Watchman Campground, Zion National Park
Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. ~ Proverbs 23:22
Very cool!
Today is Blaine’s birthday, so he got to choose whatever he wanted to do. Since it’s his birthday, I can’t really tell you what I thought of how he spent the first half of his day, because that would require me telling you about the long difficult bike ride, flies, gnats, excessive heat that was so hot, the wax was melting out of my ears, deep sand trail that was uphill both ways, sand in my boots, and near total exhaustion by the time we were done.
But I can’t tell you about those things, because I don’t want to share anything negative on his birthday. 😊
We left home for the Sand Bench Trail this morning. Unfortunately, the trailhead is off the Scenic Road, and by the time we arrived at the Scenic Road this morning at 7:40am, the road was already closed. That meant we either stay home all day and putter, or we return home, drag out the bikes and wheel our way there.
Since the trip is only a couple of miles, and half of it’s on the Pa’rus paved trail, plus the road is closed so we wouldn’t have to worry about traffic, we biked.
and the start of the Scenic Drive.
Should be fun!
There was a stiff headwind breeze the entire way, and I just couldn’t figure out how the wind could make pedaling so difficult for me. Of course, Birthday Boy didn’t seem to be having nearly as much trouble. Eventually we made it to our destination, the Court of Patriarchs. Whew!!
Unfortunately, there was no trail sign there. But there was a short trail across the street from where we dismounted our bikes, so we went to check that out. There was a family sitting there resting from their long walk. They didn’t get in before the road was closed. They still had a long way to go, plus their long walk back to their car. ☹
The view of the Patriarchs was wonderful here!
Early moring light is pretty, but it changes the look of the rock. : )
And since the information board mentioned a rockslide, here’s some information I accidently ran across about slides in this Park:
Rockfalls are very common in Zion.
A few of the more famous rockfalls and slides.4800 years ago, referred to as the Sentinal Slide, a slide occurred forming a lake at least 350 feet deep and perhaps three miles in length.
A rock fall occurred at Red Arch Mountain (above the present-day Grotto Picnic Area) around 1880, causing the enlargement of the arch and covering a spring.
60,000 tons of rock that fell in 1958 over one of the windows of the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel.5,000 tons of rock at the end of the Narrows Trail on August 1, 1968.
A large slide from Bridge Mountain occurred in December 1990, across from the Human History Museum.
The 1995 landslide: At approximately 2:00 am, April 12, 1995, a naturally occurring landslide blocked the Virgin River in Zion Canyon about 1/2 mile north of the main park road. The slide, over 500 ft long, consisted of over 100,000 cubic yards of rock and soil that slid down the steep, west embankment of the Virgin River, completely damming it. As a result, a lake began forming behind the slide. Following the path of least resistance, the river carved a new course through the roadbed, washing away 200 yards of the upper canyon road. About 430 people were trapped at Zion Lodge, upstream from the landslide, until an emergency detour road was carved from the east wall of the canyon adjacent to the new course of the river. This took 22-hours to complete.
No visitor has ever been killed by a rock fall in the history of Zion National Park.
After we were done oohing and ahhing, we got back on our bikes and rode further up the road (towards The Narrows), to the place where the Park’s horse corral is. There was a bridge there, but it was closed.
Blaine spent a few minutes trying to figure out where we were supposed to go, but when he wasn’t successful, I walked over to the guys working the horses and asked. I also asked how much trail rides were – – $45/hour, or $90 for three hours. And I was told we could find the trail back at the Court of Patriarchs. (By the way . . . the Patriarchs are Biblical. There are three mountain peaks kinda close together and many years ago, someone named them Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.)
We ended up traveling that section of the road between the Patriarchs shuttle stop and the horse corral four times.
At one point, we sat down on the shuttle stop bench and ate a banana and trail mix, while we tried to figure out what to do.
to see if he could get cell service.
Now – – to find that road . . .
There was a “Do not enter, authorized vehicles only” sign at a small road by the Patriarchs shuttle stop, and after looking everywhere else, we chose to ride up the road to see what might be there. Low and behold, guess what we found at the end of the road??? You betcha! The Sand Bench Trail sign! Now seriously! How is anyone supposed to find that?
We spent an hour fiddlin’ around trying to get started on that trail.
Who would ever think there’s a trailhead back here?!?
Especially without any signs!
He looks happier. : )
We parked our bikes and took off for our 4.5-mile hike. We had no idea it would be so difficult! But the views were spectacular! And we did stop a few times just to take it in!
It turns out, this trail we’re on today is the same one the horses take.
We would’ve been disappointed if we’d spent our money here.
But . . . we wouldn’t have been so tired at the end. : )
That’s the road we were biking on,
we were just further up to the right.
