Travels of Geo Nova: Bryce, Zion and More

The "Cowboy"

Bryce, Zion and More

Because we missed seeing both Bryce Canyon and Zion Canyon stops on the caravan, we turned around in Santa Fe New Mexico, headed back west instead of starting our trek back to Florida. This westward sojourn also worked out perfect for a rendezvous with Zach. Los Angles is only a 6-7 hour car ride from South Western Utah. The place we picked for our get together was Snow Canyon State Park, arguably beautiful enough to be considered a National Park.

We allowed 3 days to get back to Bryce Canyon. The first night we made it to Winslow Arizona, a famous stop along RT 66. The next 2 nights we went to Kanab Utah the gateway to The Grand Staircase, Escalante National Monument. This is a very large track of land of more than 3 million acres as compared 38,000 acres of better-known Bryce Canyon. We hiked and drove through only a small portion of it.

Bryce Canyon was spectacular and more unique in its landscape than many of the other parks we have visited. In fact it is not a canyon but is composed of many smaller (that’s a relative term) amphitheaters. Geologically speaking the landscape was a large plateau that eroded away over time creating these amphitheaters filled with tall stone structures called hoodoos. Typical of my behavior our first day was frenetic, the day started with a 3-½ hour tour of the park and ended with a Ranger guided moonlight hiking tour down into the Canyon. A ½ day horseback ride into the canyon was sandwiched between. Needles to say were exhausted and a bit sore the next day.

After 3 nights at Bryce we’re off to Zion NP, perhaps one of the more visited parks in the system. Our first day we rented special boots and walking sticks to enable us to hike the Narrows, a “trail” up and in the Virgin river through a narrow canyon. We slept well that night after this 10-mile hike. The next day we explored more of the park.

Snow Canyon SP in St Georges Utah is only an hour drive away from Zion. We reserved a campsite for 4 nights to allow time for a visit with Zach. Here we hiked many of the trails exploring the varied geologic features including slot canyons, some with ancient petroglyths and a lava tube. This stop was special most of all because we got to spend some quality time with Zach, a rare commodity where he lives on the west coast and we are on the east coast.

This is where we start our journey southeast to Florida to spend the impending winter. Instead of making a beeline east we plan to stop along the way and see the sights. The first is the Petrified Forrest/ Painted desert National Park, recently combined into one park. On our way east the next day we “had to” stop in Gallup for lunch so we could get another southwestern meal at Jerry’s restaurant. It was as good as we the last time! After lunch we headed on one of our long hauls, went through 3 states, ending in Oklahoma City. Here we are going to spend 3 days exploring the city along with getting laundry and grocery shopping done.