After a refreshing nights sleep, we left early to pick up our specially ordered sandwiches from the deli. From Cedar City we headed east on the SR-14 and almost immediately started climbing up through a deep canyon. The road wriggled around and as it did the temperature dropped to as low as 38F. Eventually the road climbed out of the canyon into pine woodlands back on the Colorado Plateau. This plateau describes the area drained by the Colorado River and covers the west of the State of Colorado and most of southern Utah and lies around 5000 feet above sea level. Here, back in bight sunshine the temperature started climbing again.
As we drove through the pine forests towards Duck Creek Village we saw quite a few Mule Deer. Mule deer are recognisable by their long ears, similar to those of mules, hence the name. The road dropped a little and we joined the US-89 at Long Valley Junction. Now heading north, the road runs through a wide valley drained by the Sevier River. Twenty miles further, we reached another road junction not far north of Hatch. Here we turned east onto the SR-12.
The road started climbing again gently and after 14 miles we reached the turn-off for Bryce Canyon National Park. Once again our National Parks annual pass admitted us to the park and we picked up the obligatory leaflets and maps of the park from the Ranger.
We had decided in advance that we would drive to the end of the park road without stopping and then stop at all the views on the way back. It is 19 miles to the end of the road and it was difficult not to stop as we glimpsed astounding views especially to the east of the road. At the end of the road lie Rainbow and Yovimpa Points the highest part of the park at 9115ft. Our first views of the famous 'hoodoos', rock pinnacles worn away by wind and water, often with strange rocks perched on top, was breathtaking. In addition to the pinnacles, most of the rock is coloured. Most of it is red but there are bands of white and even greenish and blueish shades. It was clear that the cameras were going to be snapping away.
There was some bird-life around, Clarks Nutcrackers, Ravens and Turkey Vultures, but the view over Bryce Canyon constantly drew the eyes toward it.
After a while, we got back into the 'tour bus' and started driving north back toward the entrance. We stopped at all the overlooks, Black Birch Canyon, Pomderosa Canyon, Aqua Canyon, Natural Bridge, Farview Point, Whitemans Bench and Swamp Canyon before ending up at the turn-off for Bryce Point. By now we had descended a little to 8331ft and in addition to photos and wildlife spotting stopped to eat our lunch, brought all the way from Cedar City. Whilst eating lunch we saw several White-fronted Nuthatches that appeared to be unafraid of humans as they flitted around the trees right next to us.
After lunch, we continued our tour of the park, stopping at Inspiration Point, Sunset Point and Sunrise Point before leaving the park. Shortly afterwards there is another turn-off for Fairyland Point which we took for one last view of the weird scenery of Bryce Canyon.
From here, we reversed the route taken in the morning as far as Long Valley Junction on the US-89, but this time continued south a further 23 miles to Mount Carmel Junction. At some stage we must have crossed a watershed and we were now following the Virgin River. By now we felt like a break and stopped at a diner for a coffee. The waiter was very obliging and brought us drinks whilst we sat around and relaxed.
Back in the tour bus, we turned off here onto the SR-9 heading west. This road ran through open country side for a while and then started climbing at little before entering Zion National Park at the eastern entrance, where again our annual pass let us in. The road quickly started descending into a Canyon with the Virgin River and became very scenic. As we rounded one bend we found ourselves looking at a couple of striking mountains, the Checkerboard Mesa. These mountains were scored with lines that made it look like a chessboard. Further down the road, we decided to make a photo-stop as we probably wouldn't be returning to this part of Zion National Park, and realised that there was a female Long-horned Mountain Sheep just by the carpark. According to the park literature, there are only 69 of these creatures in the park, so we felt quite lucky to see them. Then as we looked around we then became aware of a male just above it. We stayed and took lots of pictures and the as a result of our staring upwards, caused lots of other vehicles to turn-off to see what we were looking at. As we left, we saw another of the sheep, only 66 to go! By the time we left there was quite a traffic jam.
Almost immediately we started moving again, the road disappeared into a long tunnel. At the western end of the tunnel, the road burst out into sunlight and you realise that you have emerged high up on a rock wall overlooking a deep canyon. The road wound down to the valley floor with spectacular views all the way. We continued on, ignoring the main attractions of Zion as we were going to return the following day.
We passed through Springdale as we continued west and road-works began. These continued all the way to Hurricane some 23 miles away. As we'd had a long day, these seem to go on forever! We passed through Leeds just before Hurricane and then dropped down further into the large town/city of St George. We'd booked to stay at the Days Inn here and easily found it and checked in. After settling in, we headed out for dinner, tonight at the Red Lobster where everyone enjoyed their meal.
Hotel - Days Inn, St George
Weather - Clear skies and sunny. Cool in the morning at Cedar City and even cooler climbing up to the plateau. Later hot and sunny.
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