We slept in today then decided to take a short hike on the Mossy Cave Trail, a .8 mile out-and-back hike with a 200 ft elevation gain. The trail is inside the park boundaries but outside the park entrance area. It is right off of State Route 12, designated an "American Scenic Route" through Utah. The stream running through the canyon carries water from the East Fork of the Sevier River to the Mormon settlers in the small town of Tropic. A canal was completed in 1892, connecting the Sevier River to the Paria River, which brought much needed water to the semi-arid Bryce Valley adjacent to what is now Bryce Canyon National Park. The canal follows natural water courses and has flowed more-or-less continuously year-round ever since.
The trail continues uphill along the stream then branches off to a small waterfall in one direction and a mossy cave on the side of the hill in the other. It was a a very pretty short walk and despite the slightly warmer temperatures today, we enjoyed it and didn't have any problems.
After the walk, we drove another mile or so into the town of Tropic, so named by the early homesteaders because it was usually warmer than the surrounding area. The town is small and appears to support some agricultural and ranching activities. There are also a few of the roadside amenities you might expect to find along a fairly well-traveled road.
After that, we returned to Bryce Canyon City, the commercial area just prior to the park entrance. The area is apparently all owned by one family and just about everything is named after the nickname of the founder of the original Bryce Canyon Inn in 1906, "Ruby" Styert. Everything in the "town" is named Ruby's this-or-that (e.g. Ruby's Campground, Ruby's Best Western Inn, Ruby's Auto repair, etc.) We ate lunch at Ruby's restaurant and afterwards toured the extensive attached gift shop. The area, just outside the park entrance, is geared to the tourist trade and offers a lot of of activities visitors may want to do..
We then went back to an overlook in the park we missed yesterday, Fairyland Point. It is easy to miss because it is outside the park entrance and the sign pointing to the overlook is only visible as you leave the park. The overlook was equally as impressive as the ones we visited yesterday. Very few people were there, apparently as it is outside the park entrance - a hidden gem.
We also went back to the nearby Sunset Point overlook, hoping to catch a picture of people returning along a trail on horseback. I took the picture yesterday but inadvertently deleted it. Alas, there were no horses to take pictures of today, but I did get a picture of hikers on a high ridge trail in the canyon. On the way back to the RV park we picked up a few groceries at a nearby grocery/convenience store. After a late lunch, we had dinner in the RV and went to bed early.
We are heading NW to Ely, Nevada tomorrow as we continue our journey hone.
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