TRAVELS with  the SOUTHWEST DUDE
  • Welcome to the West
  • Blog and Trip Reviews
  • Travel Archives
  • Contact Me
  • Music & Literature
  • Defense of the West

Blog and Trip Reviews

Southwestern Utah

5/21/2017

12 Comments

 
Picture
About a year and a half ago I was extolling my Utah love to my daughter in law Meredith.  She looked pensive and said, "Will you take me there?".  Well, of course!  I figured it was just one of those things people say.  Along the lines of "someday".   After all, my daughter in law had just given birth to twins 6 months before.  I figured she was going to be too busy to go on an extended trip for, oh say, at least 5 years. 

I was wrong (again).  She was determined to go.  Cool.  I still was unclear if my son would join us and what of the twin grandchildren?  As it turns out...the more the merrier.  The 2 year olds were comin'! In fact, there was even a last minute addition, Meredith's brother Matt who would accompany me on my drive while the grandkids and their parents would be in another car.  

I had asked Meredith if she wanted southeastern (Arches & Canyonlands, Four Corners) or southwestern Utah (Zion, Bryce).  She wasn't sure and although Zion has become a zoo I figured it was a closer drive and it is, after all, a must see.  Then I figured we'd go to Bryce and a favorite of mine - Kodachrome Basin. 

Zion National Park, while being world class in scenery, continues to get worse and worse as a destination.  My first trip there, in the early '80's was sublime.  Uncrowded, easily driveable, and scenically stunning it became a favorite and I've been there a dozen times over the years.  Sad to say this will probably be my last visit - perhaps in this lifetime.  I may return in winter sometime but the crowds and the associated Ranger Rules are not my cup of tea.   

While acknowledging that my back "going out" before leaving on the trip probably colored my point of view, I could spend paragraphs explaining my frustration and sadness with Zion National Park but I'll leave it like this - it ain't what it used to be and the West is too big and wonderful to go to a place that is being overrun and is poorly managed by an overwhelmed and unwelcoming National Park Service.   Maybe I'm just getting old and curmudgeonly but I don't think so.  I don't believe, unless you fully experienced these Western Parks before the great tourist invasion, you can understand the disappointment regarding what has happened here.  

By the way, "GET OFF MY DAMN LAWN!".

The weather was wonderful when we got there but changed, as forecast, to a steady and persistent rain on the second day.  It did provide for some good photography opportunities however.  I brought my camera as an afterthought, this was a family vacation, but I'm pleased with some of the photos.   As a reminder you can purchase relatively inexpensive prints at by clicking here.  Blog subscribers receive a discount.  E-mail me at SouthwestDude@SouthwestDude.com for more info. 

Here are some photos of the first day and a half before the big weather change. 
The rain started to fall heavily and all five of us were cooped up in my little trailer - El Correcaminos.  I decided to sleep in the truck for everyone's sanity but was told I needed to move the truck as we were "over the vehicle limit" despite having 50 feet of empty pavement in our campsite.  I really despise this kind of nonsensical bureaucratic foolishness but I moved the truck 1/4 mile away and sulked off to fitfully sleep.  No use raising Hell to an unresponsive, stodgy, overworked and underpaid Park Service.   

​The next day we took the kids on the Riverwalk trail, I tried my best to clear the trailer of the mud and mess from the rain, and made some more photos.  That night we had a wonderful dinner of shrimp and orzo salad.  We ate s'mores which I very rarely do and enjoyed a long conversation around the campfire.  When  the world pisses me off with its stupidity nothing gives me more relief than family.  I loved every minute. It was a good day and we geared up to move to Kodachrome Basin.  Here are some photos of the walk.
After the Riverwalk I stopped at the Courtyard of the Patriarchs. Don't forget you can click on the photos to make them larger. 
That evening I ran out to take some last minute photos before saying goodbye,  perhaps for the last time, to my beloved Zion National Park.  
 We left Zion, the weather was perfect, my back spasms had improved a bit and we drove the short distance to Kodachrome Basin State Park.  Now, this was my kind of camping — a quiet and secluded campsite with hikes and views and friendly, helpful State Park Rangers.  We settled in for a few fine days.  I had intended to take the short drive to Bryce Canyon but that would have necessitated taking two cars and we didn't think the Rim drive would thrill the 2 year olds.  Instead, we went on short hikes and wandered around Kodachrome saving awe-inspiring Bryce for another trip.  

