Day Eight: Bryce Canon National Park

We arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park this morning, after a nearly 3 hour drive from Torrey...which was a bit slower than we had anticipated, but it was pretty...and we saw some great fall colors in the Dixie National Forest, just outside of Torrey. Boy, was it cold this morning...after nearly 90 yesterday, we had about 50 degrees this morning...that's quite a change from what we'd been out in the day before. It was too early to check into our room for the next two days, so we started exploring the park. This is much different than the previous ones, but just as beautiful. Today we just drove to some of the overlooks, walked a short distance at a few, but no hikes today. We are saving that for tomorrow, when we'll walk down into the canyon so we can see the rocks (hoodoos) from a different perspective.

This afternoon we were able to check into our room...which is FABULOUS...it's the Best Western Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel...and boy, is it nice...we feel like royalty, compared to our first place in Moab...and the same price...just crazy!!! After getting checked in, we joined our neighbors from Puyallup and some friend of theirs for an early dinner!! We knew they were going to be driving through Utah this week, but didn't know if our schedules would meet up at the same place, same time...and surprisingly, they were in Bryce today, so we enjoyed visiting with them and hearing what they had seen so far...what a nice extra along our travels through Utah!!

So, here are some photos from our first day of Bryce...we did shoot sunset this evening, but it wasn't as spectacular as we has hoped, but it was still nice. We have all day here tomorrow, so we'll see what else we can see and do, beside our hike...it was a bit cooler here, although this has been a hot week...and Zion (our next step) looks to be warmer, and then the storms will return next week...boy, did we timed it all perfectly...we arrived on the day of a storm and will leave on the day of a (possible) storm...with warm and dry in between!

 Fall colors as we drove through Dixie National Forest...loved it!

Same tree, daylight, sunset...can you tell that Terri has a thing for trees!!

 Neighbors...friends, Nick and Glenda, with their friends they are traveling with...great to catch up with them!

Another beautiful sun...at sunset, due to the smoke from the surrounding fires.

 What would we do without a tripod...how else could we get photos of us...to prove we really have been to these places!



Days Six and Seven: Capitol Reef National Park

Yesterday (Monday) morning we left Moab and headed for Torrey, which was about 2 hours away. We really enjoyed Arches, Canyonland and Dead Horse, but were more than ready to leave our motel there...UGH...it was just awful (but thankfully, no signs of bed bugs!!)! Of course, we weren't sure what was ahead of us...as we were booked in another Days Inn in Torrey and were crossing our fingers that it was not anything like the first one...and thankfully, we were fortunate to find a clean, well managed motel that didn't smell and was MUCH nicer and more modern than the one in Moab...phew!!!

In driving to Torrey, we drove through Capitol Reef NP to get there...so got an idea of what was there before we ventured off to explore. We arrived at the motel early, but our room was ready, so we were able to check in and unload the car before heading out. Our first explorations were pull-outs on the side of the highway (Hwy 24) with some amazing views of the rocks and formations. The afternoon sun was lighting it all very nicely, so it was perfect to photograph at that time. Our only complaint was a couple in a (rented) RV who stopped at EVERY stop we did...and of course, they didn't speak any English...it got to be a joke...and I said we should pull off, get out of the car and as soon as they stopped, get back in and leave...but I'm sure they would have found us...thankfully, by the late afternoon, we lost them...that's probably because we could head down some of the smaller roads than they could in their RV.

We stopped at the visitors center and picked up a trail map and asked for suggestions for some easy to moderate trails and then headed out. We walked a short and longer trail yesterday and enjoyed exploring through the canyons and seeing these cliffs that were STRAIGHT up...it's amazing to see the different layers of rock and wonder what happened to have the different types from layer to layer. We also saw some petroglyphs and a pioneer register which was where pioneers who who traveled through there carved or wrote on the wall...their name and year they came through...pretty amazing to see dates like 1888!! We shot some at sunset, but it wasn't what we had hoped for ...not a lot of color and just a couple wispy clouds...nothing spectacular!

This morning we headed out for a hike up to a natural bridge, Hickman Bridge, which was really neat...and fun to hike up to, around and through...it's truly amazing to image these are all natural formations...and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to see such beautiful creations of nature! We explored some of the area around and saw some more petroglyphs as well as picked some apples in an orchard at the base of a cliff...all under perfectly clear skies...and about 90 degrees!!! We took the afternoon off and rested up a bit (and Terri worked on photos!!)...and then went out for dinner and had an AMAZING meal - the food, service and presentation was spectacular! We didn't bring our cameras (other than the point and shoot) as we figured it would be like every other sunset...and can you see where we are going with this...as we left and started back to the motel...the sky to the west was amazing...and the sun was red...incredible...we turned around and I shot what I could with the little camera...couldn't miss the colors...and it just figures we'd get the colors like this when we didn't have our other cameras....oh well, we still enjoyed it!

Tomorrow we are headed to Bryce and will have about a day and a half...probably not enough to explore it all, but we will do what we can...and at some point we'll share some photos from there! For now...here are some pictures from Capitol Reef and some from this evening...hope you enjoy!

The Castle (rock formations) in Capitol Reef NP

 

Pioneer Register along Capitol Gorge Trail

 

Yeah...we made it to down the Capitol Gorge Trail....now to walk back to the car...we're half way there!

