If you’ve been following my recent posts, I’ve been documenting some of the beautiful places we visited on this summer’s vacation, from Bryce to Zion to Grand Teton to Yellowstone. Not yet finished, we turned toward eastern Wyoming and South Dakota for the final leg of our journey.

East of Yellowstone, Wyoming has a classic rugged landscape, wild and rough, rocky and brush-covered, very much what I’d always envisioned.

While we were only passing through this area on our way from Yellowstone to South Dakota, the scenery was spectacular, weaving us past remarkable geological formations and gradually transitioning us from the tall peaks of the Rocky Mountains to the more open Great Plains.We kept to the driving plan, intending to reach South Dakota that very day, so we only paused now and again to take in the peaceful surroundings. We did stop briefly for lunch in Cody, Wyoming, and even ate at the Irma, the hotel and saloon made famous by Buffalo Bill. (As nice as that might sound, I’ll warn you that the food and service were quite a disappointment. At least the historic atmosphere was something to offer the boys.)

But South Dakota was the goal, home to the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore and the Badlands. We arrived in a most impressive lightning storm, which made our drive through the winding roads of the Black Hills most, uh, thrilling. Fortunately, by morning the skies were clear, and the storm had no lasting impact on our journey.

We camped near Custer State Park, so we started with a driving tour of the park to look for wildlife (okay, admittedly we slept in the car that night rather than set up our tent in the pouring rain at the campsite). A family of pronghorns greeted us a few miles in, but the most impressive numbers were of American Bison.

Custer State Park maintains a population of about 1,300 Bison.

With such a large group, we saw bison of all ages.

There were many nursing calves with their mamas.

But it was also bison rut season. Many an older bull walked around with his intended mate, not leaving her side for a moment. Aside from literally pushing her around (I guess that’s where the term “bullying” originated?), the male would made deep guttural noises at the female, his tongue sticking out in the process. I was mesmerized by the bulls’ behavior, though I should point out that I find neither bullying nor tongues sticking out with simultaneous rumbling attractive in a man.

But watching a bison rut was fascinating. At one point a group charged forward, aiming right for my car. The best I could do was roll up my window and say a word of apology to my car in case it got gored, but they all passed on by. Aside from knowing that one of them was a big bull, I didn’t have a chance to notice the others in the group. I wasn’t sure whether the big bull was bossing females or giving chase to a foolish younger bull who strayed to close to the already-claimed girls, making them all run. It’s amazing how small a car can seem when these big herbivores are rushing toward you.

Even now I can look at these pictures and hear the deep grunts of the males.

This big male is wallowing in the dirt. While many bison will do this to when biting flies bother them or when they are molting, in rut season male bulls do this to both leave their scent and display their dominance.

Elsewhere at the state park, we saw wild donkeys, descendants of pack animals once used to reach the summit of Harney Peak, South Dakota’s highest point.

If visitors pay attention, they might also notice small mounds around. Prairie dogs!

These small rodents might be vilified by farmers and ranchers, but in the natural world they are an important keystone species. Their demise would result in the subsequent demise of many other species, some who depend on prairie dogs as prey and others who depend on the prairie dogs’ engineering role in the environment.

For example, prairie dogs are the primary food source for the endangered black-footed ferret, once thought to be extinct after prairie dog populations greatly declined, a result of habitat loss, extreme control methods, and disease. Burrowing Owls and Mountain Plovers build their nests in prairie dog burrows. Additionally, prairie dogs’ burrowing and grazing habitats improve soil quality, nutrient cycling, plant and animal diversity, soil water retention, and other ecosystem processes. Plus, prairie dogs kiss each other in greeting, and that’s just too cute.

From Custer State Park, we headed back up to Mount Rushmore, which we had viewed for the first time during our nighttime drive in the treacherous storm of the night before. Up and down the switchback-heavy Iron Mountain we went, and short one-lane tunnels created occasional frames of the national monument. A new meaning to the phrase “tunnel vision”!

