Greetings to you all.Today's update comes to you from Ruby's Inn in Bryce Canyon.It is currently 8pm local time (that's 4am tomorrow to you !) and the temperature is an "envigorating"3 centigrade.More about that later, first you need to catch up on yesterdays adventures.....

Tuesday 3rd November, Zion National Park.We decided upon one of the most strenuous hikes the Park had to offer to "Angels Landing". This hike is in the "STRENUOUS" (not to be undertaken by anyone out of shape or with a fear of heights) category with an estimated duration of 5 hours (we allowed ourselves 8 hours - to take full advantage of the photo opportunities, not due to our physical condition, you understand). This hike offers the option of terminating at Scouts Lookout, or continuing over a further ½ mile and climbing an additional 500 feet to 'Angels Landing'.

Upon reacing Scouts Lookout, Rachael was a little un-easy about undertaking the final leg and she suggested that it was best for me to continue to Angels Landing unaccompanied and report back to her with a summary of the route ahead.The route to Angels Landing begins with a near vertical climb up a rock-face, with a steel chain bolted into the walls being the only protection & assistance in the ascent.After completing the first climb, you are 'greeted' by a steep narrow saddle (completely unprotected) with sheer drop-offs on either side (I am approaching an altitude of 1,500 feet at this time remember).

After safely negotiating the saddle, I took a breather to compose myself for the final climb.At this time I was treated to an amazing sight - a Condor was gracefully soaring around me and landed in a tree no more than 6 feet away from me.This bird was not the prettiest creature I have ever seen (and I've seen some ugly birds in my time !), but it was absolutely MASSIVE (and I've seen some big birds in my time !).The close up view of the Condor would have been reward enough for my excertions, however I was then fortunate enough to witness a bout of the yet to become mainstream adrenaline sport of high altitude Condor Fighting.A Fellow hiker had left his shirt on the rock to dry in the sun while he completed his climb and on his return discovered that the Condor was tearing this to pieces.Check out the video clip - and I'm sure you'll forgive me for my unsteady hand given the shooting conditions.Now had it been me procariously balanced 1,500 feet on a cliff I would have gladly donated my T-shirt to the bird - I kinda felt that his rules stood at this height !But the owner of the T-shirt clearly had some sentimental attachment to this garment and felt that it was worth approaching the Condor & playing a game of tug-of-war.Amazingly, the guy (Steve from Alaska in case you are wondering) won the bout and returned to Scouts Lookout with his shredded T-shirt.

My climb then continued to the pinnacle of Angels Landing - phew I made it!All I have to worry about now is the return journey !I had the company of Steve (before I realised that he was the mentally unbalanced Condor Wrestler) for my return to Scouts Lookout and he gave me many tips of places to see & hikes to undertake - clearly I will be totally ignoring every wordfrom Steve due to his limited mental capacity.

On finally returning to Rachael approximately 1 ½ hours after abandoning her, I decided to be somewhat economical with the details of the terrain ahead and after some re-assurance and encouragement from "Mental Steve" she decided to attempt to reach Angels Landing.The bad news is that I had to accompany Rachael, so I had to undertake the treacherous 1 mile round trip all over again !Rachael was fantastic, of course she reached the summit of Angels Landing.

Rachael decided to take the entire return journey of the descent on her bum, only once she felt that she was approaching "Terra Firma" - the altitude does strange things to your mind, Scouts Lookout stands at a height of 1,070 feet ! - did she return to an upright stance to take the final step down. It was at this moment that she twisted her ankle! As you would expect I showed my usual concern & sympathy for her, by asking why she hadn't paid more attention to looking where she was going.Fortunately the stumble caused Rachael no discomfort whatsoever as we made the descent to the Canyon floor.

After returning triumphantly from the hike, we took a drive to a viewing area at the base of the Canyon and will post some photos of the rock we scaled in the next couple of days (subject to internet / wifi availability in these remote parts !).

We then rested up for a couple of hours to ensure that we were suitably prepared to make our 7:15pm Dinner Reservation at the Zion Lodge Grill. It was only upon standing again that Rachael's ankle began to cause her some discomfort and boy did I know about it.I did explain to Rachael that her miserable demeanour & constant whinging was in danger of taking some of the pleasure out of the dining experience for me, however you will be pleased to know that I managed to "zone out" and the food (Rattlesnake Pasta) was fabulous.

We both slept well following our exertions during the day & awoke fully refreshed bright and early.Rachael's ankle was much improved (the ice-treatments, massage & sacrifice of my pillows to keep her foot elevated through the night - what a generous & caring guy I am) clearly did the trick.

We started today with a gentle 1.4 mile hike to the Lower Emerald Pool - we had 'raced' through the Pool & waterfalls on our first day as we were in fear of losing the light.Fortunately Rachael's ankle held up well.We then returned to the car for our 3 hour drive to Bryce Canyon National Park.This involved a spectacular Canyon Road with sheer drops on either side, and involved a tunnel cut through the Canyon Wall at one stage.Atfer this the route was long & barren with fantastic scenery, but little signs of any civilisation.This only improved marginally when we approached Bryce Canyon Village - this is such a small & seasonal Village (check out the airport, that will give you some indication that I am not exaggerating this time), everything seemed to have 'Closed for the Winter' signs displayed.

We were certainly pleasantly surprised by the size and facilities offered by Rubys Inn - it seems to be the social hub of everything in Bryce Canyon Village and has all the facilities we could wish for.

We checked in, dropped off our bags, and headed into Bryce Canyon National Park (1.3 miles away).We decided to combine the 'Moderate' hike along the Queens Garden Trail with the 'Moderately Strenuous' hike along the Navajo Loop Trail finished off with the 'Easy to Moderate' Rim Trail to complete our hike, covering a total distance in the region of 3 miles and a descent & climb of 550 feet.

The conditions were fabulous, clear blue skies, bright sunshine and a temperature of 20 degrees.The views and scenery were spectacular. Immediately we approached the Canyon Rim we were greeted by the most amazing sight of a vast Canyon with it's floor populated by numerous hoodoos - these are the natural rock formations which kinda resemble totem-poles gone wrong (you'll know what I mean if you remember my 2nd Year Woodworking Project !).The appearance of the hoodoos changed with every step we took, with the light casting different shadows & patterns as our outlook changed.There was a strange & eerie atmosphere on the Canyon Floor, with absolute silence (yes, Rachael actually stopped nagging me !) and a feeling of being dwarfed by these magnificent 'statues'.

We completed our climb back to the Canyon Rim before we lost the sunlight and proceeded with a 13 mile drive to the venue of tomorrows morning hike (a 'Moderately Easy' one) at Rainbow Point.Our journey was delayed by frequent stops to allow the Mule Deer to get off the road (surely they should know that the grass tastes better than the tarmac !?).By the time we reached Rainbow Point, only 45 minutes after completing our hike, dusk was upon us and the temperature had dropped to 3 degrees, it will be well below freezing overnight.I decided that it was time to head back to our room, get some food in, banish Rachael to the bath & tell you all about my day.

I hope you had a good one too, speak soon and remember to be careful with those fireworks !

Tony & Rachael.

ps - remember to check out my latest photo downloads at - picasaweb.google.co.uk/tonytobin33