Leaving Arches behind, we headed over to see Bryce Canyon National Park. We stayed at Ruby Inn RV Campground. Upon checking in, they told us that the shuttle bus service was operational again. Apparently it had stopped for a while amidst COVID concerns. Good news!
The first day we decided to check out the nearby Mossy Cave and Tropic Ditch Falls. The small parking lot was being resurfaced so we couldn’t park there and see the sites. We moved on to our next destination which was Red Canyon.
Since Red Canyon is not a National Park, Bear was able to hike with us. We started at the Visitor’s Center and hiked the Pink Ledges Trail to the Hoodoo Trail and then finished on the Birdseye Trail.
We didn’t know what Hoodoo’s (pronounced Oodo’s) were but we found out. I show you a placard later on explaining them. What a beautiful place even though it was a quick hike!
It was a bit harrowing driving the Busse Bus through the two arch tunnels:
We met another couple, Steve and Pam Gonzalez, on the hike who were moving from California to Tennessee. We stopped and chatted a bit! Nice couple – good luck on your move!
We stopped for a late lunch at the Bryce Canyon Pines Restaurant which the Park Ranger recommended.
I had a hot ham & cheese and a nice piece of peach pie – ala mode. We didn’t think that it was very good, but probably the best within 50 miles.
The next day we drove into the Bryce Canyon National Park and took Bear with us as we decided that we would be just be jumping out of the truck to take some pictures from the rim. Drove all the way to the end of the road and worked our way back stopping at each wayside.
Bryce Point:
Inspiration Point:
Ponderosa Point:
Agua Canyon
Natural Bridge:
Fairview Point:
Sunset Point:
Sunrise Point:
Sunrise Point is also where there is the lodge. Rustic place that had a lot of the areas closed due to COVID. Whilst we were walking around the Sunrise Point rim, we ran into Steve and Pam again.
After some chitchat, we decided to meet for dinner back at the Pines Restaurant. I ordered the ribeye “cowboy” steak. I don’t think that I would like eating like a cowboy after that experience, talk about ruining a nice cut of meat! The peach pie ala mode did make up for it however. Steve and Pam came back to see the Busse Bus.
Fairyland Point:
Great day! Beautiful landscapes! The pictures cannot capture the real beauty that one beholds.
The following day we decided to hike into the canyon and between the hoodoos. We started at Sunset Point and followed the Navajo Loop Trail down through Wallstreet:
Winding, undulating path down with a ton of switchbacks.
From there we caught the Peekaboo Loop Trail connecting up back to Bryce Point. Check these out:
So, what are Hoodoos?
Can you see any animals in these formations?
We did!
We made it to the end of the hike – hot and tired!
We took the bus back to pick up the truck!
On the next day we had all intentions on driving to see the Capitol Reef National Park, but after keying it into Waze we decided that Capitol Reef would have to wait for another visit. Two hours and 45 minutes each way just didn’t seem appetizing for us. So, what did we do instead? We decided to leave a day early to head down to St. George so that we would be closer to Zion (our next destination) and also go to Costco. We need to stock up! Luckily Katrina found us a campsite for that night and Ruby Inn Campground refunded our final evening costs (except $10). So, this would be our final day and there was still a couple of things that we wanted to accomplish.
First of all, we headed back to Mossy Cave and Falls which reopened today. Very nice to see water flowing in all the dry dust:
We then headed back to the rig where we got our bikes to ride back into Bryce Canyon NP up to Inspiration Point. Somewhat a difficult ride uphill for about five miles, but the ride back was very easy (and fun).
So, Bryce Canyon abuts the Dixie National Forest. As you can see from the two pictures – just the reverse side of the marker. We rode a bit passed our campground to get an ice cream (Yum, and a nice treat after the ride). Back at the campground we went and hit the pool for a few hours. It was nice to get into the hot tub and soak some sore muscles from all the hiking and biking.
We enjoyed our time in Bryce Canyon and we were looking forward to heading to Zion where we were going to meet up with some friends for the next few weeks of traveling.
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