Zion to Bryce

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Behind again on the blogs - other than the planned delays in posting, I have passed in to areas with no internet access. Gasp! Imagine that!! It was wonderful 😊.

Ok, left off in Zion National Park... the pictures from there were not as easy. Taking them from the bottom of the rocks and cliffs looking up just didn't do them justice. Most of them did not turn out well so instead I am posting a few examples of the different kinds of rock there. There is both Navajo sandstone (the white with red streaks) and the... I think it's escalante... sandstone which is more red. The pictures I am posting are some nice examples of the formations. The standstone weathered so it almost looks like they were man-made structures.

I am also posting the "checkerboard mesa" on some of the cliff faces that was formed from action both of glaciers and wind. As usual, being there in person was much more impressive. More pictures of Zion down below.

This part of the trip was more of a bummer that I didn't spend more time in each place. I left Zion to go to Bryce National Park and was very excited for this. I stayed just outside the park in a place that had rodeo's across the street. There is a picture of Buzzy in the "Y" (just for you Pat!).

I went in to the park bright and early to catch the morning light in the amphitheater. Unfortunately, as you can probably see in these pictures, there were several fires going on in the area and the air quality was pretty bad that day. This is from a couple of fires, both controlled and uncontrolled, and the wind flow was just right to blow it straight at the park. I think you can still get an idea of the grandeur of the rock formations here though - they are called hoodoo's and they are fabulous.

The first shot is in the amphitheater. I will post more shots below the actual blog... The air cleared a bit later - I wish I had gone back for better shots.

Subsequent shots are from other viewpoints along the park. One in particular was a lot of fun, I believe it was Sunset Point and you could walk down in to the hoodoo's here. This is also where the well known "Thor's Hammer" is - I am including a shot here.

I have a few shots looking down, I wanted to try to show the perspective of the people among the hoodoo's... so look carefully at the teeny tiny people down there (I think if you click on the pictures you can make them bigger). Very very cool.

Some of these formations looked like city ruins or something - one of them I am posting here is called Cinderella's castle but I think it looks more like a temple of some sort. The light was hitting just right and it even looks like there is a pathway/road leading up to the castle/temple. It was just gorgeous! I was fascinated by this. Unfortunately this was at the peak smoky time so the picture is not so clear - but since I loved it so much I still included it. I hope you can enlarge it to really get a sense for it.

I could stare at these formations for hours. That's right, I did! But I also tried to hit all the major view points in the park. Bryce only had a shuttle system for the more popular view points and there was a much longer drive to the more remote points.

I am also including another wildlife shot - the pronghorn deer were grazing off the parking lot. I am continuously fascinated that the animals in the parks do not seem to care about all the people around - stopping and taking pictures of them all the time. Of course there are some hefty fines if the park rangers catch you approaching them at all and worse if you try to feed them! In all the parks I've been in though, they say that people speeding through the parks have killed numerous wild animals.

More shots I am posting includes a natural arch (that they actually call the "natural bridge" but it's not a bridge...) and more of the hoodoo's. In one of them you can see the trees growing on top of it - should help to give some perspective again.

Bryce was just a great park to be in and I wish I had given myself more time. I will say this repeatedly in the next few blogs for sure.

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Photos

Natural Bridge
it is called "bridge" although it is really an arch. They say this on a sign in the park too!

Zion cliffs
I think this one is Angel's landing... one that they climb.

Zion park
Looks like someone built this structure doesn't it?

Buzzy sighting
He's sitting in the Y

Bryce amphitheater
see how smoky it is?

Cinderella's castle
I think it looks more like a temple. I can't wait to go back and get a picture on a clear day.

a big hoodoo
See the trees growing on top?

Comments

[Pat]

Gorgeous, even through the smoke. Thanks for the picture of Buzzy; I am glad to see he was engaged in the traveling.