Lunch and Snack go to Utah (and beyond)

August-September 2013

Descending into Las Vegas, the cows knew their plans would change as they looked out the airplane window at the massive "Rim" wildfire burning on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park in California. The fire was spewing great plumes of smoke, stretching for hundreds of miles.

Yosemite was the orginal destination.....

"This doesn't bode well."

Guess it's time to head the opposite direction. No fun smelling smoke all the time. Makes for bad grazing.

Welcome to Utah!

The cows revist a place they'd been before and had fallen in love with. This is Zion National Park.

"I'm glad we came back here Lunch. I've always adored the canyons here."

"Hmmm.... this doesn't bode well, either."

Rains the previous day had made canyoneering somewhat of a tricky proposition.

Others were heading up the Virgin River, so Lunch and Snack thought maybe they'd give it a try.

But the water was just a bit too high for the cows. Maybe next time.

On the way out of Zion, the bovines stopped to look at Checkerboard Mesa, a sight they had seen on a previous visit. It was still a marvel to behold.

The next stop on the Great Utah Parks Tour was Bryce Canyon National Park. The view of the hoodoos from Inspiration Point was exceptional as the sun started to go down.

"This is really, amazing! How does this happen, Snack?"

"It's all from uplift and erosion. And the result is beautiful!"

"I can see why they made this into a special place."

The area became a national monument in 1923 and received designation as a park in 1928.

"This sure is a nice place to pitch a tent, Snack."

The intrepid bovines settle in for the night at the Sunset Campground in Bryce.

"Gosh Snack. This is an amazing view! They say you can see all the way to Arizona from here!"

The cows marvel at the overlook at Yovimpa Point near the southeast end of Bryce Canyon.

On the way to nearby Rainbow Point in Bryce, the cows ran into a statuesque raven. They wondered if it was related to the raven they met last year at the Grand Canyon.

"You know Lunch, this one doesn't seem to know us."

Heading northeast, the cows' adventure took them through a large portion of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This was an overlook on the highway to Escalante as it passes through the Grand Staircase.

Unlike the monuments of previous trips, this one was managed by the Bureau of Land Management and had a completely different feel to it.

"Hey Lunch! We made it! Here we are at Capital Reef National Park."

The cows look at one of the many prominent outcroppings that make up Waterpocket Fold, a major land feature that makes up almost the entire park.

The fold is a 100-mile long buckle in the Earth's crust formed 65 million years ago.

Lunch and Snack look into Capital Wash, a break in Waterpocket Fold that allows passage through the great formation. With showers the night before, the road through the wash was somewhat passable by car, but only barely.

"Wow Snack! There's some cool history here!"

The cows look over an exhibit of memorabilia at the Gifford Homestead in the Fruita Rural Historic District, part of Capital Reef. The area was settled by Mormons in the early 1900s and preserved by the park service as a demonstration site.

"Free food!"

Lunch picks out an apple for munching in one of the Fruita orchards in the historic district.

You're allowed to eat anything you can pick in the orchard for free and can purchase fruit to go.

At this time of year, it was apples and peaches! Yum!