Next stop: Utah! Bryce Canyon was our ultimate goal for this trip and we could hardly believe that we had finally arrived. We camped here for five nights and four days.
We stayed at a nearby campground named Ruby's where we had full hookups for the trailers.
And a beautiful view!
The horses were about a quarter of a mile away at the rodeo grounds in good-sized pens. The first night we were there one of the locals helped me find an amazing farrier that put new shoes on Mow's hind feet. This seemed to fix his lameness almost instantly and he was fine for the rest of the trip.
The next morning we gave the horses a day off and all headed to the park.
The views were spectacular as soon as we entered the park! Beware: lots of photos ahead!
Our first hike took us along the rim of the canyon to a couple of overlooks.
Bryce Canyon is full of these rock formations called Hoodoos - they were my favorite!
Then we headed down into the canyon to get an up-close view of the amazing rocks.
We went through a few tunnels along the trail.
We met some wildlife along the way too. Here is a golden-mantled ground squirrel.
And a Uintah chipmunk.
Near the end of the hike we went through "Wallstreet", a narrow, tall canyon.
The hike back out of the canyon was pretty impressive. We walked up 28 switchbacks in order to reach the top of Wallstreet.
But the view at the top was definitely worth it!
After hiking at Bryce in the morning we headed over to Red Canyon for another hike in the afternoon. This one took us through some different rock formations around the visitor center.
More hoodoos!
Explorer Matthew! We were whooped after these hikes and all headed to bed early.
The next day Mom and I rode the horses along the Peek-a-boo trail in Bryce Canyon while the guys rested. This was definitely the most spectacular trail I've ever ridden on!
This trail had quite a few switchbacks as well and had about 2000 feet elevation change over nine miles.
Part of the trail is horse-only and part is open to hikers. Everyone we met on the trail was courteous and curious about our horses.
We even met a hiker that was willing to take our photo in front of the Wall of Windows.
The tunnels here were a little larger to accommodate the horses.
There were also several steep drop offs along the way. Good thing we trust our horses!
After our wonderful ride, we took the horses back, collected the guys, and did some more hiking. This time we drove to the end of the park and then stopped at every overlook along the rim of the canyon on our way back out. The highest elevation was just over 9000 feet.
Many of the overlooks had ravens hanging out and waiting for a hand out.
A huge arch at one of the stops.
We saw many pronghorn during our trip but none were as close as this guy.
The view from Inspiration Point at sunset. This might be my favorite place on Earth!
We liked Inspiration Point so much that we came back the next day and hiked along the rim all the way back to where we started our hike the first day. Here Matthew and I pose with the Silent City rock formation.
A panoramic view of Inspiration Point, taken with my phone.
Zooming in from this overlook we could see parts of the horse trail that we rode the day before. (the light-colored line along the ridge right through the middle of this photo)
Mom and Dad.
I never got tired of this view.
A mule deer that was browsing near the trail.
After a picnic at one of the overlooks we headed to a little waterfall at the other end of the park and also walked to Mossy Cave where the water drips through the ceiling of the cave.
Mormon settlers dug this waterway 100 years ago to help bring water to their nearby settlement.
For our last day in Utah we took the horses up a hair-raising sandy road to a trailhead by another canyon. Mom and I rode while Dad and Matthew hiked.
We followed a creek for about half of the ride but it was so hot and dry that the creek dried up along the way.
This canyon was different than Bryce but still impressive!
Here we are in a section called a slot canyon where the walls were narrow.
