May 5 and 6, 2011
Just two hours away from Zion is Bryce Canyon.
Right off the bat, I can say I wish I spent more time here. But with the alien landscape that is Utah, you must pick your battles. My focus was Zion and Arches. The first lesson learned was obvious: I'll be returning to Utah. No doubt about that.
Ah, hoodoos, those mysterious rock formations shaped by the powerful erosive forces of wind and water. I didn't realize that Bryce Canyon was at such altitude; it was on average 1,000 feet higher than Zion, with a peak altitude near 9,000 feet if my memory serves. The air certainly felt thinner. As to why the hoodoos form, it makes more sense to me when I was there. With the altitude, the endless cycle of water and ice and freezing and thawing, yeah, I bet over a million years you'd get some weird rock formations. We were visiting in May. I was wearing a sweatshirt and winter hat.
From a bird's eye, the view of these formations are most incredible during sunrise and sunset. Men and women before me obviously figured this out; two of the most dramatic viewpoints are Sunrise View and Sunset View. At these times of day the sun accentuates and underscores the already dramatic nature of the hoodoos. It's hard to describe. For those who have been to the Grand Canyon, it's the same effect. I caught sunset at Sunset View. I caught sunrise at Sunrise View. And as awesome as these views and the other views are, it's even better when you get to explore them up close on the trails.
The hikes are different than Zion. The paths feel more like mazes. You ascend and descend into what feels like a labyrinth. The park is named after Ebenezer Bryce, who famously (supposedly) remarked that this place would be a helluva place to lose a cow. No arguments there. If not for the well-maintained trails, it is easy to get lost as your eyes tend to look up and around at all these hoodoos. Good luck using any of these are reliable landmarks. We took the Sunrise Trail to Queen's Path. Before you know it, you're standing beside these incredible structures. I remember hiking down with this other couple, and we were literally giddy with these amazing structures. We spent a few hours of hiking before we turned back to the main lodge for dinner.
The next morning we visited Bryce, Paria, and Inspiration Points. Yet there were still 18 miles worth of roads and viewpoints that we couldn't get to. Add those to a future checklist. Come back to Bryce Canyon too? You bet.
No comments:
Post a Comment