in for a bite and beer flight at Moab Brewery, and then return to the national park to do some stargazing before settling into our campsite.

Arches National Park is a great family park where a short walk brings you to many of the iconic features, and you can even see a lot from a car and the observation areas. Stop at the visitor center for advice, where you can watch an orientation film and see exhibits. A self-guiding audio tour is available. Ranger programs are offered seasonally.

For more information, and to reserve entry tickets and campsites, www.nps.gov/arch; info 435-719-2299; hiking info at https://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvisit/hiking.htm

*Sunrise from the Devils Garden Campground, Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

On our last morning, I awake again before sunrise and scramble up a small hill across the road from our campsite for a different view.

We pack up quickly for our departure which also entails packing up the rental sleeping bags and pads, which we ship back to Moosejaw.com from Moab, pick up breakfast from a delightful cafe, and head out for the drive back to Salt Lake City and our flight home, having had the most marvelous Utah Adventure, a trip of a lifetime for me.

Trip planning tools are available at https://www.visitutah.com/.

Advance Purchase Tickets Required

From April 1 to Oct. 1, 2023, you need to secure in advance a timed entry reservation in order to enter Arches National Park between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Reservations must be secured three months in advance of the anticipated date of visiting Arches. A single booking of a timed entry ticket covers each registered visitor (an individual, couple, group or family). You can enjoy the park all day, entering and re-entering at will with the validated ticket. A $2 processing fee is added nto the standard park entry fee. Reservations are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis on Recreation.gov. (It may also be possible to obtain a limited number of tickets through Recreation.gov up to midnight the day before planning to visit the park.).

See:

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 1-2: CAPITOL REEF’S COLORFUL CANYONS

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 3-4: GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE POSES CHALLENGE

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 4-5: DRIVING BURR TRAIL, EXPLORING GLEN CANYON, WILD CAMPING IN ARCH CANYON

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 6: SACRED SITES, SPIRITS OF BEARS EARS NATIONAL MONUMENT

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 6-7: HOUSE ON FIRE AMONG HIGHLIGHTS HIKING AMID SACRED SITES, SPIRITS OF BEARS EARS NATIONAL MONUMENT

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Adventure Travel, Camping/Hiking/Outdoors, Cultural travel, Historic Places, National Parks, Outdoors Adventures, See America, US Destinations

Utah Adventure Day 6-7: House on Fire Among Highlights Hiking Amid Sacred Sites, Spirits of Bears Ears National Monument

March 9, 2023 krubin723

*House on Fire is one of the most photographed – and dramatic – archeological sites in Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, with Laini Miranda and Dave E. Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

What is truly special about Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa – and what draws Laini back time and again, are the remnants, artifacts and structures left by Ancestral Puebloans – ancestors of the Hopi and Zuni – who inhabited these canyons and cliffs between 700 and 2500 years ago. Arrowheads and other artifacts dating back 10,000 years have also been found in this region. Some of these sites are at once accessible yet also feel remote – so you feel you are the first archaeologist to discover, though obviously that can’t be since the BLM Rangers have left laminated info packets in metal cases in some of the dwellings. Still, we can pretend.

Our hikes bring us to these places that seem as if the occupants only recently vacated, leaving behind painted pottery shards, tiny corn husks, stone and bone tools, even their hand-prints, pictographs and petroglyphs that speak to us through time, as if to say, “We were here. We still are.”

Because these lands are sacred, all of us must be respectful of the dwellings and the archaeological artifacts that we come upon. And these sites truly feel sacred – precisely because of the artifacts, the pictographs and petroglyphs, you feel the presence of those who lived here. And because those of us who visit do show proper respect, these mud-and-stick (jacal) constructions delicate pictographs and petroglyphs etched into sandstone and artifacts, though incredibly fragile, are here for us to discover, as if we are among the first.

It’s fairly miraculous these sites have survived Mother Nature, let alone humans.

After hiking to the Arch Canyon Ruins, Laini leads us to a trail to one of the outstanding highlights of the Bears Ears National Monument: the House on Fire, one of the most photographed (spectacular) sites in the region.

*Hiking the Mule Canyon trail © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This site features five granaries built into overhanging Cedar Mesa Sandstone with a streaked pattern that, in the early morning light, resembles flames (photo tip: because these dwellings were built to be south-facing, the most dramatic light is around 10-11 am depending upon time of year). (https://bearsearsmonument.org/house-on-fire/)

“As you take in the view, imagine how the ancient Puebloans lived here between 700 and 2,500 years ago,” Matcha writes at the visitutah.com site. “The granaries perched high in the cliffs stored corn, a main source of food. The Puebloans also ground Indian ricegrass into meal to make bread, and they ate abundant prickly pears. The ever-present yucca was invaluable, as its leaves were spun into fiber and woven into baskets, sandals, and bags, as well as ropes that are said to have helped reach some of the higher, less accessible granaries. The Native Americans used the root of the yucca for soap, and they roasted and ate the base of the plant.

“The pinyon pines that you weave around and duck under to reach the ancient sites were a key source of building material, fuel, and food. When burned, the wood created the high temperatures needed for firing pottery, while pine bark served as roofing and padding, and pinon nuts provided much-needed vitamins and protein.” (https://www.visitutah.com/articles/exploring-mule-canyon-house-on-fire-cave-tower)

*You have to really look closely to discover these hand prints in House of Fire, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Laini Miranda/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Matcha further advises to search for rock art located beneath an overhanging boulder in the wash below the House on Fire. And if you continue on the trail, there are several more sites worth seeing. While some sit right off the trail, you either need binoculars to see or have to climb 200 feet to reach them. “Toward the end of the canyon is the spectacular Wall Site, which has several intact rooms built into small caves in the pock-marked cliff. Some of the roofs still have the original roof timbers.”

(South Fork of Mule Canyon trail is 4.3 miles one-way, and elevation gain is 250 feet. Cave Tower Site is 1-1.5 miles round trip, and elevation change is less than 200 feet. Passes are required for day hiking, check with the Bureau of Land Management for the current fee amount. Be prepared with exact change.)

*Coming upon The Tower Ruin, off the beaten path © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

After this spectacular hike, we drive west on Hwy 95 near milepost 103, then drive onto a dirt road for half a mile. We hike in and across the way, we see The Tower Ruin – a rare, two-story structure on the other side of the canyon.

*The Tower Ruin, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

At first, it seems too steep a scramble for me, but Dave and Laini go down. Dave makes it look easy. Sure enough, he comes back to guide me to the site (so glad he did!).

This site is so secluded, remote and untouched, it feels as if we discovered it on our own (though I’m sure that’s not true, the feeling is still so exciting).

The tower construction seems to be “modern” – Laini says there is evidence of three different generations having a hand in the construction. There are fabulous pictographs and petrolyphs here. I imagine that one is a symbol for the chief.

Altogether, we have hiked about 9 to 10 miles today – so satisfying.

We drive into the town of Blanding for dinner and supplies, seeing signs along the way for Native American Crafts, Dinosaur Museum, State Edges of the Cedars Native American Museum.

Laini decides to change plans from our original itinerary and instead of leaving here for Canyonlands, we stay an extra night and day in Cedar Mesa.

So glad, because the second day’s hike is one of the best I have ever experienced.

*Catching the last rays of sun driving back to our wild camping site in Arch Canyon from Blanding © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Kane Gulch Trail

Take seriously the need to obtain permits in advance for certain hikes. We changed our plans in order to stay this second day in Cedar Mesa so did not get the necessary permit (limited to just 20 a day) to hike to Moon House – the only day hike that requires a permit instead of just a hiking day pass. We thought we might get away with it because we are here on Easter Sunday, but no such luck (the permit allocations fill up even months before). It is easier to get permits in summer months, which is when Laini and David found themselves the only ones at the site when they last visited (likely because of the heat; when we are here, in early spring, the weather is perfect).

Instead, at the Kane Gulch Visitor Center, the Ranger suggests we hike the Kane Gulch Trail which starts right across the road. We purchase our day hiking passes ($5 pp – my America the Beautiful pass doesn’t count). She suggests what to look for at what distances.

