Bryce Canyon Here We Come

It is probably a 60 -90 minute drive from Zion to Bryce depending on how fast you drive. There is plenty to look at along the road, but it is basically a two-lane open road through the high desert.

By 9am its hot. Mid-June and you know that mid-afternoon will be Africa-Hot! If/when I return, I will spend more time at Bryce than I did this time. We basically spent a long day here. It was going to be a full moon there and the Park Service offers full moon tours on these nights. There is plenty of light to hike by on a full moon night. And, there is too much to see and do in a single day regardless of how long you are at the park. Don't be one of the 90%-ers that ride the park bus to the end of the canyon road, look around, and then leave. You need to take a hike into the canyon. Our hike started out as pretty popular with the crowd, but it was not long before the herd thinned itself out - too hot, too steep, too (fill in the blank) for the arm-chair americans.

American Southwest Adventure

On our last night in Zion National Park, our group split. Some went horseback riding near our cabin. That ended with some curious buffalo approaching the group and causing them to take a rather wide berth of the 2000lb animals. If you have ever been up close to one of these animals, it is not one you want to mess with. Huge and full of bad attitude.

I went to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah. It is about 30 minutes east of the park. It is an island of desert sand of a coral color. The only downside was that it is used heavily by ATV and motorbike users. I would have liked to spend more time here, but a couple hours was all I had. Spare me the negative feedback on the ATVs and their rights to the park.........

Zion National Park

On the way out of the park, we stopped for the short hike to overlook the canyon from the east side. The trail head is just outside the tunnels and there is very limited parking. It is an easy hike and worth it for the view. We did this just before sunset and the weather was not too hot.

Checkerboard Mesa in one of these photos and some other erosion features like hoodoos are near this east exit as well. While the Checkerboard Mesa is a well known landmark, it is probably a bit overblown - take a picture and move on.

We did the hike around dinner time. As you look around in the hills, there is no one around - all gone for the day. Your "cave man" instincts kick in and you have the sense of being watched. Followed by the knowledge that if a mountain lion were to be in the area, this is where it would choose to live. Puts this simple hike in a whole different light - it put a bounce in our step and we did not hang around too long at the overlook, but were glad we went.

Zion National Park

We actually were able to avoid the "are we there yet", "my feet hurt", etc cries of the kids. They were mesmerized by the opportunity to climb on rocks and the 2000 ft cliffs on either side of the canyon. We saw a fair amount of wildlife like turkeys, deer, etc. One deer and her new fawn played in the woods in this picture. Just enough to keep the kids occupied. This fawn had obviously just finished its Mountain Dew for the day - it looked like it was running from a cheetah. I was able to get the picture after panning with it several times as I took the picture. Even the squirrels were not running away which usually indicated people have been feeding them - bad people.....

Zion National Park

At the top is what has become my obligatory wade in local waters. This water is cold, but refreshing. We were early to rise and anxious to get to the park. After the delay at breakfast at the resort we stayed at, we headed west to the park. Unless things have changed considerably, pass on the meals at the resort.

We took a hike from the Zion Lodge (http://www.zionlodge.com/) in Zion NP into the narrows. It was early enough that we weren't too concerned with the heat and the crowds were at a minimum. Private vehicles are not allowed in the park with a small exception to pass through (between the south and east entrances). The park provides buses to shuttle you to various points in the park to begin your hike or rock climb.

There are a lot of hikes in the canyon. We did a short hike to the Weeping Wall which is at the beginning of the hike to Angels Landing - This hike looks awesome if you have no fear. Simple google searches and sites like Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/) provide great guidance and insight into this hike.

We did not go all the way in to the narrows with small kids and a hint of afternoon rain. Even a little rain in the desert southwest can turn these canyons into flash floods.

Zion National Park

Day 1: We arrived in Vegas around lunchtime, grabbed our bags, rented our car and got the hell out of dodge. The sooner we escaped the blue-hair club, the better. We were headed to Utah and stop #1: Zion National Park. We had rented a large cabin east of Zion National Park with an adjacent buffalo ranch - something to wake up to, I suppose. We were guaranteed to see buffalo - little did we know this meant almost spitting distance from the front porch. Besides the parks (state and national), there is little to do in the area.

We rented the large cabin which slept 11 at the Zion Mountain Resort (http://www.zionmountainresort.com/) just east of Zion National Park. They offer horseback riding in the area as a diversion to the hikes in the park and surrounding areas. The cabins were set on the edge of a large open field and offered incredible sunsets facing west over the park.

Grand Circle Tour

There is one spot in the United States where four states touch each other - ONLY ONE. That point where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico touch, is a remote desolate piece of ground (actually on Navajo reservation land.) Among other parts of the region, we were headed for that place.

June 2005: Upon summer break, we caught a flight to Sin City - our launch point to explore the Beehive State and surrounding areas. We would take a trip often called the Grand Circle tour starting in Vegas, on to Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Arches National Park, The Four Corners region, and Grand Canyon National Park.

Our trip would hit these areas and more: We added Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Goblin State Park, Mesa Verde National Park, the Hoover Dam, and Lake Meade National Rec Area.

Perhaps no landmark is more well known in this area than Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. It would be a tough hike in hot summer heat, but well worth the effort. Like several other trips we have taken, there are people that rarely get out in the real outdoors, they choose a famous landmark that requires extra effort to reach, and then head off as if they are walking to aisle 5 - the candy aisle - at their local grocery store.

But, there is more before we get there.....