dare2go

Bryce Canyon Natl. Park


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We checked out the Lodge and the General Store (showers available for $2 to grotty campers, plus free wifi, which we didn't get to use) and then drove directly to 'Sunset Point', as it was getting on toward that time. My first view of the so-called Amphitheatre of the Bryce Canyon blew me away - and not just for a minute or two. There are giant eroded sandstone structures called hoodoos (something to do with the magic they evoke, I think!), which are defined in the information sheet as "a pillar of rock, usually of fantastic shape, left by erosion". I have seen photos, but they don't really do it justice. I keep saying that we are seeing amazing sights - well this one somehow touched me like none of the others. Not to diminish my awe and pleasure already experienced, but Bryce Canyon seems to be like no other place on earth. It made me realise how lucky we are to be here - not that it was luck that brought us here, but rather I saw that we are particularly lucky that we are the kind of people who can make something like this happen for ourselves. No matter what problems we face, we have these continually awesome experiences and it is all worth it.
On Saturday we decided to drive the length of the canyon and check out the sights along the way, but the truck was misbehaving again and we didn't leave the campground for fear we wouldn't get back to stay the night. Later in the afternoon we walked up to Sunset Point, which took about 10 minutes from the campground and then did the Navajo Loop, which is a trail that leads down into the canyon. Absolutely amazing!!! Seeing the forms from the top is one thing but walking amongst them is a whole new experience again. The trail is a series of switchbacks both down and up again and we needed a lot of rests along the way - but they're not rests really, just photo opportunities! Every few steps you see another thing that seems worthy of photographing. It took us a couple of hours to complete but I hope you can get some sense of the awe these structures incite in one from our photos.
This morning we decided that we would attempt to leave the park today and get as close to Cedar City as the truck would allow. First I walked to the General Store to have a much needed shower - 25 minutes each way and not a very good shower, but it was still worth it. Sometimes the simple things in life bring such pleasure! I was a bit disappointed that we had to cut our time here short and that we didn't get to see more of the canyon, but it may be possible for us to stop here again on our way back to California in a few weeks.
We packed up and started off at about 11.30. The truck was misbehaving again, but being a diesel it will go just on idle. So we headed off believing that the first part at least would be downhill [which it wasn't] and in the hope that the truck would make a miraculous recovery. We drove about 15 miles with the truck just idling (this took us 2 hours!), when suddenly at the Red Rock Visitor Center it decided to work again. This made it possible for us to drive all the way to Cedar City, to be there first thing in the morning at the mechanic.
We chose a route from Panguitch up into the mountains towards Cedar Breaks National Monument. It was different countryside once again. Lots of green deciduous trees like Alders and Birch, the green so strong it almost hurts your eyes. It was lovely to see so much green again after so much desert. We also drove past some lava fields - I don't know when they were laid there but the black rocks looked like they had been dumped there by the truckload yesterday!
When we reached the highest point there was still snow on the ground in lots of places and the road through Cedar Breaks was closed. We took some photos from a distance and then proceeded down another road which took us roughly in the right direction for Cedar City, only to find that there was another magnificent sight to be seen a short way down the road. It encompassed the distant red cliffs with snow that we'd seen from the top, but also a valley full of more hoodoos. Beautiful beyond words, but so windy and cold that we stayed as long as we could looking, but had to eventually retreat to the car.
We drove on down through a ski resort called Brian Head. It must be a very busy place in winter with lots of lodges and ski lifts to be seen. The scenery down the mountain was also stunning, as we drove down a 13% incline and promised ourselves to get our brakes looked at tomorrow as well.