What a great trip we had! We left Thursday afternoon after I got home from work and arrived in time for dinner (at Subway) and had reservations for two nights at Ruby's Inn. Friday morning we drove over to Mossy Cave and hiked around. We saw only 2 other people there and on their way down from the cave they pointed out a great horned owl that was perched in a big ponderosa tree! We got some great pictures of it. It must have been all tired out from a busy night, because it wasn't bothered enough by us to even move a feather. We loved seeing it. Then we drove over to the Cannonville BLM Visitor's Center. It was closed due to a government shut down going on, but we enjoyed the interpretive displays outside.
Next we drove over to Kodachrome Basin State Park. The weather was perfect with overcast, but no rain happening. We drove out to Chimney Rock first thing and then checked out all of the campgrounds and marked our favorites on the park brochure for future reference. It was so nice there we kind of wished we were camping right then. We also saw some tiny "huts" they are putting in that you can rent to stay in. They are pretty cool - no water/bathrooms, but a nice bed/fireplace-heater inside and a patio/grill/fireplace area outside. We also checked out the little cabin/bunkhouses and laundromat place they have. Next we took a great little hike - Angel's Palace Trail. Paul has been having some hip trouble, so we didn't want to do anything too strenuous until the shot he had the day we left started kicking in. This hike was only 1.5 miles and had only a 150ft. rise, so it was perfect. It had great views of the whole area. We loved it! Then we had a little snack in a picnic area and next enjoyed the Nature Trail - a .5 mile loop that had great info about plants, animals, and park geology. Next we enjoyed the Visitor's Center which has had a great remodel since out last visit. It it such a unique and beautiful park and it was the perfect day for what we did!
Next we headed back to Bryce Canyon and drove the scenic drive stopping at the top to do the Bristle Cone Loop hike to Rainbow Point. It's about a mile hike with beautiful views of the park and the bristlecone trees along the edge. We had decided to do the "Hike-the-Hoodoos" challenge where you had to hike 3 trails and find the special medallions and take a picture of yourself there and then report back to the Visitor Center for a reward/sticker. We had already done one at Mossy Cave and this was our second one. Then we stopped off on the way down to enjoy the scenic view points. We did another short hike trying to find our next hike (Queen's Garden Trail), but it got dark before we could do it, so we decided to come back in the morning and do that one. We had a great buffet dinner at Ruby's Inn...really good and really a lot! Next morning we had breakfast there and then went and did the hike. It's 1.8 miles and the least strenuous of the park hikes down into the canyon...and it is so beautiful. It starts and Sunrise Point and we weren't there quite in time for that, but it was still awesome and pretty cool until we got going. It's a steep one, but so worth it for the views of the beautiful formations you see everywhere around you! We stopped in at the Visitor Center to get our reward/stickers and then it was time to head home.
We took a different route home and visited the Quilt Walk Park in Panguitch. Then it was on to Cedar City with a little nap stop along the way and then we went to lunch with Bean. It was a great trip and we were glad to get home again after running some errands and then enjoying a yummy dinner with Supe and Beacher and kids! Such cuties! Happy 51st Anniversary!!! Can't wait till next year!
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