Panguitch, Utah

We weren’t able to do any hiking inside Bryce Canyon National Park because we had Sophie and dogs aren’t allowed on trails.

But we did find a hike on the outskirts of the park that was short. And it was cool enough that we didn’t have to worry about leaving Sophie in the Jeep.

It’s a hike to both a waterfall and a mossy cave. Cool!

It was the first time we saw the hoodoos (rock columns and towers) from below and they looked very different up close and from below. We could see more texture in the rocks and the subtlety of the color changes throughout the rocks.

Pioneers labored for two years to complete the Tropic Ditch, an irrigation canal, to bring water to the valley below. Water has flowed along the route, except for during the severe drought of 2002, for over a century. Looking at the small snow pack and the amount of water coming down  makes me wonder if 2002 is being repeated.

At times, the water must really roar through the area as evidenced by the size of this pine tree trunk at the edge of the wash.

There’s a bridge across the Water Canyon dry wash area.  

I was entranced by the series of small arches that peek-a-booed through the trees as we hiked.

The mossy cave usually has ice until sometime in April, but it’s been such a warm spring that there’s only one small chunk. The moss on the cave’s roof is saturated with water from springs.

I love, love, love this quote by LBJ that I saw in Bryce Canyon:

“If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology.

We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it.”

Whenever I see nature’s wonders, I’ll remember this quote and continue to leave no trace of my visit…