BRRRR-ice Canyon

Man! Kids these days! They complain no matter what! Three days ago they were whining about the heat just because it was 103 degrees, so we drive around till we find someplace cooler, and what do they do? Complain ‘cause it’s too cold! There’s just no pleasing them!

In between, we did have some amazing, picture perfect days, in spectacular, breathtaking scenery; romping in the Coral Pink Sand Dunes,

3 hikes in Zion,

and an exhilarating mountain bike ride along a cliff edge and across miles of blooming sage.

But you didn’t come here to read that disgusting, saccharin tripe! Where’s the fun in that? No, you want to hear about how we mindlessly scheduled ourselves to land at Bryce Canyon on Memorial Day Weekend, as if there would be a campsite available, and how when we realized our mistake, we chose as Plan B to camp at Duck Creek, in the Dixie National Forest (elevation 8,000+ feet) and how we got pummeled with snow pellets as we cooked dinner, which we then ate huddled under the car-tarp. And how we left the cooler ice container out on the picnic table overnight, to re-freeze the ice! (And it worked!) And how we woke to fresh snow on the tent, and a temperature that was a full 80 degrees colder than what we had just three days earlier… after we had sent home 3 boxes of extra clothes.

And how we naively thought it would be fun to go to Cedar Breaks National Monument (elevation 10,000 feet) on the first day of the year that the road was supposed to be cleared of snow, except that it was snowing furiously as we drove there, so the road wasn’t exactly clear.

But Cedar Breaks was amazing, at least the couple of glimpses we got of it through the clouds and snow squalls!

And the continuing bitter cold weather did solve one problem for us: by the time we got to Bryce, we found the campground almost empty! Everyone with any sense at all had gone home! So we spent two “brisk” nights there, were treated to snow flurries both mornings as we made breakfast, and hiked over 14 miles in a day and a half, bundled up in long pants, jackets and hats!



















The other benefit of the cold weather was that it prevented my camera from overheating during the extreme use it got in Bryce!