Bryce Canyon, Utah

Since we have not been summonsed to a service bay as yet, I am using the "down time" to catch up on my blogging.

This entry will cover our trip to and visit to Bryce Canyon, Utah. Last fall, we visited Zion National Park, about 50 miles south of Bryce Canyon. At that time, we felt that Bryce would be more of the same scenery we saw in Zion. Well, now I can say that that perception was totally wrong!
From Red Bay, Alabama - Friday, October 30thBryce Canyon National Park is even more spectacular than Zion! That is due to the fact that the views in Bryce are from the top of the canyon walls, while Zion takes you into the canyons from below.

Our "base camp" was a campground in Panguitch, Utah, which is about 23 miles from the entrance to Bryce Canyon. While in Panquitch, we stopped in to the local cafe for coffee after our visit to Bryce Canyon. While there, we got into a conversation with the waitress behind the counter. She told us about where she lived, on Panguitch Lake, about 15 miles south of town, and how beautiful the scenery and landscape was out there. She also told us about another spectacular canyon overlook, which was about another 15 miles, or so, beyond the lake. Since it was a beautiful afternoon, and we had plenty of daylight left, we decided to drive out to see this canyon overlook.

As we started out, we were excited and anxious to see this overlook. However, our excitement began to fade the further we drove. We were out in the middle of nowhere, without a clue as to what to expect. The further we drove, the more we felt that we had been duped into taking a "wild goose chase". Since I was driving, I insisted that we keep going "just a little farther along". Finally, we came to the end of the road, where we had to go right or left. The waitress had told us we would find this, and that we should go to the right, which we did. A bit further up the road, we came to the overlook. As we exited the car, we immediately felt the cold wind and we could see snow on the ground at the base of the overlook wall. Poor Charlie Burch! He was only wearing shorts and a tee shirt. Kathy and I were wearing jeans and fleece jackets, so we weren't feeling AS COLD! But it was well worth the trip and the cold! The views from up here were as spectacular, if not more so, as Bryce Canyon. The bonus was that the rock formations up here had snow on them. Our altitude up here was 11,000 feet! We were quite happy that we "stuck it out" and made it to this spot. We have some great pictures in the web album, so be sure to check them out.

The next morning, sadly, we headed south from Bryce, heading for Flagstaff, AZ, where the weather, we hoped, would be a little warmer. Check the next edition of the blog for that trip.

Here is the link to the web album for today's blog:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cbenoitiii/BryceCanyonUT?authkey=Gv1sRgCJew4t6H7b315gE&feat=directlink