Sand Hollow, Bryce, and Grand Staircase

I've heard from several people that there is some pretty good diving in the new Sand Hollow Reservoir and we decided it was time to go check it out.  Near the end of this big rock, there is a sunken airplane with a geocache in the glove box.  There's also a VW bus down there.

After diving, we had lunch and Chris finally got to fly her kite.

From there, we went on to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes for the night.

The next stop was Bryce Canyon.  It's just as beautiful in the spring as it is in the winter and summer.  We intended to spend a half a day or so there then move on but got sidetracked and stayed a little longer.

This raven flew up next to us in a big wind gust.  He was having trouble landing with the wind but finally made it.  I think he was disappointed that we didn't have any food for him.

We had plans to hike the Queen's Garden Trail the next day but while watching the sunset at Sunset Point, we overheard someone talking about the Peekaboo Trail.  I believe her actual words were, "It's so freakin' cool!"  After that review, we had to change our plans.  It was a very good decision.  We started on Wall Street.  This trail was closed last time I was here so I was excited to get to see it.   Here's Chris taking a picture of a really really tall tree.

Here's the tree . . .

After a while, the Wall Street Trail connects with the Peekaboo Trail.  The trail is named Peekaboo because there is a new surprise around every corner.

These rocks look like someone stacked them up, but they are really very much stuck together.

This tree is just too cool.  With the wind we had this weekend, it's not hard to guess why it looks this way.

 

The next destination was Grand Staircase National Monument.  We were pleased that we found a camping spot before midnight for a change and settled in to enjoy the evening at Devil's Garden. 

We found out late that night that the camping register in the parking lot was actually for back-country campers and we had set up camp in a day-use picnic area.  Oops.  (Fortunately, we found out from a guidebook, not from a ranger coming to kick us out.)  With the relentless wind and looming rainstorm, and the late hour, we decided to stay there anyway.  The rain never materialized but the wind went on and on and on and on.

In the morning we set out for some exploring.  This place is amazing.  I definitely need to go back and see more!

One of the "must-sees" in the area was the Hell's Backbone road.  This road was built by the CCC back in the day to connect the towns of Escalante and Boulder.  It was clearly an adventurous building project but driving it was a little underwhelming after all the hype.

Looking down from the bridge . . .

One more view. . .

Sadly, we were out of time after that so we had to put the rest of the plan on hold for another trip and head home.