mike & rhonda's latest adventure: A Great Finish to another Wonderful Adventure

Our return into Utah has reinforced our belief that it is the best state that the U.S. has to offer. We started this segment with a visit to Bryce Canyon where we have been before and always come away amazed at the hoodoo like rock formations in the canyon below. After that we drove into nearby Kodachrome State Park where we hiked the Panorama Trail (10 km's) where we saw the majority of the park's 67 spires (tall, thin rock formations) that sparkled in the sunlight. Some were red Navajo Sandstone structures while others were former geysers where the softer rock around them slowly disintegrated leaving them exposed. The colours throughout the park were spectacular.

From there we headed further north to Escalante where we hiked along the Calf Creek Canyon (another 10 km hike) to the Lower Falls where the mist from the 50 metre drop cooled us off on a warm day. A nearby geocache provided a different perspective of the waterfall. After the hike we continued driving north along the incredibly scenic Highway 12 which offered many beautiful views.

We have spent the past two days at Capitol Reef National Park. It is one of 5 NP's in Utah and the one we had targeted on this trip since we absolutely loved the other 4 and this one did not disappoint us. The landscape was created 65 million years ago when a buckle in the earth's crust, 160 km's long, occurred across south-central Utah. During our time there we did 6 different hikes, totalling 20 km's, with (Butch) Cassidy Arch and the Hickman Bridge being the most strenuous and rewarding with panoramic views (Bridges are created by water; Arches by wind and rain). Another hike took us along a narrow canyon wash that was used as a wagon trail route 100 years ago. The entire park is filled with dramatic cliffs and colourful rock formations leading to an abundance of photographs that we had to narrow down at the end of every day. There was also a good Morman pioneer influence within the park, with rock engravings recording their presence along with their (Fruita) orchards and some buildings still actively maintained. The Gifford Farm House sold freshly baked fruit pies and we enjoyed a tasty peach pie back at our campsite. After one final hike this morning we commenced our long drive home and on another nice, sunny day we made good progress arriving in Idaho Falls this evening which should allow us to make it back home tomorrow night.

Thanks for your interest in following our latest adventure. It has been another wonderful journey and we are blessed to have so many friends to meet up with on our travels and at the same time, new places to visit where we always seem to find incredible, unplanned finds along the way, seldom seen by most people.
Life is good!