Utah Rocks - April 21-24

Capitol Reef National Park was an unexpected bonus as we had not originally included this park in our plans. Here is Mark out on some rocks (yes, he is really there - click on the photo and you can see him but it gives you a sense of perspective) as we take our last look at Capitol Reef and head out to Bryce Canyon National Park.




Its not all about the destination, its also about the journey and nothing says it better than the "knot in your gut" drive on Highway 12 over what is known as "The Hogback." Aptly named because it is just a narrow two lane road with little or no shoulder with steep ridges to a deep canyon on both sides and some parts of the road drop 14%. To car drivers that is not bad but when you are driving a 43 foot RV with the weight of the car pushing behind you it is a bit of an adrenalin rush! The photos can never do it justice but to give you some idea here is a photo of the curves and a photo of the proximity of the edge of the road.





Taking it nice and slow on Scenic Byway 12, and it is scenic, we made it to Bryce Canyon. Here is the "we were there" photo of Mark and I at one of the many scenic overlooks off of the 18 mile road that takes you through the park. As you stop at each of the overlooks you are greeted by a new and unique view.




But the real "knock your socks off" beauty of this most amazing and unusual National Park is the view of the incomparable Bryce Canyon Ampitheater where you can see the vast array of Hoodoos. A hoodoo is a beautiful spire that is created by erosional sculpting of rock fins into these tall stone pillars. It is, as our RV friend Sherry called it, like you are visiting another planet!



We were so impressed by the overlooks we thought we had hit the high point of our visit to Bryce. But, we were totally blown away by the spectacular hike down the Navajo loop trail and back up Queens Garden Trail. The Navajo loop trail descends to the bottom of the canyon via 29 short, tight switchbacks. You can see the switchbacks that we had already descended in the photo of me about midway down.



Once we got to the bottom we were astounded to find a tall douglas fir reaching for the sunlight near the top of the cliffs. And, here is a photo of Mark after we descended through the narrow passage of Wall Street as we began to enter the totally unexpected diverse forest on the canyon floor.





Now for the hard part of the hike, ascending back up to the rim. On the way back up to the top we took the Queens Garden loop which has plenty of steep switchbacks and numerous arches and tunnels.




We hiked lots of trails at Bryce and Mark took a day long hike on the Fairyland Trail which was over 8 miles long. However, we encountered another surprise when we hiked Water Canyon trail and came upon an unlikely waterfall.




How can we not include a photo of Natural Arch. The endless panoramas, the clean thin air and the sounds of the wind rushing among the hoodoos and rustling through the pines made Bryce Canyon one of the outstanding highlights of our Seeing America journey.



Next stop Zion National Park