BRYCE CANYON AND BEYOND

                Bryce Canyon was everything we remembered, except for the air.  I don’t remember the air quality being so bad 18 years ago.  It’s not really bad, but the view of the far side of the canyon was definitely degraded. Maybe it’s all the wildfires in the west this summer.   I also don’t remember the air being quite as thin, especially on the very steep 600 foot climb out of the canyon after visiting the Queen’s Garden.  Okay, the rim of Bryce Canyon is at 8,000 feet or more.  The canyon can be viewed from the rim, but it is much better to view it from below.  There is no elevator, so go while you are young and able! 

                Bryce Canyon is not a huge park, so we found that we had seen pretty much everything in 2 full days, so we left 2 days earlier than planned.  This seemed like a great plan, except that this seems to be an incredibly popular corner of the world.  Every retired RV’er, plus every empty nester RV’er, every biker in the Southwest, and a good portion of the populations of France and Germany has descended on this corner of Utah.  On our first morning out of Bryce, we stopped a Escallante State Park.  The campground didn’t look like much, and we were told that a visit to the petrified forest required a rather strenuous climb up and down.  We passed.  There were decisions to be made. 

                An inquiry at the Visitor Center for the Dixie National Forest told us about a likely spot at the Singletree campground in the forest.  (A very nice visitor center, BTW.)  The road to Singletree was quite the trial, with hairpin turns rated for as little as 15 mph.  And did I mention a number of sections with a 10% downgrade to go with the tight turns.  I picked a bad day not to take my L-theanine supplement.  Singletree had plenty of availability and, with the Golden Age Pass, we were able to camp the night for $5.  There were no sinks, no showers, no electricity, and no cell service of any kind, but what do you expect at that price point?  The bear I spotted in the woods turned out to be a black cow.  The weather was rather pleasant.  If you climbed the hill a bit and stood on a rock, you could get a glimpse of Capitol Reef National Park, which we would be passing through the next day.  It was quiet. 

                I forgot to mention Anasazi State Park.  No cliff dwellings there, but there were remains of a small Anasazi settlement exposed by archaeologists.  It was really a very nice museum.  In a video, a Hopi man recounted a creation story that sounded somewhat familiar, but ask me about this when we return to Paumanock.  It is hard to anticipate whether our readers will find the story threatening or affirming to their belief systems.  

                Last evening, we debated two different routes to get to Arches NP.  There seems to be no such thing as a direct route out here.  We decided to take the northern route after passing through Capitol Reef.   Capitol Reef NP turned out to be an amazing place.  It reminded me of Zion NP.  The Fremont River flows through the canyon and there are trees and nice foliage.  The groves of fruit trees are maintained by the Park Service, and you are invited to pick your own.  The rock formations and petroglyphs were amazing.  All were very accessible and close to the road.  We really should have seen about a spot in that campground, which was lush and shaded. 

There are not many camping opportunities between Capitol Reef and Moab, but there appeared to be many opportunities near Moab, which is near both Arches and Canyonlands NPs.  We sort of decided on the campground at Dead Horse Point State Park.  We called from about 40 miles away and they still had 2 spots – first come, first served.  Needless to say, they were no longer available when we arrived at about 1:30 pm.  So, we ended up at nearby Horsethief Campground (can you steal a dead horse?), atop a shadeless, somewhat featureless mesa.  It is 90 degrees.  We find ourselves very thirsty and longing for water.  Could it be homesickness?