Day 4 – Mighty 5 Utah National Parks

As mentioned in the last blog, the Pioneer restaurant at Capitol Reef Resort could not accommodate us for breakfast due to a large tour group staying at the property. Joe had scouted out another location in the town of Torrey just a couple of miles down the road. Alas…nothing was open at 7 am in Torrey! So off we went – a little caffeine deprived – entering the Scenic Hwy 12.

Boulder Mountain Lookout

The landscape changed soon after we left the Torrey area and started gaining elevation. We entered the Dixie National Forest, the highest timbered plateau in North America. With a stop at at about 9600 ft, we enjoyed a morning overview to the east, with the Henry Mountains in the distance.

As we traveled towards the small town of Boulder, we entered into cattle ranching territory…and around one corner we came face-to-face with a large herd of cows and several cowboys on the road. That certainly work everyone up! We were guessing that they were taking the cattle to their summer pastures.

Singing Canyon

Just after the town, Joe turned left onto a secondary road promising us an exciting stop ahead. About 20 minutes later, he parked in a pull-out and we exited the van. The trail led to a slot canyon, called the Singing Canyon where the acoustics were amazing. Louise took centre stage and sang “America the Beautiful”, then Madelon sang a couple of verses of “He’s got the whole world in his hands”. In the meantime, Joe was recording on his phone. It was a great experience, and there was only one other person there (he was leaving as we arrived). Truly a hidden gem.

Continuing along Scenic Hwy 12, the next point of interest was the “Hogback” – a section of the highway with steep drop-offs on both sides. From a pull-out, we had some great views of both vistas. As we have learned on the trip, cottonwoods only grow where there is water, so we knew there was a river or stream along the green ribbon in the photo on the left.

At this point, we still hadn’t found a place for breakfast (and most importantly coffee – if you know Craig and me). Joe had another hidden gem up his sleeve. A little further along Hwy 12 tucked in on the side of a hill was Kiva Coffee House. Such a great find. Tasty coffee and pastries with friendly service . This area is just at the start of the Escalante Canyons where the landscape features some of the “staircases” .

Escalante

Back on the road towards the town of Escalante. First stop was the Escalante Interagency Visitor Centre housed in a Gold Leeds certified building! We viewed a 20 minute film about the geological history of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It seems to be a very interesting area worth exploring on another trip. However; we were focused on our next destination – Bryce Canyon.

We had lunch at a great restaurant – Escalante Outfitters. It was a busy place and lunch took a while, but food was delish. Looks like a great place to stay or to stock up on gear for outdoor adventures.

With everyone full from lunch, we continued on beautiful Hwy 12 towards Bryce Canyon. Just before the entry gates to the park, we stopped at the Mossy Cave and Falls. We were lucky to grab a parking space as someone was just leaving. The falls are man-made, resulting from a “tropical ditch” built by Morman pioneers to divert snow melt and monsoons providing water to the nearby towns of Tropic and Canonville.

The easy trail from the parking lot led to a bridge that crossed the stream, then uphill for a nice view of the waterfall. A short trail took us to the Mossy Cave. It was pretty unimpressive, but I’m sure it is beautiful when the icicles hang from the inside during the winter.

Back down the hill and across the bridge, I climbed down to the stream and walked to the waterfalls. Its a great place to cool off and soak one’s hot feet! Craig had opted for that rather than going to the Mossy Cave.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Now on to Bryce Canyon! The group was given some options for our time here: hiking the Navajo Loop from Sunset Point, or going to Inspiration Point and walking back to Sunset Point or driving back with Joe. Eight of us chose to hike the Navajo Trail with an expected completion time of about 1.5 hours.

This is an amazing hike, walking amongst the ancient hoodoos. The switch-back trail descended deep into the canyon. As I watched the people coming up the trail, I thought to myself “I will probably be taking this very slow on the way back, so I will take more pictures on the ascent”. I failed to recognize that this was a loop and we would return on a different trail. I would have taken more photoson the Two Bridges Trail had I known.

The descent is about 500 ft, coming out to a different landscape of pine trees at the bottom. Now it was time to make the climb. Not going to lie…it took a lot of effort and many rests for me to stop and enjoy the view. Craig continued on at a steady pace. Back at Sunset Point, Joe was waiting for us. Craig was the first back at 1 hour 2 minutes…I was a couple minutes behind. We were surprised at our timing and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

We headed back to BW Plu Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel to check in and get cleaned up for a Western dinner show at Ebenezers Barn and Grill (this is correct…Barn not Bar). Not being big country/western fans, craig and I were a little skeptical. The evening started out with a buffet dinner. We chose Flat Iron steak which came with coleslaw, potatoes, baked beans and a dessert. Everything was prepared perfectly which surprised us. The entertainment started after dinner and featured a series of hits which have shaped country music. It included songs that reminded me of my Dad from artists like Hank Williams, Marty Robbins, Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson. The performers were great (and a couple of them just in their teens). Nice ending for an awesome day.

Up Next: Day 5 – Bryce Canyon Sunrise and Zion Park