Jun 12-15 this year we took a wonderful trip to southern Utah to travel Highway 12. Last time we drove this highway was in the summer of 2007. We drove it back then from Capitol Reef National Park toward Zion's National Park and ended up in St. George to visit family. It was a great trip then, but a little too fast paced.
This time we slowed it down a little bit and traveled from Cedar City onto Highway 12 and toward Capitol Reef. It was a spectacular trip. Some of you in the Western states may remember the wonderful and mild spring and early summer we enjoyed. It was the same in this fairly high country down south, it had been raining and it was cool, beautiful, and green. The air was clear and the clouds were unique and of every sort, not just that boring blue sky. This was perfect hiking and picture taking weather.
This is a gem of a weekend trip that many don't know about, even locals. This is fast on its way to becoming a tradition for us.
We started out by driving down I-15 to Cedar City. We drove up Cedar Canyon, which in and of itself is a very pretty drive, and stopped at Cedar Breaks National Monument. We didn't stay for long, but we visited most of the view points. We spoke some with a neat couple from New Zealand who had rented an RV and were traveling the United States for three months. The wind was really kicking up at the northern viewpoint!
Above is at the lookout while driving up Cedar Canyon. That's my GPS on the sign, I wanted to know how high up we were. Spectacular view! I don't remember what dumb joke I cracked to make Joanna laugh.
Above is from one of the viewpoints in the middle of Cedar Breaks. The drop is a couple thousand feet to the trees below. This is the same rock layer that forms Bryce Canyon, where we spent the next day!
This is a panorama shot I made of the Cedar Breaks amphitheater. As will be the theme throughout this entry, the pictures don't do anything justice!
Here is a picture from the Northern viewpoint looking South into Cedar Breaks. The wind was crazy here! The video below will illustrate what I mean. Note the beautiful clouds. No simple blank blue skies on this trip, but rich and interesting sky layers! Parallax scrolling at its finest.
I am yelling in this video, but sometimes you still can't hear it. Joanna was frozen to the bone in a matter of seconds after stepping to the edge. Me, with a little more natural insulation, only had my ears and hands "severely chilled" by the frigid gusts.
That evening we had a rousing nightlife experience in the city of Panguitch, consisting of an exciting visit to the local pharmacy for some allergy medication. Realizing that was all the action we could get there, we headed out and a little later checked in the the "Bryce Grand" hotel just south of Bryce Canyon. It had just been completed, and like all new construction, was working hard to suck all moisture out of the air and earth around it. Every morning we awoke needing to drink about 10 glasses of water. Otherwise though, the room was great.
But what was even better was Bryce Canyon itself. The weather was absolutely perfect in every way. I mean, PERFECT. I really could just go on and on. High 60s during the day, broken clouds that seemed to offer shade just when we needed it, and a mild breeze. We hiked from Bryce Point through the amphitheater to Sunset point on the Navajo trail. It went up and down and up and down through the hoodoos and canyons. There was significant wildlife and the flora was excellent also due to the recent rains.
Joanna at the Bryce Point lookout. I may belabor this point, but the clouds are rockin'! So are the amazing hoodoos. The amphitheater is so majestic, and as usual, the eye popping beauty is only partially captured in photos.
I like stuff that's pretty.
This tree's roots had been exposed by erosion, or something. It was pretty neat to see the roots snaking down the hillside.
The infamous Gowans flaming arrow from my family. Unfortunately Joanna has put all the native Gowans family folks to shame by excelling at her flaming arrow precision crafted stance.
Since it was spring, there was much new growth on the pine trees. This new growth had this remarkable, velvety feel. Joanna couldn't get enough of it. She would talk to the trees and tell them they were pretty. She was right.
After this fine hike, we thought we would hike the rim back to our car at Bryce Point. We had the option of taking a shuttle, but thought the rim would be prettier, and we had the energy still. As we were leaving Sunset Point on the rim trail, everyone was hurriedly hiking to opposite direction. I saw up ahead some looming dark clouds. I talked to Joanna about how it was probably okay if we got a little wet, we had the gear for it. I thought for a second about all the burned out trees on the rim that have been hit by lightning over the years and said, "We should stay inside of the rim as much as we can, and if you feel your hair standing on end, run or drop or something. But we should be fine." Well, the people were flowing faster and they were looking at us heading toward the stormcloud like we were a little crazy.
