Utah Rocks !!!

After having spent five days at Capitol Reef, we drove Utah Scenic Highway 12.  Driving along this ridge road in the 1.9 million acre Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, every view out of our windshield was totally amazing.  The rocks, the colors, the formations....

Along the way, we stopped at Hells Backbone Grill.  How could this restaurant in the middle of this country be so good?!  Almost getting stuck in their parking lot with our motorhome, we were able to extricate ourselves and park.  Being 11am, it was time for brunch...Yum!

Then on to Bryce Canyon National Park, where we arrived around 2pm and secured one of the few campsites still open at Sunset Campground.  The park is renovating North Campground so it was closed, while Sunset had already been renovated with new shorter sites Why?!)....And you would think with the renovation, the sites would be level....no way...
It took us 8 wood boards to get level enough for our motorhome's leveling system to be able to operate.  But, we succeeded in setting up camp.


Then off to check out the Canyon and later we biked with the Feesers along the fun and windy bike path to the entrance of the National Park.  Maybe mid-October is too late to visit; although there were lots of tourists....just cold.  The second night the temperature went down into the low 20s and for the first time, our water pipes froze in the early morning.  No damage, but no fun, so we decided to head south to a lower elevation (Bryce is over 8,000 feet) after first taking a hike into the canyon on the Queens Garden Trail and the Navaho Loop Trail.

Arrived in Kanab, Utah and reconnected with the Zmostnys.  They suggested a slot canyon hike which was a wow.  About 45 minutes out of Kanab including a 12 mile drive on a very unimproved road, we arrived at the trailhead.





Then 5.5 miles of hiking through Wirepass Canyon and then to Buckskin Gulch -- the longest slot canyon in the world.  Incredible views, and even a ladder to keep us in the slot.

  

Our RV travel buddies, the Feesers left us in Kanab to head to Alabama.....on a mission to purchase a new motorhome and be back in a week to join us in Zion.