Bryce Canyon National Park

Along my route to Bryce Canyon, I encountered a sign on the highway that said “No services next 106 miles.” That one really made do an assessment of what was going on in my car. Plenty of gas – check, water – check, food – check, okay, good to go.

I arrived in Bryce Canyon around 1:00 in the afternoon. Prior to entering the park, I obtained a campsite, set up camp, and ate lunch. I stayed at a place called Ruby’s Campground. Basically, this person Ruby has a monopoly on the entire town. She seems to own the campground, the majority of the hotels, the restaurants, the horseback and helicopter tours, and even a little old fashioned village with ice cream shops and such. The campground itself wasn’t anything to write home about, but it did have hot showers. It seems to me that the nicer campsites don’t have access to running water and showering facilities, so there is definitely a trade off. I like that I have been able to experience both. It is allowing me to stay in some nice places without going too long without a shower.

Once I entered the park, I headed towards the visitor’s center in order to try and figure out my plan of attack. I wanted to know where the best locations for viewing the sunset was (turns out Bryce Canyon is a better sunrise place, so I changed those plans) and where and what time the astronomy thing on Tuesday night I had read about in the little paper they hand out when you enter was. I decided that since I still had the better part on Monday to work with that I would drive all the way into the park and stop at each of the viewpoints and I came back out and save the hiking for Tuesday. Also, the majority of the hiking trails are in the front of the park.

The furthest point in Bryce Canyon has Rainbow Point and Yovimpa Point – elevation 9115 ft – the highest elevation in the park. My first thought was okay, nice, but nothing spectacular. Having just come from Canyonlands, the views here were nothing in comparison. I remained hopeful that they would get better. As I proceeded outward, the canyons did start getting a bit more interesting, but it wasn’t until I reached Bryce Point, which overlooks Bryce Canyon, that I saw something amazing. I’m not even really sure how to describe what I was seeing. The canyon was full of these things called hoodoos. My pictures will have to do the describing for me. I finished up my viewpoint hopping and headed out of the park for the evening. I needed to pick up a few items at the market before returning to the campsite for the evening.

View from Yovimpa Point

View of Agua Canyon - I think this rock formation looks like an angry old queen

View of Natural Bridge, allow it is actually and arch

View of Bryce Canyon from Bryce Point

Views of Bryce Canyon from Inspiration Point

Close up of the hoodoos from Sunset Point

View of Cryce Canyon from Sunset Point

View of Bryce Canyon from Sunrise Point

The temperature for that evening was forecast to be in the mid- to upper-30s, I can’t remember exactly what, so I knew it was going to be a cold night in my tent. I was sure to bundle up with layers and enclosed myself inside my sleeping as much as possible. For the most part, this warded off the cold with the exception of my feet. They were the only thing cold during the night, but they were cold enough to make getting a good night’s sleep difficult. I looked at my alarm clock several times wishing morning to come. Finally, at 5:15AM, I got out of bed to head back into the park to catch the sunrise. I was hoping the sun would warm things up considerably while I was out since I was planning to return to bed afterwards.

Like my sunset at Canyonlands, the sunrise at Bryce Canyon was not all that it could have been. There was a lot of cloud cover, so the sun, while it rose, was never given the chance to reflect off of the hoodoos in the canyon.

Sunrise over Bryce Canyon from Byrce Point

When I returned to my campsite, I threw my dirty laundry and extra plastic bags into the bottom of my sleeping bag. I also wrapped a couple of plastic bags around my feet for added insulation. That seemed to have done the trick because I was able to sleep soundly until 9:30. I hope that it continues to do the trick for Tuesday night since it is forecasted to be only 35 degrees.

After breakfast, I headed into the park to complete the first of the two hikes I wanted to do, a combination of the Queen’s Garden and Navajo Loop trails – 3 miles and 580 feet of elevation loss and gain – not too difficult. I was really looking forward to this hike because I had been able to see the trail the day before from the viewpoints overlooking Bryce Canyon. I started at Sunset Point, walked along the ridge to Sunrise Point, and then descended into the canyon. It was spectacular walking among the hoodoos.

