Adventures with Luna: Day 62 - Bryce Canyon National Park

I took my time getting up and ready for the day, then left Bryce Canyon, headed North to Goblin Valley State Park. It was a nice, uneventful 3 hour and 45 minute drive that led us through the beautiful Capitol Reef National Park. There were places I could have pulled over for beautiful views, however I have begun to become more interested in just getting to my destination, tired of stopping all the time and getting Luna’s seatbelt off and us both out just to take a look, snap a few pictures and head back in and repeat. I had opted not to add Capitol Reef to my list of places to hike as it is not dog friendly.

When we arrived at Goblin Valley State Park at around 2:00 pm, I was disappointed to find that the campground was already full, I had been planning on staying there and was looking forward to a shower, knowing that most state parks have showers, although it seems that this one might’ve been one of the few that didn’t, so I got off lucky! When I paid my entrance fee I asked about camping nearby and found out that the surrounding area is all BLM land, so I could camp for free in any already disturbed area! As the wind picked up we hiked to Goblin’s Lair, a very easy walk until it reaches a steep hill to the cave entrance. I at first planned to go in to the cave and began to help Luna down in to it, however she was so terrified I decided to turn back, feeling badly that I’d made her come the few yards in that I had. Instead of heading back on the true trail, we continued on for quite awhile on a small path that other people had made, it eventually ended, but we continued on until we had a view of the mountains again; then, satisfied and not pleased with the sand blowing in our eyes, we turned back. As we neared the parking lot, walking now with the wind against us, we moved slowly, fighting against the wind. We stopped at the car for a few minutes to relieve ourselves of the wind for a moment and have some water and a snack, then ventured back in to the gusts and in to the valley to get a quick look and take a few photos before heading out. All in all we spent around 3 hours there and would have spent longer if the sand was not constantly blowing in our eyes, it was a beautiful place.

We headed out and I quickly spotted a sign pointing to “Little Wild Horse Canyon”, the other hike I wanted to do while I was in the area. I turned off and drove the 5.3 miles to it, parking in a lot that seemed more designed for overnight parking than the main trailhead lot. There, I snacked instead of attempting to make dinner on the ground in what now was incredibly strong winds and read for a couple hours before getting to uploading the photos and writing the entries for the past few days.