Travel Day to Las Vegas

Friday, October 18, 2013

We were delighted to wake up on Friday to find out that we could still walk.  Our calves were screaming, so it was a great day to take a relaxing 4 hour drive to Las Vegas!   
  The best things about the drive was the speed limit:

As most of you know - this is my kind of driving!  

I now understand what "culture shock" means.  In Bryce, it was quiet, serene, and most people there were like us, hikers dressed in their REI gear, hiking boots, backpacks, etc.  In Vegas we found many visitors like us, but we also found Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Woody from Toy Story, men & women barely dressed, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse.....you name it, we saw it!

Vegas at Night

It's fun to win!

View from our hotel

Full Moon Hike

Thursday, October 17..... continued

After our very long, amazing hike down to the Hat Shop and back, we took a rest and had dinner to get ready for our Full Moon hike.  This hike is offered twice a month:  the day before (waxing gibbous) and day of the full moon.  We planned our trip to Bryce around this day.  We actually considered bailing while we sat, almost asleep, at dinner.  But we rallied and we sure are glad that we did!
  We met at 6:30 p.m. at the Fairyland Trail Head with Ranger Poe.

Ranger Poe

It turns out that Ranger Poe shared a lot of knowledge about nocturnal animals that reside in Bryce Canyon.  So in addition to watching the sun go down and the moon rise, we learned a lot about bats, owls, mountain lions, and coyotes.   He shared information about the food chain, mating, and light pollution and how that effects their survival.  Along the way, as we walked DOWN into the canyon, the moonlight got brighter, but it was difficult to see!  I realized I don't have very good night vision.

Once again, we found ourselves at the bottom of the canyon, this time with 25 strangers.  Many of our new hiker friends strolled out of the canyon - I whispered to Geof, "We will NOT be last" and we weren't, but I barely made it.   The climb, plus the dark, nearly did me in.  I found myself wondering if we didn't make it out, if anyone would know we were missing.  Our ranger was long gone and I couldn't see anyone around us!  But we did make it, and found many of our new BFFs at the top using telescopes to check out the amazing night sky.  It was all worth it and yes, we slept well Thursday night!

Using the flash to take a
picture of a tree at night!

BRYCE from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Just catching up on the blog......we've been so tired at the end of each day!

Thursday, October 17, 2013
What a day!  We got up before the crack of dawn to sit in line to get our Moon Hike tickets.  It turns out we didn't really need to do that, but there are a limited number of tix for each "full moon" hike, and we didn't want to miss out.  IT WAS COLD!  19 degrees!!

Our day was spent hiking down to a location known as "Hat Shop".  We really had no idea what we were getting into, other than the elevation at the top is 8300 ft, and Hat Shop is about 7200 ft. 

It was a fairly easy hike down, and having hiking sticks definitely helped, but what we didn't know at the time - we were each thinking, "How the hell are we going to get back up?"

If you look beyond the hoodoos in the front of this picture - waaay beyond, you will see Hat Shop.  We didn't know when we took this beautiful picture, that that was our destination!  

  Here is Geof - you will have to look very closely to see him:

So we naively hiked for about an hour and a half and reached our the hoodoos that form "Hat Shop".  It was worth it!!! 

Here is Hat Shop (I counted 10 hats) - the picture does not do it justice - it was really amazing!

So - time to head back.  My constant question, "Sa, is THAT the top?" always got the same response, "No Sa, not yet..."  It was very, very challenging.  Often we had to stop after just 25 steps that felt like they were straight up (altitude was definitely a factor!)

More to follow (including another hike that same day!)

Kanab and Bryce

I am writing at the end of a very long, unbelievable day!  We woke early to meet our tour guide, Brett, who took us to Peekaboo Slot Canyon.  We really had no idea what to expect.  After a cool ride across sand (and stopping a few times to let air out of the tires) we reached the Slot Canyon.  We arrived at about 9:30 a.m. in the bright sunlight; Brett assured us that as the sun rose, the colors of the canyon would change - he sure was right.  Too many pictures to post - but here are a few:

and then we saw our first of many hoodoos (look closely at the 2nd picture and you'll see me!)

  


It was a great morning and then we headed to Bryce, the main purpose of our trip!  We used our $10.00 pass :) and drove straight to a trail, arriving at about 2:30 p.m.  Unlike Zion, until you park and walk to the trail, the canyon can't be seen.  WOW - really an unbelievable site.  We started making our way down:

and then climbed and climbed and climbed our way out.

Tomorrow, at 6:30 a.m. we will get in line to get our Moonlight hike tickets (only 60 available - cross your fingers) and then decide whether to do a "strenuous" hike during the day!

Day 1

We had an easy trip - everything went smoothly and we didn't even have to take off our shoes at security because Geof is a "Premier" traveler!!  I finally finished a book I have been reading, Firefly Lane, while on the plane and cried through the last chapter (that was a little embarrassing!)

We flew into Las Vegas and are always amazed that there are slot machines in the airport!

We didn't give it a try!  

We decided as we drove to Kanab, Utah that we would take a detour through Zion, even though we have been there before.  As we approached we realized that even though we weren't staying, we would have to pay just to drive through....$25.00!  Thank goodness Geof is a "senior" -- he purchased a lifetime pass for all National Parks for $10.00  :)  The gentlemen told us that the parks will only be open 5 more days unless Congress takes action......  we got very lucky!

Our drive through Zion brought back wonderful memories of our stay in 2005.  We were still absolutely blown away by the formations and briefly considered checking into the lodge!  If you haven't been to Zion you might consider adding it to your bucket list!    

After passing slowly through Zion, we traveled to one of our last minute itinerary change in case the National Parks weren't open:  Kanab.  A bit risky because it's not as well known, but we decided to keep it as part of our plan.  The ride to Kanab was beautiful with great views of the Escalanate.  We ended our day with an amazing dinner at the Rocking V Cafe in Kanab, where the owner gave us an earful of his opinion of the government shut-down and what it's meant for this area..... 

Really delicious with a great front door!

Tomorrow we are going on a Mystical Slot Canyon tour and then heading to Bryce!!  Looking forward to a great day!

Packed and ready to go!

   Tomorrow we leave for our long-awaited trip to Bryce Canyon, Utah.  We have been planning this trip for a long time - fly to Vegas, rent an SUV, drive to Bryce and hike!
Then the government was shut down, including all National Parks (including Bryce).  So we developed an alternate itinerary to visit state parks.......
   Then Utah funded their parks and Bryce reopened!  So we have combined what we think are the best of both.  We start our week at Kanab, Utah and then move on to Bryce.  Really looking forward to our full moon hike at Bryce on Thursday!
Check back!