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Published: November 15th 2012
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Just when we thought our trip couldn’t get any better, our next two stops were Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. These were two of my biggest highlights on a trip full of highlights.
Up until this point we hadn’t seen much wildlife, but that was about to change. I had spent the best part of 4 days chasing these little chipmunks everywhere, trying to get a really good close-up photo. Little did I know I could have just waited for easier opportunities.
Our road to Bryce from Torrey was another scenic one – highway 12. Again, this is known as one of the best roads to drive in the US. We traversed 9000 foot summits and descended 14% grades into lush valleys with small rivers lined with yellow and green trees.
The landscape at Bryce was quite different to anything we’d see before and after it. Lots of orange and white sandstone, which reminded me of hokey pokey ice-cream. Erosion over time has exposed pinnacles called Hoodoos up to 200 feet high.
We had seen only a handful of people on our main hike at Bryce when we got to the last section. All of sudden
Mountain Goat
Zion National Park we were faced with a barrage of French lemmings descending upon us and ruining our relative solitude. My first thought was ‘Oh, must a French tour bus.’ Then it was, ‘hmm, make that 2 tour buses…’ Then it was, ‘Merde!’ This must have been their first stop at Bryce as they were very excited, snapping photos with spasmodic repetition. They made very little effort to move out of the way of oncoming traffic. Still, we had been lucky with tourists thus far and we weren’t going to let this bother us too much. It just made us thankful to not be travelling in peak season. Or in France.
For Zion National Park we decided to stay in the nearby town of Hurricane rather than Zion itself as accommodation and services were a third of the cost. Within 5 minutes of entering the park our road was blocked by a group of mountain goats crossing the road. Due to the lack of animals to this point we were pretty excited to see them and got out and watched for a while before other tourists arrived and swarmed the area. One resourceful gentleman was using his iPad to take photos. Must
Observation Point
Zion National Park have been a professional.
Most of the hikes in Zion are of the vertical variety and we steeled ourselves for our biggest hike of the trip so far. 8 miles, and a 2150 foot ascent to Observation Point – estimated return time of 6-8 hours. It was a great hike, but the last section towards the top of the cliff was very steep and sustained. We were both sucking in the big ones at the top. It was well worth it because the views were magnificent. I’m running out of superlatives to use about these places.
At the top I was quite shocked to see how relatively tame my chipmunk friends were. They were scooting around everywhere looking for a morsel of food – climbing over people’s packs and shoes. I got my close-up snap which was very satisfying. Only problem was we had our first squirrel sighting and now these little buggers were being shy and evasive. Just when I thought I could die happily I had a new quest!
We’ve seen a lot of people using hiking poles in these parts. Not just one, but two per person. I really find it difficult to understand
how much help they can be, especially when they are using them on paved paths. My sarcasm meter was going ballistic much to Jamie's mirth.
Our second day at Zion saw us take on the Angel’s Landing hike. This is the one I had heard the most about, as 6 people have died on this trail since 2004. The final section of the trail ascends a steep and narrow ridge with a 1,400 foot drop to the canyon floor on either side. There is a chain on some parts for people to inch their way along. I had seen photos of it before attempting the climb and I was very apprehensive.
But I made it. It wasn’t quite as bad I’d anticipated, but I have to say this was probably one of the scariest things I’ve ever done and was very happy with the achievement. The adrenalin was definitely flowing freely afterwards. It was time for a few beers to do the same.
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Tamara
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So um I was just wondering... How is a road cow different to a desert cow?