Page to Idaho

We left Page on Sunday and bookdocked at Mt Carmel Junction north of Kanab for four days.  Ron, Bernita and I went to a Earthfest (a yearly event in the Kanab area) presentation at the amphitheater of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and listened to music, poetry reading, and a Lakota pipe ceremony.  On Monday we tried for the lottery at the ranger station in Kanab,to hike The Wave in the Vermillion cliffs area SE of town.  There were 104 applicants that day and we did not make it.  We were prepared for a hike so we drove to the Wire Pass trail head and did this trail and into Buckskin Canyon.  The hike was 30 minutes in before we got to the slot canyons.  They were beautiful.  We hiked a little to the south in Buckskin canyon before encountering a large pool of water.  We hiked North for over a mile.  The hike total time was 4 hours and we were very hot and tired when we returned to the car.  Then we had an hour drive back to our campsite.  Our group decided that we would not return for the lottery for The Wave on Tuesday since the weather is turning very hot and there is no shade on The Wave hike.  Maybe another time.

On Tuesday we went to Zion and spent the day.  We did a couple of short hikes and again the weather was very warm.  There were lots of tourists in Zion, especially from other countries.  We enjoyed riding the shuttle bus and not having to drive in the park.

On Wednesday the guys stayed at the rigs and Bernita and I went to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary between Mt. Carmel Junction and Kanab.  We took the free two hour tour.  This is the largest no kill animal shelter in the country with around 1600 animals and a staff of 500 paid employees and lots of volunteers.  It was very interesting. The cemetery which has over 5000 graves was very impressive.  

Thursday we drove a short distance to Red Canyon NF Campground, paid $7.50 for a site, and went to Bryce Canyon for the day.  It was much cooler than at Zion and we took a ton of pictures.  When we got back at the rigs I convinced everyone to stay another day so I could do the bike trail running 8 miles from our Campground.  Dean and I did this trail on Friday - 47 minutes up and 23 minutes back - what a ride!  Since we did not have internet or phone at this campground we left in the afternoon and drove to Richfield, Utah to the Walmart.  This was a mistake.  We got supplies then during the evening truckers started coming in.  We moved after a refrigeration truck came in and parked next to us.  Then a trucker pulled in by us and ran his talk radio all night long.  We all decided that parking at Walmart will be our last resort.

Yesterday we drove to Cabela's South of Salt Lake.  Great parking lot with dump and water.  And the shopping !!!!  We shopped at Cabela's and at the Columbia Sporting Goods store in the outlet malls.  We spent a lot of money.  It would have been cheaper to stay at a RV resort but not as much fun!

Today we are in Blackfoot, Idaho, heading North.  Good stop for laundry!