Willis Creek Wash/Slot Canyon......22nd April 2017...

Today on recommendation we head out a couple of miles from the RV Park and the turn off for Willis Creek Wash which is then a 6 mile off road drive to the trailhead....

Willis Creek Wash is a series of 5 slot canyons and a 5 mile round hike crisscrossing Willis Creek in the gravelly wash.....

Fascinating shapes carved out by water....

Time to get the walking boots wet !!....

Top of the waterfall and a small detour....

The trail on waterfall detour !!...

I put this photo in to try to give a perspective of canyon wall height...

Yay....a flat rock and great place for our lunchtime sandwich.....

Here we are almost back to the top of the trail with slightly soggy boots and ready to head home for a few bevies and slow cooked pork......

A beautiful view as we crest one of the many hills on the dirt road on our return home....
Another fabulous day out in this incredibly spectacular area of the world...
Tired but very happy and contented....
The Hiking Campers.....

SPECTACULAR Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah....21st April....

This is a revisit to our favourite National Park....we urge everyone who has not been here to put it on their bucket list.....can't really describe how wonderful and awe inspiring this area is.....

Hoodoo rocks.....formed by weather erosion but we prefer the Paiute Indians legend that they are  ancient Legend People turned to stone by the coyote as punishment for bad deeds...

Yes that is snow....it was down to a degree above freezing overnight and not much warmer this morning although a beautiful morning with clear blue sky...

49F and a chilly wind but can't take away the pleasure of once again experiencing this stunning scenery....

Yorkieman's "castles" 

Incredible how the piñon pines hang in there !!!

Part of the Navajo and Queens garden hike...we will be down there shortly... 

We are at 8,300 ft elevation !!

Rock formations formed over millions of years and a modern vapour trial..... 

Yorkieman ready to hit the trail....

 Part of the Peekaboo Trail.... 

The amphitheater from Bryce Point....
We have rosy cheeks and wind burn from the biting wind but we are very happy and have had the most perfect day.....my Fitbit records 20,723 steps and equivalent of 58 flights of stairs....
Time to go home, dinner, a warming nightcap or two and put the thick winter duvet and the comforter on the bed !!!!!
Until the next post.....
The Awe Inspired Campers.....

Thursday 20th April....Mesquite, NV to Cannonville, UT...

We have had a lovely stay in Mesquite but time to move on and north to Southern Utah....
Across the valley on the I-15 north and back through the Virgin River Gorge....

Stunning...

Going through the gorge was up and down elevation wise and by journeys end we will be at 6,000ft....

Watches an hour forward.....Mountain Time Zone now 7 hours behind GB....

Ummm....we are miles form the ocean and no water insight but maybe there used to be !!

Off the I-15 onto US20 East and a road we have travelled before so not unduly worried about his sign...we have the exhaust brake !!

Temperatures have dropped 30 degrees but still sunny...

Arrived safely at our home for the next week at Cannonville on scenic route 12....
A view from our campsite.....
We are here to revisit spectacular Bryce Canyon National Park and visit other parts of this stunning area....
Very quiet and oh the stars are so bright and seem to touch the horizon....
Until the next post.....
The Contented Campers.....
 

Snow Canyon State Park & Virgin River Gorge...17th April...

Just a short post today.....
We headed north 30 miles to the Utah Welcome Centre in St George for National Park, weather and route information for the next few weeks....
Mission accomplished so headed off on the 4 mile drive through pretty Snow Canyon State Park....

Large areas of black volcanic rock as well as the usual red sandstone...some areas of this park reminded us of the Scottish landscape....

Still some snow on the mountains....

This is the I-15 south through the spectacular Virgin River Gorge....
We will be towing north through here on Thursday !!
Me thinks it will be I'll look you drive !!!

We had planned to come back to this area to the Beaver Dam and Joshua Tree Park today but we are having another very gusty windy day....the locals say this strong windy weather is most unusual !!!
Until the next post...bye bye from
The Windswept Campers.....

Stunning Valley of Fire, Nevada....12th April 2017....

Today we revisit the Valley of Fire State Park.....
40 miles south of our new base in Mesquite and 50 miles north of Las Vegas...

This is our second visit to this stunning park seeing areas we missed a couple of years ago and revisiting other parts....
On route we stopped at The Lost City Museum in Overton for more information about The Anasazi, the Ancestral Puebloans a subject of interest to us....

Close to the north entrance into the park is our first stop at Elephant Rock named for obvious reasons....

We hiked the 1and half mile loop trail past Elephant Rock and found this little chap not given such an accolade in the park brochure as the big rock but to me had more "natural" resemblance to an elephant....

Look out man...

Sorry couldn't resist.....

Still masses of spring blooms and colour in the desert.....

Time for lunch sandwich and the place to ourselves at Lone Rock....

View from our lunch table at Lone Rock.....

Some of the cabins built for travellers by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's....much like the "bothies" in Scotland...
I have probably mentioned before that the CCC which was established in 1933 by President Franklin D Roosevelt was one the of the most successful programs to help fight the Big Depression...The CCC has left a legacy of roads, buildings and bridges throughout the US and gave work to more than 3 million young men...

On to Rainbow Vista and an area we have visited before but well worth a second visit...

A good 2 mile hike through soft sand and beauty....

Heading back out of the park via the north entrance and home....

This is an area north of Overton on our journey home and a great place to "boon-dock" or natural camping (we leave that to the hardier folks with generators !!) ....peaceful and beautiful but not sure we would like to be perched on the edge like that especially with the strong gusty winds we have experienced since being here.....
 A great day out in a spectacular park....
For now it's goodbye from...
The Happy Campers....