Mount Rushmore was the brainchild of South Dakota State Historian Doane Robinson and the grand masterpiece of artist Gutzom Borglum, who worked on the sculpture until his death in March 1941. I have mixed feelings about the monument, as I don’t like to see natural beauty marred and there is obvious controversy regarding the land being taken from the Lakota Sioux, but I acknowledge the power of the symbol for American patriotism and the phenomenal artistry and work of engineering that went into the giant carving.

The site was selected for its excellent granite and southeast facing, ideal for light. The surrounding Southern Black Hills is covered with Ponderosa Pines.

The carving depicts four of the United States’ most important historical figures and Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. In creating his design, Borglum made multiple models of the four Presidents, and he used these as guides for the mountain sculpture. Construction officially began in 1927.

Most of the sculpting work was done with the skilled use of explosives. The finer details were created and smoothed out with pneumatic drills, chisels, and pneumatic hammers. The work was dangerous, men dangling off the cliff for hours each day, but no one died during the project (however, the breathing of granite dust did cause lung damage for some workers).

Each face is 60 feet tall, and each nose is 20-21 feet long. The mouths are 18 feet wide, and the eyes are 11 feet wide.

Throughout the process, Borglum carefully studied the light and progress from all angles, and he made changes accordingly to make use of shadow and rock to create the facial features. His careful guidance and use of a pointer tool on both the models and the giant carvings helped workers follow his instructions and precise measurements exactly.

The faces were completed by 1939. But the original plan had been to show the the Presidents’ torsos. When Gutzom Borglum died in 1941, his son Lincoln carried on the construction for a few more months, until lack of funding brought an end to the construction. Take a closer look at the four Presidents in the images above. You will see some of George Washington’s clothing, as well as the partial fist of Abraham Lincoln.

It’s interesting to note that there had been an attempt in 1935 to include feminist leader and suffragette Susan B. Anthony to the four figures of Mount Rushmore. However, Congress defeated this motion. I’d like to think that her face among the other historical figures would have been a powerful symbol of pride for American women, and perhaps some of the issues in today’s political arena — namely, women’s rights and equality for women — would be a given rather than a continuing battle.

From Mount Rushmore, we headed next to Badlands National Park. Not really knowing what to expect, it was still what we expected, if that makes sense — striking geologic formations affected by years of erosion and deposition.

An ancient sea covered the area some 69 million years ago, and deposits of sediments began. After the sea retreated, more sediments were deposited with successive land environments. It wasn’t until about 500,000 years ago that erosion became a major factor in the shaping of the land, and erosion continues to change the area.

Though the Badlands’ deep canyons and buttes at first appear harsh and desolate, there is life all around. Much of the park is mixed-grass prairie and home to all sorts of wildlife, including prairie dogs and badgers, birds and bison, bighorn sheep and bobcats, insects and reptiles, and more.

Though the only mammals we saw personally during our Badlands visit were small chipmunks, we did see many birds, including this Black-billed Magpie.

While it’s hard to fall in love with the Badlands, their rugged beauty cannot be denied, especially when the sunlight and/or rain shows their beautiful coloration.

At last it was time to head home to Texas. Along the way, we stayed overnight at our friends Cynthia and Pat’s farm in Kansas.

Beautiful and buzzing with hummingbirds — of course I was delighted! We enjoyed a wonderful visit, delicious food, and great company. A big thank you to our hosts!

Of course a farm isn’t complete without bunnies, not that farmers would agree with that statement.

But I didn’t mind the quiet moments I spent with this rabbit, who contentedly posed for the camera while enjoying a bit of grass.

What a year of traveling this has been! With our Everglades trip in March, then our summer trip to Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota, we have traveled many thousands of miles and covered a big chunk of the United States! The varying beauty of this great land and all its rich history, the positive and the negative, are opening my boys’ eyes globally, giving them a sense of both who they are in this world and a better understanding and appreciation of the world they should value and protect. If you’ve thought about making similar trips on your own or with your family, I encourage you to do so as soon as you can!

