Mud-on-the-tires Full-time RV Adventure: UT -- Bryce Canyon National Park, 1-15 July 2013

Two weeks at Bryce Canyon National Park…

Campground…

We chose Ruby’s Inn RV Park because we wanted full hook-ups, laundry, and wi-fi for our two-week stay. If we had stayed a week or less, it would have been in the Park. Our site, 126, was great! It was over 70 feet long, had trees on either side, and plenty of space between our neighbors. In spite of the trees, our satellite worked. The cell phone signal bounced back and forth between nearly nothing to ok 3G. Our signal booster helped considerably. As expected (around 4th of July), the campground was a zoo. There were about 200 RV spaces, a bunch of tent sites, about 10 tee-pees, 5 cabins, and multiple group sites. Turnover was high each day with 25%-50% of folks departing before noon and the campground filling again by dinner each night. The area is popular with ATV’ers, so there was often an annoying buzz from the noisy devils. Bryce Canyon NP is also popular with foreigners. Each time we rode the bus, English speakers were outnumbered. Nearly half the RVs in the campground were rentals being used by mostly Europeans. And most of those Europeans were German. Though there were a bunch of wi-fi routers (I see at least 10 in my list), internet access varied considerably with usage and was occasionally useless. Laundry facilities were a bit expensive, but were otherwise great. We could easily walk to stores, restaurants, tourist shops, and hop on the Bryce Canyon National Park shuttle bus. The reliable bus conveniently got us in and out of the park. Overall, we enjoyed our stay and would do it again.

We are fifth in line to check in (a motorhome is front of us) / An ATV club…aka “a zoo”

Family visit…

My parents, sister, and two young nephews drove from Colorado to spend four days with us. We did a lot while they visited and hit the bed tired each night.

My sister, Nic, wrote a “guest blog” that you’ll see scattered below.

Nic…One week in Tropic, UT, elevation 6,309 feet… Higher than my home in Colorado Springs – good time for some hiking. And trust me, Shawn had plans for his little sister!

We (Mother/Oma, Leon/Opa, and my sons, Jordan and Austin) arrived in the bustling town of Tropic, UT, after lunch on 1 July. The drive tuckered Austin out so we quickly headed to our hotel room for him to catch a nap. After Austin had gotten all the rest he could handle, we met Shawn and Arleen at one of the four restaurants in town. The kids were packed with energy after being confined to small spaces for two days in a row, but we enjoyed being where our “home” would be for the next couple days. After Shawn briefed us on ideas for activities, we finished our meal and headed next door to the grocery store. Austin greeted the nice folks by emptying his stomach contents in their trash. Ahhh, the joys of traveling with youngin’s. I let Oma take Austin back for a bath while Jordan and I hunted for a couple of nearby geocaches. We decided to skip the cemetery geocache and called it a night. Besides, we needed some rest for the hiking to come…

Red Canyon & Kodachrome hikes and geocaching…

Mother, Nic, Jordan, Austin, Arleen, and I did a fun one mile loop hike in Red Canyon. Arleen read from the accompanying brochure to educate us about things we saw. Here is something new…we learned that ponderosa pines have a butterscotch odor! (We are sniffing one in the middle picture above.) We also found two geocaches. Both were up short, but steep, loose rocky slopes. We really had to watch our footing.