The wind was kicking up and I was contemplating heading for cover when I was startled by a lightning strike only about 100 yards away off the rim of the amphitheater. CRASH!!!! about a millisecond later, and Joanna and I might as well have been scared deer at that point. She runs into me and I run into her as we bolt into the forest away from the rim. Seriously, I'm glad I went to the bathroom at Sunset Point or I'd have been in trouble! I have never heard anything so loud in my life! It is really beyond the point where you can decide to be manly or anything, it was pure flight mode.
Almost immediately after the crash, pea and marble sized hail started pelting us. Honestly, it hurt a little bit and we looked for cover under the paltry evergreen trees in the fields west of the trail. They weren't much help. As we were now freestyling over the meadow, too scared to go back to the trail, we scared a group of three deer to death as we rounded a tree and nearly tripped over them. They bounded off hurriedly. I've never run into deer before, so that was interesting. At that point I was finally getting over the adrenaline and we stopped and took this video. The video of course doesn't do it justice. There was constant thunder, the hail was very loud, and I was kind of yelling over it all.
That evening we had a rousing nightlife experience in the city of Panguitch, consisting of an exciting visit to the local pharmacy for some allergy medication. Realizing that was all the action we could get there, we headed out and a little later checked in the the "Bryce Grand" hotel just south of Bryce Canyon. It had just been completed, and like all new construction, was working hard to suck all moisture out of the air and earth around it. Every morning we awoke needing to drink about 10 glasses of water. Otherwise though, the room was great.
But what was even better was Bryce Canyon itself. The weather was absolutely perfect in every way. I mean, PERFECT. I really could just go on and on. High 60s during the day, broken clouds that seemed to offer shade just when we needed it, and a mild breeze. We hiked from Bryce Point through the amphitheater to Sunset point on the Navajo trail. It went up and down and up and down through the hoodoos and canyons. There was significant wildlife and the flora was excellent also due to the recent rains.
Joanna at the Bryce Point lookout. I may belabor this point, but the clouds are rockin'! So are the amazing hoodoos. The amphitheater is so majestic, and as usual, the eye popping beauty is only partially captured in photos.
I like stuff that's pretty.
This tree's roots had been exposed by erosion, or something. It was pretty neat to see the roots snaking down the hillside.
The infamous Gowans flaming arrow from my family. Unfortunately Joanna has put all the native Gowans family folks to shame by excelling at her flaming arrow precision crafted stance.
Since it was spring, there was much new growth on the pine trees. This new growth had this remarkable, velvety feel. Joanna couldn't get enough of it. She would talk to the trees and tell them they were pretty. She was right.
After this fine hike, we thought we would hike the rim back to our car at Bryce Point. We had the option of taking a shuttle, but thought the rim would be prettier, and we had the energy still. As we were leaving Sunset Point on the rim trail, everyone was hurriedly hiking to opposite direction. I saw up ahead some looming dark clouds. I talked to Joanna about how it was probably okay if we got a little wet, we had the gear for it. I thought for a second about all the burned out trees on the rim that have been hit by lightning over the years and said, "We should stay inside of the rim as much as we can, and if you feel your hair standing on end, run or drop or something. But we should be fine." Well, the people were flowing faster and they were looking at us heading toward the stormcloud like we were a little crazy.
The wind was kicking up and I was contemplating heading for cover when I was startled by a lightning strike only about 100 yards away off the rim of the amphitheater. CRASH!!!! about a millisecond later, and Joanna and I might as well have been scared deer at that point. She runs into me and I run into her as we bolt into the forest away from the rim. Seriously, I'm glad I went to the bathroom at Sunset Point or I'd have been in trouble! I have never heard anything so loud in my life! It is really beyond the point where you can decide to be manly or anything, it was pure flight mode.
Almost immediately after the crash, pea and marble sized hail started pelting us. Honestly, it hurt a little bit and we looked for cover under the paltry evergreen trees in the fields west of the trail. They weren't much help. As we were now freestyling over the meadow, too scared to go back to the trail, we scared a group of three deer to death as we rounded a tree and nearly tripped over them. They bounded off hurriedly. I've never run into deer before, so that was interesting. At that point I was finally getting over the adrenaline and we stopped and took this video. The video of course doesn't do it justice. There was constant thunder, the hail was very loud, and I was kind of yelling over it all.