Dave gets out our hot-water maker and we have our breakfast at the picnic table outside the visitor center, then set out. Our plan is to go five miles, to the Stimper Arch, and five miles back.

*Profile of an Indian Chief?* *Hiking the Kane Gulch Trail, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

At about a mile in, there is a short slot canyon where we see a formation to me looks like the profile of an Indian chief.

At the two-mile mark, Dave stashes our 5-gallon water jug so we have enough for the return.

*Junction Ruin, Kane Gulch Trail, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It’s four miles to the Junction Ruin which has some fabulous dwellings, pottery shards, and pictographs.Dave and Laini climb up sheer rock to get to an upper level (a defensive watchtower?) and could see remnants of a ladder that would have been used.

*Turkey Pen, Kane Gulch Trail, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Another .7 mile and we come to a site known as Turkey Pen. Looking up from the trail, it seems the cliff dwellings are cramped and close to the edge, but when we get up here, it is surprising how much space there actually is.

Here, we see some fabulous examples of mud and stick method of construction (jacal) and some exquisite painted pottery shards, pictographs, even the remnants of the actual turkey pen formed with sticks – so it almost seems you are coming upon a dwelling just after the residents left. You feel you are the archaeologist making the discovery – except for the printed notes left by the National Park Service- but still.

*Cliff dwellings along the Kane Gulch Trail, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We also come upon a square kiva (most kivas Laini and Dave have seen are circular, Laini notes).

You wonder about whether the site was designed to defend and who to defend from – people who would take food stored in the granary? One of the pictographs depicts sheep being killed, another of “lizard man.”

As we hike, we keep our eyes peeled on the cliffs above for evidence of dwellings, well off the trail and likely minimally visited. Laini says there were thousands of cliff dwellings here and only a fraction have been discovered (or are still intact, but when you consider they are 1000 years old, and the crumbling rock all around, it is amazing any remain). We spot one and Laini goes off to try to find a way to climb up to it.

We find a pleasant rock overhang to sit and have our picnic lunch, feeling like this would have been exactly what the Puebloans would have done.

We hike a further .3 miles to the Stimper Arch (which is the 5-mile mark), where we turn around.

This hike has everything – it has just the right amount of physical challenge – a section where you scramble a bit and walk a narrow edge – gorgeous greenery, stunning rock formations, water features (but not too watery to hike), but best and most spectacular of all, these cliff dwellings that look like we have just discovered them, with relatively large and stunningly painted pottery shards, stone tools, stunning pictographs (I start thinking they are either indications of how many people lived in the dwelling like a census; markers of whose dwelling it is, like a family name? or just being playful, artful?).

The trail is not specifically marked – so you have to figure your own way using the landscape and intermittently placed cairns.

*The actual turkey pen, Kane Gulch Trail, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Even though this is a popular trail, we come upon other people only occasionally (but it kind of reassures us we are going the right way).

The trail actually goes on for miles (days), connecting to other trails. (We meet a group of college students who are making a multi-day backpacking trip and will return on the Fish and Owl trail.)

*Kane Gulch Trail, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We get back to the start at 6:30 pm (we set out around 10 am), having hiked about 11 miles. (It took us 5 hours to get 5 miles (including the time exploring the archaeological sites) and 3 ½ hours to hike back.

*Stimper Arch, Kane Gulch Trail, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

After this full day’s hike, we drive to Arches National Park. It’s a fairly long drive and already sunset by the time we arrive. This is the first time we have to set up camp in the dark and there is a strong wind that makes it difficult to keep the tent from blowing away (especially since I can’t find my tent stakes so we improvise, until they are ultimately found under the footprint.)

Dave makes a fire and we prepare dinner from our supplies.

*It is night by the time we set up camp at the Devils Campground in Arches National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

If You Go….

The Moon House Ruin is one of the best archaeology sites on Cedar Mesa, consists of three separate structures with 49 rooms; well preserved pictographs grace the walls of an interior courtyard and some of the rooms (the hike is 3.2-5.6 miles roundtrip). More of the best hikes in Bears Ears at http://www.hikingwalking.com/index.php/destinations/ut/ut_se/blanding

Day hiking in Bears Ears National Monument requires a day hiking pass. Day hiking passes are unlimited.

Bears Ears National Monument does not charge an entry fee where your America the Beautiful Pass would typically apply. However, activity fees called “Individual Special Recreation Permits” are charged for day hiking and backpacking (typically $2 at the trailhead). Visit the permits page for more information (https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/permits-and-passes/lotteries-and-permit-systems/utah/cedarmesa).

Visitor Centers:

Kane Gulch BLM Ranger Station, UT-261 36 miles west of Blanding. Open: March 1-June 15, September 1-October 31, 8 am-noon daily

Monticello Visitor Center, 216 S Main St., Hours: 9 am-5 pm, closes at 3 pm on Sunday, Phone: 435-587-3401

Blanding Visitor Center, 12 North Grayson Parkway, 9 am-5 p.m., closed Sunday

https://www.blm.gov/visit/bears-ears-national-monument

See:

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 1-2: CAPITOL REEF’S COLORFUL CANYONS

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 3-4: GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE POSES CHALLENGE

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 4-5: DRIVING BURR TRAIL, EXPLORING GLEN CANYON, WILD CAMPING IN ARCH CANYON

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 6: SACRED SITES, SPIRITS OF BEARS EARS NATIONAL MONUMENT

______________________

Adventure Travel, Camping/Hiking/Outdoors, Cultural travel, Ecotourism, National Parks, Outdoors Adventures, US Destinations

Utah Adventure Day 6: Sacred Sites, Spirits of Bears Ears National Monument

March 4, 2023 krubin723 2 Comments

*Exploring the Arch Canyon ruins, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, with Laini Miranda and Dave E. Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa is the highlight (out of so many) of our Utah Adventure – hitting on all cylinders of stunning landscape, fascinating cultural heritage, and the opportunity to really explore, adventure and discover for ourselves on some of the most wonderful hikes (Kane Gulch!) anywhere.

*Wild camping in Arch Canyon, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Finally! I get to do wild camping that I have been so intrigued about ever since Dave and Laini spent much of a summer exploring the West in their Subaru Forester which they converted into a campervan.

Dave drives our rental Jeep down a dirt road into Arch Canyon until we find a spot we can claim for our own (it happens to be immediately adjacent to an Indian reservation, with a warning sign posted on a fence, “No trespassing.”). There are many other wild campers in this area in the spring and we get one of the last suitable spots. (But this is still so much more interesting than going further down the road to an actual campground where you need advance reservations for official campgrounds, recreation.gov, information at 435-587-1500 M-F, 8 am-noon. No reservation is required for any BLM land that does not clearly prohibit camping and the custom is to find a site that already has a stone circle for a fire pit.)

Where we set up is just a walk down a path that leads to the Arch Canyon trailhead and the Arch Canyon Ruins, where we get to explore cliff dwellings.

Indeed, Cedar Mesa is a network of canyons that are home to ancient archaeological ruins and rock art panels – the ultimate combination of spectacular scenery and fascinating cultural sites.

Streams carve into the banded yellow-gray and reddish-orange sandstone, creating fabulous formations and arches – Mother Nature’s sculpture. Cliffs are streaked with “desert varnish” – thin deposits of minerals including iron, manganese, magnetite and clay particles, combined with bacteria – which add to the painterly ambiance. And some of these have provided the overhang for dwellings.

*Hiking the trail into Arch Canyon, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

These sites in Bears Ears truly feel sacred – precisely because of the artifacts, the pictographs and petroglyphs, you feel the presence of those who lived here © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Indeed, there are a mind-boggling 100,000 known archaeological sites protected within the Bears Ears National Monument, which spans 1.35 million acres. The buttes and surroundings have long been held as sacred or significant by a number of the region’s Native American tribes.

But it has not been without controversy.