Nic…Day one of hiking, we went to Red Canyon and settled on what looked to be an easy 1-mile hike that had two geocaches along the trail. While I slipped away, Austin found a broom in the visitor center and started cleaning. “Grandma” and “Granpda” running the store were highly impressed and gave Austin a t-shirt. NICE! (They did sneak me a second shirt to give to Jordan, so no sibling rivalry ensued.) While Opa relaxed in the shade reading, we all trekked down the path. Picture opportunities abounded! The colors, shapes, and textures were absolutely amazing! Our trail guide, Arleen, read about all these wonderful things at several different stops along the path. Did you know that a Ponderosa pine smells like butterscotch when you scratch and sniff? Oh, man, if you closed your eyes you would have sworn you were in a candy store! I learned about the ecosystem and Hoodoos. On our first geocache stop, Oma attempted to put on her 4-wheel drive and hike up the steep, loose rocky hill to find the treasure. Too late, Jordan beat her to it. While Arleen distracted Austin, I decided to check out the treasure. Since I’m always a wimp going back down, I chose to use the padded backside God gave me to get back down while Shawn casually strolled down like it was nothing. Austin started to get fussy, so Uncle Shawn put him on his shoulders. Austin enjoyed much of the rest of the hike from a whole different perspective. Jordan decided to keep running ahead of us and hiding. This was all fun, but I wanted the next geocache, darn it! We finally broke from the trail and followed the GPS (wait, isn’t that bad?!). After going so far, Shawn says I think we have to go up that hill (pointing to a fairly steep slope of loose red rock – maybe not so steep for Shawn). Ummm, okay, I’m game. First, Shawn says we must climb all the way up to the arch and pose for a picture. SIGH, if we must, Shawn. It was tough because everywhere I put my feet, rocks slid out from under. Mission completed. Lunch time! We headed to Casa de Pro for some grub. Afterwards, the kids thoroughly enjoyed some Frisbee time in the dirt with Uncle Shawn until Jordan wore him out.

The second geocache we found was near this cool arch. It was tricky scrambling up the loose rock.

These two hikes totaled about 8 miles in colorful Kodachrome Basin State Park. We had the trails nearly to ourselves and really enjoyed the interesting landscape.

This 5 mile loop hike in Red Canyon was awesome! There was nobody else on the trail and it was peaceful. We also found three geocaches including our first weather cache. We had to document weather conditions…i.e. do an observation. Odds are that we are the only trained weather observers that have visited that cache!

Walking along the spine of the Buckhorn Trail

One of the three geocaches that we found…the views were amazing!

Fishing and Kayaking…

I wanted to get my sister and nephew in the kayaks so we headed to Pine Lake. First we paddled out to an island to hunt for a geocache…success! It’s the first one we have found on an island. Then Jordan paddled around the lake. I was impressed how the little booger propelled about 275 pounds worth of kayak and bodies! The winds calmed and the sky turned golden as the sun sunk on the western horizon. It was a nice way to end the day.

Nic, day two continued…We relaxed for a bit and left Oma, Opa, and Austin behind while Shawn and Arleen took Jordan and me to Pine Lake for some kayaking and geocaching. When we first got on the water, it was a bit windy but we made it to an island at the lake to find the geocache. I braved the swarm of ants and made the grab, and we wandered the lake enjoying the scenery. I even found the home of a muskrat (that was pretty cool).

On the island looking for a geocache / Cruising around the lake on a peaceful evening

Tropic Reservoir has 4 kinds of trout: brown, rainbow, brook, & cutthroat / See the cormorant watching Arleen?

Arleen out fished me! This 16 inch brown is a beauty

Bryce Canyon NP hikes…

The Queens Garden and Navajo loop hike is billed as the “world’s best 3-mile hike”. It’s certainly the best we have done! Jordan found two benchmarks on his challenging quest to “Hike the Hoodoos”. After hiking 3 miles and finding the two benchmarks, he just needed to find one more benchmark to earn a cool reward.

Though we were tired, we drove to the farthest and highest point in the park at 9,115 feet: Rainbow Point. We waited in the truck for a thunderstorm to pass which gave Jordan time to complete the challenging “tree ring” section of his Junior Ranger workbook. After the thunderstorm rumbles got more distant, we walked the one mile Bristlecone Loop. The ancient trees were cool, but we rushed to avoid another round of loudening rumbles. Jordan found his third benchmark to earn his “Hike the Hoodoos” reward! He also completed the requirements to become a Junior Ranger! We stopped at the visitor center where Jordan was sworn as a Junior Ranger to applause…very cool!

