Bryce, Zion and other points of Interest!

Off to Bryce Canyon!

We are off to Bryce Canyon after our first nights stay at the Cannonville KOA. Below is a collage of the campground. We stayed there two nights. The first night was our arrival night, the second one was to sleep after visiting Bryce Canyon. After going to Bryce Canyon, we also drove up Rt. 12 to Escalante, just for the scenic drive, as if Bryce wasn't enough!

Our guide, Cole!

The first thing we did when we arrived at Bryce was to drive to each viewpoint within the park. After taking loads of pictures, we then went to the stables (we had made a reservation for the half day horseback ride down into the canyon) to wait for our ride down the canyon. If you cannot hike, or if you don't want to hike, I would suggest the horseback ride down into the canyon. It is so different than viewing the canyon from the top. Both are spectacular! We went on the ride provided by the "Canyon Trail Rides" they are located in the park, look them up at www.canyonrides.com. They also serve Zion and the Grand Canyon (North Rim) Parks as well. Our guide for our ride was Cole. He looked young, who doesn't at our age, lol, but was very helpful with my wife, because of her disabilities, he had to help her on and off the horse each time, and at one point he had to lead her horse for quite some time, Thank You Cole, you where great!

The Amphitheater.

The geological structures at Bryce called hoodoos, were formed by wind, water, and ice erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. So, technically Bryce is not a canyon. (A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river.) The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide awesome views. Bryce's elevation is higher than Zion National Park, the rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet. The "Amphitheater"so it is called because of it's distinctive shape is just spectacular. At different view points and times of day, they change in color. Some points are best viewed early morning and some at sunset. The viewpoints are named accordingly, sunrise and sunset points!


You can stop in Bryce Canyon City and ride a shuttle for free. It stops at the different view points in the park. If you have the time I would suggest hiking the trails for the best possible experience, or as I said earlier, the horseback ride is great! 

The first video below is from the top of the Canyon at different viewpoints. The second one is from our horseback ride to the bottom.

  

Scenic Byway 12

 Running a length of 120 miles or more , Utah's Highway 12 Scenic Byway travels through some of the most diverse and beautiful landscapes in the country. Included in this, is the 1.7 million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Scenic Byway 12 is one of two paved highways in the monument.


It was rated among the top ten Scenic Byways in America by Car and Driver magazine. Scenic Byway 12 is a unique route well worth traveling. It winds through slickrock canyons, red rock cliffs, pine and aspen forests, alpine mountains, national parks, state parks, a national monument, and quaint rural towns.


As I said we road from Cannonville, where we stayed while in the area, up through Henrieville, then on up to Escalante. We did not venture off of route 12, missing a lot a scenic attractions, but saw quite a bit from the highway. It is well worth the time to travel the whole road if one has the time, and to take some of the side roads as well.

Scenic Byway 12 between Cannonville and Escalante. Red Canyon I posted earlier is also on this route before Cannonville.

Zion National Park!

Interesting Pattern.

After that drive, we went back to the campground, did laundry, then went to sleep. The next day we packed up and headed to Zion National Park. I have to say, Zion is Completely different looking than the other parks we were at. The rock formations, and the patterns in the formations were one's I have never seen before. The horizontal lines, commonly called cross bedding, represent layers of wind-blown sand that built up into sand dunes. These dunes were then buried, and the sand grains glued together by calcite and iron oxide to form sandstone. Crossbedding can be seen in many place along the Zion Mt. Carmel Highway.

The vertical lines are less common. They are actually shallow cracks that result from stress and erosion on the rock surface. These cracks are probably caused by expansion and contraction, temperature changes, wetting and drying, or a combination of these processes.

Love the lines.

The only way once inside the Park you can go to the points of interest is by there free shuttle. The Park did this as a way to alleviate the congestion in the park and help preserve the natural resources from to much vehicular traffic. It worked out great for us, I really liked it. There was no waiting  to speak of between stops because they run buses every 10 minutes or so.

They have some great hiking there, I did part of the Narrows. On that hike you actually have to cross the river numerous times, so plan on getting wet above your waist, or even all the way, as I did, okay, I slipped and went under, lol! Man, was the water cold too!. It was a great and scenic hike. I also did one to the to The Emerald Pools from the Zion Lodge stop, to the next stop the Grotto. Awesome hikes! 

After enjoying the walks and hikes, picture taking, sight seeing and stopping at each point of interest, we returned to the car and left the park.

Cedar City, Utah!

Our next stop was Cedar City, Utah where we stayed in the Cedar City KOA for two nights. It was Stay on Friday, get Saturday free weekend, how could we pass that up. It was a very nice and relaxing stay there. We rented a few movies and watched them on Valarie's laptop and just chillaxed! 

Cedar City KOA. Very nice place.

Cedar City was a very nice, and quaint town, we enjoyed the stay there very much. We went out to eat at Sizzler down the road for the salad bar, went to Walmart and did our laundry again before heading out Sunday morning.

We kind of backtracked to the North heading up Interstate 15 again, getting on Interstate 70 eastbound to go to the Arches.

San Rafael Reef-Spotted wolf Canyon-Devils Canyon-Ghost Rock Summit. Interstate 70

The San Rafael Reef is in Emery County in central Utah, is a part of the Colorado Plateau. Approximately 75 miles long, it is the name given to the distinctive eastern edge of the San Rafael Swell, composed primarily of steeply tilted layers of Navajo and Wingate Sandstone. It has been eroded into tall fins, domes, cliffs, and deep canyons.

The San Rafael River, Interstate 70, and Muddy Creek all cut through the San Rafael Reef. There are also numerous slot canyons that twist their way through the flanks of the San Rafael Reef, among them Crack Canyon, Chute Canyon and Straight Wash. These spectacularly beautiful canyons are often less than a few feet wide and can be hundreds of feet deep.

Interstate 70 ascends the western edge of the swell on a steady slope loosely following the north rim of Devils Canyon. At the top of the grade is a view area with a view of Devils Canyon and an overlook of the country west of the swell. It then crosses Eagle Canyon via a pair of steel arch bridges. The eastbound bridge is 489 feet long and the westbound bridge is 523 feet long.

The highway then ascends Ghost Rock Summit, the highest point for I-70 inside the swell. At the summit is another view area overlooking the Little Grand Canyon of the San Rafael River. The summit is named for unusual rock formations nearby. The Ghost Rocks themselves are at 7,405 feet , although the freeway is slightly lower. I-70 meanders through a relatively flat portion of the swell until reaching Spotted Wolf Canyon, which provides the exit route to the swell.