Bears Ears National Monument was established in 2016 by President Barack Obama to preserve thousands of these indigenous cultural and archaeological sites. The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, an alliance of five sovereign Tribal nations with ties to Bears Ears (the Hopi, Navajo, Uintah and Ouray Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute and Zuni Tribe), was the driving force behind its designation and are partners in managing the monument along with the federal Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service.

In their proposal to have Bears Ears designated as a national monument, the Coalition described these canyonlands as ancestral land and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) described the Bears Ears as “the most significant unprotected cultural landscape in the U.S.”

But in 2017, catering to mining, fossil fuel and other extraction industry interests, Donald Trump drastically reduced the size of Bears Ears (by 85 percent) and Grand Staircase-Escalante (by half) – the single largest rollback of public lands protection in history. These changes exposed archaeological and paleontological sites to vandalism, looting and opened the door to drilling and mining. Moreover, Trump’s Interior Department, under Secretary Ryan Zinke (who left in 2019 in disgrace) offered meager plans for managing what remained of the monuments, leaving important cultural sites and wildlife habitat vulnerable.

Various groups brought lawsuits and President Joe Biden (who appointed Deb Haaland Interior Secretary, the first native American to hold the cabinet position and the first to lead the department which historically oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs) restored the territory under protection in October 2021. The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and the federal government officially signed a cooperative agreement, unveiling the first monument boundary sign on June 18, 2022,

*The Bears Ears National Monument is named for a pair of buttes that rise to elevations of 8,900 feet and 9,000 feet © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The monument is named Bears Ears for a pair of buttes that rise to elevations of 8,900 feet and 9,000 feet – more than 2,000 feet above Utah state routes 95 and 261. The monument includes the area around the Bears Ears formation and adjacent land to the southeast along the Comb Ridge formation, as well as Indian Creek Canyon to the northeast. The monument also includes the Valley of the Gods to the south, the western part of the Manti-La Sal National Forest’s Monticello unit, and the Dark Canyon Wilderness to the north and west.

It’s fairly miraculous these sites have survived Mother Nature, let alone humans.

Indeed, we are able to see artifacts and sites that date back 1000 years, but it is mind-boggling to contemplate that this area has been inhabited since 12,000 BC to 6000 BC by the PaleoIndians; the Archaic (6000-2000 BC); Early Agriculture (2000-500 BC); Basketmaker II (500 BC to 500 AD); Basketmaker III (500-750 AD); Pueblo I (750-900 AD), Pueblo II (900-1150 AD-we see evidence of their kivas, plain gray pottery, black-on-white pottery); Pueblo III (1150-1290 AD, when the Four Corners Area was abandoned).

Arch Canyon Ruins

Each day of our Utah Adventure, which so far has taken us through Capitol Reef National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, has been so different in highlights, experience and even theme. Today’s theme is cultural, as we go in search of cliff dwellings through these canyons.

We wake up in our “wild” campsite and after breakfast, stroll down Arch Canyon Road and soon come to the Arch Canyon Ruin.

Seeing these structures, how they were built high up in the rock overhangs, camouflaged in rock, you wonder whether they were designed for defense: Who or what were they defending against? The fact that the Navajo named the Ancestral Pueblo people who were there before them, Anasazi – “enemy ancestors” (as we learned at the Anasazi State Park Museum in Boulder) suggests that there were conflicts among tribes or clans. Were these groups afraid of being attacked for their food or water? Or were they built so far above the river because of flash floods?

*Arch Canyon ruins, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

A panel provides background about the Puebloan People and these cliff dwellings: Few people lived in Cedar Mesa from 700-1050 AD, but by 1050, there were many Pueblo communities throughout the mesa and its canyons. During this time, Cedar Mesa’s cultural landscapes were interconnected with those of Chaco Canyon to the southeast, Mesa Verde to the east and the kayenta region to the south. Later, smaller groups moved into Cedar Mesa’s canyons to occupy nearly inaccessible but defensible places such as cliff face alcoves and ledges. But by 1280 AD, a combination of social and environmental factors prompted the Puebloan people to migrate again from Cedar Mesa to lands to the south and east. Cedar Mesa’s descendant populations now reside among the Hopi of Arizona, the Zuni and Keres-speaking pueblos of New Mexico and the Tanoan peoples along the Rio Grande.

I note the word “defensible” and wonder about who and what they were defending against.

In one of the structures, we see an innovation: shelves! We climb under boulders and see a pictograph of four hands.

We spend about two hours in this section, and then get the Jeep to go to the next destination. (You can hike between Arch Canyon and House on Fire, via Arch Canyon Road and Mule Canyon trail, 5.7 miles, or two hours, one way.)

We stop for a picnic lunch at Mule Canyon Ruin site along the road (almost a rest stop, complete with two bathrooms).

Laini leads us to a trail to one of the outstanding highlights of the Bears Ears National Monument: the House on Fire, one of the most photographed (spectacular) sites in the region.

If You Go….

Day hiking in Bears Ears National Monument requires a day hiking pass (there is no limit on the number of day hiking passes issued).

Bears Ears National Monument does not charge an entry fee where your America the Beautiful Pass would typically apply. However, activity fees called “Individual Special Recreation Permits” are charged for day hiking and backpacking (typically $2 at the trailhead). Because your America the Beautiful Pass does not cover Individual Special Recreation Permits, it does not apply toward your backpacking permit, Moon House permit, nor day hiking pass. Visit the permits page for more information.

Visitor Centers:

Kane Gulch BLM Ranger Station, UT-261 36 miles west of Blanding. Open: March 1-June 15, September 1-October 31, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., 7 days a week

Monticello Visitor Center, 216 S Main St., Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Closes early at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, Phone: 435-587-3401

Blanding Visitor Center, 12 North Grayson Parkway, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., closed Sunday

More information: https://www.blm.gov/visit/bears-ears-national-monument

Next: House on Fire, Kane Gulch Trail

See:

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 1-2: CAPITOL REEF’S COLORFUL CANYONS

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 3-4: GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE POSES CHALLENGE

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 4-5: DRIVING BURR TRAIL, EXPLORING GLEN CANYON, WILD CAMPING IN ARCH CANYON

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Adventure Travel, Camping/Hiking/Outdoors, National Parks, US Destinations

Utah Adventure Day 4-5: Driving Burr Trail, Exploring Glen Canyon, Wild Camping in Arch Canyon

February 27, 2023 krubin723 1 Comment

*In search of Defiance House archaeological site, tucked away in the Forgotten Canyon © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, with Laini Miranda and Dave E. Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

It’s the afternoon when we leave the Grand Staircase-Escalante after having a sensational hike through Big Horn Canyon, and drive through the Dixie National Forest on our way to Glen Canyon Recreation Area.

We stop in Boulder where the Magnolia burrito food truck that Dave and Laini love is based in the parking lot of the Anasazi State Park Museum. I wander into the museum for a quick look – the displays are really wonderful and had I had the time, I would have taken advantage of the interactive exhibits (you can grind corn using a mano and metate, identify seeds with a microscope, make rubbings of pottery designs).

I find it fascinating that “Anasazi” is actually a Navajo word meaning “ancient enemies” or “enemy ancestors” but it is not actually known what these people – Ancestral Pueblo who inhabited the area before the Navajo – called themselves. Still, the name has stuck. They were village-dwelling farmers – that is to say, not nomadic people – who lived in the Four Corners between 1 and 1300 AD, when there is some mystery about why they suddenly left en masse (some suspect it was the drought of historic proportions, only rivaled by our current 20-year drought). Behind the museum you can walk a short trail to the Coombs Site Ruins and a life-size, six-room replica of part of the pueblo as it would have existed 800-900 years ago. Beyond that are several more unexcavated areas. (Anasazi State Park Museum, Boulder, UT, 435-335-7308, www.stateparks.utah.gov)

*Long Canyon on the Burr Trail © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

Just down the road from the museum, we turn onto the Burr Trail Scenic Backway, considered one of the most picturesque drives in Utah. Paved and graded in some sections, gravel and dirt in others, the road extends 66 miles from Boulder, passing the slickrock canyons of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, the Badlands of Capitol Reef National Park, the Waterpocket Fold, and painted rock desert of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, ending at Bullfrog Basin on Lake Powell – our destination on the fourth day of our Utah Adventure.