I was really hoping to get in a long hike or drive with my son but it didn't work out.  Hopefully, next time.  He's quite a remarkable young man. I am deeply proud of his sensitivity, love of and devotion to his family, his affection for art and the poor and the indigenous people of our country.  He is a humanitarian. In short, he gets it and I probably don't deserve to have such an incredible person for a son.  We did have an unforgettable few days and I can't wait until the next time.  

​I got a few photos of the family and a favorite is the two year olds, Finley and Joaquin, in full flight, loving being outdoors.   I'm impressed with the emphasis that my son and daughter in law are putting on the little ones, already, to experience and enjoy nature to the fullest. 
Picture
In  discussing this trip with friends the question of how "Kodachrome" came to be the name of the State Park came up frequently.  My tiny bit of knowledge is that in 1949 National Geographic Magazine sponsored an expedition to the area (with funding from Kodak) and hence they donned the name Kodachrome State Park after their iconic film.  It is a beautiful place which features sand (or sedimentary) pipes.  Large sandstone formations that jut straight out of the ground.  I'm told that they are only found in this particular area.  Here are some photos of sand pipes and slickrock and typical southwest vegetation replete with junipers and pinon pines. 
Here is a striking example of a sand pipe.  This is known as "Chimney Rock".
Picture
The following was our campsite view in Kodachrome.  It was glorious. 
Picture
Lastly, I offer a couple of panoramas.  The first from Zion and the second from Kodachrome.  I don't know how many of my friends and subscribers have been to Utah but it is, to me, a sacred place.  I fell in love when I crossed the state line nearly 40 years ago and the state never leaves me.   Through the trials and travails this life provides I know, no matter what, I  have sweet Utah...here in photos, often in my mind, and thankfully just a few hundred miles down the road.
Picture
Picture
Thanks again for coming along.  

​Until next time...be well.
12 Comments

    Subscribe to our mailing list

    * indicates required

    The Point?

    This will mostly be a journal of my travels. I may include other items that interest me. Feel free to join in.

