We woke up early on the sixth day of our vacation to catch a sunrise inside Bryce Canyon National Park, and then we drove to Moab.

Bryce Sunrise

We left the hotel at 5:30 to try and catch the 6:11 sunrise at Bryce Point inside the park. It is very cool that the park is open 24 hours. We figured Bryce Point would be a good spot to watch it with its near-360° viewing platform.

Only a few other people were there when we arrived. Ten to fifteen more had arrived by the time we had left.

Sunrises and sunsets are beautiful by default, but neither that we saw in Bryce Canyon National Park had the colors that we get back home. Of course the rest of the scenery helps make up for that.

Drive to Moab

We took a scenic drive to Moab, making a few stops along the way.

Our first stop was at the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. We did a short hike to see the vibrantly colored petrified trees, which were very cool.

We then drove through Capitol Reef National Park, stopping at the visitors center and Fruita. Fruita is a kind of functioning ghost town. It is an abandoned settlement, but has a pie shop and orchard, among other things. We were there for the pie shop. After our fruit pies, we picked some apricots at the orchard there. Anything eaten in the orchard was free, you only had to pay for what you took with you, and even that was on the honor system. A scale, a sign with prices, and a money box were at the entrance.

After Fruita, we pulled off to see some petroglyphs. These are pictures etched into the markings by a long gone people group in the area.

We then made our way through the dramatic topography to Moab.