Our trip to Bryce Canyon was pretty uneventful, so I'll tell you a little about that, but first, let me tell you about HOODOOS! The photo below was one of our first glimpses of them, and while I had heard of them at Zion, I wasn't really sure what they were. Well, at Bryce Canyon, they are everywhere you look! From the LiveScience website, here is a bit more about them:
"A hoodoo is a tall, spindly structure that forms when sedimentary rock and limestone protrude from the bottom of an arid drainage basin. Hoodoos form over millions of years of erosion in areas where a thick layer of soft rock is covered by a thin layer of hard rock. Over time, hoodoos form as a small cap of the hard layer protects a cone of softer rock underneath from erosion."
So now you, too, can throw around the term "hoodoo" like a pro!
The trip to Bryce Canyon took only about 1.5 hours. Novices that we were, we were thrilled by glimpses of snow, interesting items for sale at gas stations, and far-off mountains of hoodoos. My first clue as to how cold it was going to be should have been when we stopped for gas and there was a wall heater in the restroom. I think that's the first time I've ever seen that! The proprietress apologized for not being fully stocked, but they had just opened for the season.
We came into Bryce on Scenic Highway 12, and the Red Canyon entrance provided this helpful map. Knowing we were going to stay in the town of Tropic, and our next destination was the town of Torrey, I was interested to see what that route looked like. Given our time schedule, we elected NOT to travel Highway 12 between the two parks, and I kind of regret that decision. Maybe next time!
Right after we passed Red Canyon we started seeing hoodoos in spades. And at this point you haven't even entered the park yet, so all these views are free! We stopped to take our National Park selfie. I think we're getting better! At least this time you can see the park name.
A helpful passerby offered to take our photo for us, so now you can see how I was dressed. Even viewing the scenic drive map at the Visitor's Center didn't clue me into our upcoming change in elevation.
We followed the advice given at the Visitor's Center. to drive all the way up the Scenic Drive and then stop at the overlooks on the way back. The Rainbow and Yovimpa Point parking lot was busy, but we didn't have any trouble finding a place to park. When I exited the car, though, I started noticing how others were dressed: parkas, scarves, hats, PANTS! Ha, the joke was on me! However, I survived, and luckily had my flannel for some warmth against the wind. We happily traveled the scenic highway back, stopping at almost every turnout for amazing photos. As we neared the bottom, we started hitting more crowds and decided to put off the lower viewpoints for the next day.
Below are a few photos from our drive to give you a flavor of the views. I started taking pictures of interesting signs - for example this one cautions you against lightning storms and to watch your children! As we went down, I took note of the elevation, and realized that's one more thing to check as we travel to National Park destinations.
We checked the weather and the next day was supposed to be cold, so we lazed around getting ready in the morning and hit the trail around 10 a.m.. It's funny, when we were parking I got this text from Ethan at UCLA. At the same time, I checked our weather in Bryce and the low was 17! That's the difference between SoCal and Utah in early April.
We had decided to hike Navajo Loop and Queen's Garden trails based on the research we had done and the "moderate" level of hiking we felt we were ready for. The trail goes from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point, and the recommendation we had read was to start at Sunset and end at Sunrise, because the trail was much steeper on the Sunset end. I was sure glad we did! Imagine hiking up this trail instead of down.
As you descend into the amphitheater, you have such amazing views of the hoodoos.
In our family, we continually joke about whose photo will be the "winner" of the cover photo for that year's photobook. I think some of these are candidates, don't you?
Next, you traverse across the flat lower section of the amphitheater. We were ready for the easier terrain, and the wide-open trails accomodated the crowds easily.
Next, we came to an area called Queen's Garden. I was clueless as to why it was called that until I overheard another hiker talking about "Queen Victoria". This sign makes it really obvious to those who can't envision that particular spire looking like a queen.
Again, the scenery in this area was amazing. It was fairly flat and there were a few trees to afford shade, so this was "break time" for many families. I saw one poor little girl having bandaids applied, I can't imagine doing this hike with blisters! We initially took the wrong path to get out, and had to backtrack. It's a wonder more people don't get lost in these hoodoos, as the trails are not always obvious. We had taken precautions in terms of lots of water, sunscreen, hats, etc. And I'm glad we did, since I later read that UV exposure increases about 4% for every 1000 ft gain in elevation, and even at the bottom of this hike we were still over 7,000 feet!
Here are a collection of photos to give you a feel for this part of the hike:
And I can't resist adding these panoramic views. I don't think I've used that feature of my camera more on any other trip!
Well, by now you're probably tired of seeing hoodoos, so I'll take a break and tell you about our stay in the town of Tropic. For those of you who are familiar with Raymond, it felt like about that size. (It's actually smaller, after I wrote that I had to go look it up and boy did I fall down a rabbit hole! Who knew that Raymond was originally called Wildcat Station, or who it was named for?)
Since we were here for two mornings, I had to check out this coffee place, Bryce Canyon Coffee Co. Not only did they have great coffee, but they had decent pastries and breakfast sandwiches, and even a book exchange! Definitely worth the stop if you're ever in the town of Tropic. They were attached to a place where you could stay in cabins, and there was a similar place across the road, so if you're looking for a place to rough it more than hotel stays, this would be worth checking out. We stayed at the Red Ledges Inn, which was about the level of places you find around this area. I would stay there again, and they had an ice machine and laundry room, both of which I've started to value more and more on these long driving trips.
The other thing to tell you about (which we didn't try until our second night, regretfully) was the BBQ place right next door called i.d.q. BBQ. Excellent! They offered several types of BBQ meat and an excellent selection of sides. Unfortunately they were out of peach cobbler the night we were there. We waited about 20 minutes in line, and the guy in front of us was JUST THERE FOR THE PEACH COBBLER! He heard they were out and left in disappointment, but that tells you how good it must be. Our plate of two meats and two sides just hit the spot as by then we were tired of fast food and regular restaurant fare.
OK, back to the park. After resting at the hotel after our hike, we headed back to the park to see some of the stops that we had missed the day before. We parked at Sunset Point, and I decided to follow the guy with the huge camera lens and tripod. I think that worked out well as I got these shots:
I also appreciate these two signs that I saw. Since you won't be able to read them, I'll summarize for you. That's one of the few complaints I have about Bryce, the signage was weather damaged to the point of being unreadable. The first is by President Lyndon Johnson, and I spotted it near Sunrise Point after our Navajo Loop/Queen's Garden hike. I thought it was worth sharing.
Man, I love Google! I couldn't read this sign well so googled "Lyndon Johnson Bryce Canyon" and it took me right to this site. Here's what he said:
“If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through it.”
This one was at a section of the park called Fairyland. It talks about how as tree roots become more exposed, scientists are able to use them to calculate that erosion happens at a rate of one foot every sixty years. The part on the right says that after a storm, you can hear the sounds of erosion, with water trickling and pebbles clattering. While the caprock (another new term!) protects the hoodoos for awhile, they will eventually tumble and new ones will emerge where you are standing today. That's one of the things I love about spending time in nature and learning as I go. It really helps put your life in perspective!
Interesting how they can use things like tree roots to learn about erosion.
Well, that about wraps it up for Bryce Canyon. I would definitely spend an extra day in the park next time we come visit. There were many more hikes yet to try.
The next day we grabbed our breakfast from Bryce Canyon Coffee and headed to Capitol Reef. Rick didn't want to take a long windy road, so we didn't take Highway 12 but instead headed to Capitol Reef via Highway 62 to 24. Another change next time around, as I would definitely visit Capitol Reef again too!
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