How do you Hoodoo?

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Geo: 37.5841, -112.183

After a mixed night's sleep, we woke up to a chilly morning but what a view! The sunrise was stretching across the rocks right in front of the open tent door. Birds were beginning to stir and sing in the trees overhanging our camping spot and the sky was beginning to reveal itself into a clear blue. Since we had used our 8 minute shower tokens last night (they practise an ecological saving system in the park), we had a quick wash and set up our breakfast. After a quick breakfast of cereal, yoghurt, fruit, muffins and hot coffee, it was time to pack up the tents - an easier venture than we first thought. By the end of the week, we will be professional tent strikers!
As soon as the van was loaded, we left Zion, headed for our next destination, Bryce Canyon. The drive out of Zion, we were told by Jen, was going to be stunning. En route, we might encounter wild goats, deer and, eventually, prairie dogs. We kept our eyes peeled as we drive along more winding roads. In this drive, the mountainsides were at eye level for the entire journey. Or driver hit the brakes as we recognised wild goats on the side of the road. Standing proudly on a concrete support, the male of the pair had huge twisted horns, the product of many years growth. We sat and watched them for a while, noting the cloven hoofs that allow them to grip onto the rocks of the craggy scenery. Later on the drive, we saw more goats clambering up the steep hillsides around us, juveniles this time, with shorter stubbed horns. Three walked alongside the bus for a while, not letting us pass, crossing in front every time we tried to go wide around them. Wild deer, too, were grazing nearby, wandering elegantly away when they became bored with our presence.
As we climbed up the twisting roads, the rugged, jagged rocks of the valley began to change into smooth, curved lines, similar to those of the Olgas in Australia. Where the wind and water had eroded the stone, it left behind waves of rock reminiscent of soft serve ice cream. Rivulets and valleys caused by rainfall crisscrossed across the rocks, leaving checkerboard patterns etched into the red waves. At the top of the hill, we entered a tunnel cut into the rock. Built by hand and completed in 1930, the tunnel was constructed by the CCC (civilian construction corps - founded by the government to provide jobs for people during and after the depression) by drilling holes into the rock face, packing it with dynamite and exploding section by section. Due to the nature of the weather here, they had to blast 6 large rock windows into the side of the tunnel to keep the air flowing through the tunnel and allowing the workers to breathe. Now these windows provide stunning vistas to the the drivers as they pass through the mile-long tunnel. Beautifully framed by the stone openings, it Is like a picture perfectly mounted on a vast, black museum wall.
Continuing the drive, we passed through acres of farmland, seeing huge irrigation ditches built by the settlers over 100 years ago. Even now, these irrigation channels allow the farmers to grow crops, mostly hay nowadays, from what was once arid, barren land. However, after around an hour's driving, the scenery dramatically changed once again. From flat, lush green fields, we soon found ourselves in the Red Canyon. Like many of the features in this area, it was perfectly named. It was a canyon, that was red! Due to the iron content in the rock, this was the most vibrant red we had so far encountered on the trip. The rocks were blazing like fire, in wicked formations reminiscent of fairy castles. Pinnacles, arches, caves and columns were etched into the rocks, looking for all the world like they had been out there deliberately by an artist recreating a mythical wonderland playground. Arches stretched over the top of the road, and we passed through two solid bridge-like structures en route to the park.
Following more breathtaking views, we arrived in Bryce Canyon National Park. Named after a Mormon couple who used to live in the rim of the canyon, Ebeneezer and Mary Bryce, the park is one of the smallest national parks at only 40 square miles. The trails here were built by the CCC, who were essential in the construction of many of the roads and trails that lace the national parks so abundant in the Colorado ridge. It attained its national park status in 1928 and has since been a Mecca for visitors thanks to its other worldly landscapes, easily accessible on a variety of trails of various difficulties.
We ate our picnic lunch at another scenic site, right next to a field of prairie dogs. Possibly one of the most adorable animals in the area, these tiny meerkat-like animals were once one of the most numerous animals in the USA. However, European colonisers brought rats carrying the bubonic plague, and nearly wiped out the entire population. However, a programme of reintroduction and reseeding has given them a boost and they are beginning to thrive in the area. Sadly, due to the level of traffic in the area, they often fall victim to road accidents, and adorable signs reminding drivers to slow down for the prairie dogs can be seen throughout the park. We saw around 20 of the animals, popping their heads up in the field, some basking on rocks in the sunshine. They would pop up for a few seconds, put their heads down to feed, and then pop up again to check for predators. We could have watched them for the whole day, but hiking and the hoodoos called!
The hoodoos is the name given by the early park officials in the area to describe the thousands of pinnacles that cover the canyon floor. Created by water, ice and wind erosion over hundreds of years, the pinnacles vary in size from a metre high to towering pillars of stone rising tens of metres from the valley floor. Bryce Canyon truly is another world. Each place we have visited so far has been so different, but this one really was a brand new, individual landscape. The canyon itself is red, not as vibrant as the Red Canyon, but with subtle hues of pinks and oranges. Standing on the rim of the canyon, staring off into the vast distances ahead, you could see the lush greens of the mountainsides in the distance, the crater stretching out for miles in front, and then, in the foreground, acres of hoodoos at all different levels. Craggy, smooth, narrow, wide, tall, short, crooked, straight - every hoodoo was different, and every step demanded another photograph. As the light changed, so did the view. The pinks became reds, shadows burst into light and previously two-dimensional shapes seemed to thrust themselves out of the surrounding rocks. Of all of the places I have seen on this trip, this was easily the most beautiful.
We hiked around the rim from Sunset Point to Sunrise Point - a trail of only around half a mile. However, due to the incredible dramatic scenery in front of us, it took us an hour to reach the point where we would begin to descend to the valley floor. Bryce Canyon is indescribably beautiful. No photographs that we took will ever do justice to its bizarre and yet enchanting features. It is a landscape that would not look out of place in a science fiction film, or as the other worldly setting if a fairy tale. Soon the trail began to gently slope down, snaking down the edge of steep drop