Nic…Day two of hiking, Uncle Shawn and Aunt Arleen had a mission for Jordan: to earn his first Junior Ranger badge. This would involve taking notes on the visitor center’s film about Bryce Canyon and completing four challenging activities in a workbook. Jordan could also earn another neat (and nicer) badge by “Hiking the Hoodoos” and locating three medallions. While Oma, Opa, and Austin rode the bus around the park (Austin chose this, not Oma and Opa), the three of us embarked on our first hike of the day. The hike was about three miles on a sunny and hot day (Navajo Loop/Queens Garden), but it was fun! At first Jordan was scared to go anywhere near edges, ledges, or overlooks, but eventually he relaxed and started enjoying the different arches, the various shapes and colors of hoodoos, and reading information about the wildlife and vegetation. We visited Wall Street (much nicer than all those people shouting and yelling in New York, though). It is absolutely amazing how trees and other plants manage to grow in the middle of all these rock structures! After the incredible hike, we grabbed a shuttle to Ruby’s for lunch. We then decided to head across the street for some local ice cream… ooooooh, so nice after a hike in the heat. During lunch, we realized that we needed to go on another hike for Jordan to complete one of his tasks, and, well, while we were at it, we might as well help him finish his workbook activities. We drove to the next hiking spot and waited out a passing thunderstorm while Jordan and I became experts on reading tree rings. During the next 1-mile hike, while racing to beat another thunderstorm, Jordan found time to apply that knowledge. It’s awesome to see a kid excited about something in nature, and the Junior Ranger program throughout the National Parks has been thoughtfully crafted to encourage this. To complete his final Junior Ranger task, he had to pick up 10 pieces of trash. On the drive back, we stopped at pullouts and lookouts to scour the areas for trash. It wasn’t as easy as you would think! Whoever thought of making this part of the Junior Ranger process is a genius because we were looking pretty hard to find more. And then Uncle Shawn kicked into overachieve mode and we just kept picking up more! Our aspiring Junior Ranger now had only to be quizzed by a real Park Ranger to get his badges. After he told the Ranger his favorite activity was the crossword because we gave him all the answers, the Ranger casually said it was awesome that Jordan helped educate us, too. Anyone know what a Junco is? I do now! We did the appropriate pin on ceremony in true military style and headed off to introduce the first Junior Ranger in our family to Oma, Opa, and Austin. GOOD JOB, JORDAN!

The Ranger explaining something in Jordan’s workbook / Being sworn in / Jordan getting his two rewards

Nervous near the edge

See Nic and Jordan in the bottom left? Incredible scenery!

Nic and Jordan near the beginning of the Queens Garden trail / Jordan tackling the switchbacks up the Wall Street section / Arleen and Nic near the top of Wall Street

The eight mile Fairyland Loop was spectacular. We just beat a thunderstorm back to the truck! We also reloaded all of the calories we had burned with pints of ice cream from the general store…a very rare treat in the middle of a hike! My sister did really well on this long, roller coaster-like hike. I’m proud of her!

