Early start this morning as we did not know how the crowds would be and resulting parking challenges for the big ol' brown truck. The drive from our campground to Bryce Canyon National Park was right an an hour. On the way we saw several four legged critters which did not thrill Doreen. She still suffers some PTSD from her horrific deer-truck accident in 2011, so riding in the dark does not thrill her nor does seeing deer (or elk, etc) from any distance. She toughed through it.
It was dark for much of our drive, so there was not much scenery to enjoy. As we approached the park the sun was rising in the east and made for a beautiful view.
Soon we rounded the traffic circle and headed south into the park. There was not much traffic, which was promising.
Since we arrived before 0800 hrs the entrance gate was not staffed. We cruised on through there and past the visitor center as it was not yet open either. We made our way to our first stop, which was Sunrise Point. The parking lot was nearly full, but we kept on going and found one that was open. We headed down the trail with our hats and water and Sunrise Point came into view. There were quite a few people there enjoying the sunrise. This was our first look at the Hoodoos. Some pictures:
So, "hoodoos". The greatest concentration of hoodoos in the world is right here in Bryce Canyon. They are created out of the sandstone by freezing, thawing, cracking and erosion. They start out as "fins". The erosion process then created "windows". As the caprock expands, the windows collapse and create spires called "hoodoos".
We finished up at Sunrise Point and moved to Sunset Point. Again, no parking problem. 90% of the people we passed were speaking foreign languages. They apparently have different views on sharing the trails with others they meet, no matter their age. My tolerance was tested but I behaved myself. Indescribable views:
It is really hard to describe the scenery here. It is absolutely amazing, unlike any other place we have visited!! There are many trails that you can go on lengthy hikes down in amongst the hoodoos, but we did not have time to do those today. Instead we moved on down the road to the next viewpoint which is Bryce Point.
"Bryce" Canyon got it's name from an 1875 Scottish immigrant Ebenezer Bryce. Ebenezer and his family settled in a valley to the east. He built a road into an amphitheater of pink cliffs to harvest lumber. He finally moved to Arizona but his name stuck with the area. So now we know!
We finished up at Bryce Point and had to call it a day here. We still had an hour drive back to the campground. Since it was dark when we traveled to the park, here are some pictures of our return trip. Interesting the changes in scenery as we traveled west and south.
Tomorrow we will travel south and west an hour to Zion National Park.
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