FUN-travel: Capitol Reef, UT
May 15, 2018 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Capitol Reef, UT
- Today’s Treat…Off Road Adventure in a brand new jeep with driver…
…into the depths of the park experiencing breathtaking Cathedral Valley…
…with its massive monoliths Temple of the Sun & Temple of the Moon standing 400 to 500 feet high…
…& Gypsum Sinkhole… 200-foot deep & 50 feet in diameter.
…& The Castle…an incredible craggy sandstone formation…
…& 7 hours later happy to have a nice cold beer…on solid ground!
FUN-fact – The park is named for the white domes and cliffs resembling the United States Capitol building, and for the nearly impassable ‘barrier reef’ cliffs that early explorers encountered.
FUN-photos: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Zion & Bryce, Utah
August 25, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Zion & Bryce, Utah
On making our way to Idaho for a week of rafting on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River we spent a good part of a day exploring both the North and South entrances of Zion National Park. Then we headed to Bryce where we spent the night and the following morning drove the scenic 18-mile drive, stopping at all 14 of the viewpoints.
We then continued on to Twin Falls, Idaho to find my mothers family farms and got to see Shoshone Falls. The last stop before arriving in Stanley was the Craters of the Moon National Park, which was a clear disappointment! It’s basically a bunch of lava all over the place. It was a whole lot more interesting seeing it in Iceland last year.
FUN-travel: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Utah – Bryce Canyon
August 19, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Utah – Bryce Canyon
- We arrived in the late afternoon and had time to take in two of the viewpoints close to town, Bryce and Inspiration Points. The spectacular panoramic view which goes on for miles, is unlike anything I have ever seen! It appears as if they’ve carved statutes into the mountain like Petra in Jordan. Other times it looked as if some behemoth took dripping wet sand to make massive sand castles. And more of those incredible colors of varying shades of pink, white, gray, sand, and terra cotta too!
- The following morning we drove the 18-mile scenic drive down to the end at Rainbow Point which took 30 minutes. On the way back our strategic plan was to stop at all of the 14 viewpoints. The eroded cliffs are sculpted by frost that expands to create holes (windows), and then rain, that turns the limestone pillars into bulbous spires called hoodoos. At Piracy Point the sound of the wind whipping up at the edge of the canyon created rustling through the trees that was amazingly loud and like nothing I had ever experienced.
Natural Bridge
- At Sunrise Point we decided to take on the daunting task of maneuvering down the very steep switchback walk so we could experience the dramatic hoodoos from a completely different perspective. Depending on the time of day and cloud coverage, the colors change with the shifting shadows.
Parks Recap – Zion felt a bit like Yosemite (actually almost on the same latitude) but smaller in scale and Bryce looked more like the Grand Canyon in color. Zion has a much bigger town and thus a lot more people; whereas Bryce was smaller and less crowded. That being said there are fewer options. The best hotel in Bryce is the Best Western Plus and we had dinner at Fosters Family Restaurant (which was great) and only a short drive from out hotel.
Hoodoos
FUN-fact – The Grand Staircase runs from the Grand Canyon to Bryce and is the world’s most complete sequence of sedimentary rocks – rocks formed over vast time spans from sediments built up in lakes, inland seas, swamps, deserts, and forests.
More FF – Elsewhere on Earth the geological sequences have been interrupted by uplift of mountain ranges or carving and scouring action by glaciers.
FUN-travel: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Utah – Zion
August 17, 2015 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: 2nd 2015 Road Trip – Utah – Zion
- This year we are happy to say for the first time since Chris retired we are not leaving North America! For a nice change of pace, we are enjoying our vacations by driving and not being subjected to the “horrid hassle” of commercial airline flights.
- This trip was scheduled around rafting down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. On the way we had an incredible experience seeing two of Utah’s National Parks in the western portion. We started at the very northwest portion of Zion (by accident) as we missed the turn. But that was actually a bonus as we got to see the Kolob Canyons area.
Northwest Zion
- A five-mile scenic drive climbs past the spectacular canyons and red rocks up to the top of the mountain where we took a one-mile hike to reach the farthest edge at the Kolob Canyons viewpoint. From there we could see as far as the Grand Canyon.
- Our next stop was Zion Canyon and we were very lucky to find parking close by the main entrance. You can’t drive into the park unless you’re staying at the Zion Lodge so you need to take the shuttle. We hopped off by the lodge and took a nice hike on the lower Emerald Pool trail. The mountains here are more jagged and peaked versus the flat topped we saw first. The colors were amazing shades varying from terra cotta red, brown, beige, and gray.
Zion Canyon
- From there we made our way to Bryce Canyon via the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway which was an incredibly beautiful 12-mile drive that travels up steep switchbacks and through the historic Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel. Along the way the mountains next to the road looked like they had been covered with whipped frosting spread with a giant spatula.
FUN-fact – Streams, oceans, deserts, and volcanoes deposited thousands of feet of mud, lime, sand, and ash to create Zion rock formations.