    Categories

    All
    Abilene
    Adobe
    Aguirre Spring CG
    Ajo
    Ajo Mountain Drive
    Akaka Falls
    Alabama
    Alamogordo
    Aldo Leopold
    Alejandro Escovedo
    Alturas
    Amarillo
    Amboy Crater
    Amtrak
    Ancestral Puebloans
    Anne Frank
    Ansel Adams
    Anza Borrego State Park
    Arches NP
    Arizona
    Arkansas River
    Atascadero
    Aunt Lisa
    Autumn
    Awe
    AZ
    Backyard
    Badwater Basin
    Baltimore
    Bandelier National Monument
    Barry Goldwater Range
    Baseball
    Baseball Hall Of Fame
    Bassam Guard Station
    Bates Ranch
    Beartooth Highway
    Beck
    Bent's Old Fort
    Bernie Sanders
    Big Bend NP
    Big Sur
    Bill Dickson
    Birthday Party
    Bisbee
    Black Canyon Of The Gunnison NP
    BLM
    Blues Foundation
    Blues Hall Of Fame
    Bob Dylan
    Bob Dylan Center
    Bog Springs CG
    Bonita Well
    Borax
    Boulder Basin
    Broadway
    Bruce Springsteen
    Buffalo
    Burro Creek CG
    CA
    Cabeza Prieta
    Cacti
    Calexico
    California
    California League
    California Zephyr
    Canyon De Chelly
    Canyonlands NP
    Capitol Reef NP
    Carl Sagan
    Carrizo Plain
    Cascades-mountains
    Casita
    Caspers-wilderness-park
    Cathead
    Cayucos
    Cedar-breaks
    Central-coast
    Central-coast
    Cerro-alto-campground
    Cesar-chavez
    Charles-bowden
    Chicago
    Chicago River
    Chicago Union Station
    Chihuahua-desert
    Chihuly Garden
    China Alley
    Chiriaco Summit
    Chiricahua National Monument
    Chisos Basin CG
    Chisos Mountains
    Chris LaTray
    Christiane Wolf
    Citifield
    City Of New Orleans
    Clark Dry Lake
    Clarksdale
    Clayton Kershaw
    Cleveland
    CO
    Coast Starlight
    Cochise Stronghold
    Colonel Allensworth State Park
    Colorado
    Colorado Desert
    Colorado Plateau
    Columbia Gorge
    Cooperstown
    Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
    Coronavirus
    Corpus Christi
    COVID-19
    Crescent
    Cubs
    Dad
    Dave Alvin
    Death Valley
    Dell
    Delta Blues Museum
    Denver
    Desert Training Center
    Devil's Golf Course
    Devil's Tower
    Dodgers
    Dome Rock
    Dorothea Lange
    Dragoon Mountains
    Drive-By Truckers
    Durango
    Eastern Sierra
    Education
    Edward Abbey
    Eisenhower Library
    Election 2016
    Elfin Forest
    Elton John
    Elvis Costello
    Empire Builder
    Environmentalism
    Eric Flaherty
    Eric Temple
    Everett Ruess
    Fargo
    Fauna
    Favorite Photos
    Finley
    Fishing
    Flathead-lake
    Flora
    Fog
    Four-corners
    Four-corners
    Fremont-peak
    Fullerton
    Furnace-creek
    Gasworks-park
    Gates Bar.B.Q.
    Gaviota
    Gaviota State Beach
    George-patton
    Georgia
    Giant-sequoia-national-monument
    Glacier-np
    Glaucoma
    Goblin-valley-state-park
    Goffs-schoolhouse
    Grammy Museum
    Grand-canyon
    Grandchildren
    Grandkids
    Grand-teton-national-park
    Grants
    Great-basin-national-park
    Guadalupe-mountains-np
    Guitar
    Gunnison-river
    Gunnison-river
    Gurf Morlix
    Half-dome
    Half Moon Bay
    Happy-isles
    Harris-beach
    Hawaii
    Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
    High-sierra
    Highway-1
    Highway-101
    Highway-190
    Highway-395
    Highway-41
    Highway-99
    Highways
    Hilo
    Holbrook
    Hole-in-the-wall-campground
    Holidays
    Home
    Homolovi
    Hovenweep-national-monument
    Hubbard Family
    Idaho
    Illinois
    Immigration
    Inland-empire-66ers
    Insight LA
    Interstate 15
    Interstate 5
    Island Of Hawai'i
    Jack
    Jack Kerouac
    Jack Loeffler
    Jackson Hole
    Jacob Lake
    Jalama Beach
    Jedediah Smith Redwoods
    Joaquin
    Johnny Cash
    John Prine
    John Steinbeck
    Jon Dee Graham
    Jon Kabat-Zinn
    Jordan
    Joseph Wood Krutch
    Joshua Tree NP
    Journal
    Jr.
    Kansas City
    Kansas City Royals
    Kara
    Kartchner Caverns
    Kauffman Stadium
    Kennedy
    Kern National Wildlife Refuge
    Kevin
    Kingman
    Kirk Creek
    Klamath Falls
    Kodachrome State Park
    KS
    Laguna Beach
    La Junta
    Lake Arrowhead
    Lake Elsinore Storm
    Lake Pleasant
    Lake Shore Limited
    Lancaster JetHawks
    La Posada
    La Purisima Mission
    Las Cruces
    Lassen Volcanic National Park
    Las Vegas
    LA Union Station
    La Veta Pass
    Lee Anne
    Lilly
    Limekiln State Park
    Lisa Law
    Little Blair Valley
    Little House Customs
    Little Painted Desert
    Lizard
    Lizard Head Pass
    Liz Kylin
    Lori Carey