*Singing Canyon on the Burr Trail © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

I find it interesting to learn that the Burr Trail was originally developed as a cattle trail by stockman John Atlantic Burr (born in 1846 aboard the SS Brooklyn sailing across the Atlantic; his family established Burrville, Utah, in 1876). Burr developed the trail so he could take his herd through the rough, nearly impassable country around the Waterpocket Fold, Burr Canyon and Muley Twist Canyon.

*Dave tries out the acoustics in* *Singing Canyon on the Burr Trail © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

We drive through Long Canyon and soon come to one of the highlights along the route, which accounts for its nickname, Singing Canyon. It looks like a setting for Jurassic Park. We walk in, feeling so small against these gigantic, high cliffs of red rock. Dave gets out his mini-guitar for the occasion and we revel in the acoustics that give the canyon its name (I can imagine proposals and weddings happening here).

*Driving along the Burr Trail, it is eerie to see how such mighty rocks crumble © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

As we drive this rustic highway, we see giant red rock boulders strewn all over, having broken off from these cliffs, so close to road. Some are precariously balanced. We wonder over what period of time they came down (last century, or last week?), and whether more are likely to come down anytime soon.

This is a landscape that seems at once fixed and yet is constantly changing. Burr Trail is like driving through destruction – you see these enormous, massive walls of rock collapsed in heaps and think how fragile it all is, how even the mighty can fall. It is as if it is all falling apart and you wonder how long before these rocks turn to mounds of sand.

*The view from the top of the famous Burr Trail Switchbacks © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

We next come to the famous Burr Trail Switchbacks. The view from the top to the Henry Mountains and Waterpocket Fold is stunning. The intriguingly named “Waterpocket Fold” is a geologic wonder: a nearly 100-mile long warp in the Earth’s crust. Aclassic monocline – a “step-up” in the rock layers – it formed between 50 and 70 million years ago when a major mountain building event in western North America, the Laramide Orogeny, reactivated an ancient buried fault in this region.

After taking in the view, Dave maneuvers down the series of ridiculously steep, tight turns (scary!) several hundred feet to the valley below.

*Starting the harrowing descent down the Burr Trail Switchbacks © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

[A note from the Bureau of Land Management: Although in dry weather the Burr Trail is easily accessible to passenger cars, wet weather may make the road impassable even for 4WD vehicles. Check with rangers or local officials for weather and road conditions. Recreational vehicles are not recommended. (https://www.visitutah.com/places-to-go/cities-and-towns/boulder/burr-trail)

*The harrowing descent down the Burr Trail Switchbacks © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

*The Burr Trail Scenic Backway, considered one of the most picturesque drives in Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

We don’t get to do our wild camping tonight either, but rather have found what seems one of the few motels around, Tikaboo Lodge, and make do with the remaining food supplies we have.

(Note that there are very minimal amenities in the Bullfrog/Ticaboo area during the off-season. There are, however, two helpful outdoor outfitters/gas stations open until 4pm. )

Boating in Glen Canyon, Wild Camping in Arch Canyon

Our destination the next morning is Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Spanning 1.25 million acres, it stretches for hundreds of miles from Lees Ferry in Arizona to the Orange Cliffs of southern Utah.

Lake Powell is only 13% of the National Recreation Area, but is (or rather was) one of the largest man-made lakes in North America. At full pool (3700′ elevation) it is 186 miles long, has 1,960 miles of shoreline, some 96 major side canyons, and a capacity of 27 million acre-feet (32 million cubic meters). Its maximum depth (at Glen Canyon Dam) is 561 feet.

*Boating on Lake Powell in Glen Canyon Recreation Area in search of cliff dwellings © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

But since 2001, declining water levels (the lake had dropped over 100 feet over a two-year period at the time of our visit) due to climate change and 20 years of drought have reshaped Lake Powell’s shoreline and changed or closed boat ramp access points, on-lake facilities, and dramatically altered the landscape. (Check conditions, www.nps.gov/glca/learn/changing-lake-levels.htm)

*Boating on Lake Powell in Glen Canyon Recreation Area © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

I think that similar conditions must have been what caused the Ancestral Puebloans to leave their communities in 1300 AD after hundreds of years living here, because they also had experienced a 20-year long drought; the drought today is the worst since then.

*The gorgeous formations reveal themselves on Lake Powell in Glen Canyon Recreation Area in search of cliff dwellings © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

Laini has rented a power boat from Bullfrog Boat Rentals (435-684-3010) at the Bullfrog Marina so we can explore the canyons that were flooded when they created the controversial Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River. We are in search of signs of cliff dwellings or petroglyphs that may have been exposed with the drop in water level.

We get a map from the boat rental company and try to follow the mile markers on the lake that help us orient.

Compared to our two days of adventuring in Grand Staircase-Escalante, this day is like a resort vacation, with the luxury of a boat allowing us to traverse 20+ miles in one afternoon.

The water level has dropped so much over the past two years that trees are poking out from the bottom.

Dave navigates to Forgotten Canyon where Laini has information that a trail will lead to Defiance House Archaeological Site, an 800-year old cliff dwelling (nps.gov, 800-227-7286).

Because the water level is so low, we come to the edge of the water much earlier than expected, and pull up the boat onto a beach, have a picnic lunch (avocado on bread, peanut butter/jelly) under a rock awning (like the Ancestral Puebloans might have), and then set off on foot in search of the cliff dwelling.

*Exploring Forgotten Canyon © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

This really feels like Indiana Jones, because there is no actual trail. We follow the water – slogging along the deep mud, crisscrossing to avoid deeper water. Dave comes with me as Laini and Alli bound ahead to explore in the limited time we have before we have to get back to the boat.

The site (which is only reachable by boat then foot) is usually just a quarter mile past the end of the water, but with the water level so much lower, it’s now over two miles away and we don’t have the time. Also there is so much overgrowth and prickly thickets that Laini and Alli can’t get through wearing shorts. They turn around and tell us we should make our way back to the boat.

Even with this disappointment, it has been an immensely fun adventure.

As we boat out of the canyon, we see a vulture contemplating eating a dead fish on the shore.

We are close to the time when we need to return the boat, but Dave pilots us into the Lost Eden Canyon. This turns out to be an absolutely magical (overused word but really apt) place – a superb finale to our adventure.

*Lost Eden Canyon, Lake Powell in Glen Canyon Recreation Area in search of cliff dwellings © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

There are golden dapples on the gray rock faces like gold coins shimmering in sunlight. The water is a surreal emerald green under a brilliant blue sky, the rocks are orange, tan and gray, making interesting patterns, as we wind through the narrow canyon.

You can easily imagine how ancient artists were inspired not just by the colors, but the patterns in rock faces.

When we get back to the marina, it takes 30 minutes just to refill the tank ($200!) – which we hadn’t calculated for in getting the boat back in time.

Driving from Lake Powell on our way to our next stop, Bears Ears National Monument-Cedar Mesa, we stop at Outpost Marine Trading Post – as significant today as it must have been for early pioneers. It has a fabulous selection of gear and groceries for camping as well as fantastic sandwiches at incredibly reasonable prices (considering how desperate people can be at this point in their journey) – Reuben, probably best outside of NYC, $8; thick burgers; fresh sliced turkey only $4.99/lb (Dave can’t believe it so buys 2 pounds). Everyone is absolutely delighted as we savor our car dinner when we get back on the road.

We soon see a dead calf on the road and vultures hovering.

We stop at Hite Overlook for spectacular, iconic views of the Western landscape.

