Utah’s National Parks – Our Second 2021 Summer Venture

We had just arrived at Ruby’s Inn and Campground Bryce Canyon City, Utah when I penned our last blog. The weather in Bryce Canyon was a world away from where we were in Moab. Most of our activities during our time in Utah has been coordinated around the weather – not storms, but temps. From a low of 28 degrees in Bryce Canyon to 112 degrees in Moab. Everyone says, “Yeah, but it’s dry heat!” I say go stick your head in an oven and see how dry heat feels. It has just been… really hot!

Ruby’s is a rather unique location. Most of the town is the legacy of Rubin Syrett who built the first lodge near what is now Bryce Canyon National Park in 1919. What started out as tent houses and a place to serve some meals paved the way to a premier tourist destination for the National Park which was first a National Monument (1923) and then dedicated as a National Park (1928).  Today, many of Rubin Syrett’s family are the face of the business for the 300 million plus visitors who come to the park each year. We met several of his family members while there. We drove to most of the key interest points on our first day just to become familiar with the area.

Bryce Canyon is primarily known for its famous “HooDoos” which are tall thin spires of soft colored rock topped by harder less eroded stone that protect the softer rock from erosion. We wanted to see the hoodoos bathed in morning light so we were up and photographing the hoodoos in the amphitheater from Inspiration Point at 5:00am. It was 28 degrees and we were freezing, but it was worth it. Anna loved Bryce Canyon, and affectionately called it “Hooville,” like the town in the movie, “The Grinch who stole Christmas.”

Bryce Canyon is also famous for being one of the premier dark sky locations in the United States attracting photographers and astronomers to an enticing view of the planetary heavens and beyond. If you glanced at my feature photo for this blog, you have probably already guessed that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to experience the dark Utah skies for myself. So yep, I done did it. I dragged Anna, her sister Hazel, and my brother-in-law Wes out to see the stars, and specifically – the Milky Way. To be honest, I don’t have to work very hard to drag Wes out. He is as crazy and willing to experience new things as me. Sometimes even more so. He is a good photographer in his own right, but is always making positive critiques about my photographic endeavors. For me, watching the Milky Way rising over the Canyon from Inspiration Point was not only inspirational, but breathtaking. The image I captured is shown above as the featured image for this blog.

Anna and I relaxed on our last day at Bryce. We needed to catch up on some chores that we had been putting off, and I needed to work on some photos. Later that evening we attended an entertaining western show put on at Ebenezer’s Barn and Grill by the Bryce City Wranglers. The next morning we were off to an early start for Moab, Utah to experience the beauty of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. This was our second time vacationing in Moab and once again we stayed at Portal RV Resort, a great location convenient to the parks. The owners actually assigned us the same site we parked at eight years ago.

 

We spent a day surveilling Arches National Park while developing a game plan for hiking and photography. The area around Arches and Canyonlands were somewhat affected by the Pack Creek fire burning in the area just southeast of Moab. We decided to wake up (I mean get out of bed since we really weren’t awake) at 4:00am the next morning to hike three miles into the Devil’s Garden where we photographed the Tunnel, Pinetree, and Landscape arches. After catching a nice breakfast at the Moab Diner, we took the hot 111 degree afternoon off and relaxed in the cool AC of the coach. Wes and I left the RV park again – this time thirty minutes after midnight and headed out for double arch in the park. I determined earlier in the day that we could lie on the floor of the arch and catch a photo of the Milky Way as it passed over the arch between 2:00 and 3:00am the following morning.  We did, and the view was fabulous. Wes set up my low-level lighting. We ran in to a group of photographers on our way to the arch who wanted to know if Wes was a photographer also. Since we were out in the pitch black morning and the hike was kind of creepy, I told the group that Wes was my bodyguard. I hope my photographs convey the beauty of our adventure to all of you.

 

During the afternoon we headed out to Canyonlands National Park where we drove the main route to Grand View Point overlook and returned. Grand View Buck and the Mesa Arch areas were all fabulous despite the haze generated by the heat. In the early evening we relaxed and did chores at the motorhome. Around 9:00pm, Anna and I traveled back to Arches to photograph star trails spiraling north of Balanced Rock which is located about 20 minutes inside the park entrance. We met the nicest young family, the Perrys, from Mt. Dora, Florida while we were there working on the photo. I was able to share the photographic process, and also explain how star trails actually develop on the camera’s sensor. It was so dark that when they left I had to help them find the path to their car. We then met a group of six young teachers from East Tennessee who travel together a little bit each year. We had a great talk with them while the camera was doing it’s thing. They too, enjoyed watching the camera capture the light of the stars as the trails developed. We made it back to our motorhome around midnight, and decided to rest the day away today.

Today we headed out for a quick overnight stop in Coalville, Utah on our way to Dubois, Wyoming and the Grand Tetons National Park. It is here in Coalville that I sit and reflect about our experiences over the past 10 days so I can share with you and hopefully bring you along with us as we travel down the road.

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As you travel down the road of life, keep it between the mustard and the mayonnaise. Our prayer is that the Lord watches over you and your loved ones and keeps you safe.

As always, we hope to see you down the road!