Morning rewarded us with a beautiful sunrise over Lake Powell and Marina.
We pulled in at one of the Lake Powell overlooks on our way out of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. It was a nice little lookout with beautiful views of the lake.
Our next stop was Horseshoe Bend. Last night we were watching a sunset there, but decided to visit it again today before leaving for Bryce Canyon. The hike started from the parking lot and was extremely easy to follow. The first part of the trail up to the gazebo was all uphill, but it was a gentle climb.
The rest of the trail was downhill. The gazebo is located halfway to the overlook. There were benches in the gazebo and some people stopped to rest there.
The hike was not too difficult although it was hot in August as there was no shade with the exception of a small gazebo structure, which we passed earlier. We also passed a few stone benches on our way down.
Here is Horseshoe Bend. It looked completely different in the late morning, not as colorful, but still beautiful with soft desert colors and very little shade inside.
Some people climbed up the cliff to have a better view.
Dave and I spent some time there, but it was time to hike back to the parking lot and head to Bryce. Here we just crossed the Utah state line.
Utah is the gorgeous state. I couldn’t stop snapping pictures from the car window. Such a variety of the beautiful scenery.
As you can see from the pictures above, there are numerous different kinds of rock and greenery along the road. There were a few small towns and villages on our way to Bryce, like this settlement below.
Or this little town.
We stopped in Kebab town for gas and noticed this cute classic Ford at the gas station.
We didn’t get any rain while driving, but it was raining somewhere, because this cloudburst on the left was following us for a while.
This is one of my favorite sceneries. So beautiful and peaceful.
We saw a sign for a riverside restaurant and decided to stop there for lunch. Some of the menu choices were as incredible as the view. We ordered Utah Buffalo and Outlaw Burgers. They were absolutely delicious!
And we took some pictures next to the popular Western actors in the restaurant.
Leaving the restaurant after taking some pictures outside.
On the road again.
We took 12 scenic byways on our way to Bryce, which passes through Red Canyon. Here we are entering Red Canyon the within Dixie National Forest area.
Two sides of the tunnel. We drove through this tunnel, but there was a designated place, where we could stop and take some pictures.
We were happy to check in to the Best Western Plus hotel and drive to Bryce canyon to catch the sunset. By the way, it is a nice hotel and close to Bryce Canyon.
There is a lot of parking available at Bryce. We parked our car and headed out on the rim trail. Bryce consists of a few striking beautiful amphitheaters. This is the most beautiful canyon I have ever seen. Dave and I both concluded that Bryce is our favorite.
Upon our arrival at Sunset Point, we spent some time enjoying the extraordinarily high concentration of Hoodoos that is known as the Silent City. The fins and hoodoos remind people of rows of sky scrapers in cities like Manhattan and the narrow channels, the dark streets that slip between them. The Silent City and in fact the entire grand amphitheater that makes up the heart of Bryce. The Silent City formation can be seen from numerous overlooks. Here is the view from Sunset point.
Walking down the Rim trail, we noticed the Navajo Loop trail winding down to the canyon floor. We didn’t take this trail to the end this time, but we finished it the next day. The trail was so beautiful especially with the canyon color changes during sunset. The trail begins at Sunset Point and goes down into the main amphitheater, the Park’s most vivid collection of hoodoos, fins and rock formations.
We took a couple pictures before exploring the Navajo trail.
Following the trail.
On the way down, we passed many hoodoos which rock structures resemble towers, buildings and temples.
Windows are seen on the left from me.
This hoodoo in the middle called Thor’s Hammer – a tall, narrow pinnacle with a narrower neck, supporting a large hammerhead-like rock.
Here is “Temple of Osiris.” (Osiris is the Egyptian god of the afterlife) with “Thor’s Hammer”.
Approaching really tall rocks of the “Wall Street” slot canyon.
A view of the Wall Street trail. We will take it tomorrow.
Getting back to the Rim Trail.
Rim trail near Inspiration Point.
Near Bryce Point.
Near Sunrise Point.
We walked down some of the Queens Garden Loop Trail right after sunset. The rock’s colors have changed drastically.
We stopped overnight at the Best western Plus Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel. It is a very nice hotel located in Bryce Canyon City, which represents a small town with a few hotels, the General Store and Old Bryce Town Shopping center. There was not much to do there. The habitants were pretty much all Bryce visitors. The General Store is nice and very accommodating. It has a huge variety of everything from groceries to souvenirs to footwear to camping equipment. We enjoyed visiting Old Bryce Town located across the street from Ruby’s Inn Main Lodge, which consisted primarily of unique souvenir shops.
We had some time at the evening to relax on the nice and quiet hotel grounds. For tomorrow we planned to spend morning until noon at Bryce and drive to Moab in the afternoon.
