My Journey

[ITTOG]

" It's not that we've become that stupid as a society...it's that we've become so weak and wimpy and litigious that if even one person is that stupid and then sues, we then have to take all possible measures, no matter the cost, to CYA just in case one other person happens to be as stupid as that first one. " Quote



My entire job, as a Risk Manager is pretty much this ^ I will say not all are that bad, ( im 29) but most in my generation and after.....not the same story Last year i had to place signs up that read " microwaves are to be used for food items only" as we had an employee ( 55 yrs young ) who had placed his gloves in the microwave...... and went to take a smoke break. He set it to 6 mins..... Subsequently the gloves in side caught fire, and so did the microwave and wall... When questioned he stated " that they were wet and he wanted them dry" Our break room has a glove dryer, + a company policy we will just switch out your gloves.... if wet, unusable, or damaged. HE even knew about this policy...

I have unfortunately many more of those stories

Of course there are always exceptions. Both to the perceived stupid and smart crowds. Generalities are almost always incorrect or at best not completely one way or the other.

I also wonder too if it's like this with every generation. Obviously when you're younger you're not nearly as wise and that alone could be the reason for the perception that younger generations get dumber with each group. Again, there are always exceptions.

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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Thanks for following along guys.....

Recently I mentioned that I thought I'd be posting much less but obviously that is not the case as I'm currently moving right along and trying to keep my blog up to date.....

After the brief stop at Starbucks we continued north into Grand Canyon National Park.....





Of course one of my reasons for passing through the park were for the wonderful views, but my other reasons for coming here were to take a hot shower ($2 is such a great deal), dump my sewage tank and refill my water jugs.....





I've never had an opportunity to hike down into the canyon and this day would be no different than any other day that I've spent here as I'm just not comfortable with leaving my dogs in a kennel unfortunately.....





I was reading an article on this site not too long ago that said that the real beauty in this park begins at the bottom of the canyon.....I believe this to be the truth.....





It would take me only two hours to drive from one park entrance to the other.....and then we continued to drive north into Indian lands.....

 

[Arjan]

Good telling & awesome pictures.

Many, many thanks !

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Arjan.....thank you.....I enjoy posting here early in the mornings when all is quite and calm and I have my hot mug of coffee.....I appreciate the feedback.....



Now out of the park and well into Navajo Nation land I had to make a route choice.....take Route 160 northeast towards Moab, Utah or Route 89 northwest towards Salt Lake City, Utah. I chose the northwest route as my plans were to visit the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. We would pass by the Echo Cliffs in northern Arizona.....





We would cross the Colorado River at the Navajo Bridge, 470' above the waters surface.....



I decided to make a stop here.....it was beautiful. Just as the dogs and I were walking across the pedestrian bridge five condors flew overhead. I kid you not, they were no more than 50 feet above the bridge. For some reason I decided they were vultures and I refused to photograph them.....others were getting amazing pictures I would think......



As the birds flew north someone pointed out to me that each bird was tagged on both wings.....they were condors.....not vultures.....



A visit into the small visitors center confirmed that they were indeed condors. You'll only ever know what you think you know if you're not willing to open the book and learn new things.....to accept new ideas.....after 265,000 miles on these roads I should have known this.....



We drove high up into the mountains, put the truck into 4 wheel drive, drove into the woods along muddy forest service roads wet from recent snow melts, and camped in the northern most part of Kaibab National Forest.....



It was beautiful here too and we hiked and explored deep into the forest. It was a great spot to gather a stick in ones mouth and breath the fresh, cool air.....



And one more colorful sky.....

 

[ITTOG]

Great pictures as always. I need to start taking notes of the places you visit. I feel like everywhere your go should be on my list.

As always, thanks for sharing your travels with us.

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[ROKTAXI]

I had a dog that would climb the stairs on a slide then go speeding down but I never saw her go down a ladder.....

And speaking of climbing dogs.........

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

ITTOG.....thanks.....I've got another rarely visited spot that I'll be posting soon that you might also be interested in. I loved it.....

ROKTAXI.....that's your dog right ? Dogs are amazing.....



Originally my plan here was to take the road south down to the north rim and camp there for a few days but those plans were quickly thwarted when I saw the signs saying that the road was still closed for the winter season. With an impending storm coming, camped at nearly 8,000' on a somewhat muddy road, I decided it was time to move on and head further west, and get to a lower elevation.....



We would spend a few nights here at about 6,000', still in the national forest, and we would wait out the storm. It turned out to be a nice spot.....teeming with mule deer and rabbits.....as well as some free range cattle.....



I just love sleeping in the national forests where the nights are so dark and calm.....occasionally you'll catch the sounds of the howling coyotes.....



The storm finally passed and we readied ourselves to move on.....just waited for the clouds to lift.....



We passed through Fredonia, Utah and made an unplanned stop at Pipe Springs National Monument. I knew nothing about this national monument when I pulled into the parking lot but as the name seems to imply, it's here due to a natural spring which produces an amazing 40 GPM of water. That's a damn good spring.....



This was not a place to spend a great deal of time.....



I toured the place, took a few pictures, and then we were back on the road again.....



And of course I filled my water bottles before leaving with spring water....but I thought it odd that it was filtered spring water.....



The views driving west from Pine Springs National Monument are spectacular.....



Actually Utah is a spectacular place.....I'll be interested to see what I get into here.....

