On to Utah!

After coming down off the Kaibab Plateau from the North Rim, we descended Highway 89A into Fredonia and Kanab. We decided to forgo a 70 mile 4wd adventure to Tuweep, another Grand Canyon overlook which is more down IN the canyon and which sounds spectacular, for another time. Descending the highway, we could clearly see the "grand staircase" formation with the red cliffs, white cliffs, and pink cliffs rising up one on top of the other, and "Mollie's Nipple" jutting up from the east. Mollie must have been really cold, is all I have to say!!!

We stayed in Kanab and did laundry and grocery shopping, and washed the RV and Jeep. Then we headed out the next day for Kodachrome Basin State Park and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

The drive up 89 was so beautiful! Utah is absolutely gorgeous. We enjoyed the scenery and small towns - many just looked like wonderful places to live, with huge Cottonwoods, meandering streams through meadows and fields, farms and ranches, and neat rock formations and cliffs all around in hues of red and white and gray. Hatch was a very lovely valley with the Sevier River meandering through meadows - looked like great fishing (a tackle shop at a place called "Big Fish" clued us in to that).

Turning on scenic highway 12, we went through Red Canyon, which felt like we were driving through the bottom of Bryce Canyon's hoodoo formations! There is a nice bike trail and also a few nice Forest Service campgrounds in the area. Also the road passes right through some of the formations in small tunnels! We passed the entrance to Bryce, and the area reminded us of many Park gateway communities, but this area has a nice combination of tourism and farming/ranching. Turning off after Canonville toward Kodachrome Basin, we began again to see all the colorful rock formations that give the area its name. Lots of rabbits came out to play around our campground that evening, and we could hear Chukars - they even provide Chukar Food!

We went for a short walk around the campsite and found some VERY interesting rock formations... ha. The evening light looked especially lovely on the rock amphitheater we are camped within. It stays light late here, since Utah is an hour later than Arizona.

More photos - click here