We left LaVerkin one more time, early enough in the morning to avoid the Zion Park traffic. We were headed for Kanab, a small town near the southern Utah border with Arizona where we would stay before driving to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Here’s a map:
The route takes you past the Zion canyon that we had explored and then up on to a higher part of the landscape. The morning light threw soft highlights on to the rugged landscape.
Since we were essentially travelling east, the light on the stone faces of Zion canyon was striking; and we decided that was a good tourist photo opportunity.
Jane Glass and Mark Spitzer
This east side of the park is served by Zion-Mount Carmel Highway (SR-9), which passes through the Zion–Mount Carmel Tunnel and ends at Mount Carmel. On the east side of the park, notable park features include Checkerboard Mesa and The East Temple. The tunnel has some unusual features.
SR-9 Tunnel Entrance
For one thing, it’s narrow and therefore one way at a time with traffic controls at each end to allow the directions to alternate. For another, it has windows, here seen from the outside.
And here from the inside (I borrowed this photo – we couldn’t stop in the tunnel)
Zion Tunnel Window
About a mile later we popped out into a higher, dryer landscape, without the constrained forms that we saw the day before, but with its own beautiful shapes. This part of the park is also a ‘drive-by’ experience for most travellers; so it was relatively easy to pull off the road and do some modest exploring (and birding).
Jane checks for birds
The various landscape forms were more varied and we could get closer to them here, as, judging by the footprints, others had also decided.
Upwelling plus erosion equals sculpture
We also found lots of evidence that nighttime can be a busy time in the desert. Here are four sets of footprints (and one boot print) of varying size and spacing. (I’m sure the boot print was a daytime contribution.)
Upwelling with “cairn-type” structures
As is evidenced by these pictures, things do grow in this climate; but we were struck by the fact that so much of it was evergreen, admittedly at a small scale.
A few delicate flowers also got their chance.
But there’s no question that the big impressions were created by the big cone forms.
With a ‘free’ day now in our schedule we decided to drive over to St George, Utah to see the Red Hills Desert Garden. This was in the opposite direction from our hotel in LaVerkin than Zion was, as shown below.
Partial Map of Southern Utah near Zion National Park
In addition, since the various tributaries of the Virgin and Muddy rivers come together in St George, we speculated that there might be some interesting river features there. As you can see on the map, a great deal of this landscape is dramatically exposed rock of many vibrant colors, including one protrusion right behind the garden (below).
Red Rock Landscape
( One element that we found striking was the casual and direct way in which infrastructure has been installed here. It’s both a problem and an opportunity. On the one hand the land is very open, so installing a line of poles is a pretty direct process. But on the other hand, the land is very open, so no matter where you install them they’re an eyesore.)
On the other hand, at least in this instance, the city has been receptive to the idea that people like to get out and experience the landscape that surrounds them. Next to the gardens we were visiting were two parks: Red Cliffs Desert Reserve and Pioneer Park. The Reserve is a 62,000 acre outdoor playground with miles of hiking and cycling trails. It was created for the protection of the Mojave Desert Tortoise and other plants and animals. Pioneer Park on the other hand is a”rock-scrambler’s paradise”, a 52 acre home to hiking trails, slot canyons, picnic areas, etc as well as some of the best views of the city. Two people were enjoying that view while we were in the garden.
Cell phone photo-op
The Red Hills Desert Garden presents a miniature display of the region’s features – both plants and rock formations – for enjoyment and research.
Entry SignEntry area with shelter and office and support facilities
Simple stone structures with metal roofs frame your experience and periodically give you a chance to get out of the hot sun.
The plan forms a series of rooms and paths, interwoven with a small stream.
The stream adds a refreshing quality and clearly references the rivers in St George; but it does seem ironic to find it and the gardens at the top of a spare rock hill, as opposed to down in the valley, somewhere near the actual rivers.
Stream entrance to the garden
As noted in the brochure, “More than 5,000 water-efficient plants are featured in the garden, showcasing the beauty, texture and color of desert landscapes.” To serve one of its other purposes, “Plant identification tags and information on designing, installing and maintaining a beautiful and water-smart landscape are found throughout the garden.” For those who want more information about this, see redhillsdesertgraden.com
We took a casual approach to exploring the garden, so this will be a casual description.
It’s quite evident that if you’re in the process of designing the landscaping for your home and want a better understanding of the local, native plant materials, that the garden has been organized to give you a hand. For instance, let’s say you’re wanting some spikey plants to enliven an area of your yard. The garden gives you a range of those choices.
Yucca and Agave
The garden also presents a variety of sizes and shapes as part of its catalog, ranging from ground-level cactus to medium size trees, like this ‘Desert Museum’, or
the ‘White Bunny Ears’ cactus in the foreground.
They made good use of the small stream that flows back and forth through the garden by showing it in a variety of ways with the plantings and rocks, such as in this ‘stream’ –
Stream and Plantings
or, in a more contemplative pond fashion, framed by a variety of plants.
They didn’t hesitate to build some structures into the garden as well. This has the advantage of providing periodic shade spots on hot days (and it was hot when we were there) but also to show a variety of approaches to accomplishing that. Here’s a simple one.
Here’s a more elaborate approach – might be a bit of overkill in your yard.
The openings in the back wall house desert creatures. We didn’t see much because they’re pretty sedentary during the heat of the day.
