Moving on - North into UTAH; Photos from GCNP

Today we bid farewell to Grand Canyon National Park. The drive from GCNP to Hurricane, UT was spectacular - ever-changing landscapes from rocky, craggy cliffs, bluffs and buttes, to high-desert planes, to mountainous forest. Even though Hurricane is not far from GCNP for an airplane, driving there is another matter. There is only one way to get north of the canyon and that is to drive around it. This was about a 5 hour trek. We left early in the morning (7:00 AM) because the weather forecast was for high winds starting at around 10 AM. For an RV'er, this is not a good thing. So we worked hard to get as much of this trip done before the winds started. We encountered some pretty gusty blasts and with a high-profile vehicle (13 ft), we feel like something is pushing us off the road. Not fun!!

Speaking of the weather ... the forecast for Monday morning in GCNP is for 25 degrees. 

But we arrived safely in this nice little town called Hurricane in southern Utah around 1:00 PM (we lost an hour as we changed from Mountain Standard Time in Arizona to Mountain Daylight Time in Utah). It is about 13 miles from Zion National Park. Tomorrow we pick up our rental car and head to Zion for the day.

Our accommodations for the next five nights are provided by the Willow Wind RV park. This park is in town, within walking distance of groceries, restaurants, etc. It looks nearly new and has lots of shade, concrete pads and paved roads. The restrooms are very clean and private.

Now that I have access to WiFi, I'm ready to post some photos of the Grand Canyon. This set is from the first 3 days taken from the Rim Trail and several of the overlooks. It's really obvious why they call this "Grand". Even though some of the views are hazy (due to air quality), you can't help but marvel at the tremendous forces that formed this canyon over the past 4 billion years.

This young elk cow was a regular visitor to the campground. She has two friends who joined her on occasion. Yesterday afternoon, as we were bathing G (Em's service dog), she apparently needed a long drink so wandered into our campsite and started lapping up the water streaming from our hose.  Another camper walked right up to her to poor water into a bowl (not a safe move by the way) which the elk instantly drained - about 5 times.