“Utah 🇺🇸 ~First Stop of Five; in Kanab for Zion National Park, Escalante Grand Staircase, Toadstools Hoodoo and More!”

First Stop of Five National Parks in Utah 

Kanab, Utah is our first of five stops in the month of June, while we tour the beautiful “Grand Circle of the West” (in Utah)

Utah Grand Circle ⬆️

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We arrived in Kanab, Utah from Williams, Arizona in about five hours. We haven’t seen anything but sunshine, since we arrived in Arizona, before last Christmas. Our six weeks in Mexico 🇲🇽 also had blue skies. Now that it’s almost summer, I wonder if Utah will have any rain. I’m not complaining, mind you, but I know vegetation and wildlife need moisture.
With springtime, we do get to see more green, but there are indications of drought, just the same.
Our first campground is Kanab RV Corral. It’s very nice and very clean and tidy. We have views of the surrounding red rocks, and the town of Kanab is walkable from here. ⬇️

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What is the The Grand Circle of the West?

The entire Grand Circle is referring to the Four Corners region of the USA and covers most of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and a small bit of Nevada. All of this region is gorgeous and worth a visit, and the many National Parks that are in this region are some of the most visited and some of the most photogenic.
The National Parks that are in this area are: Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Colorado), Mesa Verde (Colorado), Petrified Forest (Arizona), The Grand Canyon (Arizona), Zion (Utah), Bryce Canyon (Utah), Capitol Reef (Utah), Arches (Utah), Canyonlands (Utah) and Great Basin (Nevada)
Each of these National Parks are  very unique, even though some of them are less than 100 miles apart.
While I’ve been to many, many National Parks in America, I’ve not spent time in Utah, visiting, sans Bryce Canyon. This is why we are here, this summer, to check off some bucket list visits!
I’m also happy to visit any of the National Parks more than one time, so the big guy can see these beautiful treasures of our home country, too We are retired and have the time!

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Zion National Park ✅

We spent a big, 9-hour day, driving the scenic Hwy 9 (both ways) to encompass all of Zion, from Kanab. We saw a Fox, Mule Deer, a herd of wild Desert Mountain Goats, and a huge California Condor.
The photos really do speak for themselves, as to why Zion is not to be missed! ⬇️

Zion National Park could be called a heaven on earth, a red-rock wonderland created by wind, water, and snow.
Mormon pioneers arriving in the area in the 1860s were so overwhelmed by the natural beauty of Zion Canyon and its surroundings, that they named it after the Old Testament name for the city of Jerusalem.
Zion National Park’s elevation ranges from 3,666 feet at Coalpits Wash to 8,726 feet at Horse Ranch Mountain in the Kolob Canyon section of the park.

Once upon a time, the Zion landscape was covered by water that eventually gave way to powerful rivers. The rivers dried and desert sand dunes formed, ultimately hardening into Zion’s breathtaking sandstone cliffs. Over millions of years, rock layers were uplifted, tilted and eroded, exposing a series of colorful cliffs known as the Grand Staircase. Today, the most notable exposed formations in Zion National Park represent 150 million years of geologic history.
Located on the Colorado Plateau between Kolob Terrace and the Pine Valley Mountains, Zion National Park offers 229 miles of towering cliffs, narrow canyons and unbelievably beautiful scenery.

Mule Deer ⬆️⬇️



The three sandstone cliffs that make up the Court of the Patriarchs in Zion National Park are named for Old Testament figures Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham Peak is the tallest at 6,890 feet.

CLOSURE NOTICE: Weeping Rock and the lower East Rim Trail/Observation Point Trail are currently closed due to a massive landslide. (On August 24, 2019, a large rockfall off of the face of Cable Mountain buried the Weeping Rock pantheon in sand and rubble).




Though the Tunnel is two lanes wide, only one lane at a time is allowed
The tunnel is very dark, but there are some open areas with great views if you look quickly! ⬆️⬇️


We had planned on this hike, but not feeling good enough at the time. There is limited parking, and it’s at the tunnel. We had parking, but not enough energy yet, for a straight up hike for the view


Perfect time of year for some desert bloom

⬆️ I’ve seen Big Horned Sheep in the wild, and while they live in Zion, we did not see any.
These animals are called Wild Desert Mountain Goats

UPDATE: after seeing these same animals in Nevada, at Valley of Fire State Park, the very next year:

“We saw what looked to be the same wildlife while in Zion National Park, and while there, we were told they were called “Desert Horned Goats.” 

