Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 10

Thursday, September 19

We had a wild and crazy drive from Ruby's to the Offroad RV Resort. It was only about 120 miles, and I had evaluated the routes and decided on taking U.S. 89 to Utah 24. But google had that listed as a whole lot longer, so we started north on google's fastest route--which immediately became a mess with free-range cattle, no shoulders, and a hint of a dirt road ahead. We rapidly found a turnaround spot and went back to SH 12.

Starting out

 Going up

All that wasted about 10 minutes. SH 12 was a good road, with an indication of shoulders, but the route it chose turned out to be a hoot.  It went around a bunch of rock formations, the red kind that are so cool to observe.  Then it went way up in the mountains, passing a pine forest and then a taller pine forest and then aspens and almost a tree line. We topped off at a pass at "summit 9700 feet", which I assume means that we were at the summit, otherwise why tell us?

Then down a bunch of 8%, 10% and even one 12% grade (only a mile for that one) to end up in the incredibly gorgeous Capital Reef National Park. We'll go back there tomorrow. And then we found ourselves in a whitish, grayish wasteland of boulders and gravel slides and dry desert washes. Not all that pretty, but scenic.

 Rest stop

That went on for a while, but we'd picked up the Fremont River by then and the road was following its course. Roads that follow rivers go the way of rivers--left then right then left then right then...nausea.  Eventually the Fremont disappeared and I despaired--Offroad RV Resort was supposed to be on the Fremont river. 

 

But soon the road went through some farmland and rediscovered the river. And there we were--Offroad RV Resort.

 Huge bluff and rock formations to the south, west and north.  A river running right alongside the campground, and lots of new tree plantings that they're keeping watered. If the water holds up, the place will be awesomely gorgeous in 20 years or so.  But for now it's awfully pretty.

The very nice owners changed us from the back-in spot I'd chosen alongside the river to a pull-through site a little ways over. They were being nice and I appreciated it, but the other place had every chance of seeing wildlife while drinking our morning coffee and the new one didn't. No biggeee--it makes Ed happier and it certainly does make it easier to hook up and leave on our last day.

The resort had two trails, one a little quarter mile loop through "the forbidden forest" and the other a one-mile loop to the river.  They said it was a mile, anyway--I'd have said a half mile or three-quarters.  I was wearing my hiking sandals, so I decided to step off the flat, hardened mud at the upper riverbank down onto the flat, hardened mud closer to the water. Which was wet, flowing mud.

Sorry to say, the second layer of mud was not hardened at all. My foot sunk down above my sandal and brought a considerable chunk of the goo back up with it. Yucky!  if I'd put both feet down I'd probably still be stuck to this day.

In the evening I sat out to watch the sun go down, and soon was watching a lovely parade of little bats. So sweet!

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 9

Wednesday, September 18

This time we did the 18-mile scenic drive through the canyon, again stopping at all the overlooks.  (The buses only go about halfway) The scenery was even more awesome. What I wouldn't give to be able to go back and hike the trails for a few days!  

 

A House Finch. Woo-hoo

My typical photo of chipmunks

Very excited to see this bird in Bryce Canyon...until he took off and hovered and it was clear he was a red-tailed hawk.

In the afternoon we took Molly for a walk at Kodachrome Basin State Park. We took a lovely little trail around some big boulders.  Not as scenic or beautiful as Arches, but at least they allowed dogs.  Sadly, it was too hot to do much walking.  Very little shade; mainly that cast by the boulders.

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 8

 Tuesday, September 17

The original plan for Bryce Canyon was to drive all the way into the park and then stop at the various overlooks on the way back. But after seeing the number of people in the area, and reading a few more reviews, I decided to take the bus in. It was a good decision.

The parking areas were crowded, and toward noontime parking lots were beginning to be closed.  The cheerful and friendly workers would set up cones and restrict entrances until some spots cleared out.

But we were able to hop on the bus right in front of the RV park, show our senior lifetime pass, and ride right on in. We stopped at all the overlooks and took thousands of pictures. It's a truly awesome place.

 

After a lunch break, we hopped on the bus again to see the visitor center, and then took it back into town to go to the "general store." It was within easy walking distance of the campground, so we just walked back.  The visitor center was a little too crowded to enjoy, but it was still nice.

Later Molly and I took a one-hour walk along the bike trail which followed the road, but spaced away from it far enough that the road noise was minimal (you could only hear the loudest of the tour buses).  We saw a herd of 11 pronghorn off in the distance; also several chipmunks, western bluebirds, and nuthatches. That's why I love walking--on the road the cars sped past; on the trail the bikes sped past. None of them saw what we saw.

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 7

Monday, September 16

Sights along the drive:

Ruby's Inn is a huge, crowded RV park and it's still very nice. Lots of trees, and while the sites are lined up in rows, they feel a little spacious.  Of course, ours is at the very end of a row with a driveway beside us and some tent/non-hookup sites past that. I might feel differently if I were crushed in the middle of a row.

We went for a walk up the hill and saw Jackrabbit--well, I saw it. Molly missed it--and a hummingbird or two fighting the wind to feed at the desert willows.  I also saw white-breasted nuthatches, pygmy nuthatches, Western Bluebird, and Mountain Bluebird.

It was very windy when we arrived, but the wind shifted to north during the evening. Pretty cold overnight--we had to put the heat on for a few minutes in the morning to take the chill off.  But of course it warmed up again.

Pictures from our walk:

The "multiuse" aka "bike" trail we took goes alongside the road for a mile to the Bryce Canyon National Park entrance.  The signage above is showing the road and the trail. That first night, we walked around the campgrounds for a long time, trying to see the birds in the little pond beside the adjacent motel.  But then we found the bike trail across the road and took it for about a mile, halfway to the park and back. Very nice!