Back in October last year we took a day trip to Olympic National Park in Washington state. Here are some recently processed bonus pictures taken by Jenn:
exploring
Attractions and other places we visit.
Kodachrome Basin State Park
While we concentrate on National Parks, we also like to visit other interesting parks as we explore. One such was Kodachrome Basin State Park in Utah:
Like much of Utah, it features lots of interesting rock formations:
We had a picnic lunch in a nice sheltered picnic area:
Then strolled along a nature trail:
I liked how this cloud lined up with the rock tower, to make it look like smoke from a chimney:
Finally, we went for a drive on a dirt road to see some more rocks:
Stay tuned for a timelapse video.
Mossy Cave Trail hike, Bryce Canyon
Within the Bryce Canyon National Park boundary, but separated from the main part of the park, is a short hike called Mossy Cave Trail. This hike is 0.8 miles (1.3 km) out-and-back, with an elevation change of 300 feet (91m).
Here’s the trailhead:
Jenn with hiking poles; the first time we used them, very useful on the steep and rough path:
Some nice views from the trail:
A waterfall:
Another path leads to the Mossy Cave:
Really more of an overhang than a cave:
Still some ice lingering in the shade:
Bryce Canyon National Park at sunset
We visited Bryce Canyon National Park again around sunset, on two consecutive nights.
On the first night, we had a fancy dinner at Stone Hearth Grille in Tropic, Utah, in the “canyon” of Bryce (it’s not really a canyon):
Then into Bryce Canyon:
As you may have noticed, those pictures didn’t have much alpenglow, as the sun was already too low to reach the canyon. So we decided to go again the next night, a bit earlier.
This time, we had dinner at Bryce Canyon Pines, a more casual traditional American restaurant (with very tasty food):
And into Bryce Canyon once again:
Much better alpenglow this time:
We enjoyed having a viewpoint to ourselves:
A more popular viewpoint:
Another quiet viewpoint:
Zion National Park again
We visited Zion National Park again, in the late afternoon and evening, and took several hundred more photos. Here are a bunch of the nice ones.
Heading through the mile-long tunnel:
A couple of the tunnel windows:
A fun game we play when visiting parks is to look for and pick up garbage. Because people suck, and we want to leave our parks better than we found them. This is my haul from one viewpoint:
We had dinner at a Thai restaurant just outside the park:
We’ve seen a couple of restaurants that have checkboxes for tips. I wish every restaurant would do this; it’s so much more convenient:
(Bringing an ApplePay terminal to the table is even nicer. Better yet, how about paying a living wage and getting rid of tipping, but this is an improvement over having to do the math.)
Back into the park:
Back through the tunnel:
The smaller tunnel:
Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument including Singing Canyon
We took a day trip along Scenic Byway 12 and Burr Trail Road to Singing Canyon, a small slot canyon in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.
The monument is a massive area, almost two million acres, administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
The drive we went on was just a tiny fraction of it; inspired by this article.
The Grand Staircase is a massive series of cliffs, going from Cedar Breaks National Park to the Grand Canyon; here’s an image from the Wikipedia article:
Heading along Scenic Byway 12:
Lots of interesting rocks along the road:
Monument sign:
One of the visitor centers for the monument, in Cannonville, Utah:
Back on the road:
Another visitor center in Escalante, Utah:
Trying a prickly pear cactus candy snack from the first visitor center (pretty tasty):
Singing canyon, so named due to its amazing acoustics, which we can confirm; we had it all to ourselves, too:
Interesting rocks outside the canyon — actually it’s still in a canyon, Long Canyon:
Looking down into Long Canyon:
We encountered a couple of free-range cows on the road:
An enjoyable drive, and impressive slot canyon.
Pipe Spring National Monument and Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
A day trip to Pipe Spring National Monument and Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, amongst other places.
Pipe Spring National Monument sign:
Visitor center:
Diorama:
Exhibit:
Outside, behind the visitor center:
One chicken wandering around:
Longhorn bull:
Roof:
The main building:
The building was closed, but I peeked through the gate:
The spring goes through that building, and out the side:
Into a pond:
Wagon:
Some interesting rocks on the drive to the sand dunes:
Tourist trap cave:
Interesting rocks:
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park:
Interesting rocks:
We stopped for some food at Thunderbird Restaurant, “Home of the Ho-Made Pies”:
Info:
Dessert menu:
Restaurant decor:
BLTs:
We had pie slices for dessert, and got a whole pie to go:
We went back there another day for dinner:
More interesting rocks:
Rock shop:
You guessed it, more interesting rocks:
Cedar Breaks National Monument
We visited Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah. A fairly basic park, without a visitor center yet (they are building one).
It’s at 10,000 feet, so was still snowy around the end of April. It is the highest part of the Grand Staircase.
Snowy amphitheater:
Snowy meadow:
Another viewpoint:
Bryce Canyon National Park
We visited Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah:
The entrance station:
Bryce Canyon visitor center:
A map and model:
An interesting idea: donation boxes by state and country:
We drove to the far end of the park, and used an audio tour feature in the NPS app (though it didn’t work reliably, so we missed some of the snippets):
A bunch of photos of Bryce Canyon from various viewpoints:
A long trail into the canyon (we didn’t partake of it):
A balcony at the end of the trail:
The other side of the balcony:
More National Park stickers on our coach:
Red Canyon
We passed through Red Canyon in the Dixie National Forest in Utah several times.
It has some impressive rock formations:
A couple of drive-through arches:
The Red Canyon Visitor Center (which was closed when we stopped by, but we got selfies with Smokey anyway):
Another day, driving towards the canyon again; a sign for “Scenic Byway 12, All-American Road”:
Driving back the other way at sunset:
