2020 01-04 Mar: Las Vegas,NV and 05-18 Mar: Hurricane, UT

National Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada - 2 March 2020

Downtown Las Vegas is not where we would have thought to find a Museum for atomic testing. Standing guard outside the Area 51 Theater is a prototype for the Lost in Space robot of "Danger, Will Robinson" fame. 

Desk of Frank H. Rogers, the first chief operating officer of the Nevada atomic testing site.

Map and fly over photo of the Trinity Test Site where the first nuclear device was detonated on 16 July 1945 as part of the Manhattan Project by the U.S. Army. The depressions in the landscape are from explosions conducted underground after above ground testing was banned. 

Dozens of items were produced during the 1950s and early 1960s of atomic bomb related products. Books, graphic novels, pamphlets, postcards and tourist items were made and donated. 

A deceased mountain lion was found near the testing site. American companies provided items such as furnishings, mannequins and other household things to show the impact of a nuclear explosion. 

 Fizeau instrument package called the "Pogo Stick" as it was suspended on a coil spring to absorb the explosive shock. It is measurement device placed in a Fizeau bunker at the testing site and would sit 500 feet above the explosion. 

Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas, Nevada - 3 March 2020

In cooperation between the National Conservancy and the Bureau of Land Management including interpretive programing, fee-station managment, retail operations and encompasses over 195 acres of the Mojave Desert. 

A 13 mile scenic drive allows visitors to explore the highs and lows of the canyon with many scenic stops and trailheads. A Petroglyph Wall is one of more than 26 hiking trails.

Lost Creek - Children's Discovery, an easy, self-guided trail established to introduce visitors of all ages to the many different features of the Mojave Desert, including pictographs, desert life and towering views.

Climbing is also a very popular activity and there are several levels of expertise.

The Mob Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada - 4 March 2020

Staged in a former Post Office building, the Mob Museum is an interactive journey through true stories from its birth to today's headlines. "Made men" to G-men, the museum has been awarded accreditation, the highest national recognition afforded the nation's museums.

An extensive collection of artifacts, objects and digital records to serve as educational resources of historical events. 

Accurate storytelling that portrays the roots and evolution of organized crime and the criminal justice system. The actual wall from the garage where the St. Valentine's Day Massacre occurred. 

Kolob Canyons section of Zion National Park, Utah - 6 March 2020

Northwest of Zion National Park, a 5 mile scenic drive allows visitors to view crimson canyons and gain access to various trails. Box canyons, majestic peaks, panoramic landscapes and 2,000 foot cliff walls. The canyons are designated Wilderness and are protected for their pristine and primitive environment.

 

The Timber Creek Overlook Trail is about 8/10 of a mile along the the rim of the overlook. Views on three sides extend for miles almost to Arizona. Snow still on the tops of the cliffs. 

   

Interesting raised walkway, drains and dries quickly and allows access to the overlook even during winter months. 

Timber Top Mountain

 

There is timber on top of that Mountain. 

Bob will do just about anything to get just the right angle. While I walk to the end of the overlook. 

A Stellar's Jay investigates the picnic area looking for any leftovers while a lizard gets some first of the season sunshine. 

Entering Zion Wilderness on the Taylor Creek trail. Still in the Kolob Canyons, this trail should take us through a valley of lodge pole pine and interesting rock formations along the creek. 

Cold water wash off in Taylor Creek. 

Run-off and snow melt create changes to the trail which means crossing the creek over a dozen times. 

Larson Cabin, a one room lodging of Gustive Larson who had moved to Cedar City, Utah as a new seminary teacher in 1927. Larson and Arthur Fife visited unsurveyed US Government property. Access was by horses only, in 1930 Larson and Fife decided to homestead an area upstream of another homesteader, William Parker. Each homesteaded 160 acres. All logs, wood shingles, even the wood-burning stove was hauled through the woods by horses. Their families joined them sporadically. Larson lost his claim around 1937 after the government established Kolob Canyon as a section of Zion National Park in 1937. 

09 March 2020, Zion National Park, Shuttle to Narrows, UT

First Day at the Main Park. 

Female Downy Woodpecker  and a Red-tailed Hawk. 

Along the Virgin Creek, a thin arch, natural formation on a cliff side, prior rains had raised the creek but the mule deer were still out along the river. 

Entrance to the Narrows hike, the narrowest section in Zion. You can see the Narrows by hiking along the paved Riverside Walk from the Temple of Sinawava. If you want to see more, you will be walking IN the Virgin River. Depending on the height of the river, this can involve wading upstream in ankle deep water or more. Increases due to rain or snow melt can bring the river up to waist deep water but then the Park closes the hike as dangerous. 

