Bryce Canyon National Park needs to be on everyone's "Bucket List". It has to be one of the most spectacular places in the world! We went there after The Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Bryce Canyon boarders the northwest corner of the monument so it was a relatively short drive.
This is the view from Sunrise Point. All of the park facilities, the main park road and viewpoints are along the western edge of the canyon. The park road is between 8000 and 9000 feet in elevation so it can get a lot of snow in the winter. When we were there it was quite cold with thunder storms rolling through the area. It was very unnerving to be standing out on a view point, totally exposed and then having lightning and thunder close by. We had to run for cover several times during our visit.
Mona was so intent on her picture taking that she didn't see this raven walk along the fence up to her. I and another couple nearby were laughing as we were wondering who would flinch first, Mona or the bird. Neither did. The raven just stood there like another tourist enjoying the view,
For those who are able, hiking down into the various canyons of the park is a must. While seeing the park from the rim road and view points is awesome, it doesn't compare to actually hiking down to be among the canyons and hoodoos. This picture shows what used to be the most popular route down. In the past few months the route was totally destroyed by some slides and rock falls. When we left the Park Service wasn't sure yet what they were going to do. Leave it as is or rebuild the route. I hope they will do something to allow folks the opportunity to get down. There are a couple of other routes down but this one was truly something special.
Since the weather was nasty we decided not to hike in the park and only spent one night there before moving on. What a night it was.... Thunder.... Lightning... Hail.... Rain.... and Snow. However, we were nice and toasty in the trailer. It's designed as a "Four Seasons" RV with extra insulation and Thermal Pane windows. I've been in the Park in the motor home a few years back in similar weather. The new trailer is considerably more comfortable when the weather is cold and nasty outside.
Next we went to Capitol Reef National Park. The campground in park has been greatly improved. Of the national parks in Utah, Capitol Reef is my least favorite. It came up a notch or two with the improved campground but still doesn't compare to the other four parks in Utah in my opinion. That said, it is on the way between Bryce Canyon and Moab so why not stop and look around for a while. We did have a nice hike to Hickman Natural Bridge.
For Mona and I Capitol Reef National Park will be remember for not it's beauty, but for our memory of Janice. We had just gotten back from our hike to Hickman Bridge and in the trailer when a park ranger pulled up and said he had an urgent message for us. We needed to call my daughter, Teresa, immediately and that it wasn't an emergency. There is no cell service in the park so we hopped right away into the truck and drove like crazy towards the nearest town where we knew the phone would work. We had just stopped the truck when an instant message came over my phone saying "Janice Died". Janice is my son-in-law, Stan's, mother. We were just stunned and both started crying. We had just been with Janice and Ralph in Yuma. After several phone calls to Stan, my daughters Michele and Teresa, and, of course Ralph, we headed back to the campground. We decided that the rest of our trip was contingent upon the needs of Ralph, Stan, and their families.
As I'm writing this it is Mother's Day. Janice was the best role model on how to be a grandmother. She loved her grand children, "grand babies" she call them, even the older ones. She has nine of them. Each one was very special to her and they all knew it. I loved the fact that she and I shared 3 grandchildren. My wife died before the 3 of them got to know her. Janice was the only grand mother they knew. She was just awesome. I was, and still am, so grateful that she was their grand mother too. She was always there for them, and for my daughter, Michele, as well. She didn't try to replace Michele's Mom but rather worked at being the best Mother-In-Law she could. What an inspiration she was!
Because of Janice's passing, the next few days we were pretty down emotionally. We did drive the Scenic Road and the Capitol Gorge Road.
At the end of the Capitol Gorge Road we hiked a couple of miles further down the gorge past some petroglyphs and a place where some pioneer's had carved their names high up on the canyon wall called "Pioneer Register". We figured they must have repelled down from the top. Quite a feat for back then when you think about it.
Capitol Reef is where there is a fracture in the Earth's crust where part of the crust has been thrust upwards. The fracture is many miles long and is best seen from the scenic road that runs for miles along the western side of the fracture.
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