The weekend before last, Kel and I busted out of the city and headed for Zion. My main goals were to hike Angels Landing and find a tarantula. I’m happy to report that I kicked Angels Landing in the teeth. After that, all living things within a 20 mile radius hid from me in fear.. which explains why I never spotted a tarantula. I guess it’s all for the best. I don’t think Squirrel has any interest in sharing her pad with a hairy eight-legged friend.
Angel’s Landing is amazing. The first half of the hike is a nice, wide, groomed trail which snakes back and forth up the mountain, making the incline bearable . The second half of the hike is less polite. Small steps are sometimes cut into the slick orange rock which ascends straight up the mountain. Without the the aid of chain ropes, which are linked to metal poles and driven into the rock, the hike would be impossible. The trek is slick, challenging and completely worth every step.
Here are some pics from the hike UP UP UP!
Halfway up!
Still halfway up...
View from the top
And another...
Kel doing "hell yeah"
Trying to get my pic on a Wheaties box
After the hike we turned into little slugs and hung out at the pool. We rested our old tired bones in the hot tub and hoped that we’d never have to go back to our normal lives… that maybe we could stay in Zion and raise ostriches and sell their eggs for a living. But alas, nobody does that! So we managed to drag ourselves out of the water and next door for some delicious vittles!
The next day I found that in the land of Zion, anything is possible… even making a living off of mean-spirited birds and their eggs.
Finally, it was time to hunt ghosts. Pioneer ghosts are quite shy. We did our best, but to no avail. No ghost sightings. They were probably hiding with the tarantulas. I can’t say that I blame them.
First we visited the deserted town of Grafton, which housed a community off and on from 1859 through the 1930′s. Originally the town was nestled up close to the Virgin River but in 1862 it was washed away by a flood. The town was rebuilt further from the river, but by 1866 the town was almost completely abandoned because of Indian attacks. A few families returned in 1868, but the town never quite returned to its original size. The gravestones in the small cemetery tell a sad story of infant mortality and disputes with the natives. The movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, was partially shot here.
Grafton Schoolhouse
Robert M Berry - Killed by Indians
The second place that we didn’t find ghosts was in the town of Silver Reef. The town was established in 1874 when a prospector named John Kemple setup the Harrisburg Mining District. Silver Reef became a bustling little town, with almost 2,000 residents and a main street which stretched out for a mile. The town became abandoned around 1884 after silver prices dropped and water flooded the mines. A few modern neighborhoods have wrapped themselves around the old ruins.
Old Wells Fargo bank
I'm always watching
A little desert critter climbing an old Silver Reef mine
Spooooky graveyard
