Wednesday, June 3 we left Bryce Canyon National Park en route to Capitol Reef National Park. We were surprised and very pleased with the drive on Scenic Byway 12. We drove 12 almost all the way to Capitol Reef. We both agree that this is the best scenic highway we have experienced. The scenery was amazing. We can’t say enough good things about the drive. Highly recommend! We hope the pictures come close to what we actually experienced. We hope to return to spend several days driving and camping along Highway 12 between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef national parks.
Arriving at Capitol Reef National Park we first stopped at the Visitor’s center with the next stop being the Bakery at the Gifford Homestead. That’s where you purchase your pie or pies in our case. Anything you read about Capitol Reef will surely make mention of the pies. They sell out every day – usually before 3pm. They also sell cinnamon rolls, but we had to wait until Thursday morning for those because they were already sold out. They say you must be there before noon to get the cinnamon rolls so we were there by 10:00 on Thursday. Of course, Capitol Reef is much more than the bakery and we did some nice hiking and drove the scenic loop as well before departing for our next destination.
One of the giant trees in the park
Our Thursday morning hike was the Hickman Bridge Trail
Lots of steps at the beginning of the trail
One of several domes which contributed to the park’s name
This is the first bridge we came to on the trail. When we came back out some one asked us if this was the Hickman Bridge
Hickman Bridge. Anne is in front as a size reference.
The other side of the bridge
Almost back home
Unlike yesterday’s hike, today we went uphill first instead of last.
We made it back to the the bakery in time to get two cinnamon rolls. (We weren’t fast enough to get pictures of the pies, but they were the same size as the rolls.)
One of the features the early settlers called “reefs”
We have seen a lot of red rocks on this trip but we keep finding something different on each drive.
This formation made us think of barber poles.
Since we didn’t have all our logistics planned out we made use of the campground dump station and water fill before we left.
Still interesting but somewhat less scenic after we left the park
Our next few days are going to be heavy driving days hoping to avoid some of the heat.
After leaving Kodachrome State Park, we had a very easy drive day of about 1 hour to our destination at Bryce Canyon National Park. We visited this park a number of years ago but since we had a friend camp hosting there this year we decided to revisit the area and visit our friend John. We got set up at our site, had some lunch and then visited with John. Later in the afternoon we hiked from our camp site, to the Rim Trail, to Sunset campground, picked a site for Tuesday night and back to our campsite – 4 ½ miles. Didn’t plan to hike that far when we started but…we just kept going. There is a lot of beautiful scenery and many improvements since our last visit such as the new General Store.
Our first campsite at Bryce Canyon
Hiking the Rim Trail
Tuesday, we relaxed and worked on preparing for our Wednesday Bible Study. About 10:00 we visited with John again and then drove the scenic drive through the park – so nice. At the end of the road we stopped and hiked the Bristlecone Pine Loop – about 1-1/2 miles. Bristlecone Pines are very interesting trees, looking a lot like a bottle brush and can live for as long as 5,000 years. The remainder of Tuesday we got set up at the new campsite, Sunset Campground, visited with our neighbors and finished our preparation for Bible Study.
Hiking the Bristlecone Pine Trail
Bristlecone Pine
Natural Bridge
Our second campsite in Bryce Canyon NP
Deer in the campground
Wednesday morning we packed up BB for another travel day but not before we decided to hike the Navajo Loop Trail. We had done a portion of this trail on our last trip but today we did it all. It is only 1.5 miles but has over 500 feet of elevation gain at the end. It is a hard hike by our definition but the Park seems to think it is moderate. It is a great hike – very pretty but…we may be sore tomorrow.
Starting on the Navajo Loop Trail
One of us had to duck for this tunnel.
A tree in Wall Street
Wall Street
Twin Bridge
What Bryce Canyon is famous for
After saying goodbye to John, we began our travel to our next destination.
We arrived at Kodachrome Basin State Park Saturday afternoon, May 30. We were tired from the day’s drive and activities, so we settled in on our site, had some dinner, walked around the campground a little and got some great sleep. It was a very quiet and peaceful night.
