Days 1, 2 and 3, November 1-3, 2026 – Traveling Days
Traveling through Minnesota and a corner of Iowa was a route taken many times before … nothing new to see here … except it is November and the trees are bare, the fields of corn harvested and some are tilled, leaving a landscape of yellow, brown and some green fields. In some places there were huge piles of yellow … piles of corn ready to be moved to be dried. Then the GPS took us through the back roads of northeast Nebraska, cutting diagonally down to Interstate 80. It was a beautiful ride … steep hills and valleys, many black angus ranches and, of course, grain fields, small towns and nary a vehicle on the roads! A pleasant day's drive all in all! We spent the night in Grand Island, Nebraska.
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| Snow in the Rocky Mountains |
The FLAT plains of Nebraska were also familiar to us, including the many references to Buffalo Bill's Ranch, cowboy clothing stores, museums of the wild west, etc. All these references were especially delightful since we were listening to Bill O'Reily's Legends and Lies in the car… stories of the many heros who tamed the west (especially this area of the country) with whom we are familiar … Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett, Buffalo Bill, George Custer, etc. etc. Nostalgia to be sure! Continuing west, while it is still flat in Nebraska, one doesn't even recognize that the elevation is rising up to almost 3,000 feet coming into Colorado, where there are now the high plains of barren hills dotted with black angus grazing and sage brush tumbling across the road in the high cross wind, up to the mile-high city of Denver. And then the elevation continues to rise while twisting and turning through the majestic Rocky Mountains to an elevation of over 11,000 feet. It's in the 9,000-11,000-foot elevations that it was snowing … no accumulation on the roads yet, but definitely on the tops of the mountains! I could snap pictures of the mountains all day long, as at every bend in the road there's another gorgeous vista to admire. The night is being spent in Grand Junction, CO.
Traveling through Utah today, we find the terrain unlike anything else in the country. First are the barren high plains surrounded by the variously colored, ribboned Book Cliffs off in the distance … about 40 miles of 80-mph interstate with no services and virtualy no traffic. Then there's over 100 miles through Castle Valley where we are traveling up, over, around and down the cliffs, all of which are polka dotted with pinyon and juniper pine trees. And the rest of the day met with similar landscapes. Simply stunning in the various shapes and formations, the varied colors of the layers of strata, the sizes of the cliffs and mountains, the canyons and gorges.
And then we arrive at Zion National Park … which takes the prize for it all. First, at the west entrance to Zion was the 5 ½ mile drive along Kolob Canyons Road which winds through the back country of Zion's rugged landscape. Finger Canyon is so fascinating, named because they are divided by long, narrow sandstone ridges that are parallel to each other. At the southern entrance we picked up some information at the Visitors' Center, then drove up, up and up the switchbacks to go through the mile-long tunnel along the east entrance's road. The roads and tunnel were built in the 1930s. Blasted through sold rock, the tunnel is known as an engineering feat. We also saw the Great Arch of Zion which looks like a cathedral window and the Checkerboard Mesa with its grid-like cracks. Again … no words to describe the incredible beauty. All in all, this provided the information we needed to plan our activities for tomorrow's adventure in Zion. Our home for the next two days is in the nearby town of La Verkin.
Day 4, Wednesday, November 4, 2026 – Zion National Park
As we approach the southern entrance of Zion, we drive through the cozy town of Springdale nestled in the narrow Zion Canyon. It's basically one road through town with the numerous hotels, countless coffee shops, clothing and hiking gear stores, etc. etc., all built and arranged perfectly in the western, Zion-like fashion. It is very welcoming, though, of course, expensive!
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| Lower Emerald Pool |
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| The Weeping Wall |
What we witnessed today in the park is the result of the of sediment deposited in a succession of inland seas, rivers and streams over eons. The Virgin River, both serene and relentless, carved the canyon. The cliffs, thousands of feet high, are composed of Navajo sandstone. This was the home of the Paiute Indians for generations as well. We parked the car and took the electric shuttle bus (the only way to get to the interior these days) up along the 6-mile canyon road … more jaw-dropping cliffs, mountains, formations, the spectacular red rocks, etc. We got off at the Zion Lodge and hiked to the lower Emerald Pool, named for the emerald color of the water and formed by the waters of several high waterfalls (though I believe it all combines to become one large fall from the rains and snow in the spring). But this was just one of three Emerald Pools, the highest being another mile further down the trail, which we opted not to walk to. We also hiked the Weeping Rock Trail, where we saw a desert big horned sheep and the Riverside Walk at the terminus of the road, the Temple of Sinawava, where we enjoyed watching half a dozen mule deer graze! There were a lot of tourists as well … bikers, hikers, families enjoying the serenity of the park ... more than I expected to see, given it is November and way past what is considered the tourist season!
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