(Sorta) Salt Lake City

This is the only picture I have from this stop. One quick look at The Great Salt Lake.

I took others. The Mormon Temple. The State Capitol. But, they're gone. They vanished somewhere between my camera and the computer.

Curses!

There's some poetic justice in this mystery. You see, we weren't planning to stop in Salt Lake City. Now, it's like we weren't ever really here.

Our unplanned stop had one purpose: Get our house heat pump checked out. We found a certified service dealer, called and made sure they could do the work and drove 288 miles to the dealer.

Like our pictures, the trip to the dealer was a bust. The only thing we can say is avoid Blaine Jensen RV in Kaysville, Utah, at all costs.

That experience pretty much soured us on Salt Lake City. We sat around in the shade of the KOA for the weekend and tried to cool off. The absolutely best part of the stay was a nice happy hour tonight with Sharon and Fred, our neighbors from Zion River Resort. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of that get together. We were having too much fun.

Tomorrow, SLC will be a vague and distant memory. We're heading someplace cool!

Bryce Canyon

Over the last five days, we've Jeeped, hiked and shuttled around glorious Bryce Canyon. Along the way, we've taken a zillion photos. It's just that kind of place. This post is a feeble attempt to sum up our visit and illustrate the highlights of our new-favorite National Park.

The best way to see Bryce Canyon is to start at the top, up canyon, and work your way down. We started with a Jeep ride to this farthest and most photogenic spot, Rainbow Point. At an elevation of 9115 feet, this view will definitely take your breath away.

The next viewpoint is Black Birch Canyon. We gave ourselves one tough assignment to pick just one photo from each viewpoint.

Ponderosa Point offers a sweeping view of Ponderosa Canyon. The canyon is aptly named for the towering Ponderosa Pines on its floor.

The next stop down canyon is Agua Canyon. The taller formation on the right is known as "The Hunter". We didn't see the resemblance, but we definitely appreciated the view.

When we reached the Natural Bridge viewpoint, we chimed in unison, "That's not a bridge, it's an arch." Yes, this is one of several arches in Bryce Canyon. And, yes, it's official. We've spent so much time in this beautiful state we're becoming geology geeks.

Farview Point is appropriately named, indeed. On a clear day, you can see for some 160 absolutely stunning miles.

Lest you think we were the only folks visiting Bryce Canyon this holiday weekend, this was pretty much the scene at every viewpoint. There was quite a crowd of shutterbugs at Farview Point.

From Farview Point we left the crowds and took a very short hike over to Piracy Point. There, we got to enjoy the view to ourselves.

We couldn't see anything that resembled a swamp at the Swamp Canyon Viewpoint. The two creeks at the base of this canyon make this the wettest spot in the park.

The castle-like hoodoo at Paria View is the one formation in Bryce Canyon that faces the setting sun. It was hours from sunset when we stopped by and enjoyed this gorgeous afternoon view.

At Bryce Point, there are hoodoos everywhere you look. This is the place to catch a glorious sunrise. The canyon's namesake, Ebenezer Bryce, reportedly described this amazing sight as "a hell of a place to lose a cow."

We broke our own rules for this post with this second look at Bryce Point. The grottos, as they are known, guard the canyon walls in stark contrast to the rugged red hoodoos.

Bryce Point is the farthest viewpoint served by the park shuttle. We donned hiking gear, rode to the end of the shuttle line and hopped on the Rim Trail for a hike down the canyon. Nothing like a scenic morning hike at 8300-feet to get your heart pumping!

The Rim Trail gave us a chance to enjoy Bryce Amphitheater beyond the crowded viewpoints. Between Bryce Point and Inspiration Point, we shared the trail with just a few hikers.

With all of these scenic vistas, sometimes we had to give our eyes a rest and enjoy the wildflowers along the trail.

We wondered what the story was with this tree stump perched on the rim near Inspiration Point.

Even in less-than-flattering light, Inspiration Point is pretty inspiring!

We continued along the Rim Trail to Sunset Point, which looks good any time of day.

At Sunset Point we left the rim and climbed down into the canyon along the Navajo Loop Trail. It was a long hike down. How do we know?

We kept looking up! And, as every hiker knows, when you take a trail down sooner or later you must hike up.

When we reached the bottom of Navajo Loop we realized the rest of the "loop" to the top of the rim was closed. Not exactly wanting to go back up the way we came down, we opted to hike the Queen's Garden Trail. Seeing the hoodoos from this level gave us a whole new appreciation for them.

Who is that waiting on the other side of this skinny little arch? It's Paul, the worlds most patient hiker! And, I wonder why he calls me "Ansel" on the trail. Yes, I'm always taking pictures!

The climb back up the rim gave us a unique view on our last remaining viewpoint: Sunrise Point.

This hoodoo view as we approached the rim had one purpose. It was a much-needed place for us to sit and catch our breath. After nearly four miles on our feet, we were happy to catch the shuttle at Sunrise Point and return to Ruby's just in time for an afternoon thundershower complete with pea-sized hail.

Our days in Bryce Canyon inspired us to make plans to spend a few days camping in the North Campground. But, Bullwinkle's heat pump is acting up, so we're changing our plans. Instead of settling in to a rustic campsite in the park, we're hitting the road for Salt Lake City for repairs.

Our date with the North Campground will just have to wait.