Thanks for journeying with us — M

Yellowstone offers so much to the human visitor — spectacular hydrothermal features, fantastic wildlife viewing, blue waters, gorgeous habitat, and outdoor adventures. During my previous post, I took a detailed look at the volcanic nature of Yellowstone, so with this post I turn my camera lens to the classic beauty of this grand environment, along with its wilder side.

Because the majesty of Yellowstone speaks for itself, I’m not going to interject with a lot of text this time. Just sit back and enjoy….

Emerging from the wet and fog…

Bison scat, providing nutrients for Melissa Blue butterflies.
Note the germinating seeds, as well. Bison scat
plays an important role in the Yellowstone ecosystem!

Uinta Ground Squirrel

A Dark-eyed Junco, Pink-sided variation, comes in to snatch one of the
puddling Fritillaries

Got it!

Tower Falls

There is a mama grizzly bear and her two cubs in the picture above. No, really! They were wandering among the sage bushes, not minding the bison nearby, but they were hard to see. We could only successfully view them through another person’s powerful scope. Happily, though, we got our closer look at grizzlies in Grand Teton NP. Across the road from the scene above, we also got a look at our first wolf, again through someone’s scope.

Petrified Tree

View of the Lower Falls at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

The wee little ducklings got nervous that I took their picture, even
with a zoom lens used from far away. Alas!

American Raven — crr-rr-uck!

Regrowth after one of Yellowstone’s wildfires.
In some areas, new pines have grown many feet tall.

While walking to see an elk, avoid jumping in sulfur-smelling mud.
Tread softly and carry a big zoom lens, my friends.

Osprey flying over Firehole River

 My husband’s first experiment with astrophotography — the Big Dipper

Yellowstone was everything we imagined and more. Thank goodness for men like geologist Ferdinand Hayden, along with painter Thomas Moran and photographer William Henry Jackson, who had the foresight to convince President Ulysses Grant and Congress in 1872 to declare Yellowstone the first American national park, protecting it and its wildlife within and opening the door to the protection of many of our other environmental treasures. That’s not to say that mistakes haven’t been made — the story of Yellowstone’s wolves and bears as an example — but lessons are being learned. Love nature and protect it!

After leaving Yellowstone and dropping my husband off at the Jackson airport, the boys and I headed east toward South Dakota, our last big destination before turning south toward home. Until the next post….

Having left Grand Teton National Park on our 2012 summer vacation, we headed the short distance up the road to the well-known Yellowstone National Park for the next leg of our adventure. And just like that, we entered a world completely different from the Teton area. For all the words and pictures you might see about Yellowstone, use it as incentive to get yourself there, for nothing can do this amazing place justice other than the place itself.

If you get caught up in the dramatic scenery and wildlife of Yellowstone and forget that you are sitting on a big volcano, Yellowstone takes care to remind you of this at every turn. Today’s post will highlight Yellowstone’s hydrothermal features, and the next post will take a look at the wilder side of Yellowstone.

Yellowstone is home to some 10,000 hydrothermal features. Aside from hundreds of geysers, the national park also has hot springs, mudpots, and fumaroles, or steam vents. These first images show one of my favorite hot spots, so to speak — Grand Prismatic Spring.

Grand Prismatic Spring is located in the Midway Geyser Basin at Yellowstone. Its rainbow-reminiscent colors are due to different types of microscopic thermophiles — bacteria, archaea, algae, and others — that tolerate specific temperature ranges of hot water. The deep center of the spring, reaching 121 feet down, is a vivid blue, its extremely hot temperature of 188 degrees F (87 degrees C) keeping species of thermophiles from taking hold. From there, as the water moves outward to the surface, the water cools, and thermophiles that thrive in specific temperatures begin to  create communities. From the deep blue, colors transition to greens and yellows (167F/75C), then to oranges, rusts, and reds, and finally browns in the coolest temperatures (around 90F). Where the cooler water flows over the surrounding landscape, thriving bacteria and archaea create colorful orange, red, and brown mats .

