The Journey through Bryce

You know, sometimes it really pays to listen to others. I ask a bunch of folks what to see in Utah and most all said Bryce Canyon was #1...  It was so cool and I had a great day seeing it. 

First was a quick hour and half drive through the beautiful countryside... I forgot to get gas before I left and had a little bit of a time finding this haven below which saved my butt... It was an old manual gas pump that had to be turned on and then you go inside and tell them how much you pumped... I am not complaining... It could have been a long walk... Lesson learned!

Next I encountered several signs along the way that said "OPEN RANGE FOR THE NEXT 20 MILES!!", well your mind might jump to the movie by that name that starred Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall, but you would be wrong... It means that you have to be really careful and look out for what is in the picture below. (the brown blobs are cows). I stopped and talked to them about hanging around the road but it did no good. I think the grass is greener there.

The Bryce Canyon National Park was very organized and convenient. Of course I got in free because I am old and the parking near the visitor center was perfect for motorcycles... I had done my homework and knew which hikes I wanted to go on. They had a shuttle service that took you to the trail heads and then you just took off. The primary one I did was called Sunrise to Sunset Point... It had the best views of the "hoodoos" (see pics below) and was absolutely stunning. I had realized a couple of days back that I needed a small Digital Camera because I had my phone strapped to my bike as a GPS device. My buddy Steve Beamer who is a picture taking freak, lead me to get a Canon ELPH 180 at the local Walmart (somewhere), and just check out the pictures below. I can't describe how breathtaking and astounding the views are... I joined many who just stood there and stared, not saying anything. It was just hard to take it all in.

The Hoodoos are the stone spirals that stick up.

I noticed that more than half of the people there did not have English as a primary language. I think it is great that the world is coming over to see how magnificent America is. The lady that took this picture of me spoke some sort of European language, and she looked like a skier, so I am thinking Scandinavian of some sort.. Anyway, she had a very expensive camera and looked like she knew what she was doing... I started to try to get her picture but I thought it might come across as an old stalker dude type thing...



I then ran into these two dudes riding donkeys. I didn't know if they worked at the park as guides, or maybe they had found a better way to see everything... I think there are like 50 miles of hiking trails in the park... (I didn't do them all, at all)

On my way back to my Fish Lake cabin I passed by this hill with the rock out cropping below... Is it me, or does this hill look like it has a mean old ugly rock face?

Again, this was a great day, perfect weather, excellent park, and fantastic views. I stopped in Bryce City and had lunch and then dodged cows all the way back to my cabin... And like always there were the ever present Pronghorns that make me nervous.

Oh yea, and on top of it all they also had Prairie Dogs!!!  I love Prairie Dogs!!!

I know they are hard to see, but there are about a dozen of them all over the field. trust me

When I got back to Fish Lake I still had a couple of hours before dark so I hiked around the lake (part of the way)... I have to say that hiking at 9000 feet is harder than I am use to. 

More on that during the next post... Wait till you see Glenwood Springs (wow).