2020-13
Kanab Utah (Part 3)
Campground: Crazy
Horse Rv Park. Kanab Ut. $475 per month (30 amp site). $50 deposit
for electric. 3 Blocks from the main street in town. Good Verizon
signal, Good over-the-air TV. Owners of this park also own Rv parks
in Show-Lo and Yuma and I’m told 300 other Rv parks! Some issues
with weak electric and clogged sewers. I see them working on various
sections of water/sewer lines throughout the park.
Caution: Use a volt meter to determine if power being provided is within an acceptable range. it was as low as 108 volts at two sites
I had checked out.
THE BIG ADVENTURE
it’s been a very
enjoyable stay here in Kanab. My month’s stay is just about at the
end and I’ll be heading out in the next day or two. This has been
a safe place to stay, as they only had three Covid 19 cases in the
past couple of months and is the only county in Utah to go Green.
Meaning the stores are all permitted to open within the New Normal
guidelines. Though I will tell you, some have already ignored those
guidelines. Making it, to my way of thinking, once again unsafe to
go in a number of shops and restaurants. One restaurant had no space
between table/customers. A couple of shops had employees not wearing
face masks, etc.
What I have been
able to do, is head to the deli department in the two local grocery
stores, pick up supplies for picnic type lunches, leave and go to the
local park and enjoy a most enjoyable lunch at a picnic table
outdoors and away from non social distance folks. It’s been a good
compromise and one that I will continue to do throughout my travels.
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| my view as I get ready to post this blog Kanab's public park |
As I’ve mentioned
before, Kanab is a surprisingly well maintained town. I have not
seen any homes that are not well maintained and many of the newer
homes are quite large, indicating that there is a migration of folks
to this area for business or retirement. The towns businesses while
many have been closed until just recently, all seem to be well
maintained as well, and the infrastructure like a small convention
center, senior center, library, large multipurpose park, with
swimming pool, tennis courts and splash pads for kids are all new.
The Jackson Flat reservoir with it’s 3 plus miles of newly paved
walking and biking trails is just the beginning of a planned bike
path.
An Adventure Worthy of Sharing:
Zion National Park
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| entering Zion National Park North entrance, including two tunnels, one over 2 miles long |
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| descending down thousands of feet into the canyon below |
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| the checkerboard formation at the north entrance |
I had not initially
considered going to any of the wonderful national parks in Utah,
since most were just opening. The north Rim of the Grand Canyon was
a possibility, but just when I started to make plans, they ended up
closing it, due to multiple forest fires around Jacobs Lake. I had
initially decided against going to Zion, as in the recent past, it
has been so busy that the entrances were closed by early morning.
But with the new soft opening of many of the national parks, Zion
included. I did a bit for research and decided it might actually
make for an awesome day trip. Zion is only 35 miles from Kanab via
the north entrance. The shuttle buses are not running and they are
limiting the number of visitors daily. Which to my way of thinking
is perfect. So by taking Zippy and little Zippy (my class C camper
and E-bike) I arrived at the north entrance by 8am. Rv’s are only
permitted to go through the tunnels from 8am to 8pm. I arrived just
a few minutes early and had enough time to take a few awesome picture
of the entrance before heading towards the two tunnels, one is over
two miles in length and they close it to oncoming traffic for those
of us with large campers so that we can drive down the middle of the
tunnel without damaging our roofs.
The north entrance
along with the tunnels is to me, the most exciting way to enter the
park, as there are multiple switchbacks and winding roads leading
down to the bottom of the steep canyon. Thousands of feel below.
What spectacular views during that decent. Fortunately there are
enough pull-outs to stop and take in the scenery for all those photo
opportunities and a chance to ewe and ahh over the views. I arrived
finally at the visitor center, just inside the south entrance to the
park. It’s closed but has a large parking lot, where I was able to
use the Rv parking lot, right next to the bike and pedestrian paved
path leading into the park itself.
Don’t you know,
that using the E-bike would make my visit for enjoyable but also
helped me keep a safe distance for others. Only needing to wear a
mask a couple of times. Riding a bike through the 6 to 8 miles
scenic drive is definitely the way to go. Even though once arriving
at the main scenic drive and having to ride on the actual road
instead of a separate bike path, with the park having limits on the
number of vehicles permitted in the park proper, the road was
virtually empty of vehicles except for hikers and bikers for the
first half of my visit.
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| the scenic road leading through Zion. no shuttles and only 300 cars permitted at a time since they had arrived before I did, the parking lots were full and no more vehicles were permitted into this section |
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| virtually no traffic during the early morning ride |
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| along the first two miles of paved bike trails |
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| my neck got sore from constantly looking up, but so worth it. |
Unlike having to
take the shuttle bus in previous years, I was able to stop often on
the bike for those all important photo ops. What an awesome
advantage. Loved being able to stop just about anywhere along the
road, enjoying the scenery, capture as many pictures as my little
heart desired before going what seemed like only a few yards further,
before having to stop and take a dozen more shots.
The road, even
though at the bottom of the canyon, with it’s thousand plus feet
shear cliff walls reaching ever higher to the sky, that road did have
quite a few elevation changes. The E-bike really made for a most
pleasant and effortless ride through the canyons. Talk about zipping
along. I was having a blast. One would have to be comatose not to
feel the majesty of this place and I certainly felt quite inspired
and just a bit closer to God, looking around and up at those
magnificent walls and mountain peaks of sandstone all reaching higher
and higher as if trying to reach the heavenly sky above.
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| at the end of the scenic road, super nice walk along the river, but too crowded for me.... |
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| the Patriarchs |
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| the two mile bike path from the visitors center |
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| Zippy, descending the switchbacks and winding road leading down into Zion National Park |
Perhaps a bit over
the top on my description of the park, but it sure filled me with
much joy and happiness. And being that it’s a one way in, one way
out kind of road, I was able to view everything a second time around
on my way back out. The traffic was a bit more on the way out with
tour vans and private vehicles exiting as it was getting closer to
the noon hour. More hikers, bikers and vehicles were on the scenic
road as the temperatures quickly rose as the sun was finally able to
reach deep into the canyon.
Arriving back at the
visitors parking lot, I was really glad to have completed my tour as
the heat was quickly building. Couldn’t imagine what the afternoon
would be like in the park. Tons of families with many kids (Mormons
perhaps) were just arriving and starting their hike into the park.
Personally, I folded the bike back up, put it in the basement storage
of the camper having already turned on the generator and a/c. Got
inside to a now cool camper, made myself one of those picnic/deli
lunches and enjoyed watching a hoard of visitors stream past my
camper and into the park. Couldn’t imagine trying to enjoy a hike
in the park with temperatures already at 90 degree and rising.
Wow, what an awesome
tour. So glad I was able to see this wonderful park again. This
time on an E-bike.
Hope your able to
have an outdoor adventure as well. It’s good to be able to breath
in some fresh air and sunshine.
More photos:
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