Our campsite at Kodachrome Basin
Afternoon view from our campsite
Sunday morning we watched Lester Memorial’s 8:30 am service – 7:30 am for us since we are now on Mountain Daylight Time. After an excellent service, we had breakfast and then headed out for a hike on the Panorama Trail at about 10:30. The information on the hike advised that this was a 3 mile hike that winds its way across the western side of the park. You can view several sedimentary pipes and explore interesting geological features such as Secret Passage, Ballerina Spire and Mammoth Spire Overlook. Difficulty was rated as easy to moderate. This was a great hike even though we started a little too late and it turned into a 4 mile hike for us because we started at the campground instead of the trail head. Gorgeous scenery!
Watching our home church service in the beauty God created
Starting the Panorama Trail
The sandstone features look bigger in the pictures. 🙂
One panorama
Not sure how this one got its name
Hiking the not-so-secret passage
Wide variety of sandstone features along the trail
Looking down at Mammoth Spire (off in the distance)
More desert beauty
Panorama Trail hike stats
After returning to the campground, we met a couple that has a Beyond RV that is the same year as BB with a slightly different floorplan. They followed us into the park on Saturday afternoon but we didn’t meet until Sunday afternoon. They have had their RV for less than a year and had lots of questions. We enjoyed getting to make some new friends and being able to answer some of their questions. The rest of the day we recovered from the morning hike.
Monday morning we wanted to hike one more trail, Angel’s Palace Trail. This trail was tagged as an excellent trail for photographers, and it did not disappoint. It was a little over 1.5 miles depending on how many of the side ventures you took. We of course took them all. The trail has magnificent views of Kodachrome Basin, Bryce Canyon and all the surrounding areas.
Our Monday morning hike
This trail started a little differently …
… then became more familiar.
On top it was mostly rock
On top of the mesa as sign advises that the trail diverges and to find your way back to this spire to start back down.
Looking down into the valley
Another strange gray spire in the red rocks.
The Basin Campground
Shadow selfie
Angel’s Palace hike stats
After the hike and another visit with our new Beyond friends we left the park around 11:30 for the short drive to our next destination.
We awoke to a very quiet Walmart in Page, Arizona on Saturday morning May 30. We had done our shopping Friday night so after a restful night, we were ready for some adventures. We stopped to top off our propane and then went to the back of the Shell station for our first hike. The actual name of this location is Biidi “The Arch”, according to the sign we found. But when looking it up online all the YouTuber channels refer to it as the Cave behind the Shell station or the hidden gem behind the Shell station or something similar. I guess it’s because most of us don’t know the correct pronunciation of the actual site.
You can trudge through the sand for a way and climb a hill and end up in a beautiful cave. It’s a great place for pictures. For most who make this stop that’s the end of the visit. For those who are a little more inquisitive there is much more to see when you start walking around the base of some of the boulders, as you can see from the pictures below. Such a great place to start the day.
Approaching “The Arch”
Inside “The Arch”
Looking up from inside
Some of the features most visitors miss
We keep finding flowers in the desert.
By moving around we could catch several sunrises in one day
After leaving Biidi “The Arch” but while still in Page, we drove to the Hanging Garden Trail about ten minutes away. This was a short one-mile hike but certainly worth the effort to see. The payoff is an alcove full of maidenhair ferns. The temperature drops as you approach the alcove. Along with the maidenhair ferns there were also orchids. We didn’t see it but there has to be a spring feeding the garden because the plants are thriving.
Hanging Garden Trail
Approaching the Hanging Garden
Inside the Hanging Garden
We saw many of the stream orchids among the ferns.
After we left the garden, we drove to Kanab, Utah, about 1.5 hours, for our big hike of the day – the Sand Caves. This was a super fun and unique hike, 1.2 miles round trip. It is an easy .5 mile walk in the sand and then there is a steep climb up “slickrock” to reach the caves. Twice Anne needed some assistance due to having legs that were just a little bit too short, but the payoff was worth the effort. The interconnected chambers feature large window-like openings carved right into the Navajo sandstone cliffs. BTW, shoes with good traction are highly recommended. We discovered after our hike that the caves are totally man-made. They are the remains of a 20th century mining operation excavated to harvest high-quality silica sand for glass production.
Another sandy trail
Wondering how we would get up there
Some rock scrambling was required
The trail was marked by painted paw prints on the rocks.
Approaching the Sand Caves
Inside the Sand Caves
One of the smaller passages
Anne looking down from the caves
In case anyone is wondering, all three of these hikes were absolutely free.
Leaving our fun time at the sand caves, we drove an additional 1 ½ – 2 hours to the beautiful Kodachrome Basin State Park where we will stay for the next two nights.
RVing With a Purpose 