2009
Trip to Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park
Years ago, I had enjoyed a vacation to the Four Corners states,
especially enjoying Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Other
tourists had told me that I should visit Bryce and Zion, and I always
hoped to return. I finally decided that this would be the
year.
Unfortunately, my friends were busy with work or school
and thus I had to go by myself. I hadn't been camping in a while, and
about the only equipment that I still had was a sleeping bag. I also
had an old "closed cell" sleeping pad, which is useful for
providing padding under the sleeping bag, though I had doubts that it
would fit into the duffel bag I planned to use.
I bought a
Eureka
Backcountry 1 Tent. It's a one-man tent, but unlike some one-man
tents, which are sized for a child or small woman, this one has a
generous 3' x 8' of floor space. Many people buy a "footprint"
to put under the tent. The idea is that a camper puts an additional
layer of material under the tent, to protect the floor of it from
being punctured by any sharp stones or pine needles that may be
present. If the footprint is punctured, it's easy to replace.
However, for some reason, Eureka only makes a few sizes of
footprints, and the one they advertise as being appropriate for my
tent is 4'-9" x 6'-8". That makes absolutely no sense for a
tent that is 3' x 8'. The 6'-8" dimension would mean that
there's 1'-4" of the length of the tent that's not protected.
And the 4'-9" dimension means that there's 1'-9" of
footprint sticking out from the sides of the tent, ideal for
collecting water in the event of rain and allowing the tent to then
sit in a puddle of water. A footprint is supposed to be sized for the
exact size of the floor of the tent, or perhaps an inch smaller. I
considered buying a plastic paint tarp and cutting it to fit, but
didn't have enough time to go to a hardware store before my trip.
I
bought a tiny little LED flashlight, a Gerber
Infinity. I bought some camping cutlery from E-Bay. From Lands
End, I ordered a rain jacket and a couple of pairs of very
lightweight pants, made from a cotton/poly blend. They are
lightweight to carry, to wear, and they dry very quickly.
I
still had an olive cotton bucket hat from long ago, and sometimes I
wear it, but in a heavy rain it will become soaked. So I instead
bought a Teva Goretex boonie hat.
I went to Sports Authority
to try on boots, selecting a pair of Columbia boots. I had previously
worn cotton socks when hiking, but have read that cotton is horrible
because it retains moisture. I decided to mail order some mid-weight
Merino wool socks, Columbia
Falmouth II. A few weeks before my trip to Utah, I went hiking on
a Sunday in New Jersey, and I was very happy with both the socks and
boots. The socks didn't itch, and while some people think that wool
socks are too warm, I didn't have any complaints.
Sunday,
August 30:
As I had suspected, my sleeping pad wouldn't fit in the duffel
bag, so I left it. I took the bus and AirTrain to JFK, where I
checked in my duffel bag. I was nervous that Delta would lose it, or
that the zipper would fail because I had stuffed it so full, which
would seriously affect my vacation. After all, it's hard to camp
without any gear. My carry-on only held a few items, such as my lunch
for the flight and electronics: GPS, digital camera, portable video
player, cell phone.
My flight left JFK at 9:30 a.m. and took
over 5 hours, flying into a headwind. However, Utah is on Mountain
Time, so I gained two hours flying there, arriving around 12:40
p.m.
The Salt Lake City Airport is surrounded by mountains,
and the view from the terminal is prettier than most airports can
offer.
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By the time I walked to the baggage claim, my
duffel bag was waiting for me, which was a big relief. I walked to
the Hertz counter. I had reserved a midsized car, and their website
had indicated that a typical car in that class was a Mazda 6.
However, they instead give me a white Toyota Corolla. I wouldn't have
thought of the Corolla as a midsized car, but maybe it's not any
smaller than a Mazda 6.
My first stop in Salt Lake City was to
REI, where I purchased a sleeping pad, a Therm-a-Rest
ProLite 4. You open the nozzle, and it is supposed to
self-inflate, though you can blow more air into it if you wish. Then
close the nozzle and put your sleeping bag on top of it and go to
sleep. To put it away, open the nozzle, fold it and sit on it,
continuing to roll it as you squeeze out the air. I also bought a
Rubbermaid cooler at REI.
I then drove across the street to a
Smith's grocery store, a division of the larger Kroger chain, and
bought food, four gallons of water (and also a 1 liter and 700 ml
bottle) and two bags of ice.
By the time I got out of there,
it was 2:30 p.m. I had estimated the drive to Bryce Canyon would take
about 4 hours, though the GPS estimated it would take 5-1/2 or 6
hours. I wanted to find my campsite and set up my tent before
dark.
I left Salt Lake City, driving south. I stopped at a
WalMart about a half hour away, where I bought a few additional food
items and toiletry samples in tiny containers.
I then resumed
driving southwest on I-15. Signs marked the speed limit at 65 mph,
then 75 mph, and then finally there are at least two "test
areas" which were marked at 80 mph.
I arrived at Bryce
Canyon National Park at 7:15 p.m. and for $80 bought an annual pass
good for all National Parks and Monuments. I found my campsite and
set up my tent, which only took a few minutes. I unrolled my brand
new sleeping pad, which didn't do a great job of self-inflation.
(They supposedly don't when they are brand new, but do a better job
later—we'll see.) So I blew air into it and tried to move the
air around to inflate the edges of the pad. I put that in my tent and
then my sleeping bag.
Here's my campsite. My tent is tiny
compared to the space available.
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I turned on my cell phone and got a signal,
roaming. I called my mother and reported that I arrived in one piece.
I ate dinner, got in my tent, and using my Cowon S9 video player,
watched 20 minutes of Warehouse 13. I then went to sleep. I
had expected temperatures as low as the upper 40s at Bryce Canyon,
which is about 7,900 feet above sea level at the campsites and top of
the canyon. However, it was even colder than that, around 42. My
sleeping bag is supposedly rated down to 30, I believe, but I don't
find it to be adequate for that. Also, the design of my tent is such
that I don't think it's great for keeping in heat. So I had to add a
couple of layers of clothing, and even then I found it a bit
cold.
Coming up next: "The
best three-mile hike in the world."