Bacteria mats are fascinating, and you’ll see more pictures throughout this post, for I consider them to show some of nature’s finest artistry. That thermophiles can survive in such extreme heat seems surprising, and it’s one reason they weren’t discovered until the late 1960s (in Yellowstone, in fact). Additionally, some thermophiles need acidic conditions, others alkaline, and some require the presence of sulphur or calcium carbonate. Up to dozens of thermophile species can be present in any given community, depending on their requirements and/or limitations.

If you hike up a steep slope off the nearby Fairy Falls trail, you can get a unique view of Grand Prismatic Spring. We now refer this area as Pant-Ripper Mountain. And that’s enough of that story.

However, I will say that my pants earned their very own Yellowstone patch.

Though Grand Prismatic Spring might have been my personal favorite hydrothermal feature at Yellowstone, the best known features are likely the geysers, especially (say it with me) Old Faithful. We arrived in the early morning to see it, and we enjoyed a crowd-free view of this classic eruption. Old Faithful reaches 135 feet or more in height and erupts every 90 minutes or so. The park rangers actually use a formula to predict the expected time of the eruption, plus or minus 10 minutes.

Though Old Faithful might be the most famous, it is actually just one of many geysers in the Upper Geyser Basin area. In fact, the majority of the world’s active geysers are found here, including five predictable ones. Trails and boardwalks take you along Geyser Hill and beyond, where you can observe many thermal features in action. The Anemone geyser in the foreground of this Old Faithful image bubbled for us right up until Old Faithful erupted. We just had bad luck, however — its eruptions are not connected to the big guy. Anemone actually erupts to about 6 feet every 7 to 10 minutes.

We did have great luck to be near the Beehive geyser just as it was getting ready to erupt. First, the indicator vent let loose, prompting folks to gather around for the big event to come. Some of them pulled out rain ponchos, too — clearly they knew something….

A few minutes later, Beehive let loose in a thrilling display. Its powerful water column can reach heights up to 200 feet. Because it is close to the boardwalk, water droplets will sometimes drench the crowds in temporary rain, which fortunately is remarkably cool by the time it comes down. Again, we had luck — the wind shifted to our left just as Beehive erupted, soaking other visitors but not us and most importantly not our cameras. And by the way, I really do mean soaking for those other poor folks.

Another lucky moment for us was being on hand for the eruption of the grand geyser that is cleverly known as Grand Geyser. It also can reach 200 feet, and its display is as impressive as its name implies.

The walking trail takes you past numerous other hydrothermal features, some with impressive sinter formations. Siliceous sinter comes from deposits of silica dissolved by hot water passing through rock called rhyolite. Above, you can see a thin sinter crust around Heart Spring. The deep blue color of the hot spring indicates that this water is super hot, so hot that even Yellowstone’s heat-loving algae and bacteria can’t survive.

Another example of a deep blue hot spring at Yellowstone is the Abyss Pool, which is located in the West Thumb Geyser Basin. Its depths reach 53 feet. This pool was once described in 1883 as “a great, pure, sparkling sapphire rippling with heat.”

The West Thumb Geyser Basin, by the way, overlooks the large, blue Yellowstone Lake, and many hydrothermal features can be found right along the edge of the lake, as well as IN the lake.

Why do all these hydrothermal features exist at Yellowstone? Simply stated, Yellowstone is on top of a large volcano. This supervolcano erupted 2.1 million, 1.3 million, and 640,000 years ago, forming three overlapping calderas, or geographic depressions. The last major eruption formed the Yellowstone caldera that would one day become the bulk of park we know and love. The Yellowstone caldera sits on top a giant hotspot. Magma flows as close as 2-5 miles below the surface, releasing tremendous heat. Water from snow and rain fills the underground plumbing and gets heated, sometimes to super temperatures of 400 degrees Fahrenheit when pressurized. It is this heating of water, combined with many small earthquakes and other natural processes affecting underground channels, that give Yellowstone its dynamic, impressive, and quite numerous hydrothermal features. The above photo shows that some of these changes can occur in the most unexpected places.

This image shows the sinter at the base of the Great Fountain Geyser, located in the Fountain Paint Pot Area. Though we didn’t get to see the geyser erupt, the steam and sinter were so beautiful and unique that I wasn’t the least bit disappointed. Apparently a sunset eruption is truly worth seeing if your timing is right, however.

