It has been a month since we visited Ketchikan, but I just noticed this picture. There is always a “photo op” when you leave the ship at a port. I pity the poor guy or girl in that eagle suit. How many times has it been worn? How many times has it been cleaned?? I was the school mascot (Clyde Cougar) and that furry outfit was RIPE! I like this picture. I’m wearing my favorite sweatshirt and neither of us have a dumb expression on our faces. Ketchikan was the port city where we went on our Rainforest Hike on Betton Island.

We took the Park shuttle to the stop for the Riverwalk. The shuttle bus had special windows in the ceiling do you could see the high cliffs as you traveled the canyon. One cool feature of the Riverwalk were the areas where water seeped through the porous sandstone. With this source of water, plants are able to grow from cracks and ledges in the cliff faces. These formed hanging gardens with various flowers and leaves. One plant caught our attention because of the delicate purple hues blended with the green.
I earned my Zion Junior Ranger badge by completing 14 tasks including attending a Ranger talk (one of the highlights) and other awareness activities. The challenge made my visit more interesting. I have always found I work better when there is a goal to achieve.

Along with the rains comes the danger of flash floods. The Virgin River that runs through the canyon usually has a current of 40 cubic feet/second at this time of the season. The night we arrived, the flow was measured at 2,000 cu ft/sec. We were hoping to hike The Narrows, where the canyon walls get very deep and close together, but the Rangers (and common sense) closed the Narrows on the day we were hiking in the Park. We did the Riverwalk which is the mile of paved trail that leads up to the Narrows. It was a great walk and we even saw a tarantula. Apparently this is the time they come out looking for a mate.

We drove into the Park after a day of rainy weather. My expectations of good weather were very low, but I found out that visiting Zion in the rain added something to the experience rather than taking away. We walked to the Lower Emerald Pool because it was a short, easy trail near the Zion Lodge. The waterfall at the end was much larger and more impressive because of the rains. The sun was starting to shine through the clouds giving dramatic lighting to the already spectacular canyon walls. We boarded a guided tram ride That gave us an overview of the Park.

Just a little lower in elevation than Bryce Canyon was Fairyland Canyon. The hoodoos were more visible in the fog. Hoodoos are formed by erosion caused when water soaks into the sandstone, freezes, and expands (hydrogen bonding in action.)

Back in Red Canyon, below the clouds, we had a good photo op with Smokey Bear and then a short hike up Hoodoo Trail. The two little formations on top of the canyon are named “salt & pepper.”

Bryce Canyon is known for its natural amphitheater filled with towering “hoodoos” (eroded sandstone columns with beautiful layers of color.) We had a glimpse of a few in Red Canyon on the way up to Bryce Canyon. Unfortunately, the high altitude (over 8,000 feet) meant we were in the clouds. The lodge where we stopped for lunch was fogged in. We walked to the edge of the canyon but could see nothing except white fog.

The walk to and from the canyon rim, however, was beautiful in the fog and light rain.

On a bus tour like ours (Caravan) regular rest stops are scheduled in. This one was to a unique place with a store, as usual, and restrooms, a must, but fun stuff to see and do in front and in back of the building. Kanab, Utah, calls itself “Little Hollywood” because of all of the Westerns filmed there. It started way back with Tom Mix. It was a rainy morning, but still fun to see.

This is an ancient dwelling over 800 years old. The inhabitants chose to build in a cliff side for protection. The model that shows daily life in the dwelling was constructed by Rangers when the actual dwelling was closed to visitors in the 1920’s. Inhabitants used sycamore trees in their construction and for ladders. The tree has an interesting-looking bark. This monument is located between Phoenix and Flagstaff, Arizona

Lake Powell exists because of the Glen Canyon Dam which generates electricity and regulates the water used by Utah, Arizona, California, and Nevada. The tour was fun, even in the rain. The bridge next to the bridge, however, was very cool because it was built in Emeryville, CA, and trucked over here to Arizona. When they put in the final connectors between the two halves of the bridge, it was only off by 1/4 inch.
I found it interesting that it took 17 years to fill Lake Powell after the dam was built in 1963. Each year they have to allow a certain amount through for each state that uses the water and when all of that is finished, they keep back water to fill the lake.

Lake Powell used to be Glen Canyon discovered by John Wesley Powell. When the Glen Canyon dam was built, the Colorado River filled Glen Canyon to form Lake Powell. Our cruise day was rainy, but the trip was still beautiful. The interesting marks on the sandstone cliffs were carved out mostly by flash floods. We met kayakers, jet skis, and guys standing on paddleboards. I thought it was interesting that the cliffs all have a lighter-colored lower layer known as “the bathtub ring”. It is a layer of white calcium carbonate that soaked into the sandstone from the highest water mark back in 1983.