Bryce Canyon National Park

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Scenic Byway 12, Utah’s All-American ?? Road

? omg!!! Ear popping jaw dropping...thru Dixie National Forest ? reaching the Summit - 9600 ft. If you ever get a chance, check out this road sometime...simply stunning. Karen is going to look up all the scenic byways in the U.S. ? We drove thru Boulder, Tree ? City USA. Crazy ? dramatic steep and narrow road...no shoulder or guard rails. Scary ? Many stops along the way, including the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. It is not a staircase per se...the name is a reference to the series of cliffs rising from south to north from the foot of the Kaibab Plateau (adjacent to the Grand Canyon) to the rim of Bryce Canyon. Speed limit 25 mph - definitely obey the speed limit on this road ?? It’s a workout driving...when you see the speed limit change to 55 or 60, you finally get to breathe?

Signs with free range Cattle ? and Elk crossing - next 5 miles...we pass a few backcountry bikers??‍♀️??‍♀️loaded down with all their gear. Drive thru the town of Tropic, established 1892 ?

We arrive in Bryce Canyon ~ 1:30pm clean the Subie ?and secure our camp site⛺️. Super nice campground and we get another great site - ironically, right next to our camping neighbors from Dead Horse ? Point, a really nice couple from MN, also new to the camping scene. We take a short hike ??‍? and check out the campground (shuttles ? closed for the season), make dinner (Barry - we had roasted broccoli with garlic and lemon?) a fire ? and gaze at the stars ✨ . The high elevation, clean dry air, and lack of light pollution make Bryce Canyon one of Earth’s ? darkest places. It has been described as the darkest public place in North America reached by a paved road ?. On a clear moonless night you can see over 7,500 stars - 3x the number visible in most rural areas of North America ?Friday, Nov. 3 is a full moon ? and the park offers a full moon hike...how lucky ? are we!

We sleep ? well and have scrambled eggs with cheese ?, toast and an ? for breakfast to fuel us for our hike on the Rim Trail to Bryce Point, ~6 miles roundtrip. Temps here are in the low 30’s at night and mid 50’s during the day. We climb into Spa Haven ~8:30 pm and watch a documentary about barbecuing that Karen downloaded from Netflix before we left home ?The great news about this campground, there is hot water ? in the bathroom and dishwashing station, so I take my time washing dishes ?

Oh my! A short walk up from our camp ⛺️ site and there it is...Bryce Canyon is not actually a Canyon, but a series of amphitheaters that are etched into the pink Claron limestone of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Limestone pillars are dissolved into bulbous spires called hoodoos. The Indian legend is that the coyote turned the people of the village here into stone because they were bad. So, we decided to name a few...?

Cheryl and Lori - many views reminded us of the sandcastles I build when we vacation in Topsail NC (wet sand that drips out of your hands into mounds). The ‘sand castles’ here are massive, hard, and peach/pink in color. We experience the Bryce Amphitheater from all its viewpoints - Bryce Point, Inspiration Point, Sunset ? Point, and Sunrise ? Point and Fairyland Point - Stunning...?

The full moon ? was amazing...the winds ?were wicked, howling @10-15 mph all night long. Not our most restful sleep ? , however, we were cozy warm in 28 degree temps ? We love ❤️ our tent and sleeping bags!

Bryce was so different from all the other parks we have seen...360 degree endless expansive views and villages of massive sand castles with amazing colors - pink, peach, white hues. What a dynamic and mesmerizing place...like nothing either of us have ever seen ?

Off to Zion National Park...last of the Mighty 5 ??

Karen’s dream almost fulfilled ?

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Comments

[LJ]

W?W!!
BEAUTIFUL. Thank you for sharing your journey!! Loooooove your whimsical descriptions and pix!!?

[Jeanie and Randy]

Great blog entry
We loved Bryce Canyon also.