Views of Bryce Canyon from the Queens Garden Trail

The Queen Victoria rock formation, hence the name of the trail

Views of Bryce Canyon on the connection trail between the Queens Garden trail and the Navajo Loop trail

A rather bold little chipmunk

Views of Bryce Canyon from the Navajo Loop trail

The Two Bridges rock formations

After completing my hike, I ate lunch in a little picnic area near Sunset Point. I saw this really pretty blue and black bird, but the darn thing wouldn’t hold still long enough for me to take its picture. After lunch I set off for the final two places I wanted to visit during my time here - the viewpoint for Fairyland Canyon, just outside of the park gate, and the Mossy Cave trail, a part of the park not accessible though the main entrance.

It took me longer to drive to the Fairyland Canyon view point than I spent there. I think once you spend enough time in one place everything starts looking the same. Off to the Mossy Cave Trail I went. This trail was just under a mile round trip and there were two separate end points. One was at a waterfall and the other at Mossy Cave. I decided to save Mossy Cave for last because the description sounded quite spectacular, promising ice draperies that last into the summer. The water fall was nice and seemed in stark contrast to the desert surrounding it. The “stream” that the waterfall was part of is actually a man made irrigation ditch that settlers back in the 1880’s dug so that they would have a constant water supply throughout the year. As far as drainage ditch’s go, this is the nicest one I’ve seen.

I then headed toward Mossy Cave and was quickly disappointed. The promised ice draperies were long gone and honestly, the cave isn’t that great either. It’s not even that big. It was a nice hike though, with lots of flowers along the way, and I guess that is the most important part.

Fairyland Canyon

Views from the Mossy Cave trail

Waterfall near Mossy Cave

Mossy Cave

The day has been overcast and chilly, so my plan for the rest of the day is to stay warm, which likely means spending as much time indoors as possible. At least it gave me time to catch up on my blog writing. Given the clouds, I do not have high hopes for my star gazing this evening, so I may try to head to bed early and get an early start towards Zion National Park in the morning.

Canyonlands National Park

When I arrived at Canyonlands National Park there was no “Campground Full” sign looming in the ranger station window, but I was still sure to ask about it.  I was given a 50/50 chance of one of the 12 campsites still being available, so I headed straight back to the campgrounds.  When I arrived, I was delighted to see that there were several options to choose from.  I let myself be picky and chose what I thought to be the prettiest, and it may just be the prettiest campsite I’ve had the entire trip.  I quickly set up camp and ate lunch so that I could set out exploring.  I decided to work my way from the back to the front so that tomorrow I could finish things up on my way out of the park.  Since Bryce Canyon was only about a 5 hour drive away and I already knew that the in park campgrounds were full, I didn’t feel the need to leave Canyonlands first thing in the morning.

My campsite.  I think I got the best one in the whole grounds.

From a bit further away

Pinecone on a tree near my campsite

The road that the campground is on one of the branches off of the main road, so I started by visiting the end of that road.  It wasn’t a canyon per se, but rather something that they called “Upheaval Dome.”  There are a couple of competing theories about how it was formed, one of them has to do with salt and the other a meteor.  The meteor theory seems a bit more exciting to me, but it seems like science is a bit more supportive of the salt theory.  I did the hike up to the rim so that I could look into it and it was pretty neat.  After I returned to my car I started back towards the main road being sure to pull off at all of the view points and sights along the way to take pictures.  The only other “major” attraction along this road was Whale Rock.  I stopped and took a picture.  I also debated doing the hike to the top, but I was feeling pretty tired and wanted to be able to do a couple of other hikes, so I opted against it.

Upheaval Dome - the clouds weren't cooperating for my photo

Whale Rock (from a bit further away than the start of the trail head)

View point between the campground road and Whale Rock

Once I got back to the main road, I drove all the way out to Grand View Point, and it was a grand view.  From here there was a one mile (2 miles out and back) hike along the rim of the canyon out to a point (I don’t know what the technical term is, but it was a peninsula-type thingy that jutted out into the canyon).  The view was well worth the hike.  It was amazing to be nearly surrounded by such a vast canyon.

