Hoodoos, Slots and Drop-Offs

You would never guess that it was Spring in southern Utah - this morning, it was 7 degrees and our pipes are all frozen! We've been discoverin' all sorts of places - even just around our campsite that have totally ultralicious odeurs! But in the last few days, we've been exploring places a little further away, such as Kodachrome Basin State Park.

Here we are - yes - tryin' out our backpacks on this trail!
Here am I, Sammie - turning a corner over a ledge to find a little "bowl" where we could play a bit!

And Avalon... with some of Kodachrome Basin's cool towers behind her! (We think it should be called Digitally Enhanced Basin heh heh!)

See what we mean about the drop-offs? We were constantly having to help and guide our parents over these treacherous parts of the trail!

"That's right, Avalon - you stay in front, and I'll take up the rear, or poor Dad will never make it down!"

Back down at the bottom, we could let our guard down and fight over a stick - well, more like a log! Then we moseyed on into the Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument - the only NM administered by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management)... It is a ginormous park - close to two million acres! (That's bigger than Rhode Island...) Read more about the park HERE.

After leaving KBSP, we drove down a dirt road with several spurs (for interesting side trips that we didn't take) to reach this magnificent arch - Grosvener Arch. It's a rare double sandstone arch that is 152 feet high! For scale, we are at the bottom of the pitchur, in case you couldn't see us hee hee!

Although we are allowed offleash in state parks, Grand Staircase/Escalante Park and Utah national forests, here, there is a unique soil that "grows" in the deserts of Utah. It's called Cryptobiotic soil and we're not supposed to walk on it, so... we had to be on leash - you know how we like to tear around! (Can you see someone's footprint that went through the crust?) You can read about these soils HERE.

Another view of this towering arch!

We meandered further down this dirt track called Cottonwood Canyon Road, to see what was ahead. It's 46 miles long, but today it was closed after the 18 miles marker - Dad wanted to go as far as we could. There were some steep hills, up and down, and washboard-like in several places, notably on the steepest grades! We found the above sign, and, intrigued, decided to check it out!

We found a slot canyon! Again, we didn't get to go offleash, even though the place was like a giant stone X-pen! (They were scared we'd run up the squeeze canyon for miles and never come back!) Still, we pulled and pulled on leashes when a chipmunk darted out from under a huge rock - we had to give chase!

Avalon tried to climb the walls to garner an introduction!

And I was just plain flustered! Still... don't let anybuddy tell you slots don't pay - this one offered us up a jackpot!

So... we made our way back down to our truck through the slot - we surely enjoyed our time here!

Back at our headquarters, we checked out the Lodge at Bryce Canyon. This is the only NP Lodge left that is the original one built. Pretty cool!

Here we are with Mom and Dad - look at the worried look on our faces; we fear for them bein' so close to the edge! But... aren't the hoodoos here amazin'????
Later, we had a campfire and s'mores - we're just scrounging around for dropped tidbits! (Wifi has been difficult, but trying our best to post and come say hi when internets available. Have post several pix on Facebook - click on our sidebar FB button...)