Bryce Canyon

Bryce has a shuttle system which is really nice. I rode out to Bryce Point which is the most famous overlook into the Bryce Amphitheater. Bryce is one of the smallest national parks at only 32,000 acres but with the rows and rows of “hoodoos” (eroded rock spires) it looks endless. There were columns of hoodoos all mostly of the same reddish color and it was very hard to take a picture because they were surrounded by plateaus and mountains.
Bryce has the best visibility of any national park and you can often see 100 miles or more on a clear day. I took the shuttle around to Inspiration Point and from there hiked along the rim to Sunrise and Sunset point. I then decided to take a trail that goes down into the hoodoos. It was roasting hot so it was nice to get down to some shaded canyons. I tried to focus on more of the interesting spires from down below because all my pictures were so vast. There was one section of trail called Wall Street where the canyon became very narrow and a couple of Douglas firs were growing. It as amazing to see trees that tall inside a sandy canyon with no water in site. There were a horrible amount of switchbacks on the way up and I was just exhausted. I rode the shuttle into town because I was craving a deli sandwich. Well I found one left at the Sinclair gas station. It was a turkey and cheese and the bread was crusty on one side and soggy on the other. The cheese was congealed and there was one slice of turkey but it was the most divine thing I’ve ever eaten. It was such a change from my graham crackers and applesauce that I reveled in it. Being that Bryce has such clear visibility I decided to go back to the viewpoints and watch the sunset and see that stars. Apparently you can see the Milky Way with a blind eye. Well I was tired and there weren’t many people left so I stuck around and I think I saw Venus but other than that there were just too many.
I did get up at 5:30 am the next morning to watch the sunrise and that was worth it. It rose behind the plateau (the tallest in America at ~11,000 feet) and cast a soft pink on the hoodoos and then when the sun crested it lit them all up slowly and it was stunning. I took about 620 pictures over the last few days that I’m pretty sure I got at least a couple good ones. I drove my car out to Rainbow Point because the shuttle doesn’t run out that far. I was disappointed because there was a large controlled burn going on so the air was thick and smoky and there was a haze on the mountains. This drive was more red rock canyons and formations than hoodoos. There was a really neat arch that was huge. There’s also a short road out to Fairyland point which will probably someday be the next big amphitheatre but for now it’s a beautiful respite from the crowds.