The day after we visited the Bryce Canyon Rim we drove back through Red Canyon and the Bryce Canyon Valley on our way to Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. From the Bryce Valley we got views of the rim nearly 2,000 feet above us, another beautiful drive but not many photo ops however on the way back we did find one pullover where we had lunch with a good view.

We were traveling on the All-American Road Scenic Byway 12 which is designated as one of the most beautiful places on earth connecting Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef National Parks with Grand Staircase-Escalante between. We stopped at the Grand Staircase visitors center and then continued this beautiful drive to Escalante. Another wonderful day enjoying God’s creation.

Our stop for lunch!

Back through Red Canyon

Our drive today was to Bryce Canyon National Park. We were there in the early 90s and with all of our travels I have said it is the most beautiful park and today that confirmed my belief. On the road in we drove through Red Canyon and WOW, the light was right and the canyon is an awesome welcome on the way to Bryce and we knew that on the way out the light would be different and another WOW.

The Senior Pass is one of the best $10 I ever spent as the entrance fee to this park is now $35. After we stopped at the visitor center out first stop was Sunrise Point at an elevation of 8015 feet and about a .5 mile walk from the parking area and when we reached the rim we were in awe once again. It is hard to share in words and pictures the feelings of pleasure and sense of awesome wonder. We pulled into every view point with the same feeling. In the areas where you can see the hiking trails I had to hold back because I wanted to go into the canyon like I did many years ago but at 8 to 9,000 feet I held back and Karen kept watch over me.

We stopped for lunch at one of the overlooks and didn’t want to leave and as we continued our drive back Karen spotted some Prong Horn Sheep and I was able to get a few pictures. We stopped in Bryce Canyon City and had an ice cream sundae and picked up a couple of nice place mats for our dining table. Then we drove back through Red Canyon and decided to go back and explore it the next day.

Last week we were at a Cardinal RV Club Rally at Salt Lake City and had a wonderful time with our friends. The first day we arrived we drove to a CVS in Salt Lake City and decided that we did not want to do that major traffic drive again, so we stayed at the campground and visited. We then drove to Baker, NV to visit the Great Basin National Park. The campground is on the border of Utah and Nevada, so we crossed the time zone when walking across the parking lot. The park only had one main road The Wheeler Peak Road which wound up an 8 percent grade from 6,000 to 10,000 feet. It was a beautiful drive with only a couple of places to stop. When we arrive at the end of the 12mile road we took a short but very nice ¼ mile loop trail through the Aspen and Pine. This walk was a challenge for me because I can no longer tolerate the altitude, Karen did much better. I had a similar experience in the Sequoia NP so lesson learned, in the future we will adjust our visits and hiking so we can enjoy our visits of God’s wonderful creation.