Hoodoo Voodoo

This weekend's destination was Bryce Canyon National Park, about three hours from here.  Although Bryce is called a canyon, it is actually a series of amphitheaters.  Regardless of the designation, it is wildly unusual, very, very beautiful and totally enchanting.

In order to reach Bryce, we drove north on Route 89.  The topography and vegetation changes quickly outside of Kanab and resembles southwestern Colorado by Mt. Carmel.  Route 12-East runs through a stunning portion of Dixie National Forest aptly named Red Canyon--a place we plan to visit on our next trip.  Although the scenery was lovely, the closer we got to the park the darker and more overcast the sky became.  

The entrance gate to the park consisted of 4 lanes, a clue to how 'visited' (i.e., crowded) Bryce is.  It reminded me of a bank of turnpike toll booths. We were dismayed to note the preponderance of foreigners among the park-goers.  90-95% of the people we heard speaking were conversing in a tongue other than English.  We were able to identify the Europeans by their language as well as their clothing (the ubiquitious 'man purse', weird shoes and T-shirts sporting graphics like Sport Athletic, US College or American Police).

The parking lot at the trail head where our route originated was full so we drove to the next viewpoint.  Reaching the overlook, we were greeted by thunder and lightning, definitely inauspicious for hiking.  We retreated to the Jeep to wait it out; after 25-30 minutes with no improvement, we 
decided to try the next overlook.  Here, we got our first glimpse of Bryce's hoodoos. These oddly-shaped free-standing rock columns remain after the softer surrounding material has eroded.  As we marveled at their shapes and colors, the sky cleared behind us.  

Back at the trail head, we found a parking space and set out or rather, down.
We hiked from sunset to sunrise and then from sunrise to sunset.  To clarify, we descended from Sunset Point and ascended at Sunrise Point and walked the paved rim trail from Sunrise Point back to Sunset Point, a 7.1 mile loop with 3200 feet of elevation change and incredible sights.  I lack adequate skill to describe what we saw; the best I can do is refer you to our photos.

Tired and awed, we drove back to Kanab ooh-ing and aah-ing about what we'd seen.  Following a 'last supper' at Nedra's, our favorite restaurant, and showers, we just collapsed.

This morning, we did our final laundry-grocery-gas thing and were back at the RV by 11:00.   Later, we went into the park for Fred's delayed birthday celebration.  He chose hiking the Transcept Trail and a veggie pizza at 'our' picnic table on the rim of Bright Angel Canyon--our departure tradition.  Unfortunately, an Asian family chose that exact spot for their first glimpse into the canyon and to loudly commemorate the experience by taking many, many pictures.

We'll work tomorrow and Wednesday and leave Thursday morning.  It's hard to believe that 12 weeks have passed so quickly.