Vernal Day 2

The sunrise was beautiful!

We got up and had a nice breakfast in the hotel. We were on the road by 7:30, just in time for a beautiful sunrise. Our first stop was at a petroglyph site called McConkie Ranch. It was north of Vernal through a beautiful canyon. Along the way, Mark spotted a turkey and we saw several deer. As we pulled up at McConkie Ranch, we recognized that we'd been her before. It was a short hike to the base of the cliff, and we immediately started seeing petroglyphs.

Mark spotted this turkey.

The drive to the petroglyphs was beautiful.

This was a strange assortment of rock art, because some seemed to be painted on, while others were definitely carved in the cliff. It was difficult to tell which were really ancient, and some may have been copycats. We saw dozens of different figures, though. We went all along the cliff for about a half mile seeing grander and grander pictures. The boys enjoyed spotting each new carving.

The hike to petroglyphs was fun.

We really liked the bear petroglyph.

The boys are such good hikers. 

We loved talking about what we thought they were trying to portray in these pictures.

We always love the little sheep or goats.

Here is Big Foot. He is quite the highlight!

Some of these petroglyphs are huge!

Seth liked these ones a lot!

After the petroglyphs, we drove back to Vernal for the Uintah Heritage Museum. It was free and had two floors. It was very much like a Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum. The boys worked on scavenger hunts as they walked through, and we enjoyed seeing all the artifacts. Mom's favorite was a Vietnam era helicoper parked out front. The boys liked the WWI era gas masks. We spent over an hour in the museum wandering around, and we had the place to ourselves.

We enjoyed the memorials outside the museum.

The boys practiced up on typing Morse code. 

And turning the light bulb on with man power. 

We spent quite a few minutes here!

Next, we drove to a hike called Moonshine Arch. We had a little trouble finding the trailhead, and the van was getting annoyed with retracing the rough roads, but we finally found it. The hike was mostly uphill with no shade, but it was the perfect October day for hiking. It was only about a mile to the arch, and the air was cool, so we didn't even pack any water.

When we got to the arch, we couldn't believe how big it was. You could walk under it or climb on top of it. There was also a cool little echoing grotto behind it. We played around for nearly an hour at the arch before heading back to the car.

Dad loves to see how much the van can take.

We were excited to visit Moonshine Arch. 

The arch is beautiful!

The caverns behind the arch were just as cool.

You can sit in the little caverns and look at the arch.

Moonshine Arch is quite large.

This was the perfect fall hike! It would be hot in summer.

We had to be careful on the slick rock.

Mom and her boys!

Dad and his boys! Very different pictures!

The boys convinced Mom it was safe to walk on the arch.

It was safe for the first little bit. We didn't go to far.

Mark and Mom on top of Moonshine Arch.

We made the short drive back to town and found a really nice park. Mom made lunch and we played for a little while. The park was huge with a big walking track and tons of things for kids to do. There was even the original belltower for the Vernal Tabernacle on display.

We loved that they had the top of the Vernal tabernacle on display.

What a great way to preserve a little history.

Seth is a champ at the monkey bars.

The boys had fun on the teeter totter. 

We also found a Zipline.

It was fun for everyone!

Even Mom gave it a shot!

These two climbed to the top of the pyramid.

There was also a small pond to check out at this park.

We wanted to do a long drive out to the fish hatchery next. It was 40 miles, but the roads were narrow, rough, and winding, so it took quite a while. The views were beautiful, though. The boys loved the fish hatchery, too. There was no one there, but we got to walk around the containment pools and see thousands of fish of different sizes darting everywhere. The most amazing ones were jumping the small water intake, which was a waterfall about a foot high. They'd jump up and swim along the stream, but there was nowhere for them to go. We watched for quite awhile.

The boys were in heaven at the fish hatchery.

Poor little fish is trying to escape.

Dax the Angler was happiest of all!

There was a trail that we wanted to do that left from the hatchery, so we left the van and walked down through the gate. We passed the rangers at the hatchery and they offered us fresh trout. They were cleaning out some of the last tanks and fileting massive trout that were almost two feet long. Unfortunately, we didn't really have any place to store them.

We started off down the stream and it was absolutely gorgeous. The fall colors, especially the yellows, were stunningly vibrant. The little stream chuckled along and the boys were on the lookout for fish. Every corner seemed like just the right place for a picture, and we took hundreds. It was so beautiful.

Mom loved this trail!

Seth found this walking stick and used it the whole hike.

It was really beautiful!

It was the perfect Fall hike!

The boys loved following the creek.

There were so many great spots for pictures.

Here he comes with the stick!

Mom was in heaven on this hike!

The little bridge was fun, too!

After awhile, we came to a turn off to some petroglyphs. There were some nice ones along a low canyon wall. The boys really enjoy scanning the walls to see what new rock art they can find. Since the trail paralleled our route, it didn't make it much longer, either.

Some petroglyphs were really faded.

And some were really easy to see.

Finally, we reached a junction in the trail. There was a small campground and a short climb to a waterfall. In the campground we spotted four bighorn sheep, a male and three females. They were only about 20 yards away, and they stood and stared at us without getting upset while we took photographs.

We were excited to see the bighorn sheep.

After we'd had our fill of the sheep, we turned up the trail to the waterfall. It was only another third of  a mile, though the entire hike turned out to be over four miles. The waterfall was so small that the boys climbed to the top and plunged their hands into the narrow channel. They could almost stop the flow and then let it come rushing down again. We played in the water for a half hour or so before turning back the way we'd come.

The waterfall was small, but fun.

Dad looks pretty worn out!

This is what happens when you let a child use the camera.

Some nice pictures of Mark.

Dad climbed all the way to the top.

Mom likes the selfies the best!

We took so many pictures on this hike!

Cute Dax. 

Cute Mark.

Cute Seth.

On the drive back to Vernal we saw a lot of deer and pronghorn. We even saw a few elk. We were surprised at how much wildlife is around this part of the state. We even spotted a golden eagle perched high up on a telephone pole.

The elk were pretty far away, but it was cool to see them.

We love seeing Golden Eagles. 

There was a restaurant we wanted to try that boasted authentic Italian pizza. We normally don't get to go to pizza with the boys because Mark won't eat it, but we decided we had to give it a try. It was the tastiest pizza we'd ever had. The crust was thin and chewy and the toppings were just perfect. It made us wonder how this tiny area supports such an amazing upscale pizza place.

Dad loved the pizza!!!

We got back to the hotel early because the boys wanted to do some swimming. Mom spent the time taking slo-mo videos of them jumping off the side, and Dad spent most of his time in the hottub. It was great because it wasn't too busy, and we wore the boys out really well. We loved this day of our vacation!

Seth is the only one who will pose for a picture in the swimming pool.