Peaches, Hoodos and Hanging Gardens

Capitol reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion blog

We stop on the way to capital reef to fill up for  gas and the station is hewn into rock!

Our first stop at Capitol reef is to see some petroglyphs carved into rock, they’re a bit tricky to see without binoculars but impressive none the less.  We drive for a few minutes and we’re in orchards! We Friday expect thatin a desert! This area is a natural oasis and the Mormon settlers cultivated apples and peaches and the parks staff have been resorting the orchards and you can pick your own.  We stop to get a few peaches and some apples - Alex likes the baskets on sticks to try and get the fruit down - they look like lacrosse sticks.

Our next stop is Capitol dome which is a large imposing rock formation and after a couple of pics and a quick stop at the visitor centre we hear there are some park camping spots left and we manage to get one in the middle of the village by the orchard where we watch deer and their fawns scamper about around the old wooden Mormon structures.

We had planned to go to sunset point but we’ve still got the desert rains so we stay at our site instead and as the clouds clear Alex and I go to try and hear a night sky and telescope talk . Alex gets freaked out when he sees signs warning of mountain lions in the area so we detour and when we get to the place for the talk there are no signs of life! Shame as the sky has opened up and so many beautiful stars! 

After a peaceful nights sleep we drive to Hickman bridge for a proper walk and see lots of lizards in the heat and stunning views of the Capitol dome.

The bridge is a thin rock structure reminiscent of landscape arch at arches park but is very impressive.  We enjoy walking in the “washes” and imagine what it must be like here when there are flash floods after significant rain.

We pick up a few more peaches after our walk and have a quick look at sunset point before we head to Bryce Canyon.

We stop for fuel en route and oh now we can’t get the fuel nozzle in the filler! After puzzle, fiddling and screwdrivering we still fail to sort the issue so after chatting to a very nice art gallery owner (Nancy) next to the fuel station we find a mechanic in the next town.  Nancy was so kind she even gave us her card if got stuck for help and a couple of postcards with beautiful photographs her husband had taken of nearby Bryce Canyon.  Bryan’s autos in Loa are fab and immediately grab a filling funnel and reset the filler - sorted for $10 and what a relief!  We see our first tumbleweed as we carry on to Bryce.  

We find a spot on the Bryce canyon campsite right near the sunset and sunrise points, have some food and then head out to watch the sunset.  We walk up to sunrise point (ironic that this is the best place to watch sunset - not sunset point!) and watch the sun drop and highlight the thousands of hoodoos.  The landscape here is so different with erosion creating thousands of pointy fingered hoodoos sticking up from the canyon floor.  After a lovely sunset we head back to our site for a fire in the forest. 

We awake the next morning and Alex and I have decide to do the queens and Navajo loop walks which is a 3 mile loop deep into and out of the canyon and is not for guy (too steep and scary!)

Alex and I love walking through the little arches and spitting stellars jays and chimpmunks and mule deer as we go.

It’s super hot and steep and the last section coming out of the canyon through “wall street” is spectacular as we climb through the hoodoos and caves but hot hard work as we get to the heat of the day.

We meet up with guy, get a special badge for alex for “I hiked the hoodoos” which he’s very pleased about. We stop for pizza and coffee before driving the “scenic drive” and enjoying the lookouts to different views of the hoodoos.

We wake up and pack up and off to Zion national park and manage to get a campsite in southern campfires site right next to the visitor centre where the shuttle buses depart from.  After a quick stop in the centre we realise there are “junior ranger” books that can be completed by kids in exchange for a park badge and they get to do a little pledge - we can’t believe we haven’t done this at the parks so far but Alex is keen so we pick up a workbook.  We hop on a shuttle into the park (powered by propane!) and stop at “the narrows”  where we walk alongside the river to the top where more adventurous hikers wade waist  deep and more for several miles between the slab sided valley. As with several other parks we’ve visited it’s packed here! We stop at the end of the marked path as it’s a bit too tough for Alex and watch as he teams up with 3 other young boys to build a spectacular dam on the river.  

We see so much wildlife on this walk including a badger, mule deer with giant ears hence the name, a little snake in a pool, tadpoles, bighorn sheep, and the friendliest rock squirrels ever! The squirrels are so brazen they try to steal the wrong nuts!

After a fab walk we stop to marvel at the ledge as part of the angels landing walk for brave souls.  We then stop at the lodge on the way back and have an impromptu beer and meal watching the sun go down on the outside balcony and watching a very friendly mule deer wander around outside.

As we wait for the bus back Alex finds a desiccated black tarantula eeek!

We wake up early to fight the heat as it’s super hot here, as I get to the loo block I spot a live tarantula scampering about!

We get a shuttle back into the park to walk the hanging gardens upper and lower pools.  It’s baking hot but we’re in an maxing oasis, green ans full of life and we understand where the name Zion came from.  We climb to the pool areas and as we get to the pools which are verdant little oases we see orange tipped butterflies, more rock squirrels, giant tadpoles and giant blue black and yellow dragonflies, a rock covered in wood toads, green bird grasshoppers, figeater beetles and many other beetles we don’t identify.  Alex even rescues a weird looking dinosaur type bug from one of the pools.  We see the mid and upper poools but wimp out of going down and back to the lower pools as the heat is crazy so we head back to the visitors centre.  Alex has completed all his little challenges and proudly recited a little pledge to look after the parks (and eat his vegetables) and gets his first junior ranger badge.

He loves it and it’s encouraged him to learn more and do a bit of writing which has been a daily battle so we’re very pleased.  He’s seen a little junior ranger jacket you can pin badges to so we get him one and he proudly wears his badge. 

We pack up and depart with a quick slushy stop as it’s so hot before we go on to the Grand Canyon.   

Emma