Hang on to your Hodo’s

Leaving the hustle and bustle of las Vegas in out wake we headed for the hills to a camp site that was geographically close to the entrance to Zion & Bryce Canyon.

Unlucky for us we couldn’t find a space to park the rv to enable us to enter the Zion to get on the shuttle bus so we pointed Martha towards the Kolob Canyons visitor centre instead. Here we picked up the annual park pass (a definite recommend if you plan to visit many parks as proved good value for money) & drove up the hill to the viewing point. It was great to get out and follow the little trail to see the terrain which was quite majestic. Little did we know that this view was the first of what would be a number of amazing vistas that we were able to feast our eyes on.

With a growing taste for a ‘camp on the wilder side’ we found ourselves trundling slowly for fear of cracked windscreens or paint chips down what became known as ‘the road of doom’ to a fantastic campsite only about 30mins drive from the entrance to Bryce Canyon.

By the crack of dawn the following day we set off to the visitor centre where Rangers had hardly opened up shop to find where we could abandon Martha, grab a shuttle & go Hodo spotting. Checking maps while listening to the bus driver giving tips on routes before we alighted to walk around. The day showed all the potential for being quite hot so we made sure we were lathered in suncream with a sufficient amount of water before heading down the trail. It had become apparent to us that we had a natural instinct to walk trails the ‘wrong way around’ so this was no different & worked in our favour as we met less people & seemed to have less of a climb out.

The hodo’s are quite magnificent & photos hardly seem to do them justice & it was easy to see why the early Native Americans thought of them as people turned into stone. Wandering around in amongst the giant rock formations was quite eerie yet beautiful. At the risk of being controversial I would say that I found the area more spectacular than the Grand Canyon but that’s just my opinion.

Whilst being an ‘early bird’ paid dividends in terms of parking it meant that we were a bit peckish after completing the trail so we nipped back to Martha for a snack before heading off along the scenic drive.

Next day we arose to start a long days drive to Moab & the Arches National Park. Cutting across country is fun & leads to all manner of unusual places that just force you to stop for a while.