May 25 – 29
Picasa web album link:After a beautiful drive through green meadows and mountain views, we arrived at Kodachrome Basin State Park. The park is tucked back into a box canyon, surrounded by high colorful eroded mountains. Within the park are many red stone eroded rock formations, mostly “spires” or chimneys of rock, known as sand pipes. These spires are thought to be solidified sediment that filled ancient springs or geysers, left standing after the softer surrounding Entrada sandstone rock weathered away. WOW, how beautiful and amazing! There are several great hiking and biking trails within the park. The campground is one of the nicest state parks we’ve ever stayed in, with spacious campsites and full hookups. We immediately felt at home.
That afternoon, we rode our bikes around one of the mountain
biking trails, which wound through many rock formations and spires. The next
day was Memorial Day, so we decided to avoid Bryce Canyon and the crowds.
Instead, we biked and hiked another longer trail in the park, the Panorama
Trail. It was challenging and fun, with side hikes back into special
formations.
The next day we headed into Bryce Canyon. First we went to
the Visitor Center to get trail maps and advice. We decided to first hike the
Fairyland Trail, which meandered through spectacular and colorful spires called
hoodoos. After that hike and lunch we headed to a loop trail, Queens Garden
that connected to the Navajo Trail. This trail was even more spectacular,
winding down into the valley floor then ascending up through an amazing slot
canyon of spires, named Wall Street. Another great hike with sights like we
have never seen.
After a day of two long hikes, we decided to take a down day
to relax a little. We stayed in Kodachrome Park and hiked an easy trail, Angels
Palace, up to a lookout point. Kody went with us and enjoyed the hike as well.
The view from the top was wonderful; we could see far views of Bryce and south
to Grand Staircase Escalante Monument.
Our last day there, we headed back to Bryce to see more of
the park. We hiked the Peekaboo trail, which was among spires and fins of
‘windows’. After the hike, we drove the park’s south road to all the
viewpoints. The views were amazing with the surrounding Escalante mountains.
Our next destination is in the town of Escalante, which is
within the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. We are anxious to see
what awaits us there.
