Thursday, October 29, 2009

North Rim, Zion & drive around area of Utah

This heard of elk were in the distance as we left Bryce National Park.
When we saw these wild turkeys we knew it was time to head for home and Thanksgiving. I am sure these would have been to tough to eat so we'll wait till we get home for one.
This was a neat looking tree in Zion on one of the walks we took. It is amazing what they do to adapt and grow in inhospitable ground.
We ran across iced over creeks and snow along the way--another telling sign it is time to head for CA for the winter.
Snow in the Cedar Breaks Park--you know it is time to head for home. No snow chains for the truck let alone the coach.

Warren's car had such a shine to it that it allowed for a mirror imagine quite by accident.
the formations are called hoodoos. Meaning a rock left standing after the forces of erosion have worked on them.
Zion creek at evening time.
There were Aspens everywhere and made for neat photos of color and sky through them.
This is one of the hanging gardens in Zion. They are caused from all the water that trickles through the porous rock from rain and snow.

one of the formations known as the theater, it had a pond below with little fish in it.
a look across the valley
Friends from Ca joined us in Zion. This is one of the walks we went on in the park. Warren & Mari summer in Montana, we have visited them there so the stopped in on their way back home for the winter.
this is one of the interesting rock formations in Zion

a walk through one of the Zion canyon areas. It was really beautiful.
We ran into some friends on the bus-people we met on our Alaska cruise a couple of years ago.
this is a natural bridge that was discovered in the late 1800's by one of th guys that used to live in Zion before it was a park.
This is the 3 patriarchs formation.
This little thief went in the ladies backpack and stole one of her energy bars.

a rather long snake found under our coach in the Kanarraville campground.
the sign speaks for itself.
this old Page house was built in 1898 and used as a family home, lodging for the nearby iron workers and travelers now it is a historic site. This was a major shipping and traveling route in southern Utah.
This house had a matching bird house in the tree-right down to the porch with the 3 posts.
some rather large pumpkins on the porch across from our campground.

A view out one of the gallery windows of the mile long bridge in Zion.
Interesting things can be seen on drives. This house has a slide from the second floor patio as a means of getting to he ground. There were no visible stairs.
A couple of photos of sunset in the Kolob area of Zion National Park.

Zion overlook- you can see the formations in the distance that the sign is referring to.

The changing of colors on a volcanic rock bed-rather neat contrast.
More of the changing of colors for fall.
This was a rather interesting camper someone built. It was setting in a campground in a small town we passed through on one of our drives.
A deer family-appears to be triplets with the mother deer.
I caught this deer looking up as I was on a couple of rocks above it trying to capture him on film.

We headed to the North rim of the Grand Canyon through Zion and this is part of the switchback roads we had to drive.

This is a look back at pricing when the lodge first opened in 1937-great prices by today's rates.
Here we are at the end of a Angles walk about 1/4 mile Bil felt it was more like a hundred miles. Great walk but rather hilly to be out over the rim.
This is part of the walk back from the rim walk.
The view from the end or Angels walk- it was great.


Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Panguitch, Bryce, RedRock Canyon & Cedar Breaks

This sign was out of Panguitch - apparently some people must leave town the wrong way to go to Bryce.
This little guy was having some flowers for 'munch' when we passed by. It did not even stop eating.
This was a natural tunnel for roadside water to to pass through, kind of neat in the rocks.
one of the landslides that happen due to the rain and snow of the winters here.
The colors are changing and it was really beautiful.
Various formations in the Cedar Breaks Park, it is a small park but worth the visit.



Bil and some photos of Bryce National Park.
This is a natural arch formed when the softer sandstone is washed away by spring thaws and the rivers they create.












A modern round up. These horses were on the loose and were rounded up by a dog and an ATV. They literally crossed our paths while out for a back country drive.
Following are 4 shots of some of the rock formations in Red Rock Canyon.




Panguitch (means big fish in Paiute)has some beautiful brick homes. In the early days of the city there was a brick works that paid their employees in brick rather than in money. Many of the homes were literally built from their wages. Here are a couple examples.

This is an eagle's we saw in one of our drives.
Evening skies at our campground in Panguitch.
A look across the landscape of Utah.