Nic…Day three of hiking found me alone with Shawn and Arleen and me with no idea what I was getting into other than I was CERTAIN Shawn was going to kill me. I never asked questions about what we’d do because I didn’t want to give myself the option to wimp out. As we got out of the car, Shawn said something about 8 miles and 4-5 hours… am I good with that?… no turning back! I strapped on my backpack and we headed to the Fairyland trail. I started to wonder what I would do if I had to use the restroom during those 4-5 hours… do I minimize water intake so I won’t have to or just drink and hope I can find a spot? But I digress… I was thinking it would be a leisurely stroll since Shawn continually stops for pictures. Nope, he still keeps a good pace even making those stops. I kept up pretty good though! The weather cooperated for us amazingly as it stayed nice and cool with a breeze for longer than expected. The trail was an excellent balance of ups and downs and flats and had a ton of absolutely breathtaking scenery. I saw red Hoodoos, white Hoodoos, marble colored Hoodoos. I saw baby Hoodoos, arches soon to be Hoodoos, and Hoodoos delicately balanced in seemingly unnatural ways (probably not too far from collapse). I found a type of pine Arleen and Shawn didn’t recognize and they hadn’t identified it by the time our hike was over (you mean I stumped them, no way). I was continually awed by the places greenery would grow… at the top of a tall Hoodoo, amongst tall rock structures where you wonder how it got sun, and even out of lightning struck trees. God’s country is such a magnificent canvas! Eventually I did have to wander off the trail and have an intimate meeting with Mother Nature. I guess it’s true what they say – when you gotta go, you gotta go!! We stopped for “lunch”, power bars and an orange, and sat on a log with lovely BIG black ants crawling around my backside. Shawn thought I was wimpy. Hey, I just really don’t want to discover that a wood ant might mistake my leg for a log he needs to chew! When we had gone a little more than 5 miles, we happened to notice we were right by the general store and Shawn convinced us to stop for an ice tea. Before we got to the store, we were joking about going on a nice hike and cancelling out the good by eating a bunch of ice cream. Yep, they were hypocrites… They both downed a pint each! I was proud of myself for selecting a Green Machine, a fairly healthy drink. Enough gorging ourselves on sugar, we had a hike to finish. The next mile or so along the ridge was like being in a whole different world… not very many trees, grassy, nothing red, no Hoodoos. It wasn’t too long after that the weather geeks started checking their high tech weather sources due to some ordinary clouds (okay, to them they weren’t ordinary). “That’s coming right towards us.” “Where’s the worst place to be during a thunderstorm? The rim of course.” Where were we?!? Hiking along the rim! Most of the scattered trees around us had already been struck at some point. I’m thinking the weather experts didn’t forecast this one… oh, wait, they had it just right but the stop for ice cream delayed us. The last half mile of our hike was at a quick pace. We got to the truck and within seconds, the downpour started and the thunder rumbled. Okay, okay, I admit I believe in their skills. Next time I won’t let ‘em stop for ice cream!!! Haaaaa! After waiting out the good rain, we headed back to rescue Oma and Opa from my tireless kiddos. We had some good pizza at the “#1 of 4” restaurants in the large metropolis of Tropic (have you sensed my subtle joke, yet). Wow. I did over 8 miles of hiking and 1,500 feet of climbing. Shawn didn’t kill me and I THOROUGHLY enjoyed it! Thanks, Shawn and Arleen!

Ice cream and cold tea during a hike?!? / A brewing thunderstorm…note the two lightning struck trees

Peekaboo Loop was our favorite trail…incredible!

The view near Bryce Point

Just above the Peekaboo loop

Two mornings in a row, we got up at 5:30am, drove off 30 minutes later, and were hiking at Bryce Point shortly after 6:00am. Both mornings we were surprised to see at least 10 other cars and even a couple of tour busses in the parking lot! Just a little ways past the famous Bryce Point, we had the incredible Rim Trail to ourselves. From there, we hiked about 3.5 miles to the North Campground and then another half mile to the visitor center where we hopped on the park shuttle and got a ride back to Bryce Point. The sunrise over Bryce Canyon is spectacular and should be on everyone’s bucket list!

For our last foray into Bryce Canyon NP, we wanted to kick our butts and experience the best of Bryce Canyon. First we jumped on the shuttle bus, got off at Sunrise Campground, and hiked up to Sunrise Point. Then we dropped into the canyon on the incredible Queens Garden Trail, detoured to the amazing Peekaboo Loop Trail, ascended the otherworldly Navajo Trail through Wall Street, and finally ascended even more on the Rim Trail to Upper Inspiration Point…our favorite Bryce Canyon overlook. To get home, we jumped back on the shuttle bus. The lung-busting, thigh-burning, sensory overload hike was nearly 8 miles long with 2,000 feet of climbing! It was the Bryce Canyon climax we wanted…a great way to end the adventure.

Bryce Canyon jumped to the top our favorite Utah National Parks and Monuments. However, we still have two good ones left: Cedar Breaks National Monument in August and Zion National Park in October. We are excited to see them!

Nic (my family leaves)…Day four, no more hiking. Just enough time to meet up for breakfast and get on the road to Colorado. I was a bit sore, but pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t too bad. I am so thankful my brother took the time to plan things out and that my parents took me and helped me out so much!! If you’re looking for a relaxing and lazy vacation, DON’T VISIT SHAWN AND ARLEEN!

Next Arleen and I will spend six days in Beaver, Utah. It will be hot, so we’ll take it easy, but will still play. High on the wish list, is Minersville Reservoir which is known for huge, trophy trout. We’ll see if we can coax some of the bigguns out of their summer doldrums.

Parting shots…