Day 27

Day 27 - Saturday, July 18, 2009

Capitol Reef National Park, UT to Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

We were up and going early this morning, hitting the road before 9 am. WE made a quick stop in Torrey, UT to grab some breakfast sandwiches and began our journey along one of America's Routes; RT-12. This 110+ mile scenic road connects Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon, winding through Utah's Canyon Country and going through portions of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Of course we did not know this until we stopped at the visitor center. We told the ranger behind the desk that we were coming from Capitol Reef and wanted to see the staircase and she politely informed us that we saw it during the drive. Checking that destination off our list, we bought a few postcards and sheepishly continued on our way.

We reached Ruby's Best Western/RV Park/Cabins/Campgrounds/Rustic Town and found the dustiest campsite possible. We threw up the tent in the swirling dust and hoped that the looming clouds would knock it down (the dust) without turning the entire area into a mud pit. We grabbed some lunch and headed into Bryce Canyon. BCNP has a wonderful shuttle system to let all of the visitors see the park without it getting congested. Most of the park was closed to the public due to a controlled fire, but from what we heard the best of the park was still available. We took the shuttle to Sunset Campgrounds, walked the 1/2 mile to Sunrise View Point and walked into the valley through the finger like rock projections called Hoodoos.

We followed the trail into the Queens Garden and finished the hike off by walking back up to the Sunset Campgrounds on the Navajo Loop Trail.

(Wall Street)

In total we hiked 3 1/2 miles with a change in elevation of 600+ feet.

We returned to Ruby's to find another tent set up in our campsite, but no one was around. Not sure what to do we went to the diner to split a bowl of chili and a baked potato. When we returned we confronted the two campsite poachers. Ana and Sophie were from Switzerland and were on Holiday for 5 weeks, travelling the western part of the US before they were to start their next round of schooling. They were the equivalent of high school graduates. We invited them to join us for a game of UNO until the temperature got too cold and then we all retired to our respective tents.

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