Lake Tahoe, Kanab and Bryce

I thought I would start a new blog for the remainder of our trip as the Yosemite blog was taking a long time to load with the videos.

Tip – when you first go to the Ushingi home page, wait a few minutes for everything to load before scrolling.

I have been feeling under the weather for the past 2 days. Good timing though, just taking it easy for a week in the Sierras, just outside Yosemite. I think I will get a COVID test tomorrow. 🤞🏻

I succumbed to my first COVID infection, had to happen sometime. It is now Wednesday, feeling better. Fortunately Lynne is fine; she had COVID a few months ago so hopefully immune. After a few days of doing nothing we are headed back into Yosemite for 2 nights as we managed to pick up a campsite. After that we will stop overnight at Twisted Oak winery before heading off to Lake Tahoe.

It was one of those mornings – knocked a full mug of tea into the CO detector, dropped my water bottle onto ZuZu’s water drinking station!! Fortunately I had a spare CO detector and super glue to fix ZuZu’s water station…..2 hours later all cleaned up.

We overnighted at Twisted Oak winery in Vallecito after leaving Yosemite. The drive out was amazing along the roaring Merced River.

The wine tasting was good – we ended up buying a bottle of red “The Spaniard” and a bottle of Port.

We took US 4 along Ebbetts Pass scenic byway. This section of Highway 4 is narrow with tight switchbacks and high snow banks on each side of the road. The precipitous drop offs and steep hills made for an interesting drive. The road’s wild and scenic qualities were worth it. We met another RV at the end and we just squeezed by. Fortunately it wasn’t any earlier – the road was way too narrow.

After our harrowing drive we stopped in Markleeville for lunch at Cutthroat Brewing Company. Chicken sandwich with delicious fries and malt vinegar, washed down with an amber ale…..life is good.

Our arrival at Fallen Leaf campground in South Lake Tahoe coincided with heavy rain, so we hunkered down in our heated van and avoided feeling too guilty watching the tent campers brave the elements.

A long drive ahead to Ward Mountain NV for a one night stopover before heading to Utah. Once again the drive contained spectacular views, especially from just across the border with Nevada, looking back towards Lake Tahoe.

We had an amazing day exploring the Kanab environs that were in our 30 minute radius limit of Umfana. We started out at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. If I ever come back as a horse/dog/cat this is the place. It is the largest in the nation and on any given day it is the healing home for 1,600 dogs, cats, birds, bunnies, hamsters, horses, pigs and other animals.

Next stop was the Moqui Cave – purchased by Grant Chamberlain. It has seen countless westerns filmed in the area.

The sand caves high above the Highway were worth the climb. For such a potentially dangerous climb, traversing sandy stone amazing that no warning signs posted.

A storm blew in very fast so we were pretty soaked on our ride home on Umfana. Fortunately it cleared in time for our ride back into Kanab for dinner at Sego – Chef Shon Foster was recently awarded top chef in Utah. Tapas type dishes were out of this world, our best meal in years.

Saturday was our day to visit the Peek-a-boo slot canyon. We rented a Polaris ATV from Kanab Tours and what a ride! Hurtling along the dirt tracks at 45 mph is not for the faint hearted. Lynne toughed it out for the ride to the canyon but rode with the guide on the way back. Just as well because the guide took a detour to “play” in the sand dunes on the return trip. Fun but terrifying to race up vertically and then over a blind peak. We returned to the trailhead in one piece but now waiting to see if Lynne shook any kidney stones loose.

Oh – Happy Fathers Day y’all

Our drive through Zion National Park was overwhelming to our senses. The 2 hours to enter the park was soon forgotten, well until my interactions with the Zion park staff – what a bunch of morons. We had to pay $15 for a tunnel permit even though our van was under the width limit because the “Ranger” said our awning cover stuck out an extra inch. WTF! Petty bastards!

OK enough venting, here are some pictures of our drive. We couldn’t get a site in Zion but we found a great BLM site (free) by a river – the area is called the Belly of the Dragon.

This area is called Belly of the Dragon for the man made tunnel through a hill that is part of a short hike we sauntered along in the morning.

We were last at this diner 14 years ago with 5 other couples on our Harley bike tour: Fond memories with Tom & Cindy Lategan.

A short drive into Bryce National Park – home of the world’s finest collection of Hoodoo’s. Southern Paiutes call this place Unka-koh-vah-wong-weets, which means “Red Face Standing”

A Southern Paiute sacred oral tradition says the hoodoos are ancient Legend People turned to stone by the trickster god, Coyote, as a punishment for bad deeds.

We toured the entire park yesterday on Umfana. So many delightful stops along the way, rising up to 9,110 ft. Lynne and ZuZu both suffering from a little altitude sickness.

We walked the Rim Trail with ZuZu at sundown. He loves his evening walks now. We have to find out what makes a strange clicking sound in the trees. We think they are Crepitating Cicadas.

We ventured out at 11:00pm last night to see the stars. Bryce is one of the top dark sky viewing areas. So excited to see the Milky Way again though ZuZu woke us up too early.

We thought we should persevere with the altitude acclimation so extended our Bryce stay by a day. So glad we did, we both had the energy for a magnificent hike in the Hoodoos. The hike starts at Sunset Point and descends to the valley floor via “Wall Street” and then winds it way tortuously through the Queens Garden back to the top. Enjoy the pictures and videos.

We found the source of the clicking!! Turn on the volume…..

We walked our last hike with ZuZu as the sun was going down. Magical colors. Au revoir Bryce Canyon, till we meet again.