The historic marker here relates how in 1883 Navajo Chief Hoskininni led Cass Hite to the Canyon below, where he found gold. He opened a small store and post office, making his fortune off the miners. After World War II, the town’s population “swelled” to more than 200. This time, miners were searching for “hot” rocks (uranium). This mining boom also went bust and Hite returned to its small town existence. But in 1964, the waters of Lake Powell swallowed up Hite, leaving behind the only true treasure: the view.

*Hite Overlook © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

We drive to Bears Ears-Cedar Mesa where we finally get to do the wild camping I have been so excited about (that means no services at all, just wilderness). The sun is descending and we are hoping to set up camp before dark.

Dave finds his way down a dirt road leading to Arch Canyon and we finally find a suitable site literally next door to a sign marking an Indian reservation (no trespassing!).

We set up in time before dark, but the full moon shines like a giant lantern, rising just as the sun sets, making flashlights unnecessary.

*Wild camping in Arch Canyon © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfaranadnear.com*

We sit around the campfire, enjoying the peace and reveling in our adventure. We will finally get to use our winter-rated sleeping bags and pads Dave had rented from Moosejaw (https://www.moosejaw.com/content/gear-rental, 877-666-7352).

Each day of our trip, we are immersed in landscape that manifests different personality, character, color, texture, ambiance, even theme, and provide the contours for our experience.

Tomorrow we will get to meet Bears Ears and the spirits of the Ancestral Pueblo people.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, www.nps.gov/glca, 928-608-6200; Bullfrog Visitors Center, 435-684-7423.

See:

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 1-2: CAPITOL REEF’S COLORFUL CANYONS

UTAH ADVENTURE DAY 3-4: GRAND STAIRCASE-ESCALANTE POSES CHALLENGE

______________________

Adventure Travel, Camping/Hiking/Outdoors, National Parks, Outdoors Adventures, US Destinations

Utah Adventure Day 3-4: Grand Staircase-Escalante Poses Challenge

February 18, 2023 krubin723

*Hiking Big Horn Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, with Laini Miranda and Dave E. Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a Delaware-sized museum of sedimentary erosion that takes you down a 200-million-year-old “staircase” – a series of plateaus that descend from Bryce Canyon south toward the Grand Canyon.

But it’s relatively new and unexplored: it was the last part of the Lower 48 United States to get cartographed. President Bill Clinton set aside these 1.87 million acres as a national monument in 1996 because its untrammeled significance distinguishes it for researchers and explorers alike – but it has been controversial ever since, as Trump and Republicans sought to reverse its protected status, slash the size of Grand Staircase in half and neighboring Bears Ears by 85%,and open up vast sections of both – including areas sacred to indigenous people – to extraction and exploitation. Biden reinstated the protected areas in 2021.

Unlike the exceptionally popular and trafficked Capitol Reef (which we visited on our first two days of our Utah Adventure), Zion, Bryce Canyon and Arches National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante is for more hard-core adventures – most of the trails are barely marked, require four-wheel drive to reach the trailhead, and have minimal services (you are on your own).

David and Laini have been here before, so have scouted and know the ropes – like how to drive down the rustic, 55-mile long Hole-in-the-Rock road that begins on Highway 12, just southeast of the town of Escalante, and ends at the edge of a cliff. That road leads to the trailheads of the minimally marked trails into many slot canyons that Laini most wants to explore. When they came the last time, the road was almost impassable – we are lucky today, that the gravel and sand are not so deep. (Pro tip: go in early spring shortly after the road is regarded; in summer and fall, the washboard road has been so well-traveled and destroyed that it takes over an hour to drive just 20 miles, even in a four-wheel drive car with high clearance, as David and Laini learned through experience).

Hole in the Rock Road is actually a famous historic Mormon Trail. The off-highway portion begins/ends near Halls Crossing on Utah Highway 276 and goes near to the pioneer crossing of the Colorado River (now Lake Powell). A large group of Mormon settlers in wagons traveled this route on a journey from Escalante to Bluff, which they expected to take six weeks but actually took six months. It is an amazing expanse of open country. This is also the famed road featured in Edward Abbey’s cult classic, “The Monkey Wrench Gang”.

Names here are very descriptive and should give you some idea (they might as well use skull and crossbones instead of trail markers): Devils Garden (the easiest and most enchanting hike), Spooky Gulch (a moderate hike), Little Death Hollow, Death Hollow (a difficult hike). And then there’s Hell’s Backbone – a rugged, 45-mile long mostly unpaved mountain road from Escalante to Boulder through Dixie National Forest into Box Death Hollow Wilderness area that climbs far up the southern slopes of Boulder Mountain, reaching the summit at 9,200 feet; without stops takes nearly 2 hours to drive, is closed in winter and usually impassable during the snowmelt season of late spring.

*The trail to Zebra Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The canyons are a rugged, desolate adventurers’ paradise – Jurassic Park comes to mind – and draws hard-core hikers, canyoneers and other outdoors enthusiasts. There are very few people around (the town is tiny), even reaching the trailhead requires four-wheel drive capable of off-road, and the trails are not marked, beyond a sign at the trailhead, and even these are rare.

As we head out for hikes, we have to be extremely mindful of carrying enough water and snacks. David hauls a 5-gallon collapsible water jug that he stashes for the trip back, and carries a 4L Hydrapak water bladder that he uses to refill our personal water bottles. We’re here in cool weather, but in summer, it can be dangerously hot. You are cautioned not to start out on these hikes after 10 am. David and Laini are also big fans of the lightweight Clif Energy Bloks that you can stock up on at Escalante Outfitters in town, where we get breakfast before heading out.

*Dave, Laini and Alli hiking the trail to Zebra Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Besides water, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, snacks (and me a camera), a light compactable jacket, we try to carry as little as possible. (This means I can’t take my Nikon Z5 mirrorless –too big, bulky; on the more challenging hikes I rely on my Panasonic Lumix, my Olympus T6, and my Google Pixel phone, which actually capture the richest colors). Laini and David advise us that in some spots the slot canyons are only 10” wide and simply cannot accommodate a backpack.

On a previous trip, David and Laini had a sophic guide named Ace (or Yoda), who said things like, “Let the land reveal itself to you and you will ultimately find the red zone.” (I have no idea what the red zone represents but it sounds very Zen and I think it has something to do with the fact that there is no real trail – we have to find our own way using instinct, intuition, or just common sense, as well as the verbal descriptions of landmarks.)

(Actually, you don’t have to go off on your own – the Visitor Center can provide a list of outfitters in Escalante. David and Laini hired Ace Kvale on their first trip to the area; he’s a photographer and guide, https://acekvale.com/; see https://www.visitutah.com/Articles/Roaming-Grand-Staircase-Escalante. And apparently, there is actually a “red zone’, Laini tells me later, “literally an area of red swirly mounds in the middle of the otherwise white and yellow landscape.”)

This first morning, we hike to the Zebra Canyon – a slot canyon which is often too flooded to visit, as it was when Laini and David were last here. It’s a two-mile hike across flat open terrain to get to the entrance (virtually no shade).

Laini reads notes to direct our route that sound like Indiana Jones navigating by looking out for cryptic descriptions of land formations.

“Named after the vivid stripes that line its walls, Zebra Slot Canyon in Grand Staircase Escalante is perhaps the most unique canyon in Southern Utah,” the notes read. “To reach the stunning canyon requires an 8-mile drive down a dirt road, a 5-mile round trip hike that can be tricky to follow, and a challenging climb through very narrow canyon walls. Even though the Zebra Slot Canyon itself is only about a quarter-mile long, the long journey to reach it is completely worth the effort.”

The landscape here in the Grand Staircase Escalante is so different from Capitol Reef – swirls and folds, amazing color, the formations sensuous.

*Moqui marbles on the trail to Zebra Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We come upon a literal pile of perfectly round rocks (“Moqui marbles”)—that look like chocolate bon bons or rubber balls formed by hand–that native peoples used like marbles or balls.

