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Published: January 25th 2008
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Obfuscator writes: We left our motel in Moab and headed back up toward I-70. We could have taken other routes through Utah, but they looked longer, slower, and probably more hazardous. It was really cool to see some of the outside of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks during the day, since it had been getting pretty dark the first time we drove through this neck of the woods.
An enormous portion of the drive west on I-70 was mountain. We made frequent stops at the photo pullouts and took a lot of pictures of what they call the Grand Reef, where the road passes through it. Honestly, by the time we got through that range, I was glad, because although the photo opportunities were pretty, they were also getting to be a bit much, what with the constantly stopping and getting out. Seriously, it felt like there was another one every three miles.
We got to Bryce Canyon in the early afternoon. To get there we had to pass through a really pretty little area called Red Canyon National Forest. We didn't stop there other than to get out at a couple of spots for more pictures, but it
gave us a foretaste of Bryce Canyon, I suppose. Upon arriving at the Visitor's Center, we found that our weather forecast looked good for camping that night, but that an awful lot of the park was closed down for the winter, including Fairyland, which had come highly recommended to us by National Geographic, and the scenic road down to the southern half of the park. What this mostly left was the area around the Amphitheater. That's what they call the huge area in the middle of the park that has the vast majority of the formations. So while we were a bit disappointed not to be able to see the rest of the park, the main attraction was still on the menu.
Since we weren't in a big rush, we took a short hike along the rim of the amphitheater, before descending into it along the Navajo trail. The Navajo loop is definitely the best way to get down to the canyon floor, and not a recommended way back up, since it is extremely steep. Bryce Canyon is known for it's tall, red spires called Hoodoos, like Voodoo. The Hoodoos are beautiful, carved by centuries of erosion, and some
of them look a lot like people, or skyscrapers, or whatever you want to imagine them as. When you walk down the Navajo trail into the narrow canyons between them, you'll be surprised to find trees with you there too. Some of them are pretty large, and according to our National Geographic guide book, are more than 700 years old themselves.
The trails down to the canyon floor, and the trails on the canyon floor themselves were rather slick, but the views were well worth it. The bright red of the canyon walls and hoodoos contrasted wonderfully with the green of the trees and the white snow. We saw a large pack of deer wandering around in the canyon floor as well, which was pretty neat. Eventually we left the Navajo Trail and took the Queen's Garden trail. It was much the same until we got to the area called Queen's Garden itself. I can't really do it justice. It's a magnificent array of hoodoos that will simply dazzle you.
We came out of the canyon using the Queen's Garden trail. Again, this seemed to be the best way to do it, as this trail was a lot
more gentle than the other. After getting back to the car, we drove a bit to Bryce Point and Inspiration Point, where with a short hike, you can get some really spectacular overview looks at the the canyon. Down in the canyon in the distance you can also see the tiny town of Tropic. Once we were done with this, we had seen all we were really likely to see without spending another full day of hiking. We drove to the campground, and found as if by some miracle, found lots of wood right there by our firepit, since we certainly wouldn't violate the National Park Service's restrictions on not gathering firewood. It was almost as if someone had anticipated our need for firewood and had tromped through the knee deep snow to gather it for us, since we certainly wouldn't break rules, and wouldn't have wanted wet feet from it anyway.
Luckily we were able to build a nice roaring fire, and cook our food, and stay warm to dry our feet that weren't wet, before it started snowing too heavily. We went to bed and it snowed pretty much all night, though luckily none of it was
too heavy.
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