Poetry in Stone

Currently In:  Bryce, Utah
Next Up:  Arches National Park after a quick stopover in Thompson, UT


We only had a one hour drive from our RV campground near Zion National Park to where we are now, 5 minutes from the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park.

While the entrance to Zion National Park is breathtaking, Bryce Canyon is the most unique Park we have been to yet, given the expanse of pink cliffs and the stone sculptures (hoodoos). Bryce Canyon is at the top of the Grand Staircase, a region of sediment rock that extends from the Grand Canyon at the bottom through Zion and then up to Bryce at the top.

We took a tour of the viewpoints early on in our visit.  The first turnout we saw was Fairview Point.

Then we went to Natural Bridge.  More like a window, not a bridge.  But still fantastic.  Eventually that piece across the top will erode and fall down.  What will be left are hoodoos.

The next stop was Rainbow Point.  There is a 1 mile hike there I really wanted to do, but it was closed due to a controlled burn, so we just took a look around.  I liked the mixture of pink and white cliffs/hoodoos.

Agua Canyon showed us some unique sights as well.  That is one crazy hoodoo!

Finally, a lunch stop!  The pine scent was awesome!

Swamp Canyon offered unique landscape of pink cliffs mixed with the green of the forest.

We finally made it to Fairyland Canyon.  We feel like we saved the best for last.  The name was very appropriate!  My photos don't do it justice.

Since our campground was only 5 minutes from the Park entrance, it was easy to go in and out of the Park so we went back after dinner (we put the ND game on hold to watch later) to take advantage of a National Park Ranger Program.  We knew that Bryce Canyon was a great place to see stars in the night sky, and we were right!  We even saw the band of the Milky Way.
The Ranger, Jesse, talked about the creation/destruction process of stars.  Some of it we knew, and some was new information.  He was a good speaker!

The next morning I dragged Johnny out of the rig early so we could see the sun rise over the Bryce Amphitheater.  We actually saw the sun come up while at Sunset Point!

This close up view of the walls at Sunset Point is something else.

A beautiful morning.