Zebra Canyon is wide open where it joins Harris Wash, but within 10 minutes, becomes deeper and narrower. Where it narrows, there can be a few pools of water from ankle to waist deep (you may want to take off your boots, but keep them with you); “15 minutes up the canyon you enter the short, but amazing Zebra section that ends at a small dryfall you can upclimb. This is the best section of Zebra. Above the small dryfall is a large pothole and the canyon opens. Head back down to Harris Wash when finished,“ the notes say.(www.roadtripryan.com/go/t/utah/escalante/zebratunnel)

I make it through a little ways, squeezing my way in, but then it becomes even narrower, with barely 10 inches to get through. This is much more technical, requiring real climbing skill, where you have to use your hands and legs to shimmy up the walls of the canyon and slither through. Essentially, every “step” is problem-solving a puzzle – involving seeing the puzzle in its full-dimension, thinking out of the box to use all your resources, and transfigure/manipulate/reshape your body. You need to be flexible (I’m not), have good strength in your upper body, hands and knees (I don’t), and it helps to be thin (no comment).

This is my first experience in a slot canyon, and I am intimidated. I don’t want to hold back the others or have them worry that I will be completely trapped inside (my worry), so I tell them to go on ahead and wait for them in a small wider section, enjoying watching others go through (and not return).

*Laini demonstrates her rock climbing skill as she navigates the Zebra Canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante © Dave E. Leiberman*/goingplacesfarandnear.com

*Dave and Alli meet the challenge of Zebra Canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante © Laini Miranda/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It feels surreal, but I can hear people laughing through the rock walls, as if embedded in the rock (it’s weird). While I wait, I watch the various techniques people use to scramble up the sides and solve the problem of slithering through. Very creative! (I’m sorry to have missed the experience but I did not want David and Laini to be concerned for me.)

*Dave demonstrates his climbing technique to get through the narrow sections of Zebra Canyon Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Our plan is to next go to Tunnel Slot. The directions say to go down Harris Wash a little less than a mile (20-30 minutes) from Zebra to the first side canyon coming in on the left. Go up this side canyon about 10 minutes to reach the Tunnel. It can be dry, or a deep pool.

But instead of exiting to the other end of Zebra where I would expect these directions apply, David, Laini and Alli come back to where I am at the beginning, and we continue on in search of the Tunnel Slot Canyon that is supposed to be nearby.

*Finding our way in Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Canyons don’t have signs or markers. People just know where to go. In some instances we find cairns (a marker made of piled-up rocks that leads you to the right path. I keep that in mind to throw back at bigots who have turned my name, Karen, into a slur: cairns lead the way to the right path).

But mostly, we just go (a tad unnerving because of the vastness of emptiness and the thought of actually wandering around totally lost, as I’ve seen in Survivor and/or Disaster movies).

Laini recalls another of Ace’s sagacious aphorisms, “Whichever way you go, that’s the best way.”

*Dave demonstrates his climbing technique to get through a narrow slot canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

So, we find ourselves paving our own trail (that’s fun too) , walking over a vast section of slickrock – amazing white, swirled smooth mounds of rock like petrified ice cream – and instead find another slot to explore. This time, I scramble over boulders to get in (very proud of myself), but it doesn’t go far. Still. I did it and it gives me confidence for another day. We don’t actually find the Tunnel Slot Canyon.

We find our way to the trail we came in on (whew!), and return to the trailhead.

We’re back to the Jeep by 4:10 pm, having hiked for 6 hours (6 miles).

There are more slot canyons in this region of Utah than anywhere in North America, Laini says. (See: Top 10 Slot Canyons in Utah, https://www.utah.com/articles/post/top-10-slot-canyons-in-utah/)

The slots are reached along Hole in the Rock Road. And after these ambitious hikes, we continue driving on the road to Devils Garden, 13 miles south of Escalante

Devils Garden is an astonishing sight – a whole cityscape of hoodoos and arches. These are incredibly dramatic, mysterious – not rock at all, but seem to be imbued with spirits (hence the name, no doubt). To me, this place evokes Easter Island (and I wonder if that’s how the Easter Island statues were actually formed – originally hoodoos that islanders then carved). How is this place not so famous that everyone knows about it and comes? Don’t miss the Metate Arch.

*Hoodoos abound in Devils Garden, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Metate Arch, Devils Garden, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Devils Garden, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This is probably the easiest trail in the area, and is absolutely magical. There is also a lovely picnic area and bathrooms.

Back in the Jeep, Laini leads us down a wild path to the no-name hoodoos overlook that she and David discovered wild camping on a previous trip (the drive was harrowing enough, like being in an ATV). From this high elevation we look through these towering rock formations to the vast expanse below. It’s tempting to camp here, but we return to our cozy cabin at Canyons of Escalante RV Park in Escalante.

*Hoodoos overlook Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

At the trailhead, we had met two “influencers” who seemed to us to be amateurs since they were not even carrying much water. We see them again in Zebra Canyon, where they were dressed incongruously in flowy blue dresses for a fashion shoot. At the end of the day, we happen upon them again at a restaurant adjacent to our campground, and learn they had completed Zebra, Tunnel, Spooky, and Pickaboo slot canyons all in one day!

*Our cozy cabin at Canyons of Escalante RV Park, Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Big Horn Canyon

For our second day exploring Grand Staircase-Escalante, we head to Big Horn Canyon.

I’m more prepared today for this hike and basically, go with the flow (as Ace would say).

Big Horn Canyon is a tributary of Harris Wash. It runs for three miles through alternating slickrock and sand – the first two miles are in the wash. The slots cut into the Navajo sandstone rock layers displaying an unusually wide range of colors and forms.

We follow instructions which say to park at the two blue containers, then make our way down to the river bed (exactly where do we start?) and follow Harris Wash of the Escalante River, crossing it many times (and can be hard to reach when the water is higher.)

This first part of the hike to reach the canyon is pleasant – we go back and forth over a riverbed which on this day, is mostly dry.

*Hiking through Burr Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There are two slot canyons. The first over to the left is shorter and the hike ends when it becomes too narrow to pass through. The second one is long and the colors are spectacular. For a change in perspective, once the canyon walls open you can hike on the creamsicle swirled ice cream rocks.

Unlike Zebra, Big Horn Canyon is really easy to navigate (no need to slither up walls) – ideal for neophytes like me.

*Hiking through Big Horn Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Big Horn Canyon is magnificent. Nature puts on a fantastic display of colors, patterns, swirls and shapes. You can imagine how the ancients got their inspiration for their art. Walking through, it feels like you are the ball in a psychedelic pin ball machine.

This hike reminds Laini of Dr. Seuss’ “Oh the Places You Will Go.”

And I think to myself, how is this canyon not more popular!?! In fact, for the most part, we are completely alone – not a soul around (in contrast to Zebra which seemed to draw lots of people, despite its difficulty). It makes it all the more surreal when a couple does pop up in our space, bursting the reverie.

The hike altogether is about six miles – absolute perfection.

We are back in the car at 2:14 pm, and head out to drive to our next stop, Glen Canyon, via the Burr Trail, a scenic byway.

I have it on my list to tackle more of the best hikes in Escalante:

Spooky Gulch is a short slot canyon hike in the Grand Staircase-Escalante area, considered moderate difficulty. You can also visit Dry Fork and Peek-a-boo as a six-mile loop, each slot slightly more difficult and narrow than the last. Laini says this was one of her most favorite hikes. (Spooky gets to be only 10-inches narrow in some spots).
Calf Creek Falls is one of the most enchanting areas of the Grand Staircase-Escalante area, a verdant oasis amid tumbled stone monoliths, considered moderate difficulty.
Coyote Gulch isa winding, semi-narrow canyon that snakes its way down through incredible red rock, considered difficult. Laini says that she has had this one on her list, but it requires an overnight on the hike, or a 16+ mile hiking day, 8-10 hours.

Other moderate-rated hikes include Fortymile Gulch; Golden Cathedral; Little Death Hollow; Peek-a-boo Gulch and Round Valley Draw.

Information at Escalante Interagency Visitor Center, 755 West Main, Escalante UT 84726, 435-826-5499, www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/utah/grand-staircase-escalante-national-monument. Another visitors center is at 745 US-89, Kanab, UT 84741, 435-644-1200.

