Last Day - leaving Bryce Canyon Resort

This is the Bryce Canyon Resort ... taken from our balcony. We arrived here about 4 p.m. and were able to get cleaned up and rest a bit before going to the restaurant for a yummy dinner!

Also taken from our balcony ... the quads parked in the parking lot below us. As you can see, they are a bit DIRTY!!

We were able to get gas at Ruby's Inn - 2 miles down the road, before heading out. It is a HUGE resort - and one of the few places you can stay in this area. (We tried to get reservations here 3 months ago, and they were sold out then)

The ATV guides at our hotel were able to direct us to a short cut - across a huge preserve. As you can see in the above picture, antelope (pronghorns) run wild. We saw hundreds of them.

Several times on the trip we were questioning (and for good reason) whether we were on the right road. Here is a picture of a road sign (which we saw very few of) along the way.

It is hard to see, but this was a field of wild flowers. So beautiful!!

The flowers looked paper thin - but so unique. We had to stop and take a photo.

This was typical of the trail we rode most of the day - except for when we got into the canyon.

We stopped along the way and made sure everyone was OK - and that we were together. Ted and Dennis brought up the rear.

This is the beginning of Casto Canyon - an absolutely magnificent place to visit. It made us think we were in the middle of Bryce Canyon. (I took many more pictures than these ... but these were among the prettiest!)

Can you believe that little tree is growing on top of that huge rock? Look what nature did - with the help of water.

One of the many Creek Beds we either crossed, passed or rode through.

Like I said, there are many beautiful pictures!

The rode went from almost a highway, like here, to parts that our 4-wheelers narrowly fit.

The colors and the contrasting blue sky made picture taking a must. (No wonder it took us so long to get down that canyon)

Red rock, pine trees, sage brush and clear skies -- they all added up to a beautiful sight and wonderful smells of the outdoors.

See kids - we did ride with our helmets on ... 99% of the time!!! (We were trying to be safe)

Can you see the gorilla's face? It is his profile - he is in the fore-ground. The guide at the ATV place told us to look for it towards the bottom of the canyon. Ted is the one who spotted it.

The other landmark we were to look for was the 'rubber ducky' - perched up high on the rocks. I also found a dinosaur - but I forgot to post it. (I will have to do it later!!)

This is a photo-taking spot - because you have to come through the rock and under the trees. Here is Dennis - coming through.

Nest it was my turn - they are 'posed type pictures' - hence no helmets!!

This is how we had to get out of the canyon - through the posts and over the gate. (The posts are only 50" wide - and it is posted that no ATV's wider than that can enter the canyon because the roads are too narrow. We made it with 2" to spare!!) Every time we had to go through one of these gates I got a little nervous ... because it usually meant we had some challenging/narrow/steep roads to travel, and they were right! There was some red paint on one of the posts --- but it wasn't ours ... we made it through!!

After we left the canyon we turned around and this is what we saw. Panquitch is about 5 miles behind me ... and this canyon is that close to civilization. We had no idea it was there - but had heard we would be coming down a beautiful canyon, and we did!!

Day #3 ~ 40 miles and 6 1/2 hours of riding and picture taking!