Hiking & Hoodoos: Southwest USA (2012) Days 4 & 5

Hi everyone! It’s me, Phyllis, filling in for Jaspa as guest blogger today!

After trying (as usual) to wring the most out of Day 3, we arrived at our apartment for the coming week well after dark. The the final stretch of road wound treacherously up the mountain, making us a little unsure about whether we’d be brave enough to venture back down again.

I can see our house from here – view from the top of Brian Head

We had been advised to take it easy for a few days while our bodies adjusted to life at over 10,000 feet above sea level. Rich and Sue are notoriously bad at taking it easy when on an adventure, but for once good sense prevailed, resulting in a relatively slow start to Saturday (morning 4).

 

 

Me with Sue and Jaspa at Cedar Breaks

The bright sunshiny morning brought with it the realization that the roads on the mountain weren’t so bad, so the first thing we did… was go even higher… right to the summit at 11,307 feet! After that insanity, we spent a little time at Cedar Breaks, spoilt only by what Gravee described as “bairns greetin’ like jessies” (which loosely translated means “children behaving badly”).

 

The rest of the day was spent lightly geocaching, gathering up a bunch of challenge caches, many of which were rated 5/5! We were back at the apartment at dusk… and were welcomed home by a porcupine!!

Me and Jaspa at Bryce Canyon

Yesterday morning (Sunday), the clocks going back, combined with the randomness of the various electronic devices ability to register time zone changes, caused initial confusion about what time it was. The result was we got a pretty early start for our journey to Bryce Canyon National Park. The sights on the drive were incredible, the viewpoints in the park itself were spectacular.

Me, Gravee, Jaspa, Portia, Ernest and Bisckits overlooking the amphitheatre at Bryce Canyon

Heading down the Navajo Trail into the canyon

At some point, late in the afternoon, Rich and Sue decided to throw ‘taking it easy’ out the window and hike down to the canyon floor, even though they must have known they’d have to hike back up! I’m so glad they did it. The views from the top were breathtaking, but being on the canyon floor, walking through the passages and the amongst the hoodoos was indescribable. I have to say I was glad that me, Jaspa and the other Ses rode the whole time in the camera bag (getting out for the occasional photo, of course), because the thin air really took its toll on the way out.

Redwoods on Wall Street

At the bottom

Two more fantastic days on our adventure around the southwest USA. Can’t wait to see what what tomorrow will bring! Who knows… perhaps Jaspa will let me contribute to the vacation blog again if people like what I’ve written this time!

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