2022 - West - June 4 - UT - The Nautilus & Pariah Townsite

Today was a short hike known to an ultra short slot canyon, "The Nautilus".  It was named for the submarine in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.  The Nautilus, a white sandstone formation, is shaped like a corkscrew or a seashell.

In researching this further, the general consensus is this little slot canyon was mainly carved by wind, not water as are most other slots.

• Here is the entrance.

Once you enter it turns left for several feet before turning to the right as you climb up the sandstone.

Overall the feeling is similar to a corkscrew shaped waterslide.

Next is the climb.

Here is the view from the top.

Vaughan says when you walk down the Nautilus from the top, it feeling like you are going down a sink drain.

 Another view from the top.

Click on the link below to see a short video of Vaughan walking down the Nautilus as he tries to make his own video with cell phone in hand.  Try not to laugh.

The Nautilus - Walking down - YouTube

After leaving The Nautilus, we drove out to the Pariah Townsite.

Beautiful!

The drought has turned the Pariah River into a small creek.

2022 - West - June 3 - Utah - Zion

Today we drove from Kanab to St George (80 miles), the nearest Harbor Freight, to pickup a new portable air compressor.  We use this to re-inflate our Jeep tires after airing down for sandy roads.  Since we had already driven such a long way we decided to drive the extra hour south through the Virgin River Gorge to Mesquite, Nevada to the casinos. 

The gorge is beautiful - full of twists through canyons and is one of the most expensive parts of interstate highway ever constructed. It crosses the Virgin River several times.  

After donating a little time and money at the casinos in Mesquite, we decided to return back to Kanab using a different route, one taking us through one of our favorite places - Zion National Park.  

Upon returning home, Vaughan surprised me and unassisted, make dinner for us.  Pork chops with a custom rub (cooked in the air fryer), mashed potatoes & peas.  I don't recall him ever doing anything like this in all the years we've been together.

2022 - West - June 1 - UT - Coyote Buttes South

 Yesterday, we applied via lottery for a permit to visit Coyote Buttes South. Only 10 people get chosen and luckily our number was called. 

This is not the same as "The Wave".   The Wave is located in Coyote Buttes North (less than 2 miles away).  We also applied for that lottery but weren't successful.  

Coyote Buttes South is a huge area, several miles long in fact.  We were there back in 2013 and really wanted more time to explore the area. The drive there was long, bumpy and, again, very sandy. The drought here has been very hard on the roads and vegetation, but desert flowers were in abundance.

Although we only hiked about 3.5 miles in total, the first and last 1/2 miles were through hilly deep sand.  It was exhausting, but was worth it.  The landscape is amazing. Every corner you turn is a different rock formation.

And now for the obligatory flower with bee picture -