Day 5 – Hurricane to Jacob Lake, AZ

We woke early, grabbed a bite of breakfast, packed the van and headed back to Zion (23 miles). The clear morning light would be very different from the cloudy afternoon light of yesterday. It took us a while to cover the distance because we stopped to take pictures along the way. We got to the park at 8:30. There weren’t that many people yet. We have read that this is a very busy park. Our plan was to go to a different park of the park than yesterday. The route up Zion canyon is closed to cars during the summer and shuttle buses run every 5-10 minutes, so you can go and get off at any stop, explore and hop back on a later shuttle. When we got to the parking lot we saw a bus sitting there and were told that it was a special ranger interpreted tour that lasted 2 hours. There was room so we signed up. It left at 9:00 and was well worth the time.




Zion is magnificent. It is different from the Grand Canyon in that you view it from below while the Grand Canyon is seen from the rim (unless you hike down into it, of course.)

We got some more great pictures. I learned several things here. One is that the California Condors released in the Grand Canyon are finding there way to Zion in the summer time. They have over 50 Condors there. We saw 2 high soaring by the cliff face at the top of the tour. They were far away and we couldn’t get a very good photo, but it was exciting for me to see one.

We left Zion and went on a side road to see a ghost town called Grafton. We had to travel down an unpaved road to get there. This is really a small settlement that has been partially restored by the local community. It was active in the late 1800s to 1920s.

After returning to the main road, we headed to Jacob Lake, but took a road that led us to Pipe Spring National Monument. Since I am volunteering at a National Monument, I wanted to see one in action. I am glad that we did. Pipe Springs is a rare item, a spring of fresh water bubbling out of the earth in a high desert. They have been able to determine that early Native Americans lived there at least 1000 years ago. The Mormons built a settlement there in the 1870s. This is literally miles from no where. But because of the spring, gardens can be planted and livestock raised and dairy cows milked. I was impressed with the way that people lived there in the late 1800s. It was hard work but they enjoyed a good life. A wood burning stove was hauled in to the house in 1891 and was considered a marvel. It had 6 burners, an oven, to make baked goods and a warming box. They enjoyed great home cooking. There was a telegraph wire to St. George, so messages could be sent to the world if needed. Over a hundred years ago.

We traveled on and reached Jacob Lake Inn at 3:00, check in time. We have a little cabin in the woods. A real cute setting. We are here for 2 nights. We got settled in and explored the area. It is at nearly 8000 feet, so was very pleasant. After exploring the area, we had dinner at the only place to eat, the Inn’s restaurant. I had fresh trout. Yum. Bonnie had chopped steak that was very good. After dinner we went for a hike to find Jacob Lake. Never did find it, but the sun was going down, so we had to hurry back on a graded road so that we didn’t get left in the woods after dark. Got some exercise out of it anyway.

Back at the cabin we discovered that the outlets were not grounded, so, not having an adapter, I could not charge the laptop. And no cel service either. Guess we will just have to enjoy the beautiful surroundings technology free.


188 miles today.
PS. I am uploading this while sitting in my van in front of the Grand Canyon General Store.
PPS I will post lots more pictures on facebook when we return.