May 22 - all done

Long easy walk to finish the trip.

Lunch under a juniper next to a dirt road. 6 cowboys on horses moving 50 head of cattle to their summer grounds. Classic western scene.

Reached highway 56 at NV border 5:40. 80 minutes, 7 commercial trucks, 3 motorcycles, and 6 private vehicles later Frank from Panaca NV picked us up and drove us to Cedar City. Dinner, motel, showers and book flight home.

We are as happy as bluebirds and very tired. More later.

May 21 - a good family to visit

Still crossing the Pine Mountains. 2.5 days since we left New Harmony. We saw a pair of day hikers at a trailhead yesterday, and a group of dud non-conversant geology students from NJ at the memorial site yesterday. Late this afternoon we walked on a mile of graded dirt road and stopped to chat with a family in two RVs set up on the side of the road near Enterprise Reservoir. 4 generations of Wendy and Kenny family from St George. We stayed for a while and had a very fun time. Wendy introduced us to Kombucha. We talked about baseball. This sort of travel is a great way to meet a cross-section of people, and this family was a win.

We are sharing our campsite with a nesting pair of Osprey. They haven't dropped any dead fish on us yet.

We're happy and healthy and looking forward to reaching NV so we can make our way home to the bears.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=37.512802,-113.872343(I+Am+Here+Sunday+May+21+2017+08:19+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

May 20 - cross-country

Most of the off-trail sections of our route were scouted by others and we had at least some info about conditions. We based much of our route on info from Jamal at AcrossUtah.com, but he used lots of roads in the Pine Mountains. Most of today was off-trail on a route Jim created to avoid walking on roads. It worked out swell and we were pleased. We think it might be a good improvement that may interest Jamal.

Best scenery of the day was the beautiful valley where we camped last night. The rest of the day had great big views and lots of sage.

We are camped in USFS land very near the Mountain Meadow Massacre Memorial. The information presented at the memorial was limited to the fact that the Mormon Church paid to build it. No mention at all of the history of the site. Truly pathetic. Bordering on offensive.

We're happy and healthy with just two days and change until we reach the Nevada border. Birds sing all day.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=37.474252,-113.649196(I+Am+Here+Saturday+May+20+2017+08:21+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

May 19 - diverse day

First few hours finishing Zion's Kolob region beautiful red rocks. 

Then stop at the Texaco Station at the New Harmony I-15 exit to collect a resupply package and get tea and donuts. Met the sherif on approaching. Police tape blocks the Gas Mart because they were burglarized last night and there was an ongoing CSI. They brought out our package but we couldn't enter the grounds so no donuts. The woman who runs the place was very kind to hold our package and we were terribly sorry for the mess made of her business. 

Then 4 miles on paved road to the tiny town of New Harmony. Ate lunch on the wicker bench on the Post Office porch and chatted with a string of old people coming for their Mail. The postmistress says the average age of her ~500 clients is about 75. Young people flee to more interesting places!

Then about 9 miles on USFS trail up into the mountains. Camped at about 8000' at a surprisingly beautiful meadow with scattered handsome rock outcroppings. 

If all goes well tomorrow we'll finish the day at the site of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_massacre

The Mormon Bundy Boys and their ill-mannered well-armed associates have deep roots in these parts. And to think these Trumpian ranchers are scared of the extremists of other religious sects instead of their own damn extremists. They try my patience. 

We're happy and healthy and hoping tomorrow's cross-country travel proves reasonably straightforward.  Meanwhile, the Saw-whet Owl is tooting in the distance. 

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=37.486021,-113.406585(I+Am+Here+Friday+May+19+2017+08:56+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

May 18 - last day of red rock

Another cool beautiful day on Zion west side trail. Easy stress free trail walking. Mostly sunny, but high in 50s; long johns all day. Shoes were frozen this morning. 5 minutes of snowfall late this afternoon, otherwise it was dry all day.

Tonight is our last camp amongst red rock cliffs. The red rocks of the Colorado Plateau and the white glacially polished granite of the Sierra Nevada are as good as it gets. Day after day of scenic wonder, excepting the cattle degraded BLM plateaus which are depressing and inspire activism.

Tomorrow morning we walk to the Gas Mart at the New Harmony freeway interchange, where the manager has been kind enough to hold a resupply package for us. And tomorrow afternoon we head up into the Pine Mountains, a new ecosystem and landscape. ~80 miles and ~4 days to the end of the trip at the NV border.

We're happy and healthy and a little sad to know this is our last red rock camp.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=37.414400,-113.194097(I+Am+Here+Thursday+May+18+2017+06:06+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

May 17 - Amateur Day on Zion Trails

Thanks a million to Tim and Lisa for hosting us. Very delightful people.

Left Springdale at CFD to catch the first shuttle bus back to our trail. First five miles of West Rim Trail are spectacular and the rain and clouds held off so we could fully enjoy it. Jim climbed Angel's Landing from the saddle on the short side trail.

Rain started before 10:00 and a light but steady rain/snow continued all day and it snows as I type. It's warm enough that the snow is not sticking. And always light enough that our rain gear didn't soak through. Not very windy. Not unpleasant except the low clouds blocked the view after about 10:30. Oh, and patches of sticky slip-slidey mud.

