Zion and Bryce, Utah

Quick visits to Zion and Bryce National Parks in Utah. Lots of rocks! First picture is Kolob Canyon area of Zion.

Prickly pears in bloom there- made me hope I wasn't missing my own back home.
Kolob
Zion, near the Lodge. Sky is incredibly blue out there.

Columbines in the desert? Yes because...
they grow in the overhang near where water seeps through the rock face and makes a waterfall to cool the hot hiker
Shooting stars

Columbines grow and go everywhere. They are one of my favorite perennial fillers. Nice pictures! Sorry to interrupt.

Zion offers hiking along the Virgin River- very popular
Funny squirrel- when we stopped to look at it, it flattened itself down on the ground
The Narrows in Zion,. where the canyon walls close in on the river. Loads of people hike the trail from another entry point, and emerge from the river here- strikes you as funny when you've walked up from this end, and here comes all these people from nowhere

Hi Paul!
Zion, cliffs above the riverbed, from trail to Lower Emerald Pool
trail to the Narrows from the easy end
ditto- a meadow in the desert. because it is in the riverbed and shaded by the high walls

Bryce
Rim Trail can be accessed from a number of casual short paths from the Lodge parking areas. Boys will be boys..

I can see for miles and miles...
Mahonia, understory to pine and fir forest
Cool trunks, bristlecone pine maybe
THe area has something like 10 inches rain annually, four feet snow, elevation at this part of Bryce is 9000 feet, sun is hot

But possibly the prettiest cliffs of all were at Cedar Breaks National Monument (near Cedar City Utah where many visitors stay , located between the two big parks) Elevation 10,400 feet, cool and windy, would have loved to explore the Alpine Pond Trail here.
Turn around from the cliff views and enjoy this gorgeous meadow
Twisty trees- not sure what though aspens are found in the area and I can imagine how pretty it is when they turn gold in fall, among the evergreens.

That's all! We only had two and a half days.

Wow Sally, you covered a lot of ground and elevation in two days! Thanks. It has been so long since I have been in desert or high desert that I forget the delights and unexpected wonders...Oh, yes, and the 'seeing for miles and miles'. Glad you are back safe and sound.

Thanks for the "trip", Sally....

Brought back some memories when we drove cross-country from here to Seattle in 1966.
Aina was just 1 1/2yrs old then. My Mom came along to help baby sit.

We stopped at many places to spend the night---

Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon were my favorites...
Gita

Grand Canyon is truly awe inspiring too.

I'm still on Western time zone, thank gawd I didn't have to get up before 9 30 today. zzzzzzzzzzzz

Wow!! That place is grand! Thank you for sharing the photos.

I loved the photos, SallyG; thanks for sharing. We went to that area a lot when my daughter was in school in Arizona. At the time, I didn't know how anyone could live there year-round -- it was beautiful, but I missed the greens of our area. But seeing those photos makes me miss the West!

Nice pics - makes me miss the November 2004 trip Marianne and I made through there. Didn't get to see Cedar Breaks then; it was already under 8 feet of snow.

Also explains why you didn't answer any calls as I passed through the neighborhood the past three days. Hurricane Andrea says hi, though.

Hi Sally, nice photos. It always amazes me how diverse the landscape in the US is.

Sally, Holly and I took a road trip years ago leaving Las Vegas and driving around the Grand Canyon. I think it was in Oct. and the weather was fine. On one of our walks down into Virgin River Gorge on our way back we found Cougar tracks along the river, and I don't mean Holly's. The whole trip was a blast. The day we were on the south rim it was so clear you could see the red rocks on the north. Thanks for the memories.

Sally, I've yet to visit anywhere in the US between CA and the Mississippi river. Except for Vegas, but I don't think that counts. Your pictures are just gorgeous!

My husband and I went out there last July. Oh my what a place, it is so beautiful. We rode his motorcycle all through the mountains. and down to the canyons. All I could do was take pictures over and over,I was in awe with the beauty. Then we went on a boat ride up the Colorado river. That was also amazing.

Just breathtaking!

Sally, Love the pictures. Just like I remember it. Beautiful.

Sorry John!!

Happy to share with you all, and also hear your shared experiences!

We did two days in GrandCanyon about 8 years ago and would love to go back. Driving the desert from Phoenix to Grand Canyon was so different from here. We stopped and experienced the stillness, the heat, a dust devil blew past...rough country out there.

Came home to find a mostly clean house and mostly fed kids and pets- good kids. Later DS - 22 yo- said "Well, I didn't want you guys to worry, so I didn't tell you when I got knocked off my bicycle '...long story short, he's healing up fine, nothing serious, insurance for the SUV (!!) covering some doc checkups and bike repairs. he handled everything very well. But that was a bit 'sobering' to any thoughts of more frequent trips away from all the kids in the near future.

Love the tour. Memories!!!

Sally that the son that does the Triathlon? Yes biking can be a bit dangerous. He did the right thing not telling you till you got home and needed to know. Glad he is mostly unhurt. Did anything get broken besides the bike.

Holly, yup that one. Knee swollen but almost better, elbow scrapes, helmet ON thank the good Lord, and he's gotten several doctor checks on the other guy's insurance to make sure.

It really is nice to think about other friends having been to the same places! Kinda like we were there together.

Definitely praising God for DS's safety

It certainly is a small world in ways like that Sallyg.