Sunset from Goosenecks Viewing, Capitol Reef NP

Hickman (natural) Bridge

Petroglyphs

Historic Fruita School

Our entrees...yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm................................

Sunset...the best we've seen and of course, big cameras were in the motel...oh well!

Good news...we have checked the reviews for our next motel...and they are great...phew, no need to wait and worry what is ahead for the next couple of nights...so we can sleep soundly and not worry about where we will be sleeping the next couple of nights!



Day Five: Canyonlands and Dead Horse State Park

Okay, as promised, we are updating from yesterday's photos since it was later last night and we figured that sleep might be a bit more important than updating...especially since we could do it today. Presently, we are driving from Moab to Torrey...and will spend about a day and a half seeing Capitol Reef...another national park that isn't quite as popular as Arches...we'll let you know what we think of it...and of course, share photos from there as well.

Yesterday...well, we don't want to brag or anything, but we accomplished quite a feat...for us at least! We decided to go on a hike that was labeled as moderate by the park, in Canyonlands NP and it was called Neck Spring Trail. This took us down into a canyon and was really quite nice and pleasant, with a few signs of ranching along the way...nothing to tough to start out, some gradual downhill, a few up and then back down and we traveled around the bottom of the canyon...though were disappointed we didn't see any "springs" - guess it was a bit too hot and dry for that this time of year.  Well, as we walked around the bottom, with really no bearings as to which was we'd come from when looking up...we knew that at some point we had to climb up...and then it came...steep slickrock going up and up and up...yikes, the climb up was not at all gradual, like the descend down had been...and it was HOT, HOT, HOT at that point. Finally, we were up top and looking back down into the canyon, but now had to walk completely around the top of it, to return to where we started...it was about a 6 mile hike and took just about 4 hours...phew, we were pooped by the time we finished, but quite pleased we made it...of course, had we known what it was really like, not sure we would have done it, but it felt great to have accomplished that...something (for us!) that was longer and more challenging than we'd ever done before. I think we burned enough calories for the day to not feel guilty about whatever we ate during the day!! LOL

After that and lunch...oh and LOTS of water (don't worry, we kept hydrated during the hike)...we headed to Dead Horse State Park for a sunset view of the Colorado River that is 2000 feet below and offers a fabulous view of the canyons and beyond. Although the sunset wasn't anything to write home about...it was still pretty amazing to see and of course, a few (okay, more than a few!) photos were taken. We enjoyed talking with a man from Georgia while waiting for the sun to set...he's a photographer (and software and web developer) who travels around photographing the landscapes of the country...and he was really interesting to listen to and was very knowledgeable...it was much better than ALL the foreign languages we had been hearing. Seriously, we ARE a minority down here...with probably 80% or MORE of the people being from other countries...and most of them NOT friendly...what is it...on vacation, shouldn't you be enjoying yourself and at least say hello (they are in the US and you'd think at least understand the basic greetings?!?).  Anyway...it was 8:30 when we got back from sunset and unloaded, washed up (we were quite gritty after our day out) and headed for a quick dinner...it was another great day...different from the others, but still great! So...here are a few of the MANY photos we took...hope you enjoy!

All the cactus we have seen has been small, like these, nothing like we saw in Sedona a year ago.

 At the top of the canyone...as we hiked around it.

Looking into the canyon as we started out...little did we know how much work this would be!!

 Some remanents of the cattle ranching that was done many years ago in the canyon.

 View from the canyon looking up during our hike.

  2000 feet down, it was REALLY high and scary...don't worry, we were very careful climbing up there! 

 We saw a TON of geckos the past few days...and man, do these little creatures move FAST!!

Sunset from Dead Horse State Park

Update tomorrow....

It's late (for us...) and we will update tomorrow with more photos...it's a travel day for us (to Capitol Reef)...so stay tuned for some photos from today (Canyonlands NP and Dead Horse State Park)...and to hear what we saw...we promise!!!

A sneak peek from Dead Horse State Park.....

Day Four: Canyonlands National Park

Another day in the sunshine and beauty of our country...it is just amazing, every turn there is something new and wonderous to see...it's just breathtaking! Today we headed to Canyonlands NP, which was about 40 minutes outside of Moab. It's the largest national park in Utah, but is easier to see and wasn't quite as crowded as Arches was...and I'd imagine today it would have been even busier...being a Saturday and a "free" entrance to NP's today.

Canyonlands is different than Arches, although we did see a beautiful arch this morning, there are not near the number of arches here that are in Arches NP...there were lots of canyons and this is where the Green River runs into the Colorado River, so below the viewpoints are amazing views of these spectacular canyons. We hiked a few more trails today and enjoyed them all, although we did turn around on one, which was pretty steep on slickrock, climbing a grainary we got just below the last level to reach the top and we just couldn't do it...too steep, too scary and too dangerous, at least for us. The crazy thing is that we met an older couple on our way up and they were talking about the great view up there...we couldn't believe they did it and we couldn't...oh well, we decided we have WAY too much left to see and LOTS more life to live and it wasn't work a risk, so we turned around and went back down...but felt pretty good about getting that far...oh well, we had plenty of other things to see and do today.

Here are some more photos from today...tomorrow we'll probably go back and do another hike in Canyonlands and then be sure to be around Dead Horse State Park shortly before sunset as that is suppose to offer some wonderful photo opportunities at sunset. We hope you are all having a great weekend...we sure are!!