Grand Staircase

On October 25 we took a drive down the Scenic Byway on Hwy 12 from Bryce Canyon, past Escalante and on to the small town of Boulder.  The drive goes through a large wilderness area called Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  If we would have continued our drive past Boulder and on to Torrey it would only have been a short jaunt over to Capitol Reef National Park however that would have been a long day and I'm not sure that Charli's bladder, whom we had left in the trailer, would have held up.  Capitol Reef is the only one of the 5 renowned National Parks that we haven't visited.

As it was we saw some great scenery both from the highway on the top of the ridge line as well as in the river valley with its towering canyon walls and the large trees respelendant in their fall golden glow.  The drive up on the ridge line had my heart pumping as its a 2 lane road with narrow shoulders which then plummet to the canyon floor below.  The speed limit is only 25 and I was not in danger of getting any speeding tickets.  

A great view from the top.
Looking back towards Bryce Canyon

Pretty but desolate the higher you go.  

 A shot from the top showing the narrow road 

A shot from the other side of the road showing
the valley and creek below.
The fall colours distinctly show the path of the river.

As we wound our way down to the valley
we started to get a better view of the trees.

The colours are sooo vivid. 

Down in the valley we found a parking lot
and got one of the last empty parking spots.
Plenty of hiking trails heading from the parking lot
off through the forest following the river. 

Added a bit of a mystic glow to this one.
Gives it a bit of a fantasy feel.  

Lots of gnarly old cottonwoods
(I think thats what they were)

The reflection in the river took on the colour of the trees.

It was a beautiful drive and a nice break from Bryce Canyon.  

Next up the Mossy Cave hike which, spoiler alert, will not include any pictures of the mossy cave. 

Later.