The change to the landscape as a result of the presence of hydrothermal activity is quite eye-catching, and I love the contrast it makes with surrounding creeks, rivers, blue sky, and green trees and other plants.

Perhaps the best example of altered landscape is at Mammoth Hot Springs, a unique area at Yellowstone due to the dominant rock being limestone instead of rhyolite.

Here, dissolved calcium carbonate from hot water rising through the limestone is deposited in the form of travertine.

Such rock forms the massive terraces found at Mammoth Hot Springs, developing slowly over many, many thousands of years..

But I found some of the prettiest artistry when I looked down for a closer look, where thermophiles and mineral deposits create tapestries of colors and shapes.

Whether this formation is a bacterial or mineral formation, that it follows the shape of the fallen pine tree piece is fascinating beyond words.

This bacterial mat at Black Sand Basin, back  near Old Faithful, might not be beautiful in everyone’s eyes, but if you think about the variety of microscopic communities this mat shows, you just have to be amazed. Thermophile communities can form ribbons or streamers, columns, and wide-spreading mats of varying colors, and any seemingly endless combinations and appearances therein.

If you’re not crazy about the bacterial mat so vibrant at Black Sand Basin, just turn around and get this view instead of Cliff Geyser.

Of course, Yellowstone has its ever-fun mudpots making their “bloop-bloop” sounds, and one should always be prepared to smell the sulfur-related rotten egg smells wherever thermal features with hydrogren sulfide exist. To truly appreciate both, visit the Mud Volcano Trail. The hydrothermal features in this area are some of the most acidic in the park, some with a pH of 1, which is comparable to battery acid. There’s plenty of rotten-egg smell to delight the senses, as well!

Norris Geyser Basin is another highly acidic area and holds some of the park’s hottest hydrothermal features, many of which can reach temperatures above the boiling point (200 degrees Fahrenheit at Yellowstone’s elevation). Because it sits at the intersection of three faults that happen to also meet on an active volcano, changes occur at Norris Geyser Basin every year — new thermal features appear while others go dormant, or they exhibit behavioral changes. The above photo shows the view from the overlook at Porcelain Basin, which is in the Norris Geyser Basin area. The large amount of steam on the left is coming from the Black Growler Steam Vent, a fumarole.

How do plants and wildlife thrive around all these intensely hot, alkaline or acidic, and ever-volatile features? Well, many birds like the young Killdeer above enjoy flies that feast upon thermophilic bacteria at the edge of hot springs. This Killdeer walks along brown thermophilic mats, which indicates the temperature is around 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot yes, but okay for a bird to walk along.

This American bison had us worried when we saw it laying down on Geyser Hill near Old Faithful, but it was still breathing — we checked (from afar). It turns out he’s an older Bison, and perhaps the warm geyser area made a good sleeping spot. He got up and wandered away after a few minutes. But quite often we would spot Bison scat and other droppings in hydrothermal areas. It’s important to recognize that there is still danger here — a Bison or Elk walking too close to the fragile crust near a geyser or hot spring could suffer a traumatic death.

Many plants thrive despite their warm-water surroundings. The Bison scat mentioned above actually has great effects on the landscape surrounding hydrothermal areas. The seed- and nutrient-rich droppings of Bison and Elk allow grasses to grow where once there was none.

But other plants succumb to the effects created by the presence of heat, silica, or pH. A change in hot water flow can suddenly kill off old-growth pines. Geysers spray silica-rich waters, which can flow around nearby pine trees. This will eventually kill the trees because they will effectively drink up this water, drawing silica into their roots and trunks, which will harden over time until the plants die. But where some plants no longer live, other areas will support new growth. Nature continues.

Here are a few other images of Yellowstone’s hydrothermal features worth sharing:

Emerald Pool at Black Sand Basin

Dragon’s Mouth Spring along the Mud Volcano Trail — the Crow once imagined the steam as snorts from an angry bison

Clepsydra Geyser, a nearly constant performer

The famous Morning Glory Pool, no longer at its finest due to years of people throwing coins and other trash into it until water circulation became greatly diminished.