Views from Grand View Point and the rim trail

After completing that hike, I continued making my way out towards the front of the park.  When I made it back to the turn-off to the campsite I realized that I would likely be able to see the entire park that day.  It wouldn’t include any long hikes, but I was so tired at this point that I was totally okay with that.  I decided that I would head out to the front of the park and start working my way back towards the campground turn-off.  There was one more hike I wanted to do and it was near the turn-off, so I figured this would give me a bit of a rest.  

Buck Canyon

Schafer Canyon

The last hike I completed was approximately a half mile loop that took me out to Mesa Arch.  Yes, another arch.  It was a nice arch, with a view of yet another arch through it, so that was cool.  The second arch was called Washer Woman Arch and, as I’m sure you have surmised, it looked like a woman doing the wash.

Cactus flowers along the Mesa Arch Trail

Mesa Arch

Washerwoman Arch

Me in front of Mesa Arch with Washerwoman Arch visible behind me

A deer along the Mesa Arch trail

After that, I was pooped and ready for bed, but it was only 5:00.  I headed back to my campsite to relax for a bit.  I ate dinner and read my book all the while trying to stay out of the sun.  It was hot, and I had been out in for the past 10 hours.  I really wanted to go to bed, but I knew that if I let myself go to sleep, I would not be able to sleep through the night.  I kept myself busy in order to fight off the drowsiness until it was nearing sunset.  I then headed out to the Green River Overlook near the campgrounds with the hopes of taking in a spectacular sunset.  I did see the sunset, but it was unfortunately less than spectacular.  It was a bit too cloudy and the skies never turned any magnificent colors.  Oh well…

Sunset at Green River Overlook

I went immediately to bed once I returned to my campsite and had the best night of camping sleep ever.  I guess getting up at 6:00AM and hiking nearly 10 miles will make you not notice the hardness of the ground.  I think I slept close to 10 hours before awaking the next morning.

The ritual of tearing down camp proceeded as usual and I set off in the direction of Bryce Canyon National Park.  Again, with a gas station in my sights in which to brush my teeth and purchase some coffee since there was no running water at the Canyonlands campsite.

Arches National Park

I arrived in Moab around 2:30 in the afternoon and made my way directly to Arches National Park with the hope of obtaining a campsite there.  I was greeted by a “Campground Full” sign at the entrance gate.  Darn.  Perhaps, the smart thing would have been to turn around and go back out into Moab to find a campsite, but I figured something would be available, even if that something was a hotel room, so I proceeded inward.  Once I had zigzagged my way into the park proper, I was immediately taken by the beauty of the rock formations.  The color was so vibrant.  I couldn’t help myself but be distracted by the very first trailhead I encountered.  It was a one mile trail called Park Avenue that didn’t even contain any arches.  I didn’t care though, I had been cooped up in a car for three days and was hitching to go hiking.  I grabbed some water, sunblock, and my camera and head off.  In my excitement, I lost the trail markers on several occasions.  Brilliant – it’s 90+ degrees in the desert and I’m not paying attention to where I was going.  At least this trail was not too far off of the road, so there wasn’t a huge chance of me getting seriously lost.  A good lesson to learn about not getting too wrapped up in my surroundings at that point.  I was much more vigilant after that.

An interesting rock formation I encountered on my way to Moab

My first arch (Wilson's Arch) not too far outside of Moab

Views from the Park avenue trail

The rock formation on the right is called the Three Gossips

An area where it is hypothesized that an arch once stood.  The remaining formation on the right is called Sheep Rock since it sort of looks like a sheep

After I finished my first hike of the day (2 miles round trip plus a couple small detours), I decided that perhaps I should have a plan of attack.  I decided that I would drive the entirety of the park to get a feel for the layout (and check out the campsite just in case something had opened up – it hadn’t) but plan to limit my sightseeing to the front portion of the park that day.  I would tackle the back portion, which had longer trails, the following day since I would have more time.

After doing the park circuit, I headed for an area called “The Windows.”  There were several arches in this section.  I first went to see the North and South Windows and was able to see Turret Arch on my way.  The front side of the Window Arches were full of people, but there was a primitive path that went around to the back side.  Naturally, I took it and was rewarded with solitary views of the arches, and I was able to get some photos of them without people in them. 

