Getting out of Town

Here in southwest Utah, we are experiencing some beautiful fall weather.  Daytime temps in the 60’s, nights in the 40’s, sunny and clear.  What a perfect time to get out of town!  So over the weekend, 3 days and 2 nights, I traveled with a local friend east of here into south central Utah for some hiking and relaxation.  There is a reason why they call Utah “Color Country”.  At every turn, each vista was more astoundingly beautiful than the next.  Our total hiking distance each day was about 5 miles, covering trails that had a fair amount of elevation to them. 

On our first afternoon out of Cedar City, we hiked at a place called Red Canyon, which is in the Dixie National Forest.  The geology here is limestone of the Claron formation, which is stained red by iron.  It erodes easily creating these many formations.  

After hiking several hours, I saw a trail sign up ahead and jokingly said that it might be labeled “dead end” and we would have to turn back.  Of course, it listed the trail intersection, but to my surprise, someone had carved “dead end” in the wood.  Another psychic impression to be noted in my notebook! 

When we were done with the hike, we proceeded onward to our hotel near Bryce Canyon National Park, Ruby’s Inn, which is a historical place founded about 100 years ago.  This is a very large complex, and this weekend, it was totally full and very busy.

After a good night’s sleep, we hiked Bryce Canyon.  Here are 2 videos of this very unique and colorful place, and more photos. 

Our final day, after checking out of the hotel, we drove over to Kodachrome Basin State Park.  This location features colorful sandstone formations.  This is an out of the way location, and there were very few people there.  It was a relaxing and tranquil finale to the trip.