In the next post, I’ll take a look at the wilder side of Yellowstone — the rivers and trees and wildflowers and animals that make this national park one of the most beautiful natural habitats still in existence.

Leaving Zion National Park on our 2012 summer trip, we traveled north to Jackson, WY, stopping in Salt Lake City, UT, for a replenishment of gluten-free camping foods. The next big destination? Grand Teton National Park. “Grand” is an appropriate adjective for this place, as well as its highest mountain — the Grand Teton itself, with an elevation of about 13,770 feet. Here we also picked up my husband from the Jackson airport, and new fun-filled adventures began.

Below is another shot of the family — this became a fun and favorite way for us to do family photos at any particularly spot, but it drove nearby visitors crazy, who promptly volunteered to take a normal group shot for us. We obliged for their sake. 🙂

Even so, we redid this photo several times, because Logan’s head kept blocking out the Grand Teton (not that we were surprised). We finally got one showing Grand Teton, but then Nolan’s head got cut out of the picture. Alas.

The Teton range lies adjacent on the western side to the beautiful Jackson Hole valley, which includes open plains, scenic lakes, winding rivers and creeks, and forested areas. On the eastern side of the valley sits the Gros Ventre range (pronounced groh-VAHNT). All around, gorgeous colors, fresh air, and fantastic hiking trails and wildlife viewing meant we were in nature heaven. The bison above, mamas and calves, made their appearance just as the sun was setting.

If you love hiking, Grand Teton aims to please. We put our muscles and our lungs to good use. One hiking trail took us around Jenny Lake, the color of which was such an enticing blue. It’s just as pretty when you canoe on it.

The same hike takes you to Hidden Falls. I was imagining a high, narrow waterfall would appear, but Hidden Falls was all power and roar — such a delight!

We also hiked up to Taggart Lake and Bradley Lake. The trails here gave fantastic mountain views.

Grand Teton National Park in summer still has many beautiful wildflowers, such as Indian Paintbrush.

One of my favorites was Monkshood, aptly named and vibrantly purple.

Bear-enticing berries were all around, as well. We didn’t encounter a black bear or grizzly while we hiked, but we could tell we were in prime bear country. This, I believe, is Twinberry, or Utah Honeysuckle.

All around, we could see how glaciers have shaped the environment. At some point, a glacier carried and deposited this giant boulder onto the hill on which it now sits.

This is Mount Moran, as viewed from Oxbow Bend, a photographer’s hot-spot. I bet you can guess why! But aside from the spectacular view, this is a prime wildlife viewing spot, too (at least, it can be).

But the wildlife, oh the wildlife. We saw a little bit of everything, from Bald Eagles to Magpies; Yellow-headed Blackbirds to White-Breasted Nuthatches; lots of Ravens, Robins, and Swallows; and even American Pelicans and Sandhill Cranes. Mammals ranged from the large — moose, bison, and grizzlies — to the small — chipmunks, mice, and squirrels.

Moose favor aquatic vegetation, and that’s exactly where we found this big bull moose, not too far from our campground.

The evening before, in the same area, we found a female moose.

And on our last day in Grand Teton National Park, we saw a beautiful mother grizzly bear and her three cubs, a couple of which you can see in the photos below.

These cubs were big but still youthful enough to play and run. One of the cubs even climbed a tree!

We were having such fun in Grant Teton NP that it was almost hard to pull ourselves away to get to Yellowstone, but we knew more adventure lay ahead. We said goodbye to the waters, mountains, wildflowers, and wildlife of Grand Teton and headed north.

But first let me tell you what this kid, our youngest, did. He declared early on in our trip the wildlife he wanted to see before we went back. What pressure to put on one’s parents, who know better that wildlife might show up — or they might not! But while Yellowstone pictures are still to come in this photo-journey, let me just let you know that we saw every one of them, starting with the big ones above.  🙂

After leaving Bryce Canyon National Park on our summer 2012 vacation, we headed southwest toward Zion National Park, also in Utah. We knew we wouldn’t have much time there, but we wanted to see how beautiful this area was, and we wanted to walk the Narrows, a slim river-carved canyon with steep, high walls. Also, we wanted to see the world’s fattest squirrel, apparently.