Highway 12: A (Very) Scenic Byway

Utah's Highway 12, from south of Panguitch to Torrey, is a very special 124-mile stretch of road. Not only is it one of Utah's State Scenic Byways, it's also one of 31 All-American Roads. According to the Federal Highway Administration, this designation is given to roads that have features that do not exist elsewhere and are scenic enough to be tourist destinations unto themselves.

We're parked just a mile off this very special road, so we spent part of our Independence Day seeing what there is to see. Paul loaded a few geocaches into the GPS, I charged up the camera and we were off.

Our first stop was the Mossy Creek Trail. This one-mile round-trip hike is actually inside the boundaries of Bryce Canyon National Park. The trail runs along Mossy Creek, which is a popular swimming spot on a warm day, and offers some striking scenery.

The payoff for this short hike is Mossy Falls. Gorgeous! At a fork in the trail you get to choose between Mossy Cave and Mossy Falls. One of us isn't exactly a cave person, so we headed up to get a closer look at the falls.

This point at Mossy Falls is a "virtual cache". In the geocaching world, that means there isn't a physical cache to find. Instead, you have to provide a photo and/or answer some questions about the spot. The National Park Service doesn't allow placement of physical caches in its facilities. So, if you want to geocache in a National Park, you have to go virtual. Paul posed with GPS in hand to verify this virtual find.

Our scenic geocaching adventure continued on down the road, where I soon found myself standing in the weeds....

...while Paul made our 700th find at a place called Birth Rock. According to local geocachers, this huge boulder got its name when it descended from the cliff across the road while a local woman was in labor. We didn't have to go to quite that much trouble to make this milestone cache.

Down the road toward Cannonville, Paul fought gnats and barbed wire to spot this cache...

...while I got a shot of the "neighborhood". Cemetery caches aren't exactly our favorites.

I picked up a cache in a cattle guard at this stop and took an extra moment to capture the amazing view along the byway.

Our next cache offered me a closer look at this geologic wonder...

...while Paul was out in the weeds finding another cache. (Are you noticing a trend here?)

Again, Paul is in the weeds signing a log after making a find...

...while Mary enjoys the scenery.

We ventured off-road a bit from Highway 12 in search of another cache. There goes Paul off to find the cache that's supposed to be somewhere in that canyon wall.

Meanwhile, I walked down the trail and found a much bigger crack! This scenic view inspired an idea for a portrait of one of our traveling companions.

Paul made the find. (He's over there somewhere!) Then, he hopped in the Jeep to help create...

...this special shot. Does Rocky look like he's in a Jeep commercial, or what?

It was getting late, and we had a holiday meal to prepare, so we got back on Highway 12 and headed back toward Bryce. We had just a taste of this very scenic byway. We look forward to seeing more of it sometime in the future.

On our return, we made a second attempt to find a virtual cache at the intersection of Highway 12 and the road to Bryce Canyon. The title of this cache was "Endangered Species". The task was to identify an animal that's protected in Utah. Earlier, we arrived at the cache coordinates to find nothing. But, on this trip we broadened our search and found the remains of this sign strewn some 20 feet away.

We're not sure which is more endangered: the Utah Prairie Dog or the signs designed to protect them?

Panguitch

One of the joys of traveling the country is partaking in community celebrations, especially in the Summer. On this Independence Day, we traveled 22 miles to the northwest to celebrate with the people of Panguitch, Utah. This tiny town of 1,600 serves as an outpost for visitors to Bryce Canyon National Park and points east. Today it was host to a Fourth of July parade we will never forget.

As we found our way to the parade route, we passed by Quilt Walk Park. As local legend has it, during one particularly harsh winter during Panguitch's formative years (in the 1860s) seven brave men left the community in search of provisions in surrounding communities. Heavy snow forced the men to abandoned their wagons. Instead, they traveled on foot, laying one quilt after another on the snow to maintain their footing. The park memorializes their efforts, and includes a bench dedicated to each man. The city hosts a Quilt Walk Festival each June, which we just missed.

The Panguitch parade got underway with an enthusiastic presentation of the colors by family members of our nation's troops.

Especially today, we're so thankful their daddy is protecting our freedom and our nation.

Nothing about this parade was fancy. These ATVs were the closest thing to a float. Though they were simple, they were quite festive.

Every kid in Panguitch was in the parade. Or, so it seemed. These two were having a great time.

Just about the time we were wondering if we'd see any horses in this parade, along came a dog wearing a saddle, riding in an ATV. His chauffeur was throwing candy.

Every parade has to have horses and pretty girls. This one had exactly three girls on two horses. It was their job to bring up the rear of the parade.

But wait. There's more! We noticed that none of the spectators were moving. And, we wondered why. A few minutes later, the parade came through once more. That's right. They got to the end of the route and turned around. We got two parades for the price of one. And, we were sure not to miss a thing.

No Shriners on scooters, but this little girl had a couple of flags flying from her pretty pink scooter.

At some point, we weren't sure which direction to look. The parade participants were going every which way. But, they were all having fun.

Kids. Dogs. Balloons. What else does a parade need?

Here come the ATVs again. Seriously, folks. You have seen just about the entire parade. And, it lasted just about as long as it's taken you to read this post.

This cute little guy was the last participant to pass by. And, with that, the Panguitch parade was in the books.

Back at our rolling home, Paul prepared an All-American dinner of brats and fixins. Later, under comfortably cool starlit skies, we enjoyed Ruby's fantastic fireworks display just steps away from our site.

We hope everyone enjoyed a safe and happy holiday.