Bryce

When you are in Zion National Park, you are at the bottom of the canyon looking up. In Bryce Canyon National Park you are at the top of the precipice looking down.  The colourings in the rocks are similar, but these two parks are 50 miles apart, and divided by very nondescript pine covered hills and farmlands.

It is also much colder.  You are at a higher elevation, and among the elks and snow of the tall mountains. We looked at it as a precursor to going back home. 

Acclimatizing ourselves, so to speak.

As you are driving into the park, you see formations along the road called ”hoodoos”. These were originally sandstone walls that were cracked by ice and worn away by wind and rain, creating spires and balancing rocks. 

Inside the park boundaries you drive even further up the snow covered slopes, leaving those shapes behind you. Until you get to the overlook and look down over the wall.

Below the rim of the rounded cliff is a fairyland of red and white spires and castles, complete with windows and arches. 

You’ll notice by the picture that this is not a canyon.

I believe it is called Bryce Canyon because of all the smaller canyons between the rows of hoodoos at the bottom of the cliffs. 

And among those tiny canyons are park trails so that you can get up close and personal with these wind-created art forms.

The trails going down into the canyons are much better in my view than the ones in Zion. They are not exactly gradual, but they are not precipitous. The hard sand walkway is wide and mostly even. And even better, the lower you go, the warmer it is!

Getting closer to the sandstone pillars, you can see the intricate details etched into the stone.

Along the bottom of the canyons, it feels like you are walking among giants with their heads in the clouds and their feet firmly rooted in the ground. From the top they appeared small, but down below them you realize how big they are, and wonder why they don’t collapse from their own weight.

In your imagination you can also see castle ruins and statuary.

But the problem with going down into a canyon from the top is that eventually you have to go up to get back out. 

Considering that we had a long and gracefully winding descent, we were surprised to see the switchbacks that we had to climb to get back up.

Our frequent stops to breathe gave us the chance to take pictures of the turrets and spires closer to the top. And the people below us, still puffing away.

There were many more trails we could have taken, but after the finish of the first, we called it a day.

A great day, mind you, but a day none the less.

W