The sun peeked over the mountains as we rode the shuttle at Zion.

We arrived early in the morning, getting a nice parking spot and hopping directly onto the shuttle at the visitor center. The park service converted to shuttles years ago in order to reduce the destruction that millions of annual visitors and cars were causing to the natural environment.

The air was still cool that morning, but the sun was well on the rise. Extra nice was that we were well ahead of the afternoon crowds.

View from the shuttle’s rooftop window

The shuttle took us past many of the popular hiking and viewing spots, and while we could have stopped at any of them, we had one destination in mind for this short trip: the Temple of Sinawava. This was the final shuttle stop and the location of the head of the Riverside Walk trail, which leads to the entrance of the Narrows.

The Riverside Walk trail at the Temple is quite accessible for most folks, and it’s about a mile long. As one would expect, the trail follows the Virgin River, which flowed at an easy pace during our visit.

Trickling water lets a fern-and-moss garden grow on a canyon wall along the Riverside Walk trail.

Trickling moisture on one canyon wall has created a type of hanging garden, a smaller version of a gigantic one highlighted elsewhere at Zion, the Weeping Rock.

When we got to the Narrows entrance, we didn’t hesitate, wading straight into the river. For most of the river hike, the water stayed calves-to-ankles deep. Keens or other good water shoes are necessary, and some people also use walking sticks. Be prepared to get wetter, however — in a short while, the water gets much deeper — waist-level or higher.

Just a few feet from this spot, the water reached waist-deep for some, deeper for others. My younger son chose to stay on the right side instead of moving to the left, and he ended up swimming!

Carrying a camera in the Narrows is a tricky situation. I had to seal mine in a large plastic bag, which I then placed carefully in the backpack my oldest son carried. I figured he better carry it, since I was the one more likely to accidentally take a plunge (in fact, I once broke my arm by falling in a creek and hitting a boulder — not an act I’d recommend to anyone, especially when it’s a long walk back to the parking lot. Note: My son, who is reading over my shoulder right now, laughed and said, “So you gave the camera to the one who caused you to fall and break your arm.” What a riot, haha.).

Water flowing down one of the steep cliffs

Note the large round rocks. These are typical of the rocks you will traverse in the river at the Narrows.

The water was cool but not ice cold. That means it’s pleasant to walk through, but it’s quite a chill thrill when it gets deep enough to reach your more delicate areas. Periodically we could hear folks screaming when they reached those deeper water areas, hehe.

Sunlight brightens a wide section of the river, just before the corridor makes a sharp turn to a narrower portion.

A closer look at the turn ahead

The Narrows was definitely one of the highlights of our vacation. We were fortunate in the timing of our visit, as the week before our vacation there had been much rain, which makes the Narrows a dangerous place to be due to the potential for flash floods. But during our visit, there was bright sunshine, clear skies, and no rain for miles.

As for the world’s fattest squirrel, here it is:

Aside from all the other reasons not to feed wildlife at a national park, this one should be obvious — nature did not intend for this squirrel to be this fat!

I told you so.

Next time we’re able to visit Zion, we’ll stay longer and see all that we missed, and with any luck get to walk the Narrows once more. But we had to move on, as we had a long drive ahead of us — Wyoming bound!

Thirteen days. Twelve states. Six national parks. Two important monuments. Three state parks. 5,330.2 miles. 2,832 photos. Zero tire flats. Seven nights camping in tents. One glorious lightning-loaded rainstorm. One night spent sleeping in a car. One lovely evening at a farm with friends. Four happy family members. Countless memories.

We just returned from our 2012 summer vacation, in which the boys and I left Austin and headed west to Utah, north to Grand Teton and Yellowstone (where Michael joined us via airplane), east to the Badlands, south to our friends’ farm in Kansas, and then all the way home again. It was our longest road trip to date. Combine that with our trip to the Everglades in the spring, and we have really managed to tour a big chunk of the United States in this year alone!

