Four canyons and a basin,plus snow

During that full moon trip to Cambria,Washburn CG,we had the idea of taking advantage of the nice fall weather and going to visit some canyon parks.We don't do desert camping mainly for the heat,but this time of the year worked out nicely.

I think the full moon influenced us a bit.

Looking at the map book to get some ideas we decided when we got home Friday to start the plan for the following Monday departure.
A bit of search work and a plan was cast.

Our route would start at Red Rocks Canyon SP, to Zion, the North Rim, Bryce, and finish at Kodachrome Basin SP.

We had a great trip,maybe not long enough but the weather played a bit of a factor.

Hope you enjoy the photos.We lucked out with the dramatic light features otherwise a lot of the color is washed out.There is so much to see at these parks and lots of walking trails.

This should be at the end but.....At the rest stop just south of Stockton I spotted this in the right front,but decided to leave it as no air was leaking.And get it fixed at home.It wasn't a problem.

 FIRST CANYON.
Red Rocks Canyon SP.This place was awesome,the moon was 3 nights after full.During the night it gave off so much light it was almost like daytime.

 Tuesday morning,woke before sunrise to walk and get some pictures.
The campsites are against the cliff in the background.

 SECOND CANYON.
Zion Canyon NP.After finding a nice spot at the south campground we walked around to get a feel of the area.

The wind at night does pick up a bit.The first night as I lay there in bed and the wind was making the liner flap against the roof lifters my thoughts went back to the thread a few weeks ago about "wind on our campers". It does wip up a bit with some real bad gusts at times.We slept through it no problem.

 Here we spotted Bill Harr's rig and stopped to visit.

 Sunset time at the campground.

 Next morning we took the first shuttle into the canyon.This is a great way to view and get info.You can get on and off at any spot along the route.There are no cars allowed through the end of Oct.

 Like the Denali trip of 2011 we didn't expect such vivid color.
This is the water fall at Emerald Pool trail.

 The most wildlife we saw were the Mule Deer.
Lots of nice bucks.

 Traveling east out of the park the scenery and rock formations change.Lots of different patterns and colors.

 THIRD  CANYON.
The North Rim GCNP.This is a Kaibab,Tassel eared squirrel.It only lives on the north rim.It has a cousin that is from the south rim but brown in color. These guys were all over the place but hard to get to stop and pose for a good photo.

 We did manage to get some Aspen color,but most of the trees were without leaves.

 We were treated to some great views as a small weather front moved in to add some contrast to the color.
Sunset at Bright Angel view spot.

 We caught the sun on a Vega coming over from the south rim,it dropped a few rain drops on us that's all.

 This shot has San Francisco Peak at Flagstaff in the background.

 FOURTH CANYON.
Bryce Canyon isn't a true canyon as the erosion is in the cliffs above the lower lands.

 I think this would be the way to visit the lower parts of the canyon.

 Once again a late afternoon storm came through to provide the needed contrast.The color is so intense it washes out.
We had some rain drops and also some popcorn snow.What a show nature has put on for us.

 THE BASIN.The next stop was Kodachrome Basin SP,Utah.About 25 miles from Bryce.
In searching info on this place found they have nice small cabins very inexpensive,so as we needed some out of camper time they fit the spot.
Kodachrome is a hands on place,nice walking trails right into the formations.There is also a nice campground there.The sites are back in a box canyon with some of the spots next to the rocks.

 Couldn't pass up this guy,so friendly.

 This is Indian Cave.no reason really for the name.The rock here is so soft you can rub your hand print in it.When it rains it rain erodes the surface to form little "flow"features.Similar to the features in caves only faster.Than the next rain washes them away.

 This is a Kodachrome Horned Juniper Lizard.Very rare.

 During our outside meals this jay would come around looking for crumbs.One morning he sat there and actually sang to us like a song bird,hadn't heard them do that before.

 The views are endless.At some points you cam look over toward Bryce and at sunrise get some beautiful shots.

 This is the only "arch" at the park.

 Our morning leaving caught this shot of an old homestead cabin.

 On out way home as we passed through Ely, NV the Northern Nevada Rail Museum was taking one engines out for a ride.Nice to watch it huffing and puffing up the grade next to Hwy 50.
I think these guys burn coal,not sure but smelled like it.
We were going to stop for the night just east of Austin,at the either Bob Scott or Hickson's Petroglyph campground,but after listening  to the weather in to the west of us and the forcast of snow over the Sierra passes ,we felt it would be best to get as far west as possible.We spent the night in Fallan ,NV and was glad for that as Ebbetts Pass was closed the next morning.We had planned to stop at out cabin for a night or two.Carson was our choice and the traffic or snow wasn't a problem.Just some more beautiful sights.