No wonder we’re puffin’ with every step! : )
I was really starting to struggle between the sand and sun.
Just follow the organic trail markers. : )
So here’s my suggestion for the Sand Bench Trail in Zion National Park. Don’t. Pay the $45/$90 and let the horse walk it for you. 😊
I was so tired, I stopped being concerned about how I was going to bike home.
Until it was time to bike home.
Joy of joys!!!
It was all downhill!! Literally! The entire way! We didn’t even have to pedal, just used the brakes and rang our bells a few times (to get people out of the way)! What an unexpected blessing! And it also explains why the ride there was so difficult! 😊
In celebration of the happy occasion (Blaine’s birthday, not the hike), I served up, at his request, the following for dinner: Seafood Pasta, salad, homemade garlic bread, and for dessert (which we’ve already tasted the past two nights) White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cheesecake. Recipes below.
Happy Birthday to youuuuuu!!
SEAFOOD PASTA (This tastes almost identical to Bistro’s seafood pasta!)
3 T. vegetable oil
1 C. onion, diced
2 cloves, PLUS 1 clove garlic, minced – DIVIDED
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
3 ½ T. fresh parsley, minced
2 ¼ t. dried oregano
1 ¼ t. dried basil
1 whole bay leaf
1 ½ t. salt
1 # linguine
6 T. butter, melted
1 ½ t. lemon juice
12 sea scallops
12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 filet firm fish (like salmon, grouper, etc.)
¼ C. Parmesan cheese, grated
To make marinara sauce, in a large sauce pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions. Cook, stirring often, until the onions start to become soft and translucent. (about 5 minutes) Add 2 cloves garlic and cook, stirring constantly for 2 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley, oregano, basil, bay leaf and salt. Bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
Cook the linguine until al dente (about 8-10 minutes). Drain well. Rinse and set aside.
Make the garlic-lemon butter by mixing together the butter, 1 clove garlic and lemon juice. Pour the butter mix into a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Be sure not to burn the garlic. When the butter starts sizzling, add the seafood. Cook, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes.
Remove seafood, along with 2-3 T. additional butter sauce and mix into marinara. Serve over linguine and sprinkle with cheese.
Serves 4
HINT: As noted above, this dish tastes almost exactly like The Bistro’s (in Green, Ohio) seafood pasta!
Also, you can make the marinara and butter mix (not the seafood) a day ahead if you’re a bit pressed for time.
GARLIC BUTTER
1 C. soft butter
2 T. minced garlic
¼ C. parmesan cheese (grated or shredded)
1 t. Italian seasoning
½ t. pepper, scant amount
¼ t. paprika
Mix together thoroughly and spread on bread. Bake or broil until lightly browned.
HINT: We prefer the French bread WalMart sells for $1. And since there’s just two of us, I only use about 3T. of butter and cut back on the rest of the ingredients.
White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake (Cheesecake Factory Clone)
2 C. crushed Oreo crumbs (make by scraping out the filling and crushing about 30 cookies)
1/3 C. butter, melted
½ C. seedless raspberry preserves
¼ C. water
4 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese
1 ¼ C. sugar
½ C. sour cream
2 t. vanilla
5 eggs
4 oz. white chocolate, chopped into chunks
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Create a water bath by placing a large pan filled with about 1/2” water into the oven while it preheats.
Combine the raspberry preserves with ¼ C. water in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 ½ minutes on high. Stir until smooth. Set aside.
Place foil around the bottom and up the sides of a 9” springform pan that has been lined on the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Mix crumbs and butter. Press onto bottom and 2” up the sides of the pan. Put in the freezer until the filling is done.
Mix together the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and vanilla on low speed of an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl and then add to the cream cheese mixture. Blend just enough to incorporate the eggs.
Remove crust from the freezer and sprinkle the white chocolate onto the bottom of the crust. Pour half the cream cheese filling onto the crust. Drizzle the preserves over the entire surface of the filling. Use a butter knife to swirl the raspberry into the cream cheese. Pour the other half of the filling into the crust.
Carefully place the cheesecake into the water bath in the oven. Bake for 12 minutes at 475 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 50-60 minutes or until the top of the cake turns light brown or tan color.
Remove the cake from the oven to cool. When the cake is cool, use the foil from the bottom to cover the cake and refrigerate overnight.
HINT: Cheesecake is best when served the next day. Also, I’ve had trouble on several occasions with this cheesecake getting done in the middle; I think because of the jelly. Cover loosely with foil if it’s getting brown and still not quite done.
Oh! And by the way, today also marks three years of retirement for us. Some say you get bored when you retire, but that’s certainly not the case with us. And 945 posts and 1,257 pages in Word can attest to that. 😊