A cool tree near the Windows arches.  I found myself fascinated by the dead twisted trees.

Turret Arch

Me in front of the North Arch.  One of the benefits of having so many people around is that someone is willing to take my picture.

The South and North arches from the back

Cool rock formations along the primitive trail

Also near the windows, was an Arch called Double Arch.  It was pretty cool, and the name is self-explanatory.  After climbing around that arch for a bit, I headed back to my car.  I had one more stop before heading out to find a place to sleep.  Again, this one also has a rather self-explanatory name – Balanced Rock.  There was a short trail that went all the way around it, so I was able to get a good look at it from every angle.

Double Arch actually has three openings

Looking up through the one at the top

Balanced rock

By this time it was 6:00, and since I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to find a campsite, I figured I should head out.  I had a met a family at the Windows Arches that were staying at a campsite along the Colorado River, so I headed there first.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything left available, so I headed back towards Moab.  I stopped at a Holiday Inn just before town just to see what the hotel situation (and prices) was like but they were full as well.  Not a good sign, but the desk clerk did tell me of a hotel well into town that still had rooms available.  I figured this would give a good chance of finding another camping alternative along the way.  Before I spotted any other campsites, I spotted a Best Western with vacancies available.  I pulled in and they did indeed have rooms available but for >$150/night.  Given I had been paying <$15/night up to that point, I said no thank you.  I was willing to take my chances, and, worst case scenario, I could always go back there if I absolutely had to.  I reached the hotel recommended by the desk clerk prior to spotting any additional camping options, but I had seen some other vacancy signs along my way, so I figured I still had some price shopping options.  But, as I was searching for a parking space, I spotted a campground just a bit further down the street, so I bee-lined it there (obeying all traffic laws of course).  Yay!  They had tent sights still available and showers!  Since I hadn’t gotten one the day before I was hoping to get one that night.  I set up camp, took my shower, had dinner, and read a bit before heading for bed.  It had been a long day and I was tired, plus I wanted to get an early start the next day.

While I was driving around looking for a place to stay I started trying to figure out if it would also be possible to visit Canyonlands National Park while I was in the area.  I had learned earlier that day that it was only about 30 miles away.  So while I was eating dinner, I took a closer look at my map of Arches.  I figured that I could probably see everything else I wanted to see at Arches by noon and then head up to Canyonlands.  I was also hoping there would still be campsites available there by the time I arrived.

I woke around 6:00AM the following morning and was in the park by 7:00AM.  I started with the things I wanted to see closest to the front of the park and worked my way to the back.  I went for a short hike to see Delicate Arch but did not take the longer hike up to the arch.  I figured I could do that one if time permitted on my way out.  I then drove to another part of the park and hiked about a mile (one way) to see the Sand Dune Arch and Broken Arch.  Because it was so early, I fortunate enough to basically have all of these arches to myself.  A few early hikers had reached Delicate Arch, but they were pretty tiny from where I was standing.

The sun trying to come through the cloud cover and reflecting off the rocks below

Is it going to rain on me or not?

Delicate Arch on the left

Another neat rock formation inthe park

On the way to Sand Dune Arch

Sand Dune Arch

Broken Arch

Skyline Arch

Finally, I headed back towards “Devils Garden.”  There are a lot of arches in this section of the park and several hiking trails.  I first set out to see Landscape Arch, probably the most famous arch at the park.  Along the way, I was able to detour off the main path to see Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch.  I finally reached Landscape Arch, and it is quite impressive, although at this point I think I was starting to get “arched out.”  I was getting tired and hungry and I had to go to the bathroom – all of this and it was still before 10:00AM.  I decided that while it might be cool to see the Double O Arch and a couple of others, I had seen enough.  I headed back to my car (and the restrooms), filled up all of my water bottles at the water station and headed to Canyonlands.  All in all, I had hiked at least 5 miles already that day.

Tunnel Arch

Pine Tree Arch - the name of this one wasn't obvious to me

Landscape Arch - I imagine you are getting "arched out" by now too, so moving on...