    Lorraine Motel
    Los Angeles Dodgers
    Los Osos
    Luis Urrea
    Lupe
    Madera
    Madera Canyon
    Malheur Wildlife Refuge
    Manzanar
    Margo Dodd Park
    Martin Luther King
    Marty
    Mary Austin
    Massachusetts
    Maynard Dixon
    McGee Creek
    Meditation
    Memphis
    Merced River
    Meredith
    Mesa Verde
    Mesquite Springs
    Mexico
    Michael A. Singer
    Michael Gish
    Mindfulness
    Mississippi
    Mississippi Blues Trail
    Mississippi Delta
    Mississippi River
    Missouri River
    Mitchell Caverns
    MO
    Moab
    Modesto Nuts
    Mogollon Rim
    Mojave Desert
    Mojave National Preserve
    Mojave Trails National Monument
    Mom
    Monarch Butterflies
    Montana
    Monterey Bay
    Montrose
    Monument Valley
    Mormons
    Morro Bay
    Moynihan Train Hall
    MS
    Muddy Waters
    Museum Of Flight
    Music
    National Civil Rights Museum
    National Monuments
    National Parks
    National Park Service
    National WWII Museum
    Nature
    Navajo Nation
    Navajo NM
    Negro Leagues Museum
    Neil Young
    Nevada
    New Hampshire
    New Jersey
    New Mexico
    New Orleans
    New York City
    NM
    North Beach Campground
    North Rim
    NPS
    NY Mets
    Oak Creek Canyon
    Ocotillo
    October
    OK
    Old Faithful
    Oliver Lee Memorial State Park
    Olympic National Park
    Omar Bradley
    Oregon
    Oregon Coast
    Organ Mountains
    Organ Pipe NM
    Ortega Highway
    Pacific Ocean
    Padre Island
    Pagosa Springs
    Painted Desert
    Painted Rock Petroglyph
    Palo Alto Battlefield
    Palo Duro Canyon
    Pch
    Peg-leg-smith
    Petrified Forest National Park
    Petroglyphs
    Photography
    Pictograph Trail
    Pier
    Pinnacles NP
    Pismo Beach
    Pixley National Wildlife Refuge
    PJ Finn
    Placentia
    Plaskett Creek
    Point Mugu
    Politics
    Portland
    Poughkeepsie
    Pozo Nuevo
    Prescott
    Pueblo
    Puerto Blanco Road
    Quaking Aspen Campground
    Quitobaquito Springs
    Railroad-tracks
    Rancho-cucamonga-quakes
    Rancho-guadalupe-dunes-preserve
    Rattlesnake
    Ray Wylie Hubbard
    Red-rock-canyon
    Redwoods-np
    Refugio-state-beach
    Reno
    Retirement
    Rim-of-the-world
    Rio-grande
    Rio-grande-del-norte
    Rocky Ford Cemetery
    Rocky Mountains
    Roger Stolle
    Route-66
    Route 66 Museum
    R. Scott Jones
    Running-springs
    Ry-cooder
    SABR
    Sacramento
    Saguaro National Park
    Salida
    Sam-harris
    San Antonio
    San Antonio Riverwalk
    San-bernardino-mountains
    San-clemente
    Sand-county-almanac
    San-jacinto
    San-jose-giants
    San-juan-mountains
    San-onofre
    Santa-barbara
    Santa-fe
    Santa Ynez Mountains
    Santiam-creek
    Scott-hays
    Seattle
    September
    Sequoia-np
    ShackUp Inn
    Shower
    Sierra Nevada
    Silver-jack-reservoir
    Skyscrapers
    Solo-traveling
    Sonoran Desert
    Southern-california
    Southern-sierra
    Southwest Chief
    Spider-rock
    Spirituality
    Spring-training
    Stax Recording Studio
    St. Cloud
    Steinbeck Country
    Steve
    Stockton-ports
    Sunset
    Sunsets
    Superstition Mountains
    Susquehanna River
    Sycamore-canyon
    Taos
    Tarantula
    Terry-tempest-williams
    Texas
    Tex-Mex
    The-band
    The-beatles
    The Central Valley
    The Clash
    The Gourds
    Thornhill Broome Beach
    Ticks
    Tim
    Times Square
    Tit Rock
    Todd Miller
    Tom Seaver
    Tom Thrash
    Top Albums
    Topics
    Top Photos
    Tracy Schultze
    Trail Of 100 Giants
    Trains
    Travel Trailer
    Trudy Goodman
    Tule Creek
    Tulsa
    Tunica
    Twitter
    TX
    Ubehebe Crater
    UFW
    United States Border Patrol
    Upper Pines Campground
    Utah
    Utica
    Valley Of Fire
    Vernal
    Victoria Mine
    Victorville
    Vin Scully
    Virginia
    Virginia City
    Visalia Rawhide
    Wakeeny
    Walnut Canyon National Monument
    Washington
    White Sands
    Wildflowers
    Wildlife
    Willamette River
    William Eastlake
    William Hubbard
    Winslow
    Woody Guthrie
    Woody Guthrie Center
    Wrigley Field
    Wyoming
    Year End Review
    Yellowstone National Park
    Yosemite National Park
    Zabriskie Point
    Zion
    Zion National Park

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    July 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014

    RSS Feed

All content (C) Jeff Hubbard. No re-use without express written permission
  • Welcome to the West
  • Blog and Trip Reviews
  • Travel Archives
  • Contact Me
  • Music & Literature
  • Defense of the West