We were able to experience our first real wildlife besides lizards and a few sparse chipmunks. There were pronghorn antelope all over Bryce and they were relatively close to the road as well.

Caught in the act of…. being an antelope?

Bryce is the epitome of what Utah is to me. An amazing place full to the brim with wonder and majesty. Red rocks, blue skies, amazing geological formations, and of course gorgeous hikes.

We took a quick driving tour of the entire national park and took some photos of the canyon from all sorts of angles including the famous Natural Bridge, Thors Hammer, and Agua Canyon.

We decided to take a hike deep into the heart of Bryce Canyon. To get there we had to climb down a series of steep switchbacks leading into a narrow canyon. It was an amazing descent into this beautiful landscape and I have never seen anything quite like it before now.

And of course you have to have fun along the way.

This was easily one of the best hikes I have ever been on. We were almost totally alone walking through nicely wooded areas surrounded by steep red, orange, yellow, and white walls. The hoodoos of course were amazing to look at and the views were astounding. There really are not many places quite like this. You have to go into the canyon like we did on our hike or else you miss a gigantic piece of this beautiful picture.

Let me introduce to you a very strange animal called a dik-dik.Yes, its name is dik-dik. The even funnier part is what this animal actually is, a deer like animal that is only about a two foot long. An antelope named for its shrill call that actually sounds like “dik dik” or “zik zik”. Probably one of the strangest animals I have ever seen, I had heard about them before but never expected to see one in person when I went to the San Francisco Zoo. I am very glad I got to see one, and now you can too.

So as I frantically dashed to the car yet again to get my camera I yelled back, It’s the fox again, not a coyote!

So I run behind the cabin and spot him in a field. I thought he was hunting at first but then he started to circle and bed down.

After he laid down, I started to slowly inch forward and he didn’t even really seem to notice. So bit by bit I got closer and closer until finally I was standing right over him. I could have reached down and pet him he was so close.

He was so beautiful and his eyes were so big and curious looking. As I stood over him he heard my camera click and looked right at me with those big brown eyes. It was an amazing thing to sit there just a foot away from this beautiful wild animal and look him right in the eye. After that I didn’t want to disturb him any further so I backed off and let him fall back to sleep.

We then headed into the park looking for more wildlife. We weren’t actually very lucky on the wildlife front. We saw a couple of antelope playing in the field. But not a lot else for a while

The little baby was adorable, he was prancing around and going wild while the parent just sat there eating. The best part of the day was the black bear. Out by the petrified tree we spotted a black bear up on a hill. We took pictures of him and then I started to notice him moving so I knew he was going to try to cross the road.

He started to slowly move closer and closer to the road picking his way across fallen logs scavenging for food along the way. As always in Yellowstone within minutes the place was completely mobbed with people scrambling to take pictures. A regular road became a dead locked parking lot of people.

My mom was yelling at me to get back in the car and I probably should have listened but I wanted a good shot. I let him get a little closer than I probably should have and it was a little scary. (I did have bear mace though). He was so cool and so very close to me. It was quite the experience.

He finally did cross the road and we moved on to let the bear have his peace. We didn’t see a lot more wildlife except for a nice field full of buffalo next to the Yellowstone River.

Strangely we didn’t see any elk the entire trip which has never happened to me before. So we ended our Yellowstone trip in Mammoth Hot Springs which was mobbed with people so we headed out.

So tonight we are staying in Coeur D’Alene. The hotel situation was a nightmare! We booked a room and then we couldn’t get into it so we had a master-key open it only to realize someone was still staying there. So we then figure out they are actually booked and have to move us to a different hotel because we don’t actually have a room. This is also after we took off our bikes because apparently they would have been stolen. And let me tell you, those bikes are so hard to get on and off that rack. So here we are in a different hotel, without the lake view, and way out of downtown. It was a good day but a frustrating night to say the least.

Antelopes are one of the strangest looking creatures I have encountered. They appear so alien, but at times like this, so funny. I like his blue tongue…

Anyways, I love the way they look because they just have such huge eyes and amazing color patterns.

I was afraid I wasn’t going to get to see any on my trip out to Yellowstone, but on the last day we spotted some out in a field and they wound up coming right up next to the road. We got to watch them for some time jut grazing. They really are majestic and wonderful. Even though they are so simple compared to coyotes or wolves and even buffalo I still enjoy watching them.