good-times-rollin

Friday, September 2, 2016

Fairyland Trail to Tower Bridge

Cannonville/Bryce Canyon KOA
Cannonville, UT
August 31, 2016

Our first hike in Bryce Canyon NP was a 3.4 mile in/out hike along Fairyland Trail to Tower Bridge. We were at the trailhead early. The air was crisp, the morning sun lit up the hoodoos, and on the descent to Tower Bridge, we had the trail almost to ourselves...we passed one other couple. Perfect !

There is no other place quite like Bryce Canyon NP. Hoodoos of red, pink and white rock fill the landscape. From the rim, which varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet, mazes of these hoodoos can be seen in all directions.

The trail to Tower Bridge begins at Sunrise Point. The 950 foot descent to the bridge makes this a moderate trail. It's been awhile since we hiked (in Gunnison). Our legs felt like cooked spaghetti noodles on the descent and then like they weighed 200 pounds each on the climb out of the canyon. Its always a good feeling to get that first hike under our belts when its been awhile.

One of the highlights of this trail are the Bristlecone Pines. These trees can live for thousands of years...in fact, the oldest living bristlecone is 4,000+ years old.

These wonders are a member of the group of pines known as foxtail pines because of the shape of the branches and the way the needles stay attached all the way up the limb.

Tower Bridge is a rock formation with Keyhole Window on one end and the bridge between two towers on the other.

The best place to get a good picture is down by the creek bed looking up.

While we were there we spotted a pair of Stella Jays.

When we were here in May 2013, we didn't hike any of the Fairyland Trail. The weather was very iffy that May with lots of severe thunderstorms, cold winds and even some snow and hail. Joe and I both agree September is much better with cool nights and pleasant, breezy days.

Fairyland indeed...turned out to be a great first hike here.

Until next time...happy trails !

P.S. You can read about our first hike at Bryce Canyon in May 2013. It's the featured post top right hand column.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Sofa Spuds !

Tucson/Lazydays KOA
Tucson, AZ
August 2016

Sofa spuds is the only way to describe our activity in Tucson the past few weeks. To say it has been hot would be an understatement. We have done nothing blog worthy.

Appointments and occasional errands sum it up !

Getting great reports sure made the month worthwhile and if all goes well in February '17, we might not have to return here in August next year.

Our days started early. The five of us got up about 5:30 and were at the doggie park by 5:45 so Jack could have a good 45 minutes to play ball. Of course getting up that early guaranteed we would exercise our prerogative to take a nap !

Things began to pick up last Thursday after Joe got his stitches taken out. Just as if someone waved a magic wand, we felt free, hopeful and excited...so ready to move on.

The pantry is stocked, the cleaning done, the puppies fence is stowed and even the grill is packed. Tomorrow we head north.

Our first stop will be Bryce Canyon NP where we need to get our "groove" back, dust off the hiking boots, load the backpack and hit the trails. I have checked the weather and with highs in the low 80s and lows in the mid 40s, it sounds perfect ! We visited Bryce Canyon in May 2013 and are looking forward to familiar and new trails to explore.

The pictures in this post are from a hike we did the day before we left Gunnison. Brush Creek Trail is a very easy 4.5 mile hike with a elevation gain of only 315 feet. It was easy to become absorbed by the expansive views of East River Valley with it's twisting waterways...