 

[ROKTAXI]

Yup, that's my dog (Maggie Mae).... hiking / walking EVERY day, various locations, mostly non trail. 4-5 miles. She's 3 1/2 Y.O. Border Collie / Blk Lab. I do about 1500+ miles a year and go about 1 1/2 yrs on a pair of boots (Keen). I go through several shoe inserts in a year. Here's another tree climbing event... she has a thing for looking for birds in trees.

 

[Ace Brown]

Pipe Springs not Pine Springs. I’ve been by there many times but never stopped.


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[STREGA]

Your were just at my home area at the GCNP, it's a incredible place to spend time. The bottom of the canyon is a whole different world compared to the rim.

The Navajo Bridge(s) are a great place to spot Condors and quite often they will be perched under the roadway in the trusses. Also close by there in the Vermillian Clifts is where they catch the Condors to tag them with a number and radio transmitter as well as check on their overall health, specifically how much lead they may have consumed. About everyday you can see the Condor volunteer team tracking the whereabouts of the Condors along the South Rim.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

ROKTAXI.....I think I recall us talking about walking and dogs when I was in Colorado last summer. They fill my needs.....

Ace.....I knew that.....not sure where pine came from.....thanks for correcting.....

STEEGA.....I really do wish I will have an opportunity to hike to the bottom of the canyon one day.....



We continued driving west, made a stop for the usual stuff in Hurricane, Utah and then we were off to the Kolob Canyons in Zion National Park driving north on Interstate 15. We spent a night camped not too far off an interstate exit.....



My goal for the Kolob Canyons, located in the northwest section of the park, was to hike in Zion National Park without the massive crowds that visit the main part of the park.....



At a stop at the visitors center I decided that I'd hike the La Verkins Creek Trail and then connect with the Kolob Arch Trail which would be about a 14.5 mile hike roundtrip.....



Typically I like to climb mountains.....you start low and ascend as opposed to starting high and descending. This trail is the exact opposite of a mountain climb as you drop over one thousand vertical feet from the trailhead into the canyon depths.....



The downside of this of course being that you're ascending after hiking for several hours, as opposed to descending. I prefer the other way honestly.....



We encountered a few people along the way but for the most part it was just me and my thoughts (the dogs of course were in the camper.....this is national park).....



Seeing this tent setup along the way in the backcountry brought back longings and memories of my younger days.....now I seem to be content with spending my nights in a nice comfy camper bed.....



Much of the trail follows the meanders of La Verkins Creek and I enjoyed the sounds of the babbling creek as I descended deep into the canyon.....



At the end of the trail is a small arch barely visible to the unknowing eye. Oddly enough not a single picture I took of the arch came out (or I accidentally deleted them all).....so this rock outcropping which was very close to the arch is the best that I have to show.....



I overhead some hikers say that the trail was better than the arch.....I agree wholeheartedly. Back at the camper the dogs waited patiently although Tanner exited the door like he was shot out of a cannon. We left the national park, headed into the national forest where Tanner and I walked another five miles. After an almost twenty mile day.....I slept.....

EDIT: This particular photo was taken a day later (the dark sky is the giveaway) but it's always what I see when hes left in the camper).

 

[Ace Brown]

I agree on the tent memories. I have many, but now that I’ve sold my off road trailer there may be lots of nights where I’ll be tent camping again. Well, close anyway, I will be sleeping in my 4Runner with an EZ-up with walls over the tailgate for some privacy and a place to sit in my comfortable camp chair with my Mr Heater going to cut the chill. When it’s sack time I just crawl in the back and cut some ZZZs. I’ve camped like this before so we will see how it works soon on a trip to Moab, followed by a couple of weeks meandering Owens Valley, CA.


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[Arjan]

I'm not much into camping these days - used a rooftent for 20+ years and now the Land Rover 110 is basically my tent on wheels with a good bed, heating etc.
Downside is that the dogs are not having a lot of space at night and is making me considering going for a 4WD van.

Dogs are very important to me while out on the Lanes..

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

I am really looking forward to this leg of your wanders and Dog Ventures. I have not spent time in that part of the country, but its on my list. Thank you for adding the names, makes it easy to add them to my maps list.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....back on road are you ?

Arjan.....post a few pictures of your 110 ? I love those vehicles.....

PNWY (ITTOG).....I've got a few nice, mostly not visited sites to tell about (including this one).....



After a long day hiking at Kolob Canyons I was in need of a free place to spend the night that was fairly close by (I was dead). I asked the park ranger about a national forest site but he said they are not allowed to make suggestions (hmmmmm.....what's up with that ?). I checked out ioverlander and found Spring Creek Canyon just a bit north of us.....



This spot turned out to be much more than just a spot to spend the night.....



Here, on BLM land, there was a good size gravel parking lot to park the rig and spend what turned out to be three nights.....



Few people come here.....I think it's not very well known.....as opposed to Kolob Canyons just south of here which gets a pretty good flow of traffic (National Park).....



The roundtrip hike into the canyon is just shy of five miles.....



And you pretty much have the place to yourself.....



My guess is that this is one of Tanners all time favorite hikes.....it had shade, water, and plenty of obstacles.....



Our exploration up the canyon was stopped when we came to a double waterfall.....



I actually picked Tanner up and threw him up the first level (the waterfalls are higher than they appear in the picture).....



But then I thought better of it and we retreated. We would hike and explore here quite a bit over our three day stay. If you're using my advice as a reference for places to visit, I'd recommend this one for sure.....