I did some digging:

Is the desert bighorn sheep or goat?

The latest science shows that “bighorn sheep” is one species, with three living subspecies: the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis), the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis sierrae)—formerly called the California bighorn sheep, and the desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni).
So apparently, they are no longer called goats.

Zion is home to 68 species of mammal, ranging from the petite kangaroo rat to the sturdy, sure-footed bighorn sheep. The most frequent mammal sightings are mule deer, foxes, bats, bighorn sheep, and rock squirrels.

⬆️ Zion’s rock formations range from 500 feet to over 2,000 feet high. The north-south cracks are due to wind, while the vertical cracks are the result of the freeze-thaw cycle. Navajo sandstone dating to the lower to mid-Jurassic period is the most prominent in Zion Canyon, with Checkerboard Mesa being one of the highest exposures



The lesser traveled part of Zion ⬇️
It’s not touristy, and it’s equally as beautiful! This was only 20 minutes from Kanab to get here, unlike the main gate of Zion, which was another hour plus. This is not a paved road, but it’s not a bad road. It is also 
not a loop. One way in, same way out





⬆️⬇️We had a very rare sighting of a California Condor in Zion!
There are about 100 California wild condors that live and migrate between southern Utah and Northern Arizona, including the nesting places of Zion and Grand Canyon national parks, according to the National Park Service. As a critically endangered species, California condors are thriving under the protection of the federal endangered species law and the efforts of nonprofits such as the Peregrine Fund, which is working to help bring this bird back from near extinction.
The California condors were nearly extinct in the 1980s. At one point, there were only 22 birds, according to the Peregrine Fund. There are now a reported 500 birds worldwide flying from southern Utah to Mexico.
These scavenging birds sometimes die from lead poisoning after ingesting bullet fragments embedded in gut piles left by hunters. 😢
BTW, we saw another Californians Condor at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, last month, too!

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Escalante Grand Staircase Monument ⬇️

We headed out on another morning, only to learn the drive we wanted to take through this slot-canyon area was not going to happen. GPS said the monument was closed, and the gate was def not open. It is Sunday, so maybe that’s why? The photos I could get of the rocks came from the outside of the area, driving Hwy 89. Though quite beautiful, it was nonetheless disappointing, indeed. June starts the busy season, so surprised anything is closed. The good news is, we will have another chance at driving this area, since it is towards our next destination, if we can fit it in. In the meantime, this is from today; scenic along Hwy 89

 


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Toadstools in Escalante Grand Staircase ⬇️

We went on to this area of Escalante and the trail head was open. I get a kick out of mushroom-shaped rock formation, so I was motivated to see these. We’ve hiked in other countries to see the same type of rock formations, so they are a global phenomenon.
The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument covers a million acres in southern Utah, and it’s home to all kinds of fascinating slot canyons and rock formations. Some of the quirkiest formations are found 45 miles east of Kanab. They’re called The Toadstools, and you can take a short trail to see them, with an elevation gain of just over 100 feet. You’ll walk a total of 1.6 miles, out and back.


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More Scenic photo coming and going from Kanab ⬇️



 


⬆️ This was sited on the Utah Grand Circle map at the beginning of blog. We did not stop in, as it looked like a trail head, perhaps.

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The Great Western Trail 

We drove to this location of off Hwy 89. I had never heard of it, so looked it up and learned only two people have ever completed this particular hike.

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UTAH⬆️

NOTE: From Kanab to the main Gate of Zion, we drove for 1.5 hours. The map time is inaccurate. 
USA 🇺🇸 ⬆️
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Hello and Welcome to our Travel Blog Website, We enjoy writing about our experiences and taking photos of our adventuring along the way. Our names are: Daryl and Pen, but Daryl calls me “Bunny.” We met, quite randomly, whilst both… Read More