Alsguth Travel Blog

 Hi, we are finished with the Grand Canyon.  Here are the highlights: We arrived on Wednesday to Thunderbird Lodge in Grand Canyon Village.  It was quite a challenge to find parking anywhere close enough to lug the Yeti and all our other stuff to the room.  If all the folks from California would go home it would have been easy!  They are all here to escape the smoke/fire situation so you really cannot blame them! We watched the sunset and had a nice meal in El Tovar Lodge.  The clouds really make this pretty... By the time we were done with dinner (and because AZ does not do Daylight Savings) the stars were out so that was an added treat! Happily we found the path and did not fall into the canyon on the way back to the lodge... helpful sign - On Thursday we went for a helicopter ride over the Canyon!  It was super, super cool!  We even got to sit in the front seat! At the check-in there were "feet" on the floor - we just assumed it was more Covid ...

 Hi - Monday was a special day (10/5) - it was Carsten's birthday AND we hiked The Narrows.  We have been looking forward to this for a while.  I (Sheri) was nervous that we would somehow not be able to manage the logistics of doing this hike.  Happily, it all worked out fine! If you get a chance to come to Zion NP and feel up for a wet hike, I highly recommend this hike.  We used Zion Guru to arrange our shuttle and rent neoprene socks, boots and hiking sticks.  There were people on the hike without hiking sticks but I would have been face-down in the water several times if not for them... so, I would recommend them and the boots to keep your feet a little warmer and safer from toe-stubs. Basically, the hike starts at the Temple of Sinawava, the last stop on the Zion shuttle (and the end of the road in the Park).The first mile is a nice paved sidewalk along the Virgin River.  Once you reach the end of the trail you step into the river.  From ther...

 Hello from Zion NP! We are all settled into Crackleberry Roost (that is the name of the place we are staying).  The people are super nice - and we get fresh free-range eggs! Anyway, Zion is right up the road, so that is where we are hanging out. Zion is very crowded, they are limiting the number of people in the shuttle system (which you must use to get into the "meat" of the park).  You have to get online at 9AM the morning before and pray that you are fast enough to get what you need.  I get the feeling that there are actually NOT as many people here as usual but it seems very crowded compared to the other parks we have visited. We had tickets for a 2:00 shuttle on Saturday (yesterday) and were able to get up to the Zion Lodge stop (#5) to do a hike. Since we had a free morning we decided to get massages.  It was nice to get the muscles worked over after all the hiking and driving we have been doing.  It was a treat! The hike we did yesterday was a combo...

 Hello! We left Capitol Reef on Wednesday and moved to Panguitch, UT - near Bryce Canyon NP.  On the way we traveled on UT12, a scenic highway.  This road was amazing, the scenery was varied, the road was super cool - if you ever get a chance to travel this way - enjoy the views - but watch out for the cows! This road takes you through Dixie National Forest and Escalante - Grand Staircase National Monument.  We chose to do a hike called "Zebra Canyon".  The reviews on All Trails were pretty good - we did decide ahead that we were not going to go for a swim to get to the end of the canyon.  We figured we would see what it was like and get some pictures. It was a long hot hike to get to the slot canyon.  Along the way there were some cool rock formations: Dried mud in the "wash".  It was super crunchy to walk on....  Kind of a warning of what can happen to you if you run out of water. This is the zebra slot canyon.  The colors are pretty b...