Continuing thru Utah at Bryce Canyon National Park

Driving from place to place Troy likes to keep track of the elevation (He has a watch that tracks this for us and is addicted to checking this as we drive along!) On our way from Capitol Reef to Bryce we drove to 9600 feet on US 12 with a skimpy road that at times was only 60 feet wide with cliffs on each side, what a drive!

What a location! We stayed within the Park at the North Campground and had a great campsite within walking distance of the numerous trails and hoodoos along the rim of the canyon, very cool! Most of the parks we have been visiting have been pretty empty which has been great, enabling us to truly experience the parks and not worry about all the traffic and noise that lots of people bring. (Course this is going to change very soon, every day we get closer to Memorial Day the busier places seem to get!)

Our first day within Bryce we drove the park and took the18-mile scenic drive, stopping along the route to check-out all the scenic overlooks, what an amazingly beautiful place! We also explored “Ruby’s” right outside of the park, the oldest campground in the area (early 1900’s), Wow – talk about a tourist trap, stay away!

Along with the beauty was snow, course we are in the mountains but we can’t escape the snow, isn’t it spring? From one mile to the next the temperature changes drastically as does the scenery. We took a hike into the Bryce Amphitheater and walked among the hoodoos and Douglass Firs, truly amazing! The hike was 5 miles but what a tough 5 miles, the way down into the canyon wasn’t too difficult but the way back up was met with icy hills and switch backs, fun! This picture of Lisa with the Bryce Amphitheater (hoodoos) in the background does not begin to show the beauty of the area. We have this same picture at home with Troy from a previous trip he took with our friend Tony Bucci, can’t wait to compare them when we get home to see the changes.

And as local lore states: “It is one hell of a place to lose a cow!”