We are walking northbound, and the majority of hikers go southbound (downhill). So we saw over fifty backpackers today, easily more than the rest of the trip combined. Such loads most of them carry; it's a wonder they ever leave the car.

One woman had a big pack and below the pack hung a tent, banging against her thighs as she walked. Below the tent hung a big sleeping bag banging against the back of her knees. Her friend had a half-gallon size ditty bag hanging off the bottom of her pack and banging her calf with each step. These folks aren't hiking far; 4-8 miles each day for 2-3 days. Nonetheless many didn't seem all that pleased to be hiking and I have to think that shedding 30 pounds of stuff would help morale.

One gentleman had a huge sheath knife strapped onto the shoulder strap of his pack in quick-draw mode. Perhaps he was expecting a sudden encounter with a ravenous chipmunk or Al Quaeda terrorists.

Many had useless pack "raincoats" flapping around in the wind and doing nothing to keep their gear dry. It's amazing people still buy those things and stores still sell them.

We're happy and healthy after our first day of hiking in rain; 29th full day of hiking. Damn good ratio. And having spent a month in cold rainy howling-windy Scotland this rain with just a bit of breeze seems benign. Nonetheless we're looking forward to clearer weather tomorrow so we can see the scenery again.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=37.359446,-113.038011(I+Am+Here+Wednesday+May+17+2017+07:20+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

May 16 - relaxation

Beautiful hike this morning down to the Zion Valley floor. Delightful afternoon and evening with smartini's friends Lisa and Tim. 

We're happy and healthy and sleeping in a bed in their home in Springdale. 

May 15 - up and out of Parunuweap

This morning we hiked a few more miles down Parunuweap Canyon; a very beautiful place which requires no bashing brush like much of the Escalante River, only a few patches of poison ivy, a clear river, lots of darn good looking red rock, and many stretches where the river reaches from vertical wall to vertical wall.

Just prior to the exit route is "the obstacle", a rockfall that traps logs, and a deep pool on the downriver side. The difficulty in passing depends on water level and arrangement of logs deposited by most recent flood. There's a pretty straightforward bypass route if the logjam is too messy. Without going into detail, suffice it to say that at today's water level it was not a route for beginners. It was straight forward and not risky once we figured out the details of our approach, but the route we used was not obvious. We were pleased at our clever solution.

After climbing out of Parunuweap we followed a use path to the Zion NP East Entrance and started our hike across the park. Like at Bryce, we don't have a backcountry camping permit (impossible to get one from where we entered the park), so again we crossed the park boundary and set up a few hundred feet into BLM land. All legal.

It started sprinkling at about 4:30. At 5:00 we set up the tent and it sprinkled intermittently while we ate dinner in our snug dry warm tent. As I type, at 7:30, it's raining steadily with a bit of hail mixed in. Sure is nice to be indoors right now, all roasty-toasty and thinking about the fellows snuggled up in bed back home.

We're happy and healthy.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=37.253658,-112.879649(I+Am+Here+Monday+May+15+2017+07:17+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

May 14 - birds

We forgot to mention that during the rainy day at Bryce we spent some time hanging out at the lodge with Amy Bird. I was jazzed by her name, given its proximity to my email address. She's traveling with her two kids, ages 5 and 8, named Osprey Bird and Ibis Bird. For real her last name is Bird and those are her kids names. I wasn't going to mention it, but James wants everyone to know that Ibis' full name is Ibis Isosceles Bird. 

Today we hiked in Parunuweap Canyon of the East Fork Virgin River. Calf-deep wading in clear water most of the day. Camped on a fine little bench under the cottonwood trees, surrounded by red rock, listening to the river flow. Mr and Mrs Common Merganser live here, and so does American Dipper. Those are terrific classic species for clear flowing perennial streams. Mr and Mrs Golden Eagle live here too, and more Yellow Warblers than you can shake a stick at. 

We're happy and healthy, enjoying another day of perfect weather, and happy to be back in a canyon. 

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=37.175877,-112.842909(I+Am+Here+Sunday+May+14+2017+08:16+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11

May 13 - Orderville

Perfect weather, again. All sun, but not over ~70. 

Scenery OK, nothing special by Southern Utah standards.

Easy walking on plateaus cleared of Pinyon and Juniper in order to improve grass for cows. It is really devastating what the BLM does to our public lands to benefit the private owners of cows. Welfare cowboys. 

The final mile of our approach to Orderville  was a route down the cliffs off the plateau that Jim designed using satellite imagery and topographic maps. He was optimistic it would work but we did not know until we got there whether it would be possible to descend. We were both excited that it worked out.

Orderville is not the place we would choose to live. It does not even have a café so our town meal was a bag of lettuce with dressing and a microwaved beef stew. Not as good as we had hoped but it sufficed.

http://www.thunderbirdfoundation.com/

We are camped on the grass behind the Maynard Dixon home. Paul, who runs the foundation, held a resupply package for us and spend an hour chatting and showing us his Hillers exhibit. This place is in sharp contrast to the polygamist women in their special garb shopping at the Orderville grocery store. 

We're happy and healthy and ~2.5 days from Zion Canyon and Springdale. 

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=37.253456,-112.661298(I+Am+Here+Saturday+May+13+2017+10:23+PM)&iwloc=A&z=11