We are packed and on our way!
We are packed and on our way! We originally planned to rent a RV and travel for 3 weeks up to Utah to visit some National parks and then continue up to go to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Well, Mr. Collard couldn't get the time off so we did the next best thing...11 days in Utah camping in a tent! We don't know why we didn't check into renting the RV for this trip--because it was only 11 days instead of 21?? We still don't completely understand our thought process on that one.
We were on the road later than planned (surprise, surprise) but we were on the way. We stopped to buy ice for our new fancy dancy cooler--it will keep ice for 5 days!! Then we were on the road around 7:30am. The plan was to head up to Bryce National Park...google maps said it should take about 7 1/2 hours to get there. I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep the night before so my plan was to sleep the whole way up there...and I pretty much did that. I am very fortunate that I can sleep easily in a car however I couldn't recline my seat even an inch so it wasn't the most comfortable sleeping position. Jason did get a kick out of swerving the car so that my head would bob around...he thought it was hilarious...I didn't :)
I couldn't believe when we got in the car to get on the road that I hadn't noticed all this extra space! Once we got on the road, I managed to find something for this spot also.
Here are some views from the road
We got to Bryce in the afternoon...we lost an hour on the way there but had no problems finding a campsite. We didn't get our first choice but we did get a great site. We got camp all set up and decided to do the scenic drive...
We settled on Site 99 for our two nights of camping.
After getting the camp all set up, we went on a drive...first to the general store...then onto the scenic drive. The general store at Bryce completely ROCKS!!! Anything and everything you could want was here...and reasonably priced! They had firewood, toiletries, beer, eggs, steaks, camp supplies, gifts...everything! We did learn that when the general store was constructed, the roof was made with a design in the shingles to look like a wave...to better fit in with the surroundings. You can't really see it in the picture but the roof did have a wavy appearance.
They even had a gas station at one time.
We decided to drive up the scenic drive--18 miles one way. We drove straight to the end of the road and stopped at the overlooks on our way back. The first overlook is Rainbow Point and Yovimpa Point. They offer expansive views of Southern Utah and on clear days you can see the Kaibab Plateau in Arizona which is 90 miles away...it was not our lucky day but we still had awesome views.
Rainbow Point...with beautiful views and an interesting warning!
So we are camping...where are we suppose to keep our valuables? In our tent?? I think we will risk it and keep them locked in the glove box.
We went on the 1 mile Bristlecone Loop Trail at Rainbow Point.
Ok, at this point, I am questioning my choice for a spring vacation. Snow...is that SNOW?? I know that I am freezing my butt off but SNOW? Thankfully, the snow was only at the highest elevation at Bryce and our trip did eventually warm up once we left Bryce!
To quote the following sign on the Bristlecone Pine tree...
"Bristlecones thrive where few other plants can grow. At the windiest point of the trail, on bare rocky ground, this bristlecone has lasted more than 1,600 years.
Bristlecone pines can survive prolonged drought. When branches and portions of the trunk appear dead, other limbs may function as the main trunk. This bristlecone's trunk has been dead a long time, while a surviving branch has become the new tree."
Ok, how do they KNOW it is 1,600 years old? I just don't get it...but it was a really, really cool tree! You can tell the dead part and the part that is alive even when it doesn't have needles!
We followed the trail down...even though there were warnings, we had to check out the building. We don't know what it was...thought maybe an outhouse but that couldn't be. There were solar panels on the building and windows...I can just imagine someone somewhere in an office watching a video tape of us walking right by the building! I believe there were cameras inside and don't know if they use it to watch the weather or what.
When then continued down to Yavimpa Point...just one of the many lookouts we will be stopping at.
I did see someone that has my sense of style :) Is that really a striped sweater with plaid shorts? Even I wouldn't do that!
We found this very funny and thought of our friend who is getting married at the end of the month! Her name is Molly....the first picture you can't really see it so we did a close up of Molly's Nipple...that just sounds bad :)
OH, OH, OH....our first wildlife sighting of the trip!!!
The first lookout on the trip back to camp was Black Birch Canyon. Here are some views from that lookout. We thought the hole in the rock (middle of the picture on the right) was really neat!
The next one was Ponderosa Canyon.
I think I should explain what the formations are. They are called Hoodoos and are pillars of rocks that are left by erosion. Basically years and years ago there was a plateau that was lifted up...younger layers lay next to older layers...and streams began to erode the layers of sediment away. If you think of a solid layer of land that has a crack in it, the crack slowly expands until it is more like fingers. Then the fingers will slowly erode into columns. The water freezing and thawing helps this erosion along. Most of the hoodoos have a hard cap of rock over softer layers...once that hard cap is gone, the pillar falls apart.
We had seen similar rock formations down at the Chiricahua's in Arizona. The Chiricahua's had more defined formations of gray rock...these were all beautiful colors of reds and oranges...just amazing!
This was a set of Hoodoos in the sand surrounded by trees. I just thought it was cool!
Then came Aqua Canyon...there is a Hoodoo called the Hunter here that has small trees growing on top of it. We tried to get a picture of it but it really was hard.
Next was one of our first Natural Bridges we would see...although technically it isn't a Bridge. A bridge is formed by a stream eroding the rock from the bottom...arches are formed by erosion cause by rain and frost from the top of the rock. Either way...bridge or arch...it was cool!
Farview Point was next...
Here there are Ponderosa Pines from the upper elevation and Douglas Fir and White Fir from the lower elevations.
We walked out to Piracy Point...didn't see any Pirates though.
The last stop was Swamp Canyon.
The view from here...they kind of all look the same after a while!
We realized on the way back to camp that dinner hadn't thawed out yet! We were having fish for dinner and I know they thaw pretty quickly so we improvised! Nothing like being out camping!!
We saw some actual real wildlife on the way back to camp...turkeys...
Pronghorns...
Mule Deer...
Dinner Time...the fish thawed out although cooking it wasn't the easiest. We seem to have a few problems getting the charcoal ready at the same time as everything else. We had Parmesan Baked Fish for dinner that was actually Cheddar Baked Fish. I forgot the Parmesan Cheese and the Cayenne Pepper at home so we used what we had--Cheddar Cheese and Jamacian All Spice! Gotta love the Jamaican All Spice--it goes on everything!
This dinner might not have looked the prettiest but it got a big thumbs up! I have already made it again once we got home! We only hike a mile today since we were in the car driving so long...so 1 mile total for the trip.
