Butch and Sundance in the Snow

Just north of St George in Utah is Snow Canyon State Park. It's a colourful park because the red and white sandstone rocks contrast with the black lava and sage bushes. It's quite beautiful. I've fallen in love with Navajo sandstone - it's predominant in much of the area we've been in recently.

We were the only car in the park because it was about 43 degrees! All the sensible people stayed away but at least our car was air conditioned. But it is obviously very popular because the car parks and picnic areas are well set up, and it is close to the city. And I noted that there are a 170 designated rockclimbing routes. And it has been the location for a number of films including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

As we drove out of the park and into the suburbs the beauty continued because the gated communities must have had strict design regulations. The houses are rendered in the same colours as the surrounding rocks, the gardens are desert gardens and the roadside garden areas are also desert. Each subdivision is surrounded by rendered walls as well. We weren't able to drive in to have a proper look - it was all very exclusive and manicured.

Cedar Breaks

We accidentally found this little gem on our way to Cedar City after a day in Bryce Canyon. Rather than take the main road we chose to go via a back road (Hwy 143). It took longer because it was a minor road and because we kept stopping to look at interesting things. Part of the road goes through Cedar Breaks NM which, on my map, was just a little smudge but all of the road is a designated scenic drive.

We saw lava interspersed with diverse forest of pines and deciduous trees that was the most beautiful we've seen. (I've since done some research and discovered that the road we went on is among the top 10 in USA for autumn colour.)

We saw deer, and deer hunters in forest just outside the park.

We saw a huge amphitheatre of eroded red and pink sandstone, from a lookout over 10 000 feet above sea level. That was a total surprise.

We then drove down Highway 14 to Cedar City on a road that dropped dramatically in height in the short distance, delayed by road works because a land slide closed the road earlier this year, stunned by the beauty of the mountains on both sides.

I want to go back and do it all again, more slowly, in the autumn.

Sunset View Overlook, Cedar Breaks NM. The photo really doesn't show how huge this view was. It must be spectacular at sunset - it was showering when we were there.

We had to follow a self-propelled cherry picker down the highway - that was a first!

Bryce Hoodoos and Bristlecones

A hoodoo is a pillar of rock left by erosion. We have some in Australia - at The Pinnacles in WA for instance - but at Bryce Canyon we entered a fantasy world.

We stopped at a number of points in the park but the view from Bryce Point is the best. And we met a couple who had just completed the long walk through the terrain (rather than just looking at it like we did) and they said it was the best walk they'd done. Or you could venture down into the canyon on horseback - I must say that appeals to me.

Pronghorn Buck

A highlight for me was seeing some Bristlecones. These special plants only grow on exposed dry rocky heights between 7000 and 11 000 feet (2300 and 3500 m). They grow in several places in Bryce NP and the oldest one in the park is about 1600 years old. The oldest of all, in California, is over 4700 years old.

Zion

An inspirational place complete with biblical names, the Zion National Park is  a geologist's delight. The river has cut through the sandstone layers leaving almost vertical sides up to 800 m deep. I can't even begin to describe the complexity of the formations but the park as it stands today is fabulous. In a few more million years the Virgin River may have eroded the mountains away to 'ordinary' but in the meantime we can enjoy it all as it is.

To get to the town of Springdale (where the information centre is) the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway traverses a section of the park. We drove through in late afternoon and the scenery was stunning and we also had to drive through a mile-long tunnel that was completed in the 1930. We go through it again tomorrow when we leave this area to head up to Bryce Canyon.

They are very organised here, through necessity. The river valley is quite narrow and car traffic was becoming a problem so they 'shut the gate' and installed a very efficient shuttle bus service instead. It's a very popular park so the buses are busy. We hopped on and hopped off all the way up and back. We saw mountains called Mount Carmel, Angels Landing, Temple of Sinawava, Abraham Peak, Isaac Peak and Jacob Peak. We saw a quiescent river that a few times a year becomes a raging torrent carrying tons of sediment. We saw numbers off very fit-looking people setting off to climb the horrendously difficult cliff face to Angels Landing (Google images to see, and include 'Walters Wiggles'). It was all fascinating.

Emerald Pool

Virgin River valley

Court of the Patriarchs

The view from our motel.

Page and the Antelope

Tonight we're back into Utah again (we'll be exploring Zion NP Tomorrow), and we had to change our clocks, again. Arizona is not on Mountain Time like most of the other states we've been in. And not only that, the Navajo Nation part of Arizona is on Mountain time.

Page, in Arizona, was a surprise. We were in Page to do a tour of Antelope Canyon but the surrounding countryside is so spectacular and dramatic it was an absolute delight. And as well as that they have Lake Powell which an absolutely enormous dam on the Colorado.

Combine spectacular geology with water and you have a winning combination. We went to the marina ('the largest floating marina and restaurant in the world') to see the way the other half lives - huge boats, jet skis, houseboats as well as tour boats. And we went to the information centre that has been built on a cliff over the dam wall. And we went to see Lower Antelope Canyon which is mind-blowingly dramatic in form and colour. All of this on a day which was close to 40 degrees - the hottest day we've had since we were at Yosemite. Page is a new town - built since the 1950s - and I liked it a lot. It would be good to spend a week on a houseboat here exploring the lake.

Antelope Point Marina on Lake Powell

Antelope Canyon is really a slit canyon. It's very narrow and can be dangerous if there is a flash flood. We went into the Lower Antelope Canyon and the tour, led by a Navajo guide, lasted almost two hours as we wound our way down, in single file mostly, on the natural floor and down ladders. The natural colours of the water-eroded walls of the canyon are astonishing.

Entering the canyon

Our guide playing pipes - the canyon had great acoustics.

Four corners and more

No, not the Four Corners, but a surveyed intersection of four US states. In fact the only place in the USA where four states meet - namely New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. It's on Navajo land, and at the Four Corners Monument a number of Navajo artisans have set up stalls in an organised way. We called in to have a look and found we had to pay $3 each. Oh well. We had fun watching the other tourists attempt to be in all four states at once. And I bought a necklace with a Navajo motif.

We were on our way to Page via Monument Valley. Along the way the landscapes  kept changing. It was a lovely drive.

Twin Rocks near Bluff

Mexican Hat

San Juan River

We've all seen the images in countless westerns but it was spectacular to see the real thing, an astonishing group of sandstone buttes called Monument Valley. We didn't do the 17 km dirt road drive but what we saw from the main road was beautiful despite the smoky haze.