Yosemite and More

 By the time we got to Canyonlands National Park, as my sister said 'We'd seen a lot of rocks'. And we had a lot more ahead of us, each park is unique, and as you look around you find more than just rocks. This was our introduction to Canyon Lands One of the hikes we took was the Cave Springs Loop.. It took us under this overhang where there was a small spring, up a couple of ladders and across the  top. A good hike. While not overly abundant there was (for me) a lot of colorful plants. I don't know the name of some. While some of this one has seen better days I was still taken with it. And yes there were a lot of canyons This is Harvey (my name for it) an Elvis impersonator who watches over Canyon Lands As you might imagine there are cacti in the park. I felt very lucky to catch this Hedgehog Cactus in full bloom. If you look very closely you can  see a black striped bee in the lower right of the right flower The Prickly Pear Cactus is actually edible, but you have to ...

 The next stop on our trip was Brice National Park, famed for it's Hoodoos.  One legend is that a long time ago an evil people lived in the land and because of their evilness  were turned to stone. Thus the Hoodoos. The weather here was very cold and windy in the morning with the wind increasing  and continuing in the afternoon.  There were a number of arches throughout the park and beyond. The Hoodoos are of course the main attraction As a kid (and now) clouds sometimes remind me of other things. This was very apparent with the Hoodoos. Below I saw people approaching a castle wall. Even the land beyond the main attraction of the Hoodoos is pretty interesting. If you look to the upper left you can see a lady standing on a pedestal This gives you a pretty good idea of the many layers that make of the park. This is Thor's Hammer. Here's the Two Brothers, though I think it's more like father and son. Just outside the park is the Mossy Cave trail. It's a nice little...

 My sister Emilie and I recently took a trip to Utah for some hiking and photography. Unfortunately I had a sprained knee and the wind was not at all accommodating making photography difficult. Our first stop and hike was a small park which I can't remember the name of. It gave us a  good beginning hike for our trip and climbing up a rock wall we were gifted with this cave, and one of my favorite photos. Zion is a very majestic place and has many wonderful vistas. A lot of what caught my eye were the flowers. Some I could find the name of, others I couldn't, I found this trio interesting, Cacti, behind blue flowers, behind a dead tree. I felt Black and White showed the rocky structure. But Color is good too. As I said I liked the wildflowers.... This beauty is the Utah State Flower One of  Zion's standout areas is the Narrows. A slot canyon which the Virgin River runs through. Depending on where you walk it can get pretty deep like the folks on the left. Note a few feet a...

As you travel Utah's  Highway 20 towards Bryce you're greeted with a small preview of what is to come. Go, See, Enjoy Dave

They used the terms easy to moderate to describe the hike.   To someone used to a fairly flat hike, in the Central Valley of California, I wouldn't use the term easy. Not reading the signs very well I continued on past the 'easy' part.  It gave me a good look at what hiking in Utah would be like for the next few days. All in all I faired pretty well. Go, See, Enjoy. Dave

After Ely, Nevada I went to Utah and the Bryce Canyon National Park area. There are a lot of things to see in the area besides Bryce. Kodachrome Basin is just a little south of Bryce and not well visited. I didn't see anyone else there while I drove around and hiked. Go, See, Enjoy. Dave