Yellowstone to Arches

At daybreak (OK OK, maybe the sun had been up for an hour or so) we set off to look for an elusive grizzly bear before leaving Yellowstone. But to no avail. Some lucky people had grizzly bears appear only 15 feet away from their campsite and had the opportunity to be really terrified before the bear just wandered away again.

No grizzly for us, so we drove south to Teeton NP and on to Jackson, Wyoming where we set up camp, then returned for a float down the Snake River. This is a white water rapids rubber raft ride except designed for people who don't want the trauma of too much white water. Perfect for us. But at least we saw some more wildlife. Such as the beaver in this photo.


No we can't see it either but it IS there.

At Salt Lake City we sought enlightenment at the Mormon tabernacle and Drew was almost converted by the 50 or so Mormon sisters who offered tours and spiritual guidance. Admittedly, each of the sisters was about 20 years old and quite attractive but they still could not help him reach the salvation that he so dearly desired. Even so, we did start to understand how so many people could find spiritual fulfilment with these people.


From the north rim of the Grand canyon, the south rim is several miles away and the canyon is about a mile deep.


But on closer inspection it looked like only 2 feet to me.

Zion NP impressed us with the diversity of rock and colour.


We walked to Weeping Wock where walls were weeping white wisps of weally warm water.



When driving through one of the tunnels in Zion, we tried to take a snap only to discover our 2 dashboard mascots looking suspiciously close.

Just outside Zion Canyon NP we found another great campsite. This time we camped in an Indian village, where the Indians allowed us to look around at some of their tipis, religious artifacts and historical sites. They also put on a presentation with some traditional dancing. This guy was actually a school teacher but helped out with the shows over his summer vacation.


In Bryce canyon the rock formations are called hoodoos and who do you think wants to be one????


Even Queen Victoria wants to be a hoodoo.


Just more spectacular scenery at Bryce canyon.


We walked down into this part of the canyon, from Sunrise to Sunset.
(Outlooks that is - that's what we call scenic viewpoints here in the US of A.) It was still a good hike of about 3 hours and b.. hot in the middle of the day. Our timing wasn't too good with these walks.


After trapsing around Bryce Canyon all day, we headed back to camp at Red Canyon where the campsite was almost as pretty as Bryce had been. Some of the locals seemed a little backward but the wildlife was surprisingly well educated.


As the name suggests Arches National Park was full of natural arches. This one was called Landscape Arch and was a 306 foot span.

The views were quite special when seen through the many arches and what a perfect day except for the 100F heat while we walked for 3 hours, again in the middle of the day.

In Capital Reef National Park we saw these amazing Indian aboriginal rock etchings. (You'll need to zoom in to see them.) About 6-700 years old they were unlike other artwork because they were etched and the other tribes had used paint similar to the ochre used by the Australian aboriginals.