12 days seems about right doesn't it?

From you pictures, I see that you hiked into Bryce. How far did you go and how was that for you? I'm trying to get a handle on your level. If you went into and out of Bryce then it would seem that you're good for a few miles of moderate hiking.

Bryce is at a higher elevation than most other hiking locations on The Grand Circle. If you do well at Bryce's 8800 feet then you'll do even better elsewhere.

Good to see that somebody else is up early.

The whole story. I'm 63 and if fairly good shape. For a month before that Bryce trip I ran and stairmastered 3 times a week.

Funny thing. The first day there I jogged from the car up to an observation area some 50 yards sloped up. I was winded. But at 8,800 feet I didn't mind.

I had no problem with distance. In Sedona I was on the move all day as well as my second day in Bryce.

On my first day in Bryce I got up early for the sunrise. Then I hiked down Navajo Loop and up Queen's Garden. After that I drove to some of the observation areas along the Scenic Road.

From there I drove to and past Kodachrome Park and along the dirt road to Grosvenor Arch. On the way back I stopped in Kodachrome Park and did a few small hikes. I then returned to Bryce and walked a bit down the closed side of Navajo Loop.

On the 2nd day in Bryce I walked down and then up the closed side of Navajo Loop. Then I hiked down the open side, joined the Peek-a-Boo trail (an extra 3 miles), went up the short closed side of Navajo Loop from the bottom and returned to continue the rest of Queen's Garden. That whole thing was very long and took me close to 6 hours (10:30-4:30PM) with stopping for photos. While I wasn't really tired at the end, I figured I'd had enough.

I definitely don't rush but on the other hand I'm pretty much non-stop all day.

Like I wrote, I have no problem walking all day. Where I drew the line in Sedona was coming to an area where there were sort of rock stairs so steep that my camera was hitting the jutting rocks on the way up. I was more concerned with coming back down. I stopped.

My concern is always the difficulty and not the length other than my interests are more in the view and scenery rather than the challenge of doing a 10 mile hike with scrambles, etc.

Excluding the plane travel days at either end, the last trip was 7 days. This one was originally planned for 5 days in the Moab area and now I've extended it to 6.

My plan is as follows:
Arches - 2 1/2 days
Canyonlands & Dead Horse Point - 1 day
Rafting 1/2 day
Route 279 and Corona/Bowtie Arches - 1/2 day
Route 128 & Fisher Towers - 1/2 day

Then leave to go back to SLC late in the afternoon of day 5.

Now that I've added a day, I would leave for Torrey/Boulder late in the afternoon of the 5th day and leave for SLC late in the afternoon of day 6.

I'm thinking that I could probably save 1/2 day in the Moab area. Then I could leave by noon and be in Capitol Reef before 3PM if I don't stop in Goblin Valley SP.

Then I could devote the 6th day to Calf Creek Falls, Devil's Garden and maybe finish off Capitol Reef (if necessary) on the way toward SLC.

It also appears the part of Route 12 between Boulder & Torrey may be worthy of some roadside stops.

There are other places in the world to see that we haven't already seen. I have to leave some time for those.

Any comments?

It seems to me that the Calf Creek Falls hike would be easy for you. Bring your widest lens if you go. There's no way to back up to get wide since there are trees.

Likewise the Hickman Bridge hike at Capitol Reef will present no challenge for you. Considering how short it is, I think it is worth it.

A ranger also suggested the Cohab Canyon hike starts from the same parking lot as the Hickman Bridge Hike but is across the road and across the bridge to the left. Hiking in Capitol Reef starts by going up and then down on the return which we always prefer. We were chased off the Cohab Canyon Trail after going to the west overlook by a thunderstorm. Had we not, we would have been tempted to continue toward The Frying Pan but it was not to be.

Here's a look at the scenery on the bit of the Cohab trail before our hasty retreat from the lightning:

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/86221775

I'm not sure what your scenic requirements are. We're easily amused but plants, birds, rocks, textures, bugs, lizards and other minutia as well as the big scene.

Also, I wonder if you are hiking solo. That would make a difference as well. You'd want to stick to the more popular trails hiking solo so there'd be help in case you ran into trouble.

Calf Creek and Hickman Bridge are both well used.

The road over Boulder Mountain has several scenic overlooks so you'll get some great previews looking south toward the Escalante wildness.

http://www.pbase.com/peterb/image/21314990