 Not much snow,about 8"or so.The road was clear with little or no traffic,except for the "crazies" who don't think the chain signs mean them.Drivers just don't get the 25 mph limit on icy/snowy roads.

This was such a great trip.I would go to Zion again maybe with a light snow cover and Kodachrome is a definite place to stop.
Once again we put a lot of miles on a short trip.Had the time to stay out longer but the weather became a factor.
Frank

Cambria,Washburn CG

This was a short trip south to Cambria,and a drive over to Paso Robles to restock out olive oil products.
We have enjoyed the Washburn CG over the years.It was out first outing in the than new Bobcat camper.
This CG is quiet and offers some walking through the pine forest.

We always stop and view the Elephant Seals.This time of the year the young bulls and young females
are there,putting on a nice show

 The town of Cambria hav a scarecrow festival and most buildings have a nice display. 

 The one with the nuns was the one we likes the best.

 One night before full moon. And the great sunset.

 We watched a lot of deer this time,most stayed in the meadow close to the road.

 And than there were the zebra,this time we saw at least two dozen,most ever in one heard.

Fall in Yellowstone 2013

We had to time our fall trip to YNP between personal things and the weather there.

Usually we try to be there about the middle of Sept.but this year we had to be more flexible,so the trip started near the end of the month.

We timed our drive to stay behind the small weather front going through the route.This worked will as we got to enjoy some nice light snow views but didn't have to drive in any heavy weather.

Our original plan was to go in through Teton first for a couple nights,but changed that to go through West Yellowstone first,thinking we would go out through Teton.All that sounded good until the "shutdown",we still could have gone out that way but there would be no stopping to sight see or fish,with the park shut if you were found stopped along the road enjoying nature you could be fined.

Most of our time was spent in and around the Lamar Valley and the drive there through Mammoth Hot Springs area.

Our idea of getting to the park later thinking animals would be out and about ,with the weather driving them,was a good plan.This trip we saw more animals than some of our past trips,and the dusting of snow made some nice photo shots.Some of the animals we saw but didn't get pictures of,a large heard of big horn sheep around the road work area of Canyon,below Dunraven Pass,which was closed due to snow.A nice pair of Bald eagles along the Madison near the west entrance and watched an Osprey munching on a fish it had just caught.We didn't see and wolves or coyotes this trip.I think some people were viewing a wolf from about over a mile away but that's not our fun.We like our animals up close. 

Unfortunately our stay wasn't long enough.but we will go back again.This is one of our special places.I enjoy the fishing and we both can just watch the animals for hours.I did catch a nice 14" Yellowstone cut in the Fire hole River.If you are a fisher person and haven't fished this river it is a must.

Along the way we met some very nice fellow campers and also a WTW member,"wango".I was fishing the Fire Hole and noticed a pop up drive by,pull over and turn around.He stopped at our rig and came down to the river to talk to me.It's so great to meet fellow members.We had a nice chat than he needed to go his way.

 This is actually the last of the trip.Mosquito Lk. below Ebbetts Pass. To the west.

 Before we even entered the park,at the last crossing of the Henry's Fork River we came across this moose.They are often hard to find in the park area,but this one was where you would expect one to be.

 Lamar Valley area with some nice color and just a dusting of snow.

 This is the NE area of the park at Pebble Creek CG

 Watch this black bear for some time.He was just sitting on a rock out crop above the Yellowstone River.

 Loads of Mule Deer along the road.

 Over the years we have come here we haven't seen this many Pronghorn,they were all over the place.must have been 50 or more.

 This pair of Mule Deer bucks were within yards of each other watching to see who moved first.

 And of coarse the Wapiti Elk,here at the Mammoth area being watched by the visitors.

 Had to put this in.A "modern" woodie from California pulling an old air stream.

 We sat for almost 3 hours watching this grizzly.It was just searching for food,digging around trees and rocks.
We came along some "pro" photographers waiting for it to come back out of the trees.So we found a place to park and just watched.I even got up on top of the camper to get some better shots as the passing large campers were blocking my view.
This is one of if not the best views we have had of a griz.It was as close as 40'or so.

 Not much color as we had expected,but still beautiful.

 This bull was munching on a downed Juniper before he decided to take a rest.

 The sunset our last night was beyond words.Watched this for almost half an hour.

Our return trip took us through Austin NV,along US 50 and over Ebbetts Pass to our "home away from home".I even caught a nice 14" German brown in the Stan river down below our cabin,sometimes your home waters are just as good.
Frank