Utah Scenic Byways 24 and 12

Photos

Saturday, May 17, 2014

We were both up fairly early today. But we took our time. We were still not first to breakfast in the building next door at the Sunflower Inn. It was a very nice breakfast. Much nicer than Days Inn, which was completely serviceable. We found some Columbines in bloom. They are a new flower for us. We had never seen one before. They came in different colors but we like the mixed colors best. They were full of fluid and we didn’t know if it was from last night’s rain or nectar. They looked like perfect hummingbird sippy cups though.

We sat at a garden view table for 2 with no one else in the room. It was great. We saw a squirrel, and some hummingbirds. We checked out and repacked the car and set off to look for a grocery store. We didn’t like the first one which was a general store. The 2^nd one was more normal but still more expensive than home. I got some yogurts and we got some cheese curds and a hummus with pretzel chips and Clay got a chicken salad sandwich and a 6-pack of Diet Cokes in small bottles. We plan to picnic today for lunch on our long scenic drive. I also picked up a brochure for a rock shop, Lin Ottinger's. If you took the brochure into the store they would give you a free dinosaur bone piece. We found the shop and to get the piece of dinosaur bone, you had to follow foot prints through the store on a little treasure hunt. We found and bought a great little souvenir as well, a dendrite. I love it. It looks like a tiny landscape. I hope it will always remind us of Utah Rocks!

We drove back up north to I-70 on Utah 191 which is a scenic byway. It was nothing compared to what was to come! We got off at the next exit at the visitor’s center of the John Wesley Powell museum in Green River to see if they had some kind of driving guide for Utah 12 and Utah 24 scenic byways. But, they didn’t. So we just had to wing it from the information of the compact Utah road map I picked up there. Three exits later we left the Interstate almost for good on this trip. We headed southwest on Utah 24.

Once we got off the interstate things got interesting and beautiful. This was an amazing drive. Both roads are winding and scenic, but Utah 12 was an engineering marvel to boot. It was a Civilian Conservation Corps project and was a destination in itself. It goes through Dixie National Forest and skirts along Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Capitol Reef National Park may be my favorite after Arches NP at this point. It may actually be a tie due to the petroglyphs.

We spent some time in the Capitol Reef National Park. The sights along the way were just stunning and once again the photos will have to speak for themselves. It was a couple of hours from dark by the time we arrived at the Lodge at Bryce Canyon to check in to our cabin for the evening because we made so many stops. We still had to skip the Anasazi State Park because we hadn’t known about it until I picked up a local map, we ran out of time and we drove by. We saw some pronghorns just before and after entering Bryce NP. They are not antelope and they are the fastest land mammal in this hemisphere. I believe it because 2 blew by me trying to photograph them out the car window! Only the cheetah is faster. Amazing.

We were only able to get one night at Bryce Canyon Lodge. We have cabin 512. It is very nice and about the same price as last night. $238 tonight.  Once again, probably is a bit of a waste because we got in so late and we have to check out in the morning. Oh well. We had a bit of a hike to the cabin with all our stuff. We are traveling very heavy since it was predicted to be either very hot or very cold and we need heavy hiking boots/shoes etc. Anyway. We put our names on the Lodge’s dining room wait list first because they had at least a 20 minute wait. They do not take reservations. They gave us a pager. It was a pretty bad meal. Clay had a cup of elk stew and trout. He said his was ok. I had a half order of whole wheat penne pomodoro, that was tasteless except the pasta was still crispy as in uncooked and it tasted like wet cardboard. They did not price it at half off the full portion either. By this time we were too late to make it to the sunset over the canyon, so we ordered desserts. They were not great either. It was a very expensive and unsatisfying meal. We looked at the breakfast menu before leaving and I balked at coming back. While we were waiting in the restaurant, I went through the literature we were given upon park entry. We went back to the cabin and I laid out our plan for tomorrow to Clay. He accepted it and he went to bed. I had some scrambling around to do to get ready.

So, tomorrow's plan. We would get up very early and dress warmly and walk out to the canyon rim for sunrise carrying with us our leftover yogurt and chicken salad sandwiches as well as drinks. After the sunrise breakfast picnic we would walk down the Queen’s Garden trail and back up. Back to the cabin and shower then pack up and check out.  Then we would drive the Bryce Canyon road and stop at all the viewpoints and take another hike. I read in the paper, The Hoodoo, they gave us when we checked in that if you found at least 2 markers and hiked at least 3 miles and provided photographic proof of yourself at the markers you could claim a  prize. So, that is our goal. We have 2 full days because after tonight we are staying 2 nights at Bryce Valley Inn, an America’s Best Value Inn in Tropic. We drove by on our way here and it is about 14 miles from the park and Tropic is really just a wide spot in the road.

Our cabin 512 is really nice, quiet and comfortable if too dark. I don’t know why we can’t seem to get enough light, maybe dim bulbs. The heat is baseboard and excessively hot no matter how cool we set it, so we turned it off entirely. We used the ceiling fan and the gas logs in the fireplace instead as well as the space heater in the bathroom when needed. There is a coffee maker and a mini-fridge in the room. There is a closet/dressing room with a sink and a separate bath. Clay somehow neglected to get a photo in the bathroom. Sorry. It was white tile with a single sink, a toilet and a shower over tub. Pretty standard. All clean and nicely done. There is a nightlight in the bathroom. Nice touch, but again at what price? It is quaint and comfortable and we have no complaints except for our short stay. The upside is that we won't have to eat another meal here!



Photos