Bryce Canyon National Park || Day 10

 The last day of our trip was one of the best. We arrived at Bryce after sunset so we crashed at our hotel pretty early as we were going to have an early start the next day. I got my sweet husband out of bed at 4am for the third (or fourth?) time that trip so that we could watch the sunrise over the canyon. This one was by far the roughest.. as it was a brisk 22 degrees that morning and we hadn't brought enough layers for weather quite that cold. But my sweet husband stayed out in the cold as I took photos of the sunrise. He's a champ and was rewarded with a delicious hot breakfast at the Bryce Canyon Lodge (see below :)).

The hot breakfast buffet at the lodge was a delight after being outside in the cold for over an hour! 

 Our hike for the day was the Queen's Garden trail down into the canyon and the Navajo Trail coming back up to the rim. It was around three miles with about 600 feet of elevation gain. The loop was beautiful and we both rated this hike as one of our favorites from the trip. If we had more time, we might have tried the Fairyland Loop (about eight miles) but at this point in the trip, we were happy for a shorter hike! 

  Going down into the canyon..

  

 I enjoyed the Sara-sized tunnels on the trail. :)

 This rock is "The Queen" 

 The large rock formation that's slightly off center is called "Thor's Hammer" 

 These odd but beautiful rock formations are called Hoodoo's. They're made from eroding rock over the years as the rock freezes and thaws. 

  

  

Just like that, our wonderful 10 day trip through southern Utah's National Parks was over. The next morning we drove back to the airport and hopped on a place to the East Coast. I honestly can't tell you how much we loved this trip. It was just so good to explore, adventure, hike, and just be together! I had no idea what traveling together would be like.. turns out we love it. We both loved our less-than-traditional honeymoon and will cherish the memories we made for the rest of our lives! 

Capitol Reef National Park || Day 9

 We drove into Capitol Reef National Park in the early evening on day eight of our roadtrip. In all honesty, we didn't know what to expect from this park. We added a decent amount of driving to put it into our loop and we'd heard mixed thoughts about it. What did we think? It was one of our favorite days of the trip!

 The first place we stopped was a small boardwalk along a cliff face that had numerous petroglyphs on it - so cool!

 The sun was going down and we were tired, so we opted for a sunset drive along the scenic route through the park. Despite it being beautiful out (and a weekend night!) we only passed three other cars on the whole drive. 

 The next morning we hit the trails! We started out by hiking most of the Cohab Canyon trail and detouring up the hills to see an overlook of the town of Fruita. The rock formations towered above us in the most interesting shapes and sizes! 

 After our first hike, we stopped at the Gifford Homestead for one of their famous pies. We paired it with their homemade ice cream and called it lunch!

 Our next hike was Grand Wash. This trail was flat and easy, and we loved the towering giant walls above us. 

 The drive out was just as beautiful. Capitol Reef was named for the "reef" looking mountains in the park. I don't think it's hard to see why from this photo! 

We loved our day in Capitol Reef and were a little bummed we hadn't planned more time for this park! It was much quieter and emptier than the other parks we visited, and I think that's one of the reasons we enjoyed it so much. Mike & I both agree that a tour of Utah's parks is not complete without a stop at this gem!