Before leaving on our trip to Bryce National Park we took Caitlin to the dance studio where she left with the Performing Troupe for a trip to St. George. They were going to perform in a Pre-Show Performance at Tuachan. While there, they got to participate in a dance workshop at Tuachan with some of the performers, see the plays "Footloose" and "Annie," and go shopping at the outlet malls. Caitlin thought all of this preferable to camping and hiking with us in Bryce.....go figure?
Sam is going to miss his big sister!
Camp is officially set up! We like to camp at Ruby's Inn Campground. The campsites are nice and shady, you can use the indoor and outdoor pools, there's a great store, a rodeo every night, and most importantly (for me) the bathrooms are extremely clean with large, spacious showers that are not crowded. We even had internet access on our laptop from camp.
Breaking in the campsite with a glass of wine on our first night.
Sam is breaking in the campground with a root beer on our first night.
First day of hiking. We did three hikes this day, logging 9 miles total. The first hike was Peek-a-Boo Loop. This was BEFORE the rain.
Sam is imitating the tourists we saw from Eastern Europe. There was a whole bus full of them and they all felt compelled to stand as close to the edge as possible, throw their arms in the air, and have their picture taken. Why not? It's amazing! One of the things that we enjoy about visiting the national parks is the fact that you have the opportunity to be around tourists from so many different countires and you hear such a variety of languages. Although you might not always understand what they're saying, you know from the tone and inflection of their voices that they are awestruck by the beauty and vastness of this country.
Me and my hiking buddy. I love hiking with Sam.
Our attempt at the Leonardo da Vinci guy. Pretty lame attempt.
It rained. It hailed. It blew. Rivers ran down the trails. Fortunately for us, our sherpa, a.k.a. Chip, had the foresight to pack rain ponchos.
Even hiking in the rain is enjoyable and beautiful in Bryce.
After our rainy hike in Bryce we decied to head to Kodachrome Basin State Park, which was about 20 miles away. It was much sunnier there. We did two hikes....the first was to Shakespeare Arch, the only natural arch in the park.
Sam is in character as Moses. Hmmm....somehow I don't remember Charlton Heston doing this in The Ten Commandments.
Our second hike at Kodachrome Basin. It was actually very pretty there, but you definitely wouldn't want to be there on a very warm day.
Our second day of hiking begins. Sam and his new friend. Actually, the critters there are professionals at begging for food. This little guy sat there looking absolutely adorable and pathetic at the same time. All he got was a photo op out of us...no food.
This is at Bryce Point, where we began our first hike on our second day. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We hiked to Hat Shop, which was a much quieter hike than the our previous day's hike at Bryce. This one was about a 4-miler and had lots of Bristlecone pines. You weren't right amongst the hoodoos, like our hike the day before, but always had them in sight. After this hike, we hiked to Tower Bridge, which started at Sunrise Point. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! You were right down in the hoodoos. It was a little more crowded, but well worth it. We hiked a total of 17 miles on our trip, saw lots of amazing scenery, and replenished both body and mind. Chip and I are heading to Glacier National Park the last week of July, but are really itching to get to Capital Reef as a family sometime soon.
Before leaving on our trip to Bryce National Park we took Caitlin to the dance studio where she left with the Performing Troupe for a trip to St. George. They were going to perform in a Pre-Show Performance at Tuachan. While there, they got to participate in a dance workshop at Tuachan with some of the performers, see the plays "Footloose" and "Annie," and go shopping at the outlet malls. Caitlin thought all of this preferable to camping and hiking with us in Bryce.....go figure?
Sam is going to miss his big sister!
Camp is officially set up! We like to camp at Ruby's Inn Campground. The campsites are nice and shady, you can use the indoor and outdoor pools, there's a great store, a rodeo every night, and most importantly (for me) the bathrooms are extremely clean with large, spacious showers that are not crowded. We even had internet access on our laptop from camp.
Breaking in the campsite with a glass of wine on our first night.
Sam is breaking in the campground with a root beer on our first night.
First day of hiking. We did three hikes this day, logging 9 miles total. The first hike was Peek-a-Boo Loop. This was BEFORE the rain.
Sam is imitating the tourists we saw from Eastern Europe. There was a whole bus full of them and they all felt compelled to stand as close to the edge as possible, throw their arms in the air, and have their picture taken. Why not? It's amazing! One of the things that we enjoy about visiting the national parks is the fact that you have the opportunity to be around tourists from so many different countires and you hear such a variety of languages. Although you might not always understand what they're saying, you know from the tone and inflection of their voices that they are awestruck by the beauty and vastness of this country.
Me and my hiking buddy. I love hiking with Sam.
Our attempt at the Leonardo da Vinci guy. Pretty lame attempt.
It rained. It hailed. It blew. Rivers ran down the trails. Fortunately for us, our sherpa, a.k.a. Chip, had the foresight to pack rain ponchos.
Even hiking in the rain is enjoyable and beautiful in Bryce.
After our rainy hike in Bryce we decied to head to Kodachrome Basin State Park, which was about 20 miles away. It was much sunnier there. We did two hikes....the first was to Shakespeare Arch, the only natural arch in the park.
Sam is in character as Moses. Hmmm....somehow I don't remember Charlton Heston doing this in The Ten Commandments.
Our second hike at Kodachrome Basin. It was actually very pretty there, but you definitely wouldn't want to be there on a very warm day.
Our second day of hiking begins. Sam and his new friend. Actually, the critters there are professionals at begging for food. This little guy sat there looking absolutely adorable and pathetic at the same time. All he got was a photo op out of us...no food.
This is at Bryce Point, where we began our first hike on our second day. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We hiked to Hat Shop, which was a much quieter hike than the our previous day's hike at Bryce. This one was about a 4-miler and had lots of Bristlecone pines. You weren't right amongst the hoodoos, like our hike the day before, but always had them in sight. After this hike, we hiked to Tower Bridge, which started at Sunrise Point. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! You were right down in the hoodoos. It was a little more crowded, but well worth it. We hiked a total of 17 miles on our trip, saw lots of amazing scenery, and replenished both body and mind. Chip and I are heading to Glacier National Park the last week of July, but are really itching to get to Capital Reef as a family sometime soon.
If you were a real friend you would have leveled out that 2 mile 8% grade I'm gonna have to run down a week from Saturday. I mean you were right there . . .
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