Last night was the exact opposite of the night before as it
relates to temperature. The night before I froze to death. Last night it was so
hot I could only lie naked on top of my sleeping bag and even then I had a hard
time falling asleep. Later in the night I woke and pulled the covers over me as
the temperature had dropped to a more comfortable level.
It was another warm sunny day but the forecast was calling
for some rain in the direction I was headed. I’ve gotten into a rhythm of
shaving and showering every other day not counting my pool time. This was my
clean day so I took a little longer getting ready. I managed to pull out around
9:30 and had about a three and a half hour ride to my first destination, Bryce
Canyon National Park. Fortunately I had Interstate 15 right there at my
doorstep and the speed limit was 80mph so I made good time.
It was already 34’C (93’F) by 10:30 so I stopped for some
hydration in the form of Gatorade Sport under a highway overpass just to get a
little shade. I took this photo while I drank.
I finally got to my exit and headed east up into the hills.
Shortly I arrived at my first turn and seemingly out in the middle of nowhere
was a rather new looking store boasting Buffalo and Elk jerky so, of course I
had to stop. I took this pic from their parking area and you can see the clouds
building. I decided to put on my rain gear because I was headed straight for
the storm as usual.
It wasn’t long before the rain started but this time I was
prepared. A half hour later I had arrived at the entrance to the park and
chatted up a fellow who said that the best deal was paying $15.00 for a shuttle
that would take you around to each of the three main viewing sites and bring
you back to the parking lot which was no charge. The shuttle ran every ten
minutes all day so I would go to a site, get off, take my photos and hang out
until the next shuttle. The first stop was their visitor center which showed a
30 minute video all about the park and it’s creation. Normally I would have
skipped that but I figured by the time the movie was done the storm might have
passed and the sun would be out again. Not only was the video quite interesting
but when I emerged from the theatre the rain was gone and the sun had returned.
Here are several photos I took at two of the stops including
one of yours truly. It was quite impressive and well worth going to see. It
reminded me of a minny Grand Canyon. All the towers and weird rock formations
are caused by erosion both from wind and rain. The rock is very soft and
crumbles easily. These structures are called “hoodoos” and are believed by the
native Indians to be “Legend People” who were turned to stone by the wiley
coyote.
On my ride to Zion I took these couple of shots across a farmer's field.
By the time I got back to the parking area it was late
afternoon and I wanted to get to Zion National Park and find a campsite so I
could explore the park tomorrow. Everything thus far today had worked out in my
favor so I was very disappointed to see that all the campgrounds were full when
I arrived at Zion. I had remembered seeing a campground a few miles back so I
turned around at the entrance gate and backtracked to the camp. This turned out
to be a blessing in disguise because they had a very nice campsite waiting
there for me with electric hookup, wifi, laundry and showers for $30.
While I prepared my dinner I did a load of laundry so I had
some clean clothes again to wear. The campsite is ten minutes from the Zion
Entrance Gates so tomorrow I can spend the day in another of Mother Nature’s Wonderlands.
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