Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bryce

We did some exploring in Kodachrome Basin and learned a little bit about the crazy rock formations - apparently these sandstone towers, called sand pipes, were springs - probably geysers! Here's what the website says:

Geologists believe Kodachrome Basin State Park was once similar to Yellowstone National Park with hot springs and geysers, which eventually filled up with sediment and solidified. Through time, the Entrada sandstone surrounding the solidified geysers eroded, leaving large sand pipes. Sixty-seven sand pipes ranging from two to 52 meters have been identified in the park. Massive sandstone chimneys, change from gray and white to shades of red depending on the day's mood. Numerous rocks and coves offer solitude, quiet and unique desert beauty.

Basically, this was Yellowstone! Later, when we went to the Canyon Visitor Education Center in Yellowstone, we learned that the North American tectonic plate has moved over the hotspot that produces the thermal activity (and created the huge super-volcano caldera) and it used to be under Kodachrome basin, among other places - that is so cool! Yellowstone may look like this one day... The sand pipes are "petrified geysers"!

We then ventured into Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument on the Cottonwood Road to Grosvenor Arch (pronounced "grow'-ven-er"). It was a beautiful day with storm clouds approaching - great for photos! The arch is spectacular - it is a double, golden arch... hmmmmm... made us hungry. Ha.

We explored a side road and got a glimpse of the cockscomb and just miles and miles of beautiful open space, before we decided to turn around and go see Bryce Canyon as well. We had a bit of rain on the way back, but the stream crossing was fine. Apparently several cars were stuck on the lower end of Cottonwood Road, though, making an effective roadblock, so it was good that we didn't continue on that way.

We stopped at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Visitor Center in Canonville - they have four award-winning visitor's centers, and we enjoyed the one in Kanab, so we thought we'd check this one out as well. Neat displays on the people who had loved and cared for this land - the Paiutes and the Mormon settlers, comparing and contrasting their approaches. Southern Utah is so beautiful - it definitely feels like someone's "Promised Land."

Bryce Canyon is quite beautiful and I'll let the photos tell the story. You would think from the name that it is down in a canyon, but it is actually on the top of a mountain, and you have views down into the side canyons with the fantastic hoodoo erosion features that are eating into the high Paunsaugunt Plateau that the National Park sits upon. We went to a couple of viewpoints and then headed back for dinner.

More Bryce and other Photos

On the way past Bryce the day before on Highway 12, we had seen a restaurant with a huge banner claiming "HOME OF HOMEMADE SOUP AND PIE" and thought we might give it a try! Their soup was quite delicious - they ran out of the bean soup during our order and I got tomato. I thought tomato didn't sound too exciting, but it was the best tomato soup I've ever eaten! Yum. Homemade IS better. And of course, pie!!

Back to our "home" in Kodachrome Basin to watch the rabbits play and chase each other all over our campsite.

And Harold.

That's what we named the MOUSE that somehow got into our motorhome - it was a very cute, large and healthy Deer Mouse with large round ears, long whiskers, a long fluffy tail... in fact, it could have been a very small packrat. It was about the size of a Kangaroo Rat, but didn't jump like one. Whatever kind he was, I was too busy keeping an eye on where he went and trying to "herd" him back outside to get a picture - have you ever tried to herd a mouse? Doesn't work. I first saw him on top of our stove (ewww) and he walked (not ran) across the dinette and over to the dash. Oh no.

Oh yes. Though we kept watch, sat up quite late and kept the door open watching for him, we never saw him coming out from under the dash. We even tried smoking him out by burning a sage smudge stick and holding it under the dash. (All our wires and ducts smell nice now.) We finally had to give up, and we went to bed (we had "sealed" the bedroom as soon as we saw him so he wouldn't go back there and wake us up in the middle of the night). We kept a very clean motorhome after that - kept all food in upper cabinets and left out no crumbs for a mouse. No sign of Harold.

We wonder - we hope that he got out somehow without us seeing. But we wonder - did he crawl into an open duct and die in there? Anytime we smell a funny smell (which is fairly often in a motorhome), we think it might be Harold's dead and rotting corpse. Then we realize it's our graywater tank or our black tank, most likely. We hope.

Harold. May he rest in peace - or better yet, may he be still enjoying the leftover Chukar food at Kodachrome Basin and making little Harolds!