We clomped over the uneven ground toward sunset point and waited it out underneath the eaves of the bathroom building, elbowing a place amongst the other tourists. In moments, the parking lot was a muddy mess and there were piles of hail around the buildings where they'd rolled off the roofs.
We took the shuttle back to Bryce point. Which was just as well because we needed to go to some of the other lookouts further south.
As one proceeds south on the Bryce Canyon drive, the elevation continues to rise. As the end of the road is Yovimpa and Rainbow points. I absolutely love the views from up here, and I got out the tripod and took a few pictures. Joanna and I walked the Bristlecone loop, it is peaceful, and quiet, and it smells good. Here's some photos. The first is a panorama off Rainbow Point I think. But it could have been Yovimpa. One faces North, the other South. I wish I remembered!
This is definitely at Yovimpa looking along the edge of the cliff, and a fine wall to my left.
Joanna's kind 'tree'tment of the trees continued. She liked this one. It was cute. I am sure they are growing better because of her encouraging words. She's all bundled up because the wind was a little much for her. It was colder and windier up there.
I wish I could continue to write about everything is as much detail, but Bryce Canyon was certainly a big highlight! We stayed another night and headed out on Highway 12 the next morning. We stopped at Petrified Forest State Park near Escalante. It was really much more interesting than I expected, and there was a plethora of petrified rock all over the place. We took a small hike around, the weather was great, and seeing the rock was a novel experience. There were also some kind of bug out there that were like crickets on speed, and they made their noises in the daytime, and the sound was nearly deafening! Here are some pics of the petrified wood. It was buried, sometimes above the ground. That last piece had wonderful striations!
This was my attempt at "The Thinker" I should have been looking down, but hey, I like to look to heaven when I think:
We drove the "Burr Trail Scenic Road" later that day. It was so pretty! Very remote also. It heads out of Boulder toward the southern end of Capitol Reef National Park, and goes through a pretty red rock canyon. Just before the canyon was a trailhead that was remote and desolate. Joanna and I parked and walked this crazy trail that seemed to be heading nowhere in particular. I have never felt so much like I was in the wild. The trail was overgrown with large wiry bushes, and there were aspen trees with giant cobwebs the size of mailboxes that had leaves and bugs in them of all kinds, like giant spiders or something were incubating within. We saw Mountain Lion tracks in the wet sand of the little creek that were very fresh (I wish I'd taken a picture of them.) After a while, it was just too unpleasant. Bugs, weird noises, it was like a Halloween trail or something and we got the bejeezuhs. We turned around after about 1/2 mile. Great memory though. I'll have to go back when I am in the mood for a wilderness experience.
We continued on to Capitol Reef National Park. Right at the border the road changes to gravel. We didn't want to get Betsy (our car) really dirty, but I knew about some really crazy switchback roads that went down the east side of the reef where the road crosses it and I just HAD to see them. They were awesome! We didn't drive down them, but some crazy folks in a beat up old Audi went tearing down them while we were looking around at high speed. This picture doesn't do them any justice, but the view from this area was incredible.
We headed up over the mountains toward Torrey, UT- the entrance to the better known area of Capitol Reef. These mountains are amazing, reaching over 10000 feet in this area, and there are a number of breathtaking viewpoints where, on a really clear day (and the air is so clean and clear out here) you can see over 100 miles! Here is a view from the mountains toward the south I think:
A picture of Joanna enjoying the view, and our fine Toyota Camry, "Betsy". Betsy is a good hard working car. And she takes care of us when we are in the middle of nowhere.
We stayed the night there, and the next morning took a hike to the "viewpoint" of the Golden Throne, some giant dome of rock high up in the reef. You can't really get to it, the whole hike is just a beautiful walk along the cliff of a wash up to a fine viewpoint. Joanna didn't get this at first, but it became obvious that we were there just to "look around" when we reached the end of the trail:
Here is the "Golden Throne" itself! Behold:
Joanna found a very nice throne of her own while we were hiking the trail:
So that's a brief overview of our trip! It was so great this time. Definitely on a way to being a tradition. We actually returned to Capitol Reef this fall, but that is a story for another time. If you are ever in Utah and want to go for a great weekender, consider Highway 12!