Occasionally a small bridge carried us over a (dry) stream bed that might be wet during the winter and down a stair through a miniature “slot canyon” to another display area. This type of design shows ways that people could add elements to their own gardens that mirror the forms found in the larger landscape.
While the slot canyon above is clearly a pedestrian stairway, other, more ‘natural’ formations were included as well.
One other aspect that didn’t get overlooked, and is appreciated by many, is the inclusion of flowers and other decorative plants, such as this gold lantana.
I took one shot looking over the garden towards the larger valley below.
View of the valley
And then, towards the end of our wandering we took in a wider view of the valley from the south side of the garden. Our attention was drawn to it, unfortunately, by a passing truck on the adjacent arterial – a pretty noisy element to mix into a contemplative garden atmosphere.
I found a better place to stand and shot a panorama, looking south into St George.
(I edited most of the infrastructure wires out of the photo.)
Then we drove around town just to see what it was like. Maybe we didn’t try hard enough; but we never did find any special parks or other features celebrating the joining of the rivers.
Our final view, on the way out of town was more prosaic.
St George Shopping Mall
We stopped at Starbucks for coffee and discovered the more normal auto-oriented panorama of life in St George.
In early summer 2021 we decided that Covid 19 conditions had improved enough that we could safely do some exploring. We had wanted to see some of the nation’s southwest National Parks and reasoned that if we did that by automobile and stayed in responsible chain hotels, we would be out doors most of the time and at low risk. Of course, since we live in Seattle, that gave us a considerable distance to cover; so we made a plan to see other things along the way as well.
National Parks Road Trip – Overall View
This overall map shows the states we travelled through with overnight stays indicated by the large white circles. The parks themselves, all on the lower part of the map, are shown in green. To make each part of the trip easier to follow, I’ve made smaller maps of each segment to accompany each leg of the trip. The first was from Seattle to Boise, Idaho, as shown on the map below.
Seattle, Washington to Boise, Idaho
Jane’s daughter lives in Boise, so we have made the trip there and back a number of times, usually stopping someplace along the way to break up the trip, this time in Baker City, Oregon. The first leg of the trip runs east from Seattle on I-90 in uneventful driving, up and over the Cascades through Snoqualmie Pass.
Snoqualmie Pass with Reservoir
At Ellensburg, the landscape flattens out into broad agricultural sweeps.
Instead of continuing on the freeway, we turned south onto one of our favorite drives, following the Yakima canyon and river downstream to the City of Yakima.
Umtanum
Here, the road, river, railroad and landscape wind in roughly parallel fashion through the canyon. I don’t know the precise geographical origins, but I have read that the river was here first and the rest of the formations grew up around it during many cycles of upwelling that have taken place along our volcanic mountain environment. If you want to see more of this amazing canyon, click HERE to see a description from another trip.
From Yakima, WA we continued south on the Freeway, past Pendleton, OR and up and over the Blue Mountains towards Baker City.
Approach to the Blue Mountains, heading southeastLooking back at the Blue Mountains, approaching Baker City
On a previous trip we drove through the Blue Mountains, spent some time in Baker City and visited the Oregon Trail Museum there. This time we stayed again at the Geiser Grand Hotel, a smartly renovated 19th century landmark.
Geiser Grand Hotel
Baker City is the commercial center for a large ranching valley between the Wallowa and Elkhorn Mountains and along the Powder River that flows eventually to the Snake. It’s not large but has some substantial buildings.
Baker Tower
The architecture of downtown tends towards ‘sturdy commercial’ with a lot of brick buildings, many of which have seen better days but are being fixed up for the next round.
Baker City downtown
Although we didn’t stop there on this trip, we previously visited the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, a few miles out of town on a site through which the ruts of the original wagon trains still run.
Oregon Trail Interpretive Center Wagon Train Camp SimulationThe Museum loosely models farm structuresOregon Trail Wagon Train Simulation
The museum does a pretty good job of helping you feel that you’re part of the situation by making many displays life size and setting them into rugged landscapes that frame your viewing experience.
The subsequent trip from Baker City to Boise runs in places along the Snake River. We found that getting off the freeway and on to back roads near the river was quiet, refreshing, and provided an opportunity for Jane to do a bit of birding.
Snake River
Boise is the state capitol of Idaho, so it has a presence that it might not otherwise.
Idaho State Capitol
The city has been urbanizing rapidly the last few years and it shows each time we visit. Some of it includes restoration work of historic structures.
Other additions are definitely more contemporary – and a bit anonymous.
Jane’s daughter lives in a near north end neighborhood within walking distance of downtown but with about the right amount of separation from the hustle and bustle as well.
Alternatively, Boise has a special connection with the surrounding landscape, in that parts of it have been preserved as parkland that comes right up against the growing city.
It should be said, though, that each time we visit, there are more houses being built in the rolling hills between downtown and the mountains.
On this latest trip we took a drive out to a relatively new Lucky Peak Lake State Park, built along a reservoir a few miles east of the city.
Lucky Peak Lake / Reservoir
Even though this is a state facility, its size and dramatic surrounding landscape felt like an introduction to our upcoming tour of the national parks in Utah and Arizona – though this would be the last time on the trip when we saw this much water all in one place.
Travel Design Impressions 