Getting Familiar with Bryce

My first two weeks at Bryce Canyon National Park in late July were filled with activity.  From learning my new job (as a volunteer interpretive ranger), to learning my way around my new 35-mile radius "neighborhood."

The first day on the job consisted of orientation, an easy day of being a tourist and exploring the same sights that they do.  I hopped on the free shuttle bus and took a hike along the rim to refamiliarize myself with the most popular lookouts-- Inspiration Point, Sunset Point, and Sunrise Point.

The midday sun was not ideal for photography, but Bryce still manages to look amazing at just about any time of day (or night!).  Here's the view looking down into Queen's Garden:

On to Bryce via Colorado

Continuing my westward July travels, after a couple more "Camp Wally" overnight stops at the Scottsbluff, NE and Laramie, WY Wal-Mart stores,  I decided to bypass Denver's traffic and head to the central Colorado mountains via 2-lane mountain roads from Wyoming instead.

Along the way just so happened to be another National Wildlife Refuge, so of course, I had to stop!  Arapaho NWR sits in the North Park basin west of Rocky Mountain National Park and east of Steamboat Springs.  The auto tour loop was easy to scope out before driving it, so I knew I'd be o.k. driving it with the RV/toad.

There were a few ponds of migratory ducks, geese, and this cute little pied-billed grebe--