Utah Roadtrip: Life Elevated

One hour before sunset I sit on the porch of our log cabin in Bryce Canyon National Park. The tall ponderosa pines shade the porch as I admire the rustic structure all stone and logs with a wooden shake shingle roof that we will sleep in. Inside we can see the huge logs which support the roof. Unfortunately it will not be cool enough for us to use the fireplace.

Our elevation is almost nine thousand feet, so we will sleep with nature's air conditioning tonight. There is no television or wifi in the cabin, So after sunset, we will have a really good excuse to go to sleep.

As we drift off tonight we will have many beautiful sites to muse over. After we left our motel in Salina, we took I 70 to scenic road 24 to Capitol Reef National Park passing bluffs along the way with layers of white interspersed with deep reds. After turning on 24 we marveled at the soft brown rolling hills that looked as though they were covered with fawn suede.

We drove by corn fields, hay fields, fat cattle, and beautiful horses grazing in tall meadows as we climbed into Fish Lake National Forest. We climbed to nearly 8,000 feet, the terrain flattened, and enjoyed an area like an Alpine Meadow. By ten we were at the visitor's center having a helpful conversaation with a young ranger who hailed from Mobile, Alabama.

Some of the most spectacular red rock formations were before we even got to the visitor's center, but we also found spectacular views as we drove to Capitol Gorge where the formations were combinations of red, orange, yellow, white and grey. As we drove back to a restored Mormon settlement, the Gifford Farm, we saw the large domed white rock from which the park takes its name. It does look somewhat like the Capitol Dome.

We stopped at the Gifford House to enjoy a late morning snack of cherry pie and homemade ice cream. We also took time to pet the farm horse before continuing our scenic drive. Before we left the park we saw some more petroglyphs made by the Fremont Indians who inhabited the area centuries ago.

We headed toward Torrey to find our next scenic road, Utah12, to take us to Bryce. We stopped at Slacker’s Hamburger Shack for a really good burger and fries. The milkshakes were tempting, but we stayed strong!

Highway 12 was an adventure. It took us about three hours to drive the one hundred miles to Bryce. We passed through a lot of Dixie National Forest which is made up primarily of Ponderosa Pines and Aspens. At Larb Hollow, altitude 9,023 feet, we looked down on miles and miles of canyons, mesas, forest, and rock formations, all shades of red and orange with taller mountains behind them. This area gets twenty inches of rain a year because of the mountain ranges. As we drove along the eastern side of Boulder Mountain, we were almost ten thousand feet up. When we stopped to view the water pocket fold at Homestead Overlook light rain began to fall and the temperature dropped to 66 degrees.

As we drove through the area, ever so often we would cross a cattle guard. The cows have free range through here, so drivers have to watch for them.

As we got nearer to Bryce Canyon, we drove though areas that had steep drop offs, sometime on both sides of the road. Fortunately these stretches did not last for long.

While Klep was checking in at Bryce, I watched a chipmunk pose on one of the posts. Since then, we have seen several more.

After finding our cabin, we took the fifteen mile drive to Rainbow Point which was an excellent place to look out over the hoodoos and rock formations in this southern Utah canyon. One of the more famous is the poodle, a creamy white rock which looks very much like a poodle posing. A hoodoo is, basically a pillar of rock left by erosion. Geologists say that ten million years ago, some gigantic force within the earth pushed massive blocks that formed the plateaus that have gradually become the hoodoos. The ones at Rainbow Point remind me of dream sickles, a combination of vanilla and orange.

At Ponderosa we saw vistas of multicolored hoodoos framed by Ponderosa pines and the Table Plateau to the north. We also ran into a couple from North Carolina who shared their experiences hiking and camping overnight at Zion, our next stop. The woman was a UT grad. It is always nice to run into someone from the south. Earlier in the week I had heard a Utah talk show person (notice the restraint) who said that no one with a southern accent could be taken seriously about anything. My listening to that station was somewhat brief!

Natural Bridge was actually an arch formed by frost and wind, not water. Experts predict that it will fall; but they have no idea when.

At Farview Point, we were supposed to be able to see the plateau that formed the Grand Canyon’s north rim, but the sky was too hazy.

Back at our cabin, we sat outside enjoying the early evening until 8:30 pm when we walked to the rim to enjoy sunset, The sunset is a reflected glory because the rim of the canyon faces east. We

watched the magic light change the colors of the hoodoos as we got closer to sunset. Finally all that was left in the light was a plateau to the northeast that looked like a glowing line of Greek temples.

In the twilight we walked back to the cabin, feeling the heat of the day turn pleasantly cooler. Around ten the stars came out. Soon after my light went out.

Fifteen minutes after sunrise, I sit on the front porch of our cabin listening to the birds begin their day song in the cool, cool air. I trekked the hundred yards from our cabin to the rim at six to watch the glorious streaks of color light the sky above the dream sickle scape below, Finally after teasing for nearly twenty minutes, the huge orb broke the skyline, dashing the colors and dragging blue across the expanse. As I returned to my cabin, the little sliver of a moon was no longer visible above me.

Today we will continue with the last three view points over the canyon before dropping further down into the heat zone of Utah to enjoy the majestic splendors of Zion.

I must admit, in all fairness, that over the last couple of days, I have, at times, experienced Cathedral Syndrome. We first discovered this condition on a family vacation to Europe which included numerous trips to ancient and glorious cathedrals. When we arrived at Notre Dame, Kevin rolled his eyes, sat down, and said, “Oh no! Not another cathedral.” When this happens, we just shake our heads, clear our minds, and take another thousand photos!