It's About the (RV) Journey....: Kolob Canyons and Cedar Breaks......

Kolob Canyons is in the northwest section of Zion National Park, and is a much less visited section of the park. We started our day early as usual, because it gets quite hot later in the day. (Plus, someone plans a lot in one day)! We weren't expecting it to be as cold as it was though! It was in the low 40's when we got to Kolob Canyons, with a bit of a chilly wind too. We were hoping our little hike would be in the sun. Its a rare day when I say that! Hahahah

sunrise views

more early morning light

beautiful drive

enjoying the views with early morning sunshine streaming in

its a little chilly here

magical looking, isn't it?

hope the sun is shining brightly on the trail!

wow its chilly!! painfully so!

After checking in at the Visitor Center to ask about day hikes, the ranger suggested two different ones for us. We started with the Timber Creek Overlook Trail, which was about a mile and had some great overlooks. We also met some really nice people at the overlook at the end of the trail, and they took a few pictures of us. I always say "yes" when people offer!

starting our little hike....hope it warms up soon

really nice views

going up!

jack rabbit

cairns

going up

pretty

up up up

nearing the end of the trail

nice view!

looking across at the canyons

the moon is still out!

at the end of the trail at the overlook

i think the guy liked my camera....he kept taking a lot of shots

at the very end....and then the dropoff

check out that view of the plateau

these guys move really fast

heading back down....nice view

cactus

As far as flora and fauna, we saw some nice flowers, and cactus....a jackrabbit, a lizard and some blue birds that were too quick for me to photograph. We are always looking out for "stuff"-little pleasant surprises on our hikes.

nice

the morning light was so nice

We stopped at a scenic overlook on our way back down to the next hike, which was the Taylor Creek Trail. The trail was 5 miles round trip, and estimated to be a 4 hour hike. We didn't have 4 hours, but we did have an hour to explore. We loved this hike!! It follows a creek, so you have to keep crossing it to stay on the trail. Eventually, you would reach "double arch alcove", but unfortunately we didn't go that far because of time. We had a great time at Kolob Canyons....

hey, i don't need to carry my heavy backpack!!

we're going down....

and up, of course!

pretty

really nice hike

watch out for mountain lions!

pretty sweet view

lots of creek crossing...makes it fun!

just walking along

nice

action shot

this one was a nice creek crossing for us short-legged folks! Hahahah

great view...heading towards the canyon

pretty good trail conditions, especially after all the rain

having fun!

ready for a little scrambling?

reached a nice beach

really enjoying this hike...no cliff edges!

cool rock formations

going up again?

this might be our end point

good place for a snack

too bad we have to turn around now...

pretty!

views were really nice too

like this one

We hopped back in the car and drove to Cedar Breaks National Monument. WOW! Wasn't expecting such a glorious sight! Its a bit like a mix of the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyons. Just gorgeous! Cedar Breaks has a 6 mile scenic road, with several overlooks that give different views of the same "ampitheater". It is remarkable and worth the stop at each overlook.

we turned a bend in the road and this was the view

autumn is coming

amazing what water can do

The elevation is quite high, over 10,000 feet, so we went slow and drank water on our one hike. When we got to the visitor center, we asked the ranger about hikes and he said there were basically 3 different ones. One hike was 11 miles (too long), one went along the rim to an overlook (too scary on the edge) and one was to an alpine pond through the forest (perfect).

look at that view of the amphitheater

its amazing

lots of hoodoos

can't get the whole view in one shot

very cool...looks like sand castles

view of half

look at those leaves!

another viewpoint

isn't this amazing

this wall is kinda short....wish it were a bit higher

The hike was about a 2 mile round trip, with changing scenery along the way. For part of the trail, you walk through forest and enjoy the changing colors of the leaves, and another area you can see the "breaks". Just so nice. Again, we met some really nice people on the trail, and had fun chatting it up for a while.

nice color!

aaaaaaa....not a good place to be klutzy

great fall color

pretty

so unexpectedly yellow

nice color

striking color

nice

heading into the forest now

no need for bear spray...hahhahah

the alpine pond

the alpine pond is really really green

we've been hearing this guy for a while now

finally got a picture of the woodpecker

a pretty little treat when we looked down

walking along

catching great views on this hike

some viewpoints a little too close to the edge for me

like this one

heading up

so pretty

pine cones....

another great view

perched and ready to go

soaring

enjoying the trail

not all the trees are pine

reaching the end of our hike soon

cool-phototropism?

lightning strike on this tree

this is interesting...never saw this before

variety of colors

There were also a lot of fall colors that we were enjoying along the hike and along the scenic 6-mile drive through Cedar Breaks. Its kinda weird-didn't expect to see that much color in this area so it was a real treat.

We went ahead to do the hike first at the far end of the "scenic drive", and then stopped at the scenic overlooks on our way back. We were just awed by the views! Just spectacular.What a beautiful place. I know I keep saying that about everywhere we go....Beautiful!