Bryce Canyon National Park

We'd been to Bryce in the early 90s with our daughters. It was the summer-time, and I remember thinking "wouldn't this be interesting to see with some snow on it?" Be careful what you wish for. This time we got to Bryce in between storms, and my 25 year-old wish was granted. There also was snow and ice on the trails and pathways out to the overlooks. Bryce is mostly about 7,500-8,100 feet in elevation. Another storm was on the way, and we wanted to get to the north rim of the Grand Canyon before that next storm closed the road for the season. So, we spent but a few hours in Bryce. Fortunately, it is one of the nation's smallest national parks, and its main road--everything of interest is east of the road--is less than 20 miles long. But what a glorious 20 miles!

An arch, and not a small one, too

We arrived a bit past lunch-time, and I was concerned about
light for the pix; but there was plenty, and the objects of interest
were east and down and far away

Panorama

Regarding the geology here, refer to the color-coded depiction
of the Grand Staircase (vermillion, chocolate, white, gray, and
pink sandstone cliffs...) at the end of the preceding post; the
amphitheaters, fins, spires, arches, hoodoos, etc., of Bryce are
all from the top-most pink cliffs of the Grand Staircase; 8,000
feet up there

Us, there

"Nevermore!"

A forest of spires

Pretty incredible place

Grand Staircase/Escalante/Route 12

Southern Utah has five of the nation's great national parks, not a few national monuments, and, of course, the north rim of the Grand Canyon, just over the border. And scores of state and other parks, too. Our current travels have been a reconnaissance in force, and apart from the Arches NP area, we have been breezing through, seeing what seemed of interest or obligatory and taking lots of notes for a future extended visit. Cold weather has been chasing and inhibiting us. The Bigfoot is good down to sub-zero temperatures, we know, but it's just not all that much fun hiking in 30 degree temperatures, with occasional snow and ice on the ground. Among the notes taken, in any case, is the impressiveness of the Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument. A few of its 1.9 million acres (!) can be seen from Utah's route 12 "All-American Road" and from US 89. On some maps it will be just a blank spot between Canyonlands NP and Bryce Canyon NP. If you enter this blank spot, be sure to have the National Monument's map and brochure as well as the Route Guide to Scenic Byway 12. The scenery rivals what you can see in the national parks and there seem to be camping and recreational opportunities around every bend. We discovered all this at the end of the trail and not the beginning, and so our visit was a bit less disciplined than it might have been. Nonetheless, we were struck by the scenery, among other things, and took a few pix.... Oh yes, to be designated an "All-American Road," a federal designation, a road has to be "a destination unto itself," in addition to meeting a variety of other requirements.

Capitol Reef National Park

"Waterpocket Fold National Park" obviously wasn't going anywhere, according to the focus groups, and so, I surmise, the National Park Service had to come up with something a bit sexier, more enticing, even for visitors to Utah. (Try ordering a double of any adult drink in Utah...). So, yeah, maybe a beach theme: "Capitol Reef." Yeah, sun and fun. Maybe a luau and tiki huts and surf boards and dancing girls. Let's get back together and do it again. Except during thunderstorms and flash floods....

Despite the misnomer thing, it's a pretty neat place, showcasing and protecting the Waterpocket Fold, a 90 mile geologic monocline that is its own micro environment, with a human history and pre-history to match. The monocline is an up-thrust staircase of hundreds of millions of years old sediments, now an eroded wonderland of peaks, domes, cliffs, towers, spires, and arches. We spent only a day there, driving on to beat an incoming winter storm. But we'll be back.

En route to Capitol Reef NP

See, Waterpocket Fold; I wasn't making it up

Approaching Fruita, the 19th century Mormon settlement, known
for its extensive orchards; but on the wall above, more rock art

Thus

And thus

After doing the visitor center and film, we drove the scenic
road, veered off onto a scenic unpaved road, and then finally,
on foot, onto the scenic Capitol Gorge Trail...

More rock art

Thus

A real slot canyon

Definitely not summer; nor a beach

More pictographs

And now we are climbing up a little side canyon to see some
of the "tanks," waterpockets that are characteristic of the area,
and which provide for much of the micro environment

Thus

And thus

Walking

And then driving back out

Wait a second! Was that there when we drove in?!

Neat place; we'll be back...with our surf boards