Anne on Wall Street, Bryce

Our first hike down into Bryce Canyon and then back up again was on the Navajo Loop Trail. It is the most popular hiking trail in the park. It begins and ends with switchbacks, but in-between, you walk among the hoodoos. The most famous section of the trail is known as Wall Street, where the rock walls close in and you are left in your own little world.  

Anne and I bicycled today. Just a turn around Forest Park. Her rear derailleur may need some additional adjustments, since there was a little bit of rattling going on with the chain. It was a beautiful day, with pleasant temperatures in the seventies and low humidity for a change. Consequently, the park was mobbed. There was a huge backup on the highway of cars trying to get into the park, but the bike path wasn’t too bad.

Horseshoe Bend, Page AZ

There is more than one Horseshoe Bend. There is more than one of them on the Colorado. Jane tried to get us to visit Horseshoe Bend State Park in Utah, but time did not permit. This one is just a few miles downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam. It was hot that day. Not the blistering heat that the southwest has experienced since, but still plenty hot. It is about a half-mile hike from the parking lot to this view and there was almost no shade. An elderly woman had collapsed along the trail and was receiving medical attention, while we were there. Still it is a gorgeously beautiful sight and I’m glad we went there. OBTW, that white speck in the middle of the river, in the lower left-hand corner of the photo is the wash from a speedboat. It is a long way down, but gives scale. 

I finished up the Zen of bicycle maintenance today, getting Anne’s bike all ship-shape for the summer, but before that I took my bike for a little test ride in the park. It felt good to be back on the bike and to also be riding in Forest Park. It has been way too long since the last time. The road work in the southwest corner of the park looks like it is almost complete, sprucing up a neglected corner of the park. The only other new thing that I noticed in my absence was the work underway to remove the Confederate memorial. Work has been suspended pending a court ruling, but fencing had been erected around the memorial, at some distance. I guess to keep protesters back, but I didn’t see anyone. The court case revolves around the question of ownership of the memorial. The city thought that it owned it, but the Civil War museum at Jefferson Barracks claims that they own it. Jefferson Barracks was a Union Civil War camp, but is now a national cemetery. I say, let the lawyers fight it out and leave the soldiers alone.