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Red Cliffs/Silver Reef/Zion NP

Posted by on July 15, 2014

I started the day early.  The Ford dealership in St. George, Utah opened their service department at 7am and I was there just after opening.  They called me several hours later and the brake issue is under warranty but the part won’t arrive until tomorrow.  I went to the local Enterprise Rent-A-Car and picked up a two day rental- Only car in stock was a Ford Mustang convertible!

Having fun with the top down :)

Having fun with the top down :)

Watch out Utah State Troopers- here we come!  After getting back to the camper, we lazed around for a while before heading back into St. George to the Dicks Sporting Goods.  We picked up a few needed items and then headed North on I-15 to the Red Cliffs Recreation area- it was nearby but was not much to see. The views were not impressive and we decided against doing any of the open trails in the rapidly increasing SW Utah temperature.  We then moved a little further up I-15 to Silver Reef, Utah.  Silver Reef’s claim to fame was it was currently Utah’s most accessible ghost town and was the only silver mine where actual silver was found inside of sandstone in the late 1860’s.  We drove up expecting other folks to be lined up.  No such luck since the sparsely done town( not sure why I expected a lot of stuff to be in a ghost town) was closed on Tuesdays.  We did a quick drive through and then headed north again to the Kolob Canyons area of Zion National Park.  The Kolob area is much less traveled than the main Zion Canyon and is over two hours away from the rest of the park by car

Silliness!!

Silliness!!

It has a 5 mile paved road that we enjoyed travelling up and enjoying some of the canyon views.  We headed south on I-15 and found an In-N-Out burger restaurant.  Lindsay had always raved about them but the rest of us had never eaten at one.  It lived up to its billing.  Fresh cut fries and delicious burgers at a great price.  We headed back to the RV mid-afternoon and played in the pool and the game room for several hours.  Lindsay and the kids were worn out but I was looking to get some hiking in with the cooler late evening hours.  I made the 1 hour trip to Zion NP and arrived at the visitor center around 6:30.  The shuttle to the top takes a painfully long 40 minutes each way but by 7:15 I was on the Riverside Trail hiking along the Virgin River.  The trail is a short 2 mile roundtrip easy trail with little elevation change and a paved walkway.  The views however are stunning.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and wished I had brought the rest of the family.  After returning back down to the start of the trail at the Temple of Sinawava, I caught the 40 minute shuttle back to the visitor center.  I had just enough time before it got dark to race the Mustang with top down up the mountain on the beautiful Zion-Mt.Carmel highway and then down again enjoying the beautiful views.  I made it back to Hurricane around 10pm and Lindsay and the kids were just finishing up a movie.  Another great day here in SW Utah.

The beautiful Kolob Canyons in Zion NP.

The beautiful Kolob Canyons in Zion NP.

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