Bryce Canyon National Park and home

 

Saturday we got up and drove to Bryce Canyon National Park. Neither of us had ever seen Bryce.

We started at the visitor center, where we learned about how hoodoos are formed; You have to have cracks, a layer resistant to erosion, and freeze thaw action. Bryce has the largest concentration of hoodos in the world. This is the 100 year anniversary of Bryce becoming a national monument; it became a National park soon thereafter. Sandi shopped for Christmas gifts, as usual. We took the ranger's advice, and started with the Bristlecone Pine loop; they have a few Bristlecone pines, looking more dead than alive. After that, we tried to visit the historic lodge, but it had closed for the season. We drove to Sunset point, and then walked a mile to Sunrise point. It is really hard to believe that it is real. Perhaps the best response was to sit on a bench at the rim, watching the appearance change with the sun.

We returned to camp, where Sandi cooked another good dinner. We met a family who were taking a year off for a grand tour of the US parks. The boys were 8 and 10 years old. The ten year old was all about showing the survival gear in his cargo pants.

Sunday we drove to the Moss Cave trail, which gave us a look at the hoodoos from the bottom. The trail was rather more difficult than the easy rating that it had. We then drove to Panguich for mass. We had lunch at the flying goat cafe. Mass was at the mission church, with a Polish priest. Red Canyon is impressively red. We came back to camp to get ready to leave. We felt that we had seen everything, and the remaining trails were more difficult than Sandi cared to walk.

Monday we decided to go north on US highway 89, after considering the alternatives, which included going back via Capitol Reef! It was a pretty drive through a rural area, and a part of Utah that we had never seen. We stopped for gas in Richfield, and drove east on I-70. That section of I-70 is fairly spectacular, with many scenic overlooks. At one of the scenic overlooks, we talked to a couple of Navajo ladies selling jewelry; Sandi bought a couple of earrings. We continued to Green River UT, where we had lunch at Ray's, a traditional place to have lunch after paddling or rafting Deso-Gray canyons. Sure enough, there were kayaks on trucks outside. We stopped in Grand Junction for gas and propane, and headed to Island Acres to set up camp in the state park. The park has a quiet feel, although there is some highway noise, and the trains go by.

Tuesday we got on the road early for us, around 8:15 am. We continued east on I-70, helped by a tailwind, and went over Vail Pass and the Eisenhower Tunnel. We bought gas at Costco in Arvada, and had lunch at Wendys on Federal Avenue in Denver. We got home around 3PM. For some reason I had trouble getting the camper positioned to my satisfaction, but it got done. The cats ran into the house.

A good trip, including Bryce Canyon NP, which neither of us had ever seen.