Bryce Canyon National Park

Ruby's Inn Campground, Bryce Canyon City, Utah

May 5 - 12, 2014

From grass to another dirt campsite and again, some howling winds blowing that dirt around.  It comes in through the closed windows.  We do have great elbow room and we are only a mile from the Park entrance.

 

Remember in the last blog, I said that I would let the pictures do the talking and then just carried on and on....well, this time I promise the pictures really do speak for themselves. 

 

 

 

 

We took a ride through the Park on day one, stopping at each viewpoint (14 of them in an 18-mile drive).

 

I promised Jake I would tell him about "grottos" and "hoodoos". 


Grottos are the caves, in this case, naturally made by winds and water...

Hoodoos are the spiral formations (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, and earth pyramid), and we have seen many hoodoos here at Bryce Canyon!!  These  "hoodoos," are formed when ice and rainwater wear away the weak limestone


The Bryce Canyon Visitor Information Brochure warns that the Canyon's high elevation and semi-arid climate, combined with any physical exertion, require "that you need to increase your normal daily water intake with visiting here".  Can't tell you how many times I have thought "I can't catch my breath".  Bryce's highest elevation (9,115 feet) at Rainbow Point offers only 70% of the oxygen available to you at sea level.  Hey, I'm used to sea level.  Point to make:  we will be going higher!!

 

 

 

The changing colors, from red to white to green can be breathtaking.

The trails in Bryce are like a maze.  The area boasts to have the world's best air quality....that's, of course, when you're able to breath it in!

 

Because Bryce transcends 2000 feet of elevation, the park exists in three distinct climatic zones: spruce/fir forest, Ponderosa Pine forest, and Pinyon Pine/juniper forest.

 

 

 

By the way, when rain is predicted in the spring at elevations this high, this is what you get:

We spent a few hours revisiting the Red Canyon in Dixie National Forest which we had traveled through to get to Bryce.  Maybe it was because it was my first view, but I was truly inspired (especially when we had to take the Beave through two tunnels cut through the rock.









The Dixie National Forest occupies almost 2 million acres and stretches for about 170 miles across southern Utah.  Elevations vary from 2,800 feet near St. George (Utah's Dixie) to 11,322 feet at Blue Bell Knoll on Boulder Mountain.

The combination of Ponderosa Pine, red sand and hoodoos can make for some beautiful scenery!

Ken took a hike along one of the trails in Bryce near Sunrise Point.  He had tried the day before and had to return when his hiking boots fell apart.  A bit embarrassing as the soles had come loose and his return trip sounded like he had flip-flops on.  This time he MADE it all the way down, but more importantly, all the way up!!  Even got some pictures along the way.

Our plans to travel along All American Road to Escalante had to be postponed as the forecast came through with 6-12 inches of snow on Mother's Day.  After great thought, we left Bryce two days early to get settled in Torrey where the snowfall isn't predicted to be as bad.  Let's see what happens!!

See you next in Torrey!