IN to UT, AZ, CO in a stock JK Unlimited

[scarysharkface]

Day 6 Part 4

It wouldn't be a Ford family vacation without some weather on the horizon..

I love watching Tracy shoot.

I love seeing how we see the same things just a little bit differently.

John

 

[scarysharkface]

Day 6 Part 5

Big Rock Candy Mountain. Really.

I thought about checking for hobos, but didn't..

We also stop for horses..

John

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

Most excellent trip report.:costumed-smiley-007

 

[scarysharkface]

Day 6 Part 6

Heading South on that one highway eventually leads us to the left turn onto that other highway that runs past Bryce Canyon National Park. The nearly-instant change in landscape is more than a little bit startling..

Plenty of red rocks, and we're not even there yet!

We use our parks pass (a great value, btw), hit the Visitors Center for a bit then head down to the end of the road with the intent of slowly working our way back...

Spectacular in all directions..

Signs of recent fire..

John

 

[VE2WHZ]

great trip men

nice pic also !!

 

[scarysharkface]

Day 6 Part 7

Lovely weather with warm sunshine on our backs..

Big beauty and tiny beauty peacefully coexisting..

Interestingly enough, the biggest attraction at this pullout was a bird that put forth great effort to keep us entertained..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

One of the last pullouts we hit on our way back North through the park was at Sunset Point (or something like that). We'd seen plenty and weren't really even certain we wanted to stop, since we hadn't checked-in about our cabin down in Glenwood yet, and it was already after 5:00 pm. Curiosity got the better of us and we all are glad it did..

Hiked the long trail down (backwards, apparently) and it was fantastic.

The views looking up were incredible..

And as we got deeper-in, the rock felt like it was closing-in on the trail..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

Day 6 Part 9

Tree-hugger..

Fantastic..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

Day 6 Part 10

Of course, now it's time to commence the long slog back to the top where the Jeep's parked. And of course, since we're doing the trail backwards the long slog to the top is a bit steeper as well..

Whew.. We just came up that..

Punk show-off kids, showing off that they're all young and in-shape by waiting for the old people to catch up...

We make it back to the Jeep, stop at the Visitors Center to refill our Sigg water bottles then high-tail it for the cabin in Glendale...

Had to stop for a few pics at the red rocks again though. Very beautiful part of the world..

At long last, and a bit earlier than I would have expected, we arrive at the Glendale, Utah, KOA and check-in to cabin 2 for the night..

Today was a good day, even though it meant leaving Moab.. Bryce was picturesque and probably deserves more than an afternoon's worth of attention. I could probably kill a year of sunrises and sunsets there with the camera, but I must admit that it all kind of begins to look the same after a while. It's all strikingly beautiful..

We'll see what tomorrow holds..

John

 

[NAdams]

John,
Alot of people are going to be bummed when your trip report ends...me included.

We were going to go to Bryce on our trip this summer but decided to stay
more north and visit Yellowstone.....your pics have me second guessing my plans!!


Nate

 

[scarysharkface]

Day 7 Part 1

Tracy wants a horse in the worst way. Sarah wants one too. Luckily I was careful to serendipitously book us into a KOA that had horses on the premises. Great way to begin the new day..

We get this bright idea to stop at a place called Thunderbird Cafe or something similar at the turnoff to Zion.. $50 for pancakes, french toast and crappy service for 4 people later, we head toward Zion...

Classic beauty...

I love this stuff..

John

 

[scarysharkface]

John,
Alot of people are going to be bummed when your trip report ends...me included.

We were going to go to Bryce on our trip this summer but decided to stay
more north and visit Yellowstone.....your pics have me second guessing my plans!!


Nate

I want to go to Yellowstone! (I've only ever driven through it at night, if you can believe it)

Glad you like the report! Thanks!

John

 

[scarysharkface]

Day 7 Part 2

Colin and I really got a kick out of the tunnels in Zion. The engineering and physical labor that went into making those happen must have been substantial. The "windows" along the big one are just exceptionally cool as far as I'm concerned.. Sorry I only have snaps of the entrances..

We decided to hike up the river at the North end of the park.. Would have been a lot more fun without thousands of $$$ of camera gear, but then there likely would not have been any pictures..

Colin had wanted us to stop at every pool we passed for several days now, so the river was a welcome opportunity to get himself completely soaked..

Tracy didn't mind it so much either...

John

 

[scarysharkface]

Day 7 Part 3

Unfortunately, I wussed-out and didn't proceed any further upstream. The current was strong, the stream bed was loose and rocky and I didn't want to take the camera for an unexpected swim. Still, though, good times..

Photo-ops abound...

A couple of young folks were working on this on our way up the river...

Time to re-apply wool socks to wet feet...

Utah desert, right?

John

 

[mangus7175]

:drool: Thank you so much for the report. It has kept me entertained throughout my work day this past week - I hope this report continues on . I envy that your family shares the same sense of adventure as you. I wish that my wife and kids shared my love of the outdoors.

Awesome report :victory: