There were at least a dozen 180º hairpin turns up the canyon walls to reach a mile long tunnel bored through a mountain to exit the park. Absolutely spectacular!!
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| The hole in the cliff side is an air hole for the tunnel deep inside the mountain |
After leaving the park, we drove (seemingly forever) to Bryce Canyon National Park. The NPS (National Park Service) operates a shuttle between the entrance and all the stops along the park but cars are allowed at all the stops. We elected to drive ourselves and risk a parking hassle. The hassle never occurred.
We were able to stop and park at any spot we wanted with only two short delays in finding a spot. Zion and Brice are different in topography and geography but both are breathtaking. As we travel this country and see the different parks set aside for public enjoyment and conservation, we continue to run out of superlatives and admiration for those in public service who have set aside these lands.
The total distance from entrance to end of the road was 18 miles with a turn around and return on the same road. As most stops were on the drivers side of the car, we entered and drove the entire 18 miles with only one stop, Bryce Point.
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| Columns of sandstone |
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| Bryce Point canyon floor |
Signs along the road warned of wildlife in the area and we were rewarded with several views of grazing antelope. They paid no attention to the nearby traffic.
After that stop, we drove to the end of the road, had lunch and returned toward the entrance with the stops we wanted to see. We stopped at Natural Bridge and Fairview Point, two of the eight park indicated 'best view' spots. We also turned off at a few 'turnout points' to get glimpses of not so well known views.
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| Natural Bridge |
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| Columns of weathered sandstone |
As we were approaching the exit point of the park, a male antelope approached the roadway, stopped, gauged the traffic, waited until everyone had stopped, and then made a dash across the road. He knew the game. We were unable to get our cameras running in time for a video but that guy bounded across the road and trotted out and up the field in good order. Nice to watch..
We departed the park @2:00 and headed the next 111 miles toward Torrey, Utah and Canyon Reef National Park. The road we followed, route 12, wound along a knife edge ridge that had almost no shoulder on either side. The road was two way, narrow, twisting and offered a magnificent view on both side (since there were no trees along the roadside.) Scary in some places as the ridgeline road we were following twisted and turned with almost no warning of dips and turns. Fun!
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| "First you turn left, then you turn right, then do it all again........" |
Route 12 follows the exact route taken by John Wesley Powells's brother-in-law in mapping the "unknown territory" that had not been previously mapped by his explorations of the southwest.
Torrey Utah is not known for having the greatest selections of motels. We stopped in the 'Capitol Reef Resort', an overpriced 1960's retro motel. Surprisingly clean, quiet, and with an absolutely dynamite view of the western edge of the Capitol Reef escarpment just outside the door. Magnificent!!
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| View from our front door at the Capitol Reef Resort at sunrise |
The general plan for tomorrow is to get out early (yeah, right!), tour Capitol Reef National Park and head off toward Arches National Park. We will likely stay in Moab Utah tomorrow night, then boogie off into Colorado on Sunday morning. If Arches proves to be as good as the descriptions, we may stay two nights.
Stay tuned, more will be revealed...😃
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