Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park

We got up early to drive to Bryce Canyon National Park. There was a ton of snow! We drove the scenic drive up to the top of the canyon, Rainbow Point. We walked around for a while and took in the panoramic view.

Though the sun was out the temperature was only around 20. You can't tell by the photos.  How epic is this view?

We stopped at every view point, most of them we were alone. There are a few trails into the canyon, but our marathon didn't allow the time it would have taken to hike it. It looked like a good hike though.

One of the rangers told us we were going through the Utah parks at the perfect time, not many people get to enjoy the parks when there is snow on the ground. We agree.

For those of you who have read the earlier blogs you'll remember Logan, the raven who stayed with us in Glacier National Park. Well, he followed us. Josh swears it's him, and I have to agree. He stayed with our car as we drove through the park and then we even saw him in the Grand Canyon.

Zion National Park was our next stop. Amazing!! What a beautiful place. The snow started to disappear and the temperature rose, just a little. The canyons all along the road where magnificent!

The roads were paved in red and the mountains that grew up around us were red and white with green trees scattered all about them, very Christmas like.

About a third of the way into the park, we came upon a tunnel, a very long tunnel. Don't drive through if you're claustrophobic. Throughout the tunnel there are a few windows that you can look out from.

After the tunnel we drove down a very curvy switchback road down into the canyon. Once again we were amazed at the surrounds.

We took the scenic drive though the park and stopped at the picnic area so we could have lunch in the mountains.

The river was beautiful and so were the trees, even though they were bare.

We stopped at the Weeping Rock and hiked up to see the phenomenon. The water drips right out of the side of the cliff.

Because it was cold, the water had froze into icicles. As the sun warmed up the cliff side, the icicles began to fall. We had to duck and weave to stay out of the way of huge ice chunks.

But the risk was worth it, what an amazing sight.

I guess the hike was too much for Josh, he stopped to take a break along the trail.

When we got to the end of the scenic drive we were in a great canyon, surrounded by giant walls of red. You could yell and it echoed all around us. What beautiful parks and such a great day.

Capital Reef National Park and Escalante Staircase

The drive to Capital Reef National Park was so deserted and quiet. The desert is a peaceful place. We stopped at this roadside view to take in the mountains and stretch our legs. We drove into Capital Reef National Park and saw this mountain first (the picture bellow), It looked like a Hershey's kiss. We also stopped in at the Fruita Schoolhouse, as old school house, a small house that early pioneers lived in, and a tiny waterfall.

The petroglyphs were so cool! There were lots of mountain goat drawings and men dressed in armor. I thought the men looked like aliens and there were even some drawings that looked like flying saucers. But who knows, like the signs said it was probably just men dressed in armor.

See what I mean? There was a lovely boardwalk along the cliff where you could walk along and see all the petroglyphs.

This formation was called "the Castle." It was the reason why the park was named Capital Reef. It did look like a castle too. When you first drive into the park there are a couple of orchards. The orchards were around since way back when the area was first settled.

We took the scenic drive through the park. The road was the only road back in the day. Carriages and the first cars used to drive this road. We took it all the way to where it ends now.
This picture to the left is of the canyon you drive through.

We took hwy 12 though Utah and headed towards the Escalante Staircase. We have found that the 12 in any state seems to be beautiful every time. So when in doubt, always take the 12.

We had heard from most people we meet on the road, and even some of my family, that the Escalante Staircase is a crazy drive. They were right! We drove along the road that was on top of the mountain, a cliff on each side of the road, and no shoulder to save you if you were enjoying the view too much and veered the wrong way.

We stopped at a view point to take a picture and watch the sun go down.

We headed down the mountain towards Bryce Canyon, ready to get some sleep and continue on with our National Park marathon.

Arches National Park, Newspaper Rock, and Needles

 It was still pretty nippy yesterday morning when we headed out but the sun was shining bright and the wind had died down.

Our first stop in Arches National Park was "Park Avenue." It reminded the explores of the buildings that lined city streets. It channeled the wind the same way that the skyscrapers do. It had us second guessing how nice it actually was.

 Luckily it was a false alarm and it was a pretty beautiful day. It never reached above 40 degrees with some crazy cold wind, but the sun and our four layers of clothing made it feel a little better.

 This is balanced rock. I thought for sure it was going to topple over in the wind. The sign near by reassured us that, barring any great cataclysm, many of the structures in the park would remain mostly unchanged during our life time. But eventually this will all be gone, eroded away the same way it was brought to us.

 We stopped at the window arches to walk around and look at the large arches. The trail was rough, as you can tell from the photo to the right, but we managed just fine. :)

This is the first window arch, "North Window."

Turret Arch

 We went to "South Window" and "Turret Arch." Each one as amazing as the last. Here is Josh lounging behind the Turret Arch.

 We continued on to "Delicate Arch." We decided to just go to the view point because of time constraints. The hike to the arch was a three hour hike and we wanted to see the rest of the park along with part of Canyonlands before the snow comes on Sunday and Monday. It is the most popular arch in the park.

We thought the viewpoint would be a quick easy stop, it was still a half mile up hill climb. It was worth it, what a magnificent view.

 This was the view from the upper end of the scenic route. This was Josh's favorite spot because of the way the terrain changed and the clouds flowed over the mountain.

Arches National Park was a beautiful place. I only wish we had more time to enjoy all of it. The weather is definitely pushing us along more quickly than we would like. But we will be back!

This whole trip has been such a great adventure and though we have been so many places, it just seems to be fueling our travel bug and giving us more ideas for future trips.

 Next stop, Newspaper Rock and Needles. It's weird how an hour drive and a slight change in elevation can make the difference between a bright sunny day and four inches of snow on the ground.

We turned off onto our road and we were immediately greeted by numerous deer and lots of snow.

 We pulled up to the Newspaper Rock and had to bundle up. We had to walk up through fresh fallen snow. Not many visitors in the last few days apparently. The markings on the rock were interesting though. They had a fence around them so no one could add their own. There are so many different drawings.

 We continued on to the southern area of Canyonlands National Park, to the area called Needles. The sky was overcast and the snow against the rocks was beautiful.

 The snow vanished as we came out of the valley and into the Needle's area. The rocks were giant and surrounded us all around. They looked like tall mushrooms to me.

 We tried to take a picture but our heads kept blocking the scenery, so we moved out of the way. That and no one wants to see Josh's untamed man child beard.

The clouds started to clear as we were driving out of the park and we were able to pull over and watch the sunset. What a magnificent sight a sunset is out in the lonely snowy canyons.