Mr. Nate Goes to Southern Utah: Part 1

Wednesday, January 6, 2010:

My friend Alan and I began our trip around 5AM that morning. We drove south through the darkness for several hours and then stopped in Beaver, just as the sun was starting to rise, and enjoyed breakfast at McDonald's.

We continued on another hour or two until we came to Bryce Canyon. The sky was a fresh dark blue and it was looking to be a perfect day. There were only a few people in the parking lot and when we got out of the car we found the temperature to be rather warm in the sun. So we left the coats in the car and just wore layers. We went out to the amphitheater and saw Bryce Canyon properly frosted with snow.

You couldn't take a bad picture if you tried...

There was a group of Korean tourists there enjoying the view. One of them asked me if I would take a picture for him. I went to grab his camera and then he clarified saying that he wanted a picture of him and me together.

ok, whatever...

After enjoying the view for a while we went back to the car and grabbed our snowpants and hiking poles.

We then descended down the trail into the hoodoos...

One of the first stops was Wall Street where giant pine trees struggle to outgrow the surrounding hoodoos...

We hiked further on the Navajo Loop...

The snow was fairly well-packed on the trail but off to the sides on the valley floor it was quite deep...

We veered off onto the Peek-a-boo Loop trail and the wispy cirrus clouds hung in funky gossamer above the hoodoos...

Nathan is special. He can hike all by himself. Hooray for hiking! Way to go Nathan!

With all the hiking it got warm enough to shed the sweatshirt and just go to a t-shirt. It felt nice...

Every time we got to the top of any hill or ridge we had nothing but awesome views in every direction...

An so I take picture...

It was also cool having the trail nearly to ourselves the whole time. Winter is the time to visit Bryce!

I think I'll let the pictures do the talking for awhile...

Skiing (sort of)...

Thor's Hammer!

After our four-hour hike we got back to the car and drove around the Sunset Point for another panoramic view of the park...

We left Bryce and headed north in the car on the Boulder Highway...

The sun started to go down...

We had to watch out for furry cows on the highway...

And mule deer...

As we came through the Dixie Forest we could see the last rays of sunlight highlighting the Henry Mountains in the distance...

We drove into the small town of Torrey and it was getting dark. There wasn't a lot open in this town during the off-season. Because we wanted to make the most of our shortened winter daylight hours, we hadn't eaten much since McDonald's in Beaver. So when we pulled into Torrey were afraid we would be stuck with the Subway that is tacked on to the gas station there.

Luckily we found Chillzz open.

They had the classic letters-pegged-to-the-Coke-board menu above the counter with burgers and fries and pizza on offer. We both got burgers and cheese fries and it tasted great. We also enjoyed some shakes...

After dinner we drove up the street to Uncle Ted & Aunt Janae's house. They were in Salt Lake that night but were nice enough to let us stay the night in their home regardless. We were even able to relax a bit in the outdoor hot tub...

We then watched Angels & Demons and then slept soundly.


The next morning I awoke to a bright red sunrise out the window. It was a bit cloudier outside, however, but we still had a lot planned for the day.

We cooked some eggs and as we ate breakfast a few of the neighbors dropped by outside the window...

We cleaned up and then left Torrey and headed to Capitol Reef National Park. We went first to the visitor center and then into the park.


We saw ancient Fremont Indian petroglyphs...

And we did a nice little hike through the black boulders with white cliffs on either side...

Fascinating and desolate landscape...

We saw an ancient Indian Moki, used for storing food...

And then we came to Hickman Bridge...

Alan found a nice place to sit...

After that short hike we drove a little further to Grand Wash and hiked up it a little ways...

I nearly got eaten by a rock...

We got back in the car and then left the park heading north and east. Where did we go next? What other animals did we encounter? What other strange formations of rock did we see?

...Find out next week!

Wind pockets in Capitol Reef

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