Grand Canyon North Rim

On Thursday, August 27th we drove over to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  The guide books recommend that you start your visit at the lodge.  When you pull up to the lodge it looks similar to all the lodges in the National Parks that we have seen, brown and unassuming.  When you walk in the front door there is a set of steps going down, at the bottom of the steps is a picture window, two stories from floor to ceiling and the view will take your breath away!  We did the walk near the lodge Angels Point, and it was beautiful.  Then we drove over to Cape Royal.  Oh my, WOW is the only words we could use to describe what we saw, it was even more beautiful than the view from the lodge.  We stopped at all of the overlooks.  Cape Royal Point and Angels Window were probably our two favorites if we had to narrow it down.  We took so many beautiful pictures I could not narrow it down, so I asked Wayne to select his favorites from the ones he took.  I did add one picture of Wayne that I took.  It is a long drive out to the North Rim because it is not near anything but it is well worth your time.  We are going to the South Rim soon too, but the North Rim will be hard to beat !!!

The lodge

Me at the picture window

Angels Window...see the dots on top, those are people.  The depth on the back to the canyon floor is over 4000 feet.

Bryce Part 5

Monday, August 24th was a day of rest and recovery, clothes washing, cleaning and blog posts.

Tuesday, August 25th was our last day at Bryce.  We did a short hike to Mossy Cave and Tropic Falls.  The Tropic Falls are actually man made. In 1892 the pioneers needed water for drinking and irrigation so they dug out along a natural seep and wash line to bring water to the town of Tropic.  There has only been one drought that has stopped the water from flowing.  After lunch we took one last look at the beautiful overlooks.  We will come back to Bryce Canyon some day to enjoy it again but also to ride the new bike trail they are working on now.  It will be a paved 28 mile trail and run from Bryce to Red Rock.

Wednesday, August 26th after the rain slowed down we left Bryce and drove to Zion West RV Park in Leeds, UT just outside of St George.  The afternoon was spent shopping in real stores!  We had spent 5 1/2 weeks in small Utah towns, it was nice to be in a city again.

Tropic Falls

Mossy Cave

This picture and all below it are from overlooks in Bryce Canyon National Park

There are ravens all over the park.  This one did not seem to mind everyone taking pictures.

Bryce Part 4

Once again we got a great suggestion for a place to hike.  On Sunday, August 23^rd we were thankful to have the Jeep as we drove down the dirt road to get to Willis Creek Canyon.  Willis Creek is part of the Grand Escalante National Monument.  It may be one of the best kept secrets in the park.  You can turn around at any time but we were enjoying it so hiked 3 miles in before turning around.  The creek goes through a series of 5 slot canyons each unique in their own way.  I think I have to rate this as my favorite hike of all we have done.  There was a new rewarding view all along the way.  And it was easy …until it started to rain.  Yes, flash floods are real with very little rain.  We had to scramble to get up a hill to get out. My phone got wet and Wayne dropped his favorite Tilley Hat in the water and we could not retrieve it. Still it was a wonderful hike.  Once again I have had a hard time choosing pictures to post.  There are LOTS more that I can share when I see you.

The road going in...they recommended four wheel drive