There were two more places near Bryce Canyon that we wanted to check out: Red Canyon in the Dixie National Forest, and Cedar Breaks National Monument. As it turned out, the most interesting thing about Red Canyon was the rock tunnel we drove through to get there, so we left it behind quickly.

Cedar Breaks is at an even higher elevation than Bryce Canyon -- over ten thousand feet. It's a pretty vista, but there really isn't much to do but look. There's a five-mile scenic drive with three or four viewpoints, so the 50-mile drive each way took a lot longer than the visit.

The sign at the final viewpoint proves I was a bit above sea level. So did the gale-force winds out on the viewing platform. We took our pictures and beat a hasty retreat.

Cedar Breaks is only a few miles east of Cedar City, Utah, which is a much bigger town than any near our RV camp; so we decided to drive the few remaining miles in search of some shopping. Our effort was rewarded by a Wal-Mart and some fast food.

We had to drive right by Bryce Canyon on our way back to the RV, so we decided to stop into the park and check out a possible future hike in Fairyland Canyon. On our way we saw some significant smoke rising from an area west of the park. We feared a forest fire, but signs at various points along the road gave assurances that the smoke was the result of a controlled burn.

Fairyland Canyon was not as picturesque as the areas we'd already seen. Since we'd done no hiking on this day, we took a short walk on the Fairyland Trail.