April 1-2nd, 2018
Bryce Canyon National Park
Bryce, Utah
On the Map: Bryce Canyon National Park
A hop and skip distance away from Zion is Bryce Canyon. Well, just under a two hour drive time. And it’s our second park of the Mighty Five.
Overview
A short two hour drive East we find ourselves in a dramatically different landscape. At a much higher elevation the nightly temperatures were well below freezing. Sick and tired of shivering at night and dealing with frozen food we caved in and spent a night in a motel before heading into the park. Only our second time crashing in a motel on our entire trip. After a night of lazy TV watching we made our way to the entrance of Bryce Canyon. Here the landscape is unlike anything we’ve encountered yet.
Bryce Canyon is not even a canyon, but a series of natural amphitheaters that have these crazy looking rock features called Hoodoos. These Hoodoo rock features were created not by a river, but by ice cracking the rocks apart and exposing the colorful sedimentary rocks underneath. Hoodoo type formations can be found all over the world. Another famous area with Hoodoos is in the Cappadocia region of Turkey where people carved houses into the rock formations.
When you arrive in Bryce Canyon you are on top of the Paunsaugunt Plateau looking East where the land descends in a series of steps known as the Grand Staircase. The Grand Staircase steps down through Zion, Vermilion Cliffs, Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, and finally The Grand Canyon.
A very basic idea of the staircase.
A Very Brief History
Native American people have lived in the area for thousands of years. The Anasazi established roots early followed by the Paiute who believed the Hoodoo formations were Legend People turned to stone by the trickster Coyote.
Mormon people settled the area in the 1850’s. With the nearby timber forests the LDS sent carpenter Ebeneezer Bryce and wife to settle near the a amphitheater because of his useful skill. The cold winters and arid landscape proved too much for Bryce and his family so they left for Arizona by 1880, but the homesteader’s name stuck.
The U.S. Congress designated the area as a National Park on February 25th, 1928
Day 1
Park Sign!
Inside the Visitor Center is an awesome interactive display about the parks Prairie Dog population. Laura pops her head up from the tunnel, just like a prairie dog!
Fairyland Trail
This is a detail section of the parks map highlighting the popular spots. Note the shuttle symbol. During peak summer months a shuttle system helps transport visitors around the amphitheater. The shuttle was not operating during our Spring visit.
Our first glimpse of an amphitheater filled with Hoodoo formations.
Hike the Hoodoo Challenge
“I Hiked the Hoodoo’s!” Take a selfie with three of these signs, present the photos to a park ranger, and receive a prize! Any one of any age is allowed to participate. Neat!
Close up the bench marker.
Following the rim above the Hoodoo formations.
Always be prepared!
A tree clinging to a rock face. It’s amazing that in this high desert climate with poor soil these trees can survive here. It seems by any means necessary.
Dr. Seuss like Landscape
Now we descend into the amphitheater and walk among the Hoodoos.
Looks like a world created by Dr. Seuss.
Some areas have only a single spire left after a millennia of erosion.
Tower Bridge formation where there is slightly less erosion.
Bryce Canyon Wilderness. Most of the land inside the park boundaries is designated Wilderness Area. Land that is federally protected and to be left in its natural state. No cars or motors are allowed.
Camping in the Forest
Minus the freezing cold temperatures at night this was a beautiful spot to camp. About a half mile out side of the park’s entrance is a road that leads into The Dixie National Forest. Here there are several great options for free camping on the side of the road. We found a well used spot with an old camp fire ring tucked in among the tall pine trees. It was a full moon during our stay so the woods were lit up through out the night.
Day 2
Starting off a little further South on the Amphitheaters edge is Sunset Point. This spot is great for sunrises too.
An amazing view of the entire Amphitheater.
A fellow photographer sets up a shot with an 8X10 inch Camera. That means one piece of film for this camera is 8×10 inches. The amount of detail one can get in a photo using this kind of camera is amazing. It’s making Laura want to get back into large format photography. If only we had the room for such a large camera.
Navajo Loop
One of the most popular trails in the park.
One of the most famous rock features is the appropriately named Thor’s Hammer.
Haha. Laura thinks she’s Thor now.
Smirk
The coolest part of the trail is walking down multiple switchbacks through a Hoodoo canyon.
If you loop the trail the right way you can avoid having to go up the switchbacks, unless you want some good exercise.
At the bottom is a short slot canyon. A neat way to end the canyon section.
At the bottom is another benchmark. 2 out of 3. 1 more to go!
The Bottom of Bryce Canyon
Looking up at the Hoodoos.
Found a third one! Laura can claim her prize now!
By lunchtime it was warm enough to get down to our t shirt layer.
There are so many cool features to see and walk through here.
Looking back at the hole in the wall we just walked through.
Another beautiful tree. Seemingly holding on by a thread, but these trees are well adapted to survive on these cliffs with little water.
Back on Top
Hiking our way back up to the top to finish the loop.
Taking a break and enjoying the view. This park is pretty cool.
Back at the top we walked over to the lodge area. People with advanced reservations can camp in these cute little cottages next to the rims edge.
We used the restroom and saw this sign. Who would wash there boots in a bathroom sink? That’s just mean to the cleaners.
Walking the along the rim back to Tina.
One more view from Sunset Point.
Driving Tour of the Park
With the late afternoon temperature quickly dropping we decided to spend the rest of the day driving out to Rainbow Point and back, stopping at all of the lookout points.
Here is the full map of the park. Beyond the red line is 14 more miles of road, lookout points, and several more hiking trails. Beyond the amphitheater there are far less people.
The highest elevation in the park.
A clearer view of what they mean by amphitheater.
One of our other favorite lookout points.
Looks like a bridge!
Laura’s Prize
Before exiting the park and heading to our next destination we made sure to stop by the visitor center and claim our prize. Another sticker to add to our travel collection. It has the GPS coordinates of the park and says, “I Hiked the Hoodoos!” Laura would like to thank Camrin without her photos, this prize would not have been claimed. Also, what a cool way to get people excited about hiking…bribery!
Thanks for reading our blog! Up Next… Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