Jumping over Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico at the Four Corners Monument

Our first primary destination was the area of Bryce Canyon National Park in southern Utah. But we took a slight detour along the way so that we could stand at the Navajo Nation’s Four Corners Monument, where Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet. I decided that jumping over four states at once seemed better than just standing there. Yes, in fact, I am a goddess.

The Fremont River flows red when summer rains wash red silt from the surrounding landscape.

From there, we emerged ourselves fully in the grand beauty that is southern Utah. Just when you get used to one spectacular mountainous view, you drive around a curve and suddenly everything looks completely different, as seen in the top photo of this post.

There’s a reason why this area of Utah is called red rock country.

Our first night in Utah, we camped at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. It’s a relatively small but scenic state park located along Scenic Byway 12. There’s a lake near the campground, but it’s decidedly swim-at-your-own-risk, and not for the usual reasons. When we arrived at the park, the ranger handed us a detailed info sheet about something that sounded appalling — an aquatic parasite that causes something called swimmer’s itch. It turns out that this parasite is in Escalante’s Wide Hollow reservoir as well as in some of the other lakes in Utah state parks during the summer. No, thank you — we’ll just hike, we said. And hike we did.

Balanced Rock at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park

Pine at Escalante Petrified Forest SP

Petrified wood at Escalante

The park is named for colorful petrified wood logs and thousands of petrified wood bits located within the hiking area.

But we were just as enthralled with the many skinks and other lizards we saw as we walked along the trails. In fact, we got a little competitive about it, seeing who could find the most lizards, some worth two points if they were less common than others. Snakes were worth 15 points, but alas we didn’t find any.

Robber fly

Interesting wildlife like robber flies had their own category.

From Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, we headed west along Scenic Byway 12 to Bryce Canyon National Park. Our first taste of Bryce began with Mossy Cave, a short hike at an area within Bryce Canyon National Park but well before you arrive at the visitor center and park entrance.

View at Mossy Cave trail, Bryce Canyon, UT

Here one can already see the hoodoos for which Bryce is known, and which I’ll explain about shortly, and a scenic waterfall, stream, and small cave add additional beauty.

View from above the waterfall at Mossy Cave, Bryce Canyon, UT

Golden-mantled ground squirrel getting a quick drink

Bryce Canyon National Park really has to be seen in person to be believed. It’s unlike any place I’ve ever traveled. It’s not a true canyon, where a flowing river shapes the landscape. Instead, ice and rainwater have eroded away limestone and other rock to form vast amphitheaters of tall heavy-topped spires called hoodoos.

There are many different scenic viewpoints accessible via a driving tour or by hiking along the rim, and other trails take you down below the rim.

A hoodoo, a tall limestone-topped spire formed by erosion

An arch at Bryce Canyon, though its name is Natural Bridge

I fell in love with Bryce. How could one not?

A Golden-mantled ground squirrel on one of the points of Bryce Canyon, UT

We saw birds and many a squirrel at Bryce. Surprisingly, we didn’t see a single lizard, compared to the dozens we’d counted at Escalante Petrified Forest just a few miles away.

This young squirrel came looking for food, but when we didn’t offer anything, it moved away quickly.

At Sunset Point, we took a trail down below the rim, one called Navajo Loop.

Navajo Loop, Bryce Canyon

Look into the depths, and you’ll get an idea of the downward trek.

View from the bottom of the rim at Bryce Canyon’s Sunset Point

It was worth it.

A tree grows tall in a sunlit nook of the Navajo Loop at Bryce.

Trees appear in sunlit spots within the narrow canyon, and before you know it…

it opens out to a much bigger and colorful scene, where the trail continues.

Pronghorns

As we were leaving, we saw this pronghorn family slowly crossing the road, a park ranger protecting them from moving cars. The young fawns nursed the whole way.

From beautiful Bryce, we headed toward Zion, camping overnight before starting the next day’s adventure.