red rock cliffs | Meridian Jacobs' Blog

We spent most of the day at Cedar Breaks National Monument and then headed to Bryce Canyon National Park.

Two lane road that leads through a arch cut in the red rock in Utah.

One of two tunnels cut through the red rock on the way to the Park entrance.

Sign that says Bryce Canyon National Park built with stone surrounding it.

We didn’t have reservations for camping but took our chances. We got the last space available for tent camping in the two campgrounds in the park.

Red rock canyons of Bryce Canyon National Park.

After securing our camping space we walked the trail along the rim for the views in the following photos.

Schematic diagram of layers of rock showing locations of some of the Utah National Parks.

I took this photo at Cedar Breaks. It shows the geology of this part of Utah and where some of the parks lie in relationship to each other. It is interesting to see the layers of the rock so clearly.

Bryce Canyon is not really a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters.

Looking over Bryce Canyon National Park seeing canyons below and cliffs in the distance.

The towering formations are known as HooDoos. They are created as a result of water freezing and thawing and opening cracks in the rock, following by erosion. Bryce Canyon is known to have the greatest concentration of hoodoos in the world.

Bristlecone pine tree with root system exposed.

Bristlcone Pine along the rim.

Deer in dry grass with pine trees behind her.

On the way bak to the campsite we found a family of deer.

The doe had twins.

There was a buck nearby. In fact, there were 4 bucks, mostly younger than this one.

We left home Tuesday morning and I shared photos in this post. It was getting late in the day when we got gas in Ely, Nevada and we took time to look at the map. We found a place to camp in the Ward Mountain Recreation Area a few miles out of town.

Campsite with picnic table in the middle. Juniper trees are around a brown tent and the car is parked in the front.

Here is the campsite in the morning. Dan was still in the tent.

High desert two-track road with sagebrush and juniper trees on the sides. Sun is shining on a mountain in the background.

I went for a walk as the sun was coming up.

Roadside sign that says Welcome to Utah.

We packed up and got to Utah about 9:30.

Sign describing the aerial tramway used by mining in Pioche Utah.

We got off the main highway to drive the original road through the mining town of Pioche. This sign describes the tramway, the remnants of which are still here on the east side of the road.

Remnants of the aerial tramway used by mines in Pioche Utah.

This is the tramway that facilitated movement of ore from higher up the mountain (behind us) to the valley below.

Remnants of ore tramway showing cart that carried ore down the mountain.

This is a closer view showing the cogs that held the chain or cable that carried the buckets. The structure that is on the horizon towards the left of the photo is one of the buckets still on the cable.

Our first stop where we planned to spend some time was Cedar Breaks National Monument. We checked out the visitor center first and then went for a hike.

Circular formation of rock layers in red tones at Cedar Breaks. Blue sky overhead.

All the views of the breaks are incredible. Do you notice that light spot just right of center on the bottom of the photo. It sure looked like a rock for the longest time.