Also, https://www.utah.com/destinations/national-monuments/grand-staircase-escalante-national-monument/

See:

Utah Adventure Day 1-2: Capitol Reef’s Colorful Canyons

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Adventure Travel, Camping/Hiking/Outdoors, Cultural travel, National Parks, Outdoors Adventures, US Destinations

Utah Adventure Day 1-2: Capitol Reef’s Colorful Canyons

February 15, 2023 krubin723 2 Comments

*Hiking the Cohab Canyon Trail in Capitol Reef National Park, the first stop our Utah Adventure © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, with Laini Miranda and Dave E. Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Travel is as much about resilience, adaptability and problem-solving, as it is about personal growth, rejuvenation, and human connection. And so, though our intent was to camp (mostly wild camping) for our 8-day expedition through Utah’s wilderness and immerse ourselves in the topography and indigenous culture, the forecast for the first half of our trip in mid-April was for temps down to the 20s. In fact, when we arrived, there was a fierce gale-force wind blowing at 60 mph that pushed our rental Jeep around and made it difficult even to open the door.

Laini and Dave have taken the temperature into account and fortunately booked a spacious two-bedroom AirBnB in Teasdale (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/41151071) just outside Capitol Reef National Park for our first night, and a one-room cabin at Canyons of Escalante RV Park for two nights in Escalante (where Dave has arranged for delivery of winter-grade sleeping bags and pads from Moosejaw.com).

Laini and Dave – who are making their third trip back to Utah and have invited their friend Alli and me to join – have carefully planned the itinerary. Each day has its own highlight and each destination its own topography and character and therefore, the experience we have. At Capitol Reef National Park it is the colored rock formations; Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument (for hard-core adventurers) offers slot canyons and hoodoos; Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon Recreation Area is our boat expedition into the flooded canyon; Cedar Mesa offers hiking expeditions in search of cliff dwellings and petroglyphs; and Arches National Park offers the most dramatic, expansive landscapes.

Fortunately, during the course of our trip, just about all the hikes and experiences we have are new for Dave and Laini.

We land at Salt Lake City Airport and pick up an off-road Jeep capable of plowing through deep gravel and sand from Alamo, and set out for the four-hour drive. Laini has planned to stop off at Walmart in Provo along the way to pick up food and camping supplies, and we find a delightful coffee shop (Java Junkie) for a snack and what becomes our all-time favorite coffee (Isis Roasters’ Grogg).

*Gorgeous views from the Scenic Drive through Capitol Reef National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We arrive at Capitol Reef in the late afternoon and (I suggest) we take advantage of the gorgeous light and weather and drive the Scenic Drive to get a sense of the park. It is utterly perfect – the warm light, rich colors – and we get such a wonderful introduction.

The Scenic Drive is a 7.9 mile (12.7 km) paved road, suitable for passenger vehicles. You would need about an hour and half roundtrip to drive the Scenic Drive and the two dirt spur roads, Grand Wash and Capitol Gorge which go into canyons and lead to trailheads. (You can follow the Park Service’s Virtual Tour: https://www.nps.gov/care/planyourvisit/scenicdrive.htm; the tour is free but you still need to pay the $20 park entrance fee when you drive the Scenic Drive – though my America the Beautiful Pass satisfies.)

(The Scenic Drive, Grand Wash, and Capitol Gorge roads can be closed due to snow, ice, mud, and flash floods. Check at the visitor center or call 435-425-3791, for possible road closures.)

‘A Wrinkle in the Earth’s Crust’

“A Wrinkle in the Earth’s Crust” is the poetic description of Capitol Reef – referring to how this stunning landscape was formed. “The light seems to flow or shine out of the rock rather than to be reflected from it,” is how Clarence Dutton, a geologist and early explorer, described it in the 1880s.

Capitol Reef’s topography was caused by intense crustal pressure which reactivated a fault buried deep beneath the sedimentary rock layers of the Colorado Plateau. This caused the overlying sedimentary rock layers to fold or bend into a one-sided slope called a monocline © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Located in south-central Utah in the heart of red rock country, Capitol Reef National Park is a tapestry of cliffs, canyons, domes, and bridges. What makes Capitol Reef so special is how the rock layers tilt. The notes say that this was caused by intense crustal pressure which reactivated a fault buried deep beneath the sedimentary rock layers of the Colorado Plateau. This caused the overlying sedimentary rock layers to fold or bend into a one-sided slope called a monocline, which is uplifted 6,800 feet higher on the west side.

***The Waterpocket Fold is named for*** *the numerous small potholes, tanks, or “pockets” that hold rainwater and snowmelt and extends almost 100 miles from Thousand Lake Mountain to Lake Powell © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

It is named the Waterpocket Fold because of the numerous small potholes, tanks, or “pockets” that hold rainwater and snowmelt and extends almost 100 miles from Thousand Lake Mountain to Lake Powell. The Waterpocket Fold has been impacted and shaped over eons by the geological processes of erosion, deposition, and uplift, all playing a part in the “drama” of Capitol Reef. This geologic feature is what accounts for the vibrant palette of constantly changing hues, as the light hits the towering cliffs, massive domes, arches, bridges and twisting canyons.

On the way back from our Scenic drive, we stop at a fascinating site, the Fremont Culture petroglyphs, not far from the Capitol Reef Visitor Center. The petroglyphs are reached after a short stroll on two boardwalks. The shorter boardwalk provides views of large, anthropomorphic (human-like) petroglyphs, zoomorphic (animal) petroglyphs of bighorn sheep and other animals, as well as geometric designs; the longer boardwalk parallels the cliffs and the petroglyphs along it are closer to the viewer but harder to see because of a patina that has developed over them.

*Walk a short boardwalk to see the Fremont Culture petroglyphs © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The indigenous people who lived in what is now Utah for about 1000 years, from 300-1300 CE are known as The Fremont Culture, named by the archaeologists for the Fremont River canyon where they were first defined as a distinct culture. These petroglyphs (images carved or pecked into stone) are one of the most visible aspects of their culture that remains, according to the historic panels at the site.

*Writing or art? Or Both? The Fremont Culture petroglyphs © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Prehistoric people of Fremont Culture used area rock for tools and projectile points, and for the foundations of their homes. Clay was used for pottery, construction and to make figurines. Fertile floodplains supported crops of corn, beans, and squash along the streams of Capitol Reef until about 1300 CE.

(You can link to the audio guide, narrated by Rick Pickyavit, whose Southern Paiute ancestors lived here when the settlers arrived in the 1880s. https://www.nps.gov/care/learn/historyculture/fremont-culture-petroglyphs.htm)

Pickyavit says that unlike his ancestors, who were nomadic, the Fremont people settled in these canyons and became farmers and hunter-gatherers. It is not known if they were related to the better-known Ancestral Puebloans. What is known about the Fremont people’s daily lives comes mainly from artifacts and from these petroglyphs, but it is not known where they came from or why they left suddenly in the 13^th century (though I believe it is now widely accepted that the people left after a historic, 20-year drought). “As you walk these paths and hidden places, do not even touch the petroglyphs. Protect their legacy, even as I respect it.”

It is natural to imagine the meaning of the images, but, Pickyavit says, “Caution must always rule in the interpretation of petroglyphs. With few exceptions, we cannot really be sure what the ancient maker of the petroglyphs had in mind. Some consider almost all petroglyphs a form of writing, while others consider most of them to be art, not writing. The large trapezoid-shaped human figures excite interest. Many have headgear and horns. Figures are commonly seen with necklaces, earrings and sashes. Animals, especially bighorn sheep, appear in many petroglyphs, indications that they were hunted and perhaps revered.”

I wonder, since these were created by different people in different times, isn’t it possible some were messages (writing, information) and some were art?

He notes that “Following the disappearance of the Fremont people in the 13th century, no one resided in the Waterpocket Fold country for 500 years. During this time, however, Ute and Southern Paiute hunters and gatherers roamed the region. They lived in close harmony with the natural environment and left little evidence of their presence.”

