October 19, 2014

October 16, 2014

Yesterday we toured Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park and we can say without a doubt, both of these need to be added to your Bucket List.

Canyonlands is spectacular in may ways, with beautiful vistas and some very deep canyon views that will literally take your breath away.  If you are afraid of heights, don’t get too close to the rim but to really appreciate the beauty of the park, ya gotta get out there.  I did on several occasions and got a little weak-kneed a couple of times.

We did a little more hiking here that we did in Arches which you have to do to really appreciate the beauty here.

Canyonlands National Park

 I know of another dome that looks a lot like this one.

Dead Horse Point State Park is really interesting. 

From the park’s brochure:
“According to legend, the point was once used as a corral for wild mustangs roaming the mess.  Cowboys would round up the mustangs, heard them across the narrow neck and coral them.  Then the cowboys would choose which ones they wanted and for reasons unknown, left the other horses corralled on the waterless point where they died of thirst within view of the Colorado River, 2000 feet below.”

Dead Horse Point State Park

October 17, 2014

Yesterday, Joyce and I took a Hummer Sunset Tour of the mesa above Moab.  All I can say is if you are in this area, do this!  It is crazy fun and I got to check off another Bucket List item.

Here We Go!

 There is a reason in the name!

 Does a tune come to mind here?

 We didn't do this one!

Yippee!

The beautiful end of a great day!

October 18, 2014

We reluctantly left Moab about 10:30 AM bound for Torrey, UT.  I say reluctantly because we didn’t have time to see all of the interesting areas of that part of Utah but, we shall return someday.

Our purpose for coming to Torrey is to visit Capital Reef National Park.  We looked at trying to get into the park’s Fruita Campground but I am really glad we decided to make reservations at Sand Creek RV Park instead.  The campground was full and everything in town is booked solid.  On Thursday and Friday this week, the kids here in Utah are out of school for the Utah Education Association convention so the national and state parks are packed.

After a bit of hassle getting set up (our parking site is very unleveled) we drove back to the park to get our National Parks Passport book stamped and to learn about what we should do while in the park.  On the way back we had a very nice supper at The Rim Rock restaurant.

October 19, 2014

My mother has often mentioned how beautiful Capital Reef NP is and that we needed to visit there.  Well, she was right!  It is spectacular!

We did the scenic drive through the park to the end and then hiked down the Golden Throne Trail, a four mile round trip that is fairly easy to do.

When we finished that we drove out Grand Wash Road to the end and had our lunch.  We then drove up to the Gifford House where we bought some pies and scones.  Our next stop was at the Fruita School House.

Since it was early in the day, we made the climb up Highway 12 to the top of the 9600 foot pass where we got to see some amazing views of Capital Reef and beyond.  There were a lot of elk hunters up in this area.

Today were going to make the run down to Panguitch, UT where we will spend a couple of night and visit Bryce Canyon National Park.

October 20, 2014

We had an easy drive down to Panguitch yesterday, getting into the Red Canyon RV Park and Campground about 1:00 PM.  After getting setup, we took a drive up the mountain to the visitors center at Bryce Canyon National Park to check out what we will be doing today.

We then drove back down to see what was happening in Panguitch and I can tell you without a doubt, that town rolls up the sidewalks on Sunday.  We were able to get some gas for the car and I think there was one restaurant open.

Since there was still a lot of daylight left in the day, we drove back up Highway 12 so we could get some pictures.  This is one of Utah’s Scenic Byways that is not to be missed if you are ever in the area.  Every turn in the road presents a new Kodak Moment.  It’s a good thing we have digital cameras these days!

 Yep!  It really looked like this.

More on our visit to Bryce next time.

Barry & Joyce