We did stroll along the River Walk with several thousand others after taking the Park Shuttle which are free throughout the park and the town on Springdale. 

View out the window from our dining room table. March 9th on the left and after some rain and snow March 11. 

Zion National Park, Wildcat Trail, Utah - 12 March 2020

We were given a hike suggestion while out at Taylor's Creek. Technically outside Zion Park, we were glad to hear about something that has more trees and grassland rather than rocks and dirt. Following the creek through the lodge pole pines, the Wildcat Trail was still snow covered in some areas and soggy in others. Soaring above in the overcast skies is a Golden Eagle. We had a few places which required extra balance or just careful footing. And the first Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) are found predominately in cold, mountainous areas. The butterflies pattern is likened to a girl's dislike of having to be in mourning, defiantly letting a few inches of a bright dress show below her mourning dress.  

On the left are crossbill finches. Top is the yellowish female and bottom is the reddish male. They forage on seeds of pines, hemlock, Douglas-fir and spruce cones. Their specialized bills allows them to break into unopened cones.
Top Right is a white breasted nuthatch in flight and a western bluebird on the branch.
Bottom left is the white breasted nuthatch. 

Rock formation leaving the Wildcat Trail area. Back to the rocks, dirt and scrub.

Zion National Park, Utah - 14 March 2020

Rainy day for hiking in Zion. They are still running the shuttle from Springdale but we are hoping the rain will keep many visitors away to reduce our exposure to Covid-19. 

Hung out at the lodge and had some lunch while waiting for the rain to let up. The Lodge here is not as impressive as Yellowstone or Glacier, but it was a good place to wait for a break in the weather and it did have some good backdrops. 

The sky is clearing. It's time to head out. 

Exited the shuttle at the Court of the Patriarchs. Bob in front of Isaac and Jacob. Upper right is all three of the Patriarchs which are named for biblical figures Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Across from the Patriarchs overlook is a nice double waterfall flowing heavily due to the recent rains. 

There is a footpath across the Zion Park Road. It's a generally sandy trail (today with spots of mud) with a very handy bridge spanning the Virgin River. The Shuttle driver said the river was up 8 feet and still too dangerous to cross on foot. 

Two views of the same peak.

Pipe Spring National Monument, Arizona - 15 March 2020

A joint administration between the National Park Service and the local Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, Pipe Springs has a rich history of American Indians, early explorers and Mormon pioneers. For hundreds of years one precious commodity brought thousands of people to grow crops, graze animals and trade. On this site are three natural springs in a vast desert. Ancestral Puebloans and Kaibab Paiute Indians gathered grass seeds, hunted animals and raised crops for at least 1,000 years. 

In the 1860s Mormon pioneers from St. George brought cattle to the area, and a large ranching operation was established. In 1866 the Apache, Navajo and Pauite joined the Utes for the Black Hawk War. After they raided Pipe Spring, a protective fort was built in 1872 directly over the main spring. The fort was purchased by Brigham Young for the LDS Church. Serving as a way station for people traveling the Arizona Strip, land above the Grand Canyon. The girls also ran a section of the telegraph. 

Water was piped by troughs through the wall into two ponds. The cattle operation was used by the residents for cheese and butter production and tithing to the Church in St. George so they could pay the men working to build the cathedral. 

The fort was also used to hide "plural wives" of polygamists being persued by the US Government during the 1880s and 1890s. 

The bunkhouse for the cowhands and two current residents. 

Pinyon Pine (pine nuts producers) and Juniper berries. The stairs to the overlook where we could see almost to the Grand Canyon. We could also see faint trails from long ago cattle drives. 

Zion National Park, Checkerboard Mesa, East Entrance, Utah - 16 March 2020

Another cloudy day? The weather has been less than ideal for days. 

The Checkerboard Mesa, so-called because of the vertical erosion lines crosshatching the horizontal strata lines. 

The east entrance accesses the Park through this two lane tunnel called the Zion-Mt Carmel Tunnel. A 1.1 mile tunnel construction began in the 1920s and completed in 1930. It was created for direct access to Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon from Zion NP. Due to the softness of the sandstone, reinforcing and concrete ribs have been added for additional support. The tunnel uses galleries to provide light and ventilation through the canyon wall to the outside air. The galleries were also provided a place to dispose of rock generated during construction, which was dumped through the galleries into the canyon.

And afterwards, a slice of Bumbleberry Pie. 

Next on to Cannonville, Bryce Canyon National Park and other local areas, UT