We stop in Torrey at the Torrey Grill and BBQ which offers a sheltered outdoor setting complete with firepit (we are still concerned about COVID) and is serving late.

The wind is still howling when we get to the AirBnB – home with gorgeous interior design, so cozy and comforting. I wake in the middle of the night to a blizzard – gale force winds, giant flakes of snow – that leaves 3-5 inches by morning. I feel (without hyperbole) we would have died –crushed under the snow or frozen to death – had we camped. I imagine us in some Survivor (or Disaster) movie based on fact (not the last time this image occurs to me during our Utah Adventure).

Hiking Capitol Reef National Park

*The Hickman Bridge trail is a perfect first hike in Capitol Reef National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Considering the weather, we phone the Visitor Center to get their recommendation for hikes, and the Ranger recommends Hickman Bridge and Cohab Canyon, both in the nearby Fruita area (435-425-2791). The snow, so gorgeous in the morning, is gone by the time we arrive at Capitol Reef but for some oddly frozen patches, and we have perfect winter hiking weather.

Both these trails are extremely popular – and for good reason.

*Gorgeous arches, formations and colors along the The Hickman Bridge trail makes it one of the most popular hikes in Capitol Reef National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Hickman Bridge Trail, just 1.8 miles roundtrip, is the most popular trail (so the most crowded): it is geologically fascinating, relatively easy, great for families, with each step offering stunning visuals – red rock with beige and blond striations, textures, overhangs – and eminently doable to get the full appreciation, with the climax of a spectacular arch. The hike encapsulates for us what Capitol Reef is about.

*The Hickman Bridge, Capitol Reef National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Along the Hickman Bridge Trail, you see high-desert views, traces of prehistoric American Indian culture, and evidence of the Civilian Conservation Corps’ work in the 1940s. After ascending through a scenic sandstone side-canyon, the trail loops under the grand 133-foot span of the Hickman Natural Bridge. This is considered a “moderate” trail, but I would say it is easy. What an introduction!

*The 133-foot span of the Hickman Bridge, Capitol Reef National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

From the same parking lot (and when it’s popular, it may well be difficult to find a parking spot so you have to wait for one to open), you can walk something like two miles to one end of the Cohab Trail. We smartly decide to move the car to a small, dirt parking lot, 1.2 miles down the Scenic Drive from the Capitol Reef Visitor Center, diagonally across from the picturesque historic Pendleton Barn, to access the trailhead at the other end (actually it is the beginning). (If this dirt parking lot is filled, you can backtrack 2/10 mile and park at the picnic area.)

*The picturesque, historic Pendleton Barn across from the Cohab Canyon trailhead © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We have our lunch in the picnic area before starting out on the Cohab Trail.

Cohab Canyon trail is of easy-to-moderate difficulty with gorgeous vividly-colored rock formations and shapes. The first 0.3 mile is a tad steep (I’m glad I brought my hiking poles for this hike). A series of switchbacks lift you up 400 feet, all the while you gaze out at gorgeous views of the Johnson Mesa and Fruita Cliffs. But once within the canyon, the hiking is fairly easy.

Cohab Canyon is called a “hanging canyon” because it sits above the Fremont River floodplain. The entire trail is so beautiful – we come upon a few slots to explore, a 20-foot high mushroom shaped hoodoo (a tree is growing out of the top!) surrounded by slickrock, the Cohab Canyon arch, then some stunning overlooks of the valley and Fruita.

*A 20-foot high mushroom hoodoo on the Cohab Canyon Trail, Capitol Reef National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

We opt not to do the whole hike, which goes 2.9 miles one way to the Hickman Trail parking lot (which would require taking a shuttle back, or, if you do the round trip, would take 4 hours). We hike in about 1.7 miles and return.

*Dave ventures into a small slot off the Cohab Canyon Trail, Capitol Reef National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The two hikes – Hickman and Cohab Canyon – afford a very different experience, though both offer dramatic landscapes that are signature Capitol Reef. Hickman is well-traveled, ideal for families, and you feel like a tourist – but Cohab Canyon is all but devoid of other people so you feel the isolation (even if you do come upon another hiker here and there).

*The climatic view from the Cohab Canyon Trail hike, Capitol Reef National Park © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Laini had The Castle Trail hike on her to-do list but unfortunately, we don’t have the time. (It’s described as an old trail that apparently is no longer “advertised” to the enigmatic “back side” of the Castle, exploring a hidden canyon lined with mammoth boulders and violet-colored hoodoos, taking about two hours.)

You can see the cragged hunk of The Castle from just outside the Visitor Center. One of Capitol Reef National Park’s iconic landmarks, The Castle is a prominent sandstone formation made up of three primary layers: the bottom sandstone layer, the Moenkopi Formation, is 245 million years old; the middle gray-green layer, the Chinle Formation, was laid down as volcanic ash 225 million years ago; the top layer, including the Castle, Wingate Sandstone, formed 200 million years ago.

*The Castle, one of Capitol Reef National Park’s iconic landmarks © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Also, though we didn’t hike Grand Wash on this trip, Laini and Dave hike it on their next one and highly recommend entering through the lower trailhead for an easy 20-30 minute walk through the most dramatic and narrowest part of the canyon, with towering walls over 100 feet overhead.

In the Fruita area, there are 15 hiking trails with trailheads located along Utah Highway 24 and the Scenic Drive. These offer a wide variety of hiking options from easy strolls over level ground to strenuous hikes involving steep climbs over uneven terrain near cliff edges. Round trip distances range from a mere quarter mile to 10 miles, and are well-marked with signs at the trailhead and at trail junctions and by cairns (stacks of rocks) along the way. Some trails have self-guiding brochures, available for a fee at the trailhead and visitor center.

The best detailed descriptions of these hikes are available at https://liveandlethike.com/category/utah/capitol-reef-national-park/

Capitol Reef also offers many hiking options for serious backpackers and those who enjoy exploring remote areas. Minimally marked hiking routes lead into narrow, twisting gorges, slot canyons, and to spectacular viewpoints high atop the Waterpocket Fold. Popular backcountry hikes in the southern section of the park include Upper and Lower Muley Twist Canyons and Halls Creek and in the Cathedral Valley area. A backcountry permit is required for camping outside of established campgrounds. The permit is free and can be obtained in person at the visitor center during normal business hours.

Capitol Reef offers so much to explore, Laini says, you really need more time there. Tourists overrun the main part, but there is a whole “backcountry” side that most miss.

See: https://www.nps.gov/care/planyourvisit/trailguide.htm and https://www.nps.gov/care/planyourvisit/hiking.htm

Scenic Byway 12

Driving out of Capitol Reef we come to an overlook just as the sun is at a perfect angle to make the red rocks blaze.

We drive 64 of the 124 miles of the Scenic Byway 12 to Escalante. Scenic Byway 12 is Utah’s first “All-American Road,” (and one of Laini’s favorite roads in the country) winding through vast slickrock benches and canyons. We reach the summit, 9,600 feet – and the temp has dropped to 15 degrees – with sweeping vistas of the Henry Mountains, Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument and Capitol Reef National Park.

*The view back to Capitol Reef National Park as we drive along Scenic Byway 12 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Because the forecast had been for temps in the 20-30s, Dave and Laini booked a cabin at Canyons of Escalante RV Park, right in Escalante. It is one room for the four of us– very cozy (we still have to go outside for the bathroom, so we have that camping experience). And we’re able to have dinner at one of their favorite places from their previous adventures, Escalante Outfitters, serving up the best pizza outside of New York.

*Driving on Scenic Byway 12 from Capitol Reef National Park to Escalante © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I find this day’s hikes in Capitol Reef perfect to acclimate and just become immersed in the spectacular scenery. And, I soon find out, these hikes are so very different from what we have yet to experience in the Grand Staircase-Escalante, where our Utah Adventure continues. Because Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is for more hardcore hikers.

Next: Grand Staircase-Escalante

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