Bryce and Brian Head

After a lazy start we head back to Panguitch and plan to make the journey to Bryce Canyon. Originally and from the cosiness of our home in the small city of Cambridge we were making grand plans to visit not only Bryce Canyon, but the north rim of the Grand Canyon and Zion national park. Realistically and beginning to understand the scale and distance between places we are slimming down our itinerary. Getting from one place to the next is a days work on the Himalayans. Doing all the stops we were hoping to is not going to be physically possible.
One thing we need is some chain oil. In a short space of time on a short journey made long, the oiled chains after the first service are looking dusty and dry. The seemingly benign process of buying chain lube takes some time but thankfully, Panguitch town has an auto supplies shop from which we can get what we need. 
Chains lubed and we are ready to go and explore Bryce Canyon. We buy a National Park visitors card which will get two motorcycles through many USA national parks for the price of one! The perks of being a motorcyclist pay off sometimes - many times actually. We ride through the wonderful prelude to Bryce - the Red Canyon, which is impressive enough on the way to Bryce. The total journey length to Bryce from Brian Head is only 59 miles but again, it takes a whole day to get there and back. We stopped for the ubiquitous picture opportunities on our way down from the top of Bryce Canyon and saw a lot of live deer on the roadside. They are resident to the Bryce Canyon and Dixie National parks and appear to be mainly unphased by the humans. Not surprising really as about 2 million people pass through there each year.
The following day we keep things within the region of Brian Head. We stock up our supplies at Parowan the next town down from Brian Head and return to do the ride up to the peak of Brian Head - which sits 11,307 feet above sea level. The weather conditions are moody today after a sunny start and the road to the peak is 3 miles of washboard again. No luggage this time. The Himalayans really come into their own on terrain such as this and it's great to unleash them on familiar territory. 
Tomorrow we leave Brian Head. We are heading toward St George, for one night, and getting closer to Las Vegas.