Bryce Canyon National Park

Who Knew A Hoo Doo Would Be So Spectacular?

We left Zion National Park around 9:00 a.m. and headed out of the park towards Bryce Canyon National Park. The Zion tourist literature describes this route as windy and picturesque. We were not disappointed. We went through a one mile long tunnel that took us to the other side of the mountain which we discovered was completely different. The rocks were different colors and shapes. We stopped at the Checkerboard Mesa where you can see both vertical and horizontal patterns in the rock walls. It did resemble a checkerboard or a large quilt.

We arrived at Bryce Canyon National Park around 11:30 a.m. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and then drove the 18 mile scenic drive into the farthest point of the park. From here, we reversed our path and stopped at each recommended overlook for a panoramic view of the canyon. The weather was mild at 44 degrees with some snow still on the ground and mountains. The highest elevation was at 9000 feet. It is truly amazing how the winds, rain, and erosion carved out a canyon that resembled giant sand castles with spirals, and towers. The small formations of rock are given the name of Hoo doo’s. The rocks are mainly red, pink and white. We decided to hike the Navajo and the Queens Garden trails. Contrary to yesterday at Zion where our hikes took us up into the mountain, today the trails lead down into the deep canyon. We hiked a total of three miles in two hours. We had to look up, down and all around so that we would not miss any of the spectacular sights. This caused me to take 272 pictures, a new personal record and each one worthy of a National Geographic cover. Don’t I wish!

We have found each national park to be unique and different from the next. This had made it difficult for us to say which park has been our favorite. Sequoia was all about the giant trees, Death Valley was about color and vast desert spaces, Zion was about mammoth mountains, and Bryce is about intricately carved rock formations.

Tomorrow we leave for Capital Reef National Park. We are looking forward to seeing how this park compares to the others.

I have posted pictures (no, not all of them) at http://picasaweb.google.com/tschick62/BryceCanyonNationalPark?feat=directlink

More later . . .