Bryce Canyon - Reality Check

I began planning this trip in February.... I read Trip Advisor faithfully and used their Forum to decide in what order to proceed, how many days were needed, and where to stay .   I was shocked from the start that I could not get a reservation in either of the two parks that had lodges.... In fact at this park I couldn't book a hotel closer than about 25 miles (Panguitch).  As suggested on the forums I put our names on waiting lists for closer motels and also checked back on websites.  I cancelled the first motel when I found one 10 miles away (Tropic)....Then I found a vacancy at a motel only 2.5 miles from the entrance to the park.... Called Bryce Canyon Resort... What could be better???  Why not splurge on a suite??? We might need a jacuzzi soak following our hikes....

Below you will see the place....notice the dining area..

We enjoyed being closer to the park but we did marvel at the use of the word "resort" for this spot....

Bryce Canyon

A short drive (2 hours) and we are at Bryce Canyon.....  Another amazing landscape and different from what we've seen so far... Bryce has a shuttle OPTIONAL system..... we used it some and drove some ourselves.... we can definitely see in the park's future that the shuttles would NOT be an option any longer.... Large tour buses and many cars driving through the most scenic areas definitely did NOT add to our enjoyment of the incredible scenery.

About to take our hike....

Geology of the Area

   This was our route for today... Not a  long hike  but stunning views all along the way.....

The park is more crowded than the last ones we visited.... 

There is a storm off in the distance..... those who stayed in the park through the storm were able to see some amazing lightning.... and from what we heard the next morning.... no injuries.... 

The canyon's unusual feature is these "hoodoos".... Spires of rock...  Perhaps more detail after we get a Ranger talk.. ..but there was a threat of bad weather so we wanted to get a hike in first... We'll be back tomorrow.  

Vintage Poster

Bryce Canyon Lodge - Our Spot for Lunch

Capitol Reef

A hidden gem of a park .....least visited National Park in Utah but we're very glad we came ....

Mike gave an EXCELLENT talk on geology....

We took an "easy" hike today but it was just what we needed....great views and gradual elevation changes.
The Grand Wash Trail was labeled as easy, but it certainly had incredible views along the way..... After seeing Zion, we decided that this hike captured some similar views to the Narrows hike there, but without the bracing water to walk through......

Schoolhouse used until the 40's for the small group of Mormon settlers....

The view from our porch ...  

Geology Lesson

Plantings at our dinner location....

This is a photo for which you must really look closely to see the primitive drawings .... They are believed to be about 2000 years ago by paleo- puebloan tribes...currently called Fremont culture . We had another excellent ranger talk here.

Vintage Poster

Travel Day - To Capitol Reef

We KNEW we were headed for an interesting ride when we saw the map below on our GPS this morning ....what it did NOT indicate was that it was a gravel road....Whew!!

According to Trip Advisor this series of switchbacks only takes about 20 minutes..... if you are prepared, and know that it is gravel with some areas without guardrails, it was definitely a "shortcut" to our next location......

Beautiful scenery made the trip go by more quickly.....

Once we were home I saw a Go Pro Video made by someone else that captures the trip..... 

https://youtu.be?YpC2WysOTmc 

Give it a try.... pretty amazing... hope it works for you.... 

 

Monument Valley - Sunset Tour +Movie

Because of the HUGE number of westerns filmed in this area there are LOTS of movie related events and memorabilia.... Our hotel, The View, shows a John Wayne western on the exterior wall of the hotel in the evening.... 

In the later afternoon we signed up for a Navajo led tour of the valley itself.... It is the ONLY way we could have seen it since the road through the area is gravel, winding and confusing at best.   We did not want to risk damage to the rental car!   It was a great decision....

John and our Navajo tour guide, Will chatting at Painter's Point...

Monument Valley - Gouldings Museum

A former trading post location, Gouldings now houses a motel, restaurant, gift shop and museum in the original building of the Post.

Part of the museum is a whole room of movie memorabilia from the many movies filmed here....

In the room above is a looping video of John Wayne movies....had to drag John out of the room kicking and screaming!

Monument Valley

Our drive here was quite pretty with changing topography as we got closer ....

Many Westerns were filmed here and one of the local shops has a little museum with lots of movie memorabilia...

The scene from the gift shop of our hotel...

Just outside our windows at the hotel....

The hotel is called The View and it is right at the entrance to the dirt/gravel road that you can either drive through yourself or take a tour with a Native American..... 

We only stayed one night, but it was wonderful to be that close to this scenery..... 

Our Room Was on this Wing.....