Bryce Canyon

We got off to an early start today because we had a lot of miles to cover today.  We need to average 100 miles a day and we are a bit behind.  Today will help out but we will have to make sure we tour Bryce Canyon this afternoon and be ready to move again on Thursday.

We have had a great time traveling all over the south with Kyra this winter but today was the day to part company.  Kyra has commitments in Washington State so will be traveling ahead of us and then moving to the west.  We said our so longs and Charlie gave her a good licking and off she went.  We will stay in touch all summer and will meet up with her again next winter somewhere.

Highway 89 is full of great rock formations and is the typical wild west scenery.  We went by a water tower that looks like the ones you see in the old westerns with the steam locomotive watering from with great plumes of steam rising from it.  I could almost hear the whistle as it was leaving the station.

We stopped at a visitor information to have some breakfast and to get some maps.  It is always nice to have maps to follow where the points of interest are.

Further down the road I spotted these interesting rock formations.  I was amazed how the rock seemed to swirl.

Around one of the bends in the road we came upon a place called Moqui Cave.  It was time for Charlie to have a walk so we pulled in and went in to investigate. 

We were met by a young lady who told us that it was $5 a person and the admission was good for life.  If we ever come back this way we don’t have to pay.   The lady was the grand daughter of the man who bought and fixed up the cave.  To make money to fix it up he used to run a bar and dance hall in the cave.  Now it is full of all sorts of artifacts.

There was even some stuff from the Drumheller region in Alberta.  They have lots of dinosaur things there too.

And of course for our friends Rowdy and Missy, there was a woolly mammoth tooth and tusk from Fairbanks Alaska.

Now remember that we are in Utah which is the state where the Mormans have carried on the tradition of multiple wives for one husband.  So the girl told us that her grandfather’s grandfather had 8 wives who bore him 15 girls and 18 boys in total which made for a very large family portrait.

We arrived at our overnight spot about 1 pm and set up camp quickly.  It is a nice spot on the side of Black Mountain about 20 miles from Bryce Canyon.

A quick drive and we were at Bryce Canyon.

The canyon has some spectacular views and rock formations.

We started at Bryce Point where the elevation is 8300 feet and stopped at Inspiration Point as well.  This whole Canyon can be hiked by most people if they take their time.   Definitely worth the time to visit here.

Because we were up so high there was still quite a bit of snow laying around so Charlie took some time to cool his paws and have a little snow snack. 

We went through Red Canyon on the way home and saw some more rock formations and a couple tunnels to go through.

After supper Charlie and I went for a nice walk down the road and looked back and marveled at where we were living today.

Tonight we are camped on the beach at Black Mountain near Bryce Canyon UT at 37.7558209N -112.339797W and this is the view looking from our window.