May 3 - Bryce Canyon and Kodachrome Basin State Park

Saturday morning we slept in a bit since we weren't really in a hurry to get going. Our original plans for the day were to travel to our next campsite in Kodachrome State Park, enjoy that park for a bit, then stay the night in the campground. We had intended to go to Bryce Canyon on Sunday; this park is at a higher altitude, so it tends to have cooler weather than surrounding locations. We were monitoring the weather, and since the weather forecast called for cold and rain for Sunday and Monday, we pivoted. We headed directly to Bryce Canyon National Park, arriving a little after noon. We hoped to have a full day in the park but instead spend this afternoon there to avoid the cold and rain.

Leaving Lee's Ferry, there were 2 giant boulders sitting on a pedestal - they were enormous, as this photo demonstrates. They had fallen thousands of years ago from the formation behind it; the force of the boulder on the earth below it made the ground harder than the ground around it, which has since eroded.

On our journey, we came to a point where we could see the various layers of the Escalante Grand Staircase. This photo does not do it justice at all. We felt very lucky to be able to spend time exploring the various areas of this amazing massive formation.

On the way we stopped in Kanab for a charge and groceries before finishing our trip to Bryce. Originally, we thought it would be close on our charge getting to Kanab, but driving a bit slow saved the juice.

We looked for a place for lunch on our way to Bryce. This is a very rural area with very few options. We kept pulling over at places and then driving away because there weren't any cars there. We finally found a place with a few cars just before Bryce; we had lunch at a little place which was pretty good. We arrived a Bryce around 1:30 hoping to make the ranger rim walk at 2:00. However, with our stop in the visitor's center, getting directions, and getting to the shuttle bus, we could see we wouldn't make it. So, we headed directly to Sunset Point to begin our hike.

Driving to Bryce, we passed through 2 human-made arches.

After considering our options, we decided we were up for the longer 3-mile hike with about 600 feet of elevation loss/gain. This begins at the rim of Bryce Canyon, descending into the amphitheater of hoodoos, winding through the canyon and then ascends steeply back out of the canyon. The views here throughout were just incredible. We debated whether this was our most scenic hike of the trip. That said, the last 0.6 miles climbing out of the canyon was no joke! About 600 feet of elevation gain over 3,000 feet of hiking. But we did it!

We were tired then, so we made our way to the car, took the scenic drive out near the end of the park, and worked our way back down and exited the park.

As were driving to our campsite in Kodachrome, the weather forecast for the next few days continued to look poor: cold and rainy with a bit of snow mixed in. While at dinner at The Pizza Place in Tropic, we make the decision for a significant adjustment in our plans. Instead of camping three nights in a row in local state parks, we decide to drive up near Salt Lake City and stay in a hotel for Sunday and Monday night to avoid the bad weather.

We got into Kodachrome SP just in time to shower and get the car ready just before dark. As usual when camping, we went to bed as it got dark.