Scenic Rt 12 and Bryce Canyon

We made our way to Bryce Canyon National Park today via Scenic Rt 12 between Torrey and Escalante, UT.  First we climbed in to the beautiful Dixie National Forest that had gorgeous views. It was 50 degrees at 7am -just lovely. There were solar powered traffic cameras on either end of the Forest. We got stuck in our first animal-jam. The black angus cattle are free range up on the mountain, and they are drawn to the sides of the road. We actually saw a huge one dead on the side of the road that has been hit by a vehicle. My mother said that animals killed by cars in the National Parks or Forests is a major issue and the rangers will investigate and hunt down the driver. We figured it wouldn’t be hard to find this vehicle because this cow was enormous and there must have been extensive damage to the front end of the vehicle, which will be visible from the traffic cams.  We figured that dead cow cost between 2-3 thousand dollars.

Then we came to the most frightening road in all of the United States and we really wish someone had warned us before we started. Rt 12 crosses along the top of the ridge of a mountain with shear drops on both sides and no guard rails, then winds down along the mountain side with only a 6 inch asphalt curb between the car and the shear drop. I was driving and white knuckled for miles as we wound our way down that mountain. I was literally driving 15 miles an hour and down the middle of the road to keep away from edge. We were at 9,000 ft, on a 2-lane road, shear drop-offs both sides, 14% down grade with hairpin turns. The only saving grace was that the road was paved. We are not sure if this is they called Hell’s Backbone, but it was Hell for us. We had a few ridge spots in the Blue Ridge Parkway but nothing as long as this. When we got through it we had to get out of the car and take a break to relieve the stress.

No pics we were all to scared to pick up a camera. 

We finally made it to Bryce Canyon National Park. You can drive private vehicles, but they have and encourage guests to use the free shuttle. I was more than happy to take the shuttle, after driving four Parks ourselves and that crazy Rt 12 in the morning, we and the Camry needed a break.

We are constantly surprised that five National Parks in Utah could all be so different. It was only 75 degrees in Bryce and so comfortable. Lots of spires and hoodoos in Bryce. Hoodoos are rock formation that have a hard top that is more resistant to erosion than the center so they look a little like people. In fact, The Paiute believed they were evil legend people who had been turned to stone by the coyote.

Wildlife:
9 deer
1 unidentifiable rodent
2 squirrel/chipmunks

Too many to count cattle (since they are free range MJC thinks they should be added to our wildlife count)

6 roadkill

Gree’s Senior pass savings to date $ 270+