Bryce Canyon National Park

We had a nine o'clock time slot for riding horses so, much to our dismay, we had to get out of bed this morning.  James went for an early morning run and was excited to show us the town on our way out.  It consisited of our hotel and the post office.  Oh, and a few houses.  What he really wanted to show us, or Sarah Ellen, were the huge dandelions he saw on the side of the road.  She was very excited to add these to her collection.  She has created a bag of all the seeds so she can plant them in our yard when we get home.

As we set out, Sarah Ellen had silent tears running down her face.  She said she was scared she would fall off and that the horse in front of her would poop on her.  

Our guide, Nikki, held onto to Sarah Ellen's mule the whole time.

For some crazy reason these animals like to walk on the very edge of the trail.  Sometimes that means you are right on a cliff.  This is PJ (my horse) and me turning a corner.

Lily's mule was a bit slow so Nikki gave her a whip to "encourage" her.  Nikki was impressed with Lily's riding.  This is her third time on a horse in a week!

This tree is a Bristlecone Pine.  Nikki told us that one inch in the trunk's diameter equals 100 years.  We didn't measure, but this tree might be 800 to 1,000 years old!  The oldest one in the world (named Methuselah) is supposedly almost 5,000 years old.  

This is a good shot of some of the hoodoos.  The native indians thought Bryce Canyon was haunted and that the hoodoos were animals and people that were turned into stone.

Once again hugging the outside edge.  Amazingly, you get used to it and learn to trust your horse or mule.

The red rock here is full of iron and therefore a magnet for lightening.  Something about the boiling point of the sap causes the trees to look like this (twisted) once struck by lightening.

The girls with Nikki.  She was all cowgirl!

After our ride, we hiked the Mossy Cave trail up to a waterfall. The hike was warm but we cooled off in the frigid waters of the stream.

The girls getting across the current.  It doesn't look like much, but this water was moving.

After this hike, we were tired, hot, and dirty.  We grabbed a bite to eat at the lodge in the park and then were ready to get our Junior badges and call it a day.  When we got to the visitor center, an employee told us that we HAD to attend a ranger talk in order to get our badge.  (Most parks you can do the movie or a talk).  She wasn't budging on this, so we raced over to Sunrise park to hear the end of the talk.  From this spot, you can look down into the hoodoos for a spectacular view.  Lily saw people on the trail spiraling down to the valley floor and insisted we do this hike.  It was called the Navajo Loop and was 1.3 miles - straight down and then straight up, through a series of switchbacks.  We were reluctant at first, but so thankful Lily convinced us to do this hike.  It was amazing (yes I know I use this word a lot but I really am running out of adjectives - it is all so unbelievable).

We made it down to the bottom to be surrounded by towering walls on each side.  Yep-amazing!

Just look how filthy Sarah Ellen is!

Time to head back up.  This may have been the longest .6 miles of my life.  Even longer for James as he piggy backed SE for part of it!

Check out this view!

These are the switchbacks we walked up.  

One foot in front of the other...

Sarah Ellen made it to the top of the trailhead and stopped right there!

Finally we made it back to get the girl's badges.  Did they ever earn these today!  I love how they are practically laying on the counter saying their pledges.

We left Bryce Canyon to drive about two hours to Zion.  Funny how two hours is just a short jump for us.  This is Sarah Ellen about ten minutes out of the park.

So I really was over taking pictures but as soon as we entered into Zion - jaws to the floor!!

Well, hello Mr. mountain goat.  

We drove through a crazy small and dark tunnel that both Lily and I were ready to be out of.  Every now and then, there would be an opening and you could see out.  I really could have done without those!

We pulled into town very hungry.  I was craving pizza so we tried out the Flying Monkey - wood fired pizza.  Oh my goodness, it was delicious.  Back to our hotel for much needed showers and sleep.