The time has come at last for a walk in Zion National Park. This is an iconic hike, like Half Dome at Yosemite. On hikes like this I begin with images already in my head, which makes the experience quite different from most hikes. The imagery matches my mental image, which almost makes it harder…

We weren’t very interested in this park, but my dad camped here to wait for us, so we agree to a couple of nights. The drive through sparse neighborhoods and expanses of sagebrush before the rocks and dunes come into view. These look cooler than I expected – the sand is a really bright orange.…

Ann convinces me to go with her to the Lake Havasu City beach, where boats can dock and alcohol consumption is allowed. I’m still in my desert canyon hiking clothes, and couldn’t be more out of place. Nearly everyone around is overweight, and it is ALL hangin’ out on display. We see a crowd of…

Ann finds information about a slot canyon hike near Lake Havasu City, which includes warnings about small dropoffs and tight squeezes. We start down the wash and it gradually narrows to a hallway-like passage. The biggest dropoff is pretty easy to climb down, and has a fixed cable hanging nearby for extra reassurance. Likewise it…

We land at Ann’s friend Lana’s house in Lake Havasu City, plunking the camper down next to the garage. Her daughter Jana takes us across the town’s famous London Bridge (a bridge relocated from London to its much sunnier home) to a paved loop walk on the island in Lake Havasu. Jana shows us the…

We pick our campsite for the evening with the help of freecampsites.net, and find a large tract of BLM land sparsely dotted with boondockers like ourselves. It takes a little exploring to find a spot we like with a good phone signal, but then we’re quickly settled. After dinner we go out for an evening…

We’re still developing a sense of when to turn around when exploring dirt roads to possible camping and climbing areas. Today we’re headed toward Courthouse Rock when the road goes to dirt, then gets bumpy, then narrows, then gets sandy. Turning around in these areas with camper and trailer is not easy, so we when…

We were thinking this would be a kind of remote, lonely little hike, but we failed to consider several things. We see the first as we approach: this peak looks really dramatic, with cliffs on three sides, some overhanging. Second, it’s right by Interstate 10. And last, Picacho State Park is scheduled to be closed…