We took the shuttle back to Bryce point. Which was just as well because we needed to go to some of the other lookouts further south.
As one proceeds south on the Bryce Canyon drive, the elevation continues to rise. As the end of the road is Yovimpa and Rainbow points. I absolutely love the views from up here, and I got out the tripod and took a few pictures. Joanna and I walked the Bristlecone loop, it is peaceful, and quiet, and it smells good. Here's some photos. The first is a panorama off Rainbow Point I think. But it could have been Yovimpa. One faces North, the other South. I wish I remembered!
This is definitely at Yovimpa looking along the edge of the cliff, and a fine wall to my left.
Joanna's kind 'tree'tment of the trees continued. She liked this one. It was cute. I am sure they are growing better because of her encouraging words. She's all bundled up because the wind was a little much for her. It was colder and windier up there.
I wish I could continue to write about everything is as much detail, but Bryce Canyon was certainly a big highlight! We stayed another night and headed out on Highway 12 the next morning. We stopped at Petrified Forest State Park near Escalante. It was really much more interesting than I expected, and there was a plethora of petrified rock all over the place. We took a small hike around, the weather was great, and seeing the rock was a novel experience. There were also some kind of bug out there that were like crickets on speed, and they made their noises in the daytime, and the sound was nearly deafening! Here are some pics of the petrified wood. It was buried, sometimes above the ground. That last piece had wonderful striations!
This was my attempt at "The Thinker" I should have been looking down, but hey, I like to look to heaven when I think:
We drove the "Burr Trail Scenic Road" later that day. It was so pretty! Very remote also. It heads out of Boulder toward the southern end of Capitol Reef National Park, and goes through a pretty red rock canyon. Just before the canyon was a trailhead that was remote and desolate. Joanna and I parked and walked this crazy trail that seemed to be heading nowhere in particular. I have never felt so much like I was in the wild. The trail was overgrown with large wiry bushes, and there were aspen trees with giant cobwebs the size of mailboxes that had leaves and bugs in them of all kinds, like giant spiders or something were incubating within. We saw Mountain Lion tracks in the wet sand of the little creek that were very fresh (I wish I'd taken a picture of them.) After a while, it was just too unpleasant. Bugs, weird noises, it was like a Halloween trail or something and we got the bejeezuhs. We turned around after about 1/2 mile. Great memory though. I'll have to go back when I am in the mood for a wilderness experience.
We continued on to Capitol Reef National Park. Right at the border the road changes to gravel. We didn't want to get Betsy (our car) really dirty, but I knew about some really crazy switchback roads that went down the east side of the reef where the road crosses it and I just HAD to see them. They were awesome! We didn't drive down them, but some crazy folks in a beat up old Audi went tearing down them while we were looking around at high speed. This picture doesn't do them any justice, but the view from this area was incredible.
We headed up over the mountains toward Torrey, UT- the entrance to the better known area of Capitol Reef. These mountains are amazing, reaching over 10000 feet in this area, and there are a number of breathtaking viewpoints where, on a really clear day (and the air is so clean and clear out here) you can see over 100 miles! Here is a view from the mountains toward the south I think:
A picture of Joanna enjoying the view, and our fine Toyota Camry, "Betsy". Betsy is a good hard working car. And she takes care of us when we are in the middle of nowhere.
We stayed the night there, and the next morning took a hike to the "viewpoint" of the Golden Throne, some giant dome of rock high up in the reef. You can't really get to it, the whole hike is just a beautiful walk along the cliff of a wash up to a fine viewpoint. Joanna didn't get this at first, but it became obvious that we were there just to "look around" when we reached the end of the trail:
Here is the "Golden Throne" itself! Behold:
Joanna found a very nice throne of her own while we were hiking the trail:
So that's a brief overview of our trip! It was so great this time. Definitely on a way to being a tradition. We actually returned to Capitol Reef this fall, but that is a story for another time. If you are ever in Utah and want to go for a great weekender, consider Highway 12!
1 comment:
Ha! Your description of the lightning-induced panic attack made me laugh out loud. That's a sure sign of a well-written blog post. Thanks for the chuckle.
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