Day 2 Bryce Canyon National Park

 GRAND STAIRCASE ESCALANTE and BRYCE CANYON

The next morning we awoke , excited to start our day and head out to Bryce Canyon. Now I had been to Bryce Canyon as a teenager twenty four(cough cough cough) years ago. At the time I dont think I quite appreciated the beauty and staggering awesomeness of this park.
Bryce Canyon has "HOODOO's".
Now, whats a HOODOO??  Hoodoo, in spiritual, magical terms means spell.
In geological terms it is a tall thin spire of rock, usually made of softer stone, topped by a harder stone.
In Bryce Canyon, both these terms come together.
To put it bluntly, these hoodoos have hoodooed us.  They were magical.
We decided to drive from Torrey down through scenic route 12, through Dixie National Forest, then Grand Staircase Escalante and into Bryce Canyon.  WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!
We started in the Dixie National forest near Torrey.

 lookout point in Dixie.

Hillsides were covered with the famous "Quivering Aspens". I imagine this is spectacular when they change colors in the fall.

We made our way through the forest and into the Grand Staircase Escalante Area. This was spectacular. Driving through the canyons, that you know took blood, sweat and tears of thousands of workers, along with thousands of pounds of dynamite.  This drive took us about 3 hours. We stopped off quite a bit at all the scenic turnouts and viewpoints. The actual mileage isnt a heck of a lot, and the speed limit is reasonable. But to get the full beauty, take your time.

small canyon we were driving through

photo opportunity

Dude, you're choking me.

After a brief Stop in Tropic UT to fuel up, and lemonade up, we finally made it to Bryce.  We took the advice of the Ranger and drove all the way in to the park to the very bottom and started our way back, viewing everything bottom to top.  We took a great hike (Bristlecone Loop) and had a picnic.

There are tons of these little chipmunks everywhere. They look cute, but dont feed them.

As we made our way back, we stopped off at all the various lookout points and stopoffs. It did, however start to storm at the very end, so the last 2 stops on our route were abbreviated.  But Bryce did not disappoint.  It was ...wow.

view from Bristlecone

before the tired grumpy set in

these are the thieving little beggars...

Bristlecone trail loop view

 More Views from Bristlecone...

Photos from other stopoff points:

never thought a crow could look so majestic...

selfie...

Ampitheater

Ampitheater

hoodoos are spellbinding!

driving to the hotel we drove through a rock. pretty cool.

Bryce Canyon was full of surprises. We just loved it.  I wish we  could have had another hour or two with no rain,  I am sure I could have found another 400 photos to take.

Day 1:capitol reef national park.

DAY ONE: Capitol Reef National Park

I have never been to capitol reef. To be honest, I had never really heard of it until I started researching for this trip.  But in my reading and internet surfing, I found a common theme. "a gem". "hidden treasure". "nobody knows about it".
Capitol reef doesn't get the respect, recognition or props it deserves. It its competing with other more popular parks in southern Utah, like zion, Bryce, arches, and canyon lands. And let me say, it is a shame. We LOVED this park. So glad we decided to give it a chance. We will most definitely come back.

Started the trip with the obligatory park sign photo opportunity.

When we first entered the park, we oohed and aahed and stopped at every look out point, every drive off point...everything just got more beautiful then the last.  Finally we had to actually get into the visitors center etc, because quite frankly we had spent 3 hours in the first few miles of the park. Every turn was a surprise, every stopoff was more beautiful than the last. I didnt think it could get much more beautiful ...boy was I wrong.

We hiked up one of the trails at Chimney Rock. That was really spectacular. Just the sort of hike two adventurous boys loved.  No paved trails. Scrambling over rocks and up cliffs, death around the door at one missed footstep. (Needless to say we kept close watch on Peter)
Downside...the elevation is so high up there, you only get like 70% of the oxygen. I was kind of light headed and dizzy and winded most of this trip.  But we soldiered on.

Chimney Rock

Peter and I starting the hike at Chimney Rock

 The rock formations were really interesting. This was just such a fascinating park. I had never really seen anything like it before.  The sad thing is, it was never really crowded. Like I said, this was a park that not a lot of people come to.  It isnt as famous as its competing parks in Utah.  BUT It is NOT to be missed. It was amazing.

Stopping off at a nice cool overhang...

Charles and Boys resting

Love the patterning on the rock from freezing and erosion

You can see how far the parking lot is at one point.

hiking more.

You can see the fault like and fracturing as explained in this sign and below is our photo of the same area. It is amazing.

So we finally made it to the visitors center and CASTLE ROCK.

You can see it from the side as we were driving up to it.

 Facing front, visitors center directly behind me as I took this picture.








Close up of the rocks.










After the visitors center we took a scenic route through the park and stopped off at various points of interest.  We went to the Petroglyphs.

 These petroglyphs are attributed to the Fremont Culture, that was here between 600 and 1300AD.
The Fremont people were contemporaries of the Puebloans of the Four Corners Area.

 Some of these are very faint, but you can still make them out.  Unfortunately, there are people who have carved things into the walls as well, effectively graffiti-ing over it.  Now there are fences so you cant get too close.





Now here are some photos of the various other beautiful points of the park:

Yes, thats Finn walking along that rock bluff
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 Finn, again, having the time of his life.

this is the one room schoolhouse the mormon pioneers built when they settled in the area.

Gooseneck of canyon floor

Peter "The Hulk" holding up a rock for us.

The Golden Throne

    

Egyptian Temple formation

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Close up of bands on rocks

All in all I would say that this was a successful trip and outing for Day 1.  We stayed in Torrey, UT that night and went to Slackers for dinner.  Boys had a great time, we had a great time and went to bed tired, worn out and excited for the next days treasures awaiting us.

As far as this National Park is concerned...it is one of my favorites. I am going to add my vote as "A true hidden Gem. NOT TO BE MISSED".  Capitol Reef, I WILL be back.

Departure Date: salt lake city to richfield Utah.

Started our vacation yesterday. Day one was one of those days where you just travel. All...day...long...

Flew to Chicago. Flew into salt lake. Drove. Drove some more. It was long.

However on our drive down to richfield, we took a slight detour through manti. There is a beautiful temple there.they have a small garden just outside the grounds with a pioneer sculpture, benches, fountain etc. it was gorgeous.

Finally got to richfield, checked in to the hotel and crashed your a bit. Then we went across the street to a Chinese restaurant. (moral of the story...when in central, rural Utah stick to fast food. Pretty sure there isn't a Chinese person within 100 miles of this place. It was pretty bad...)

Came back to the hotel, watched cloudy with a chance of meatballs, and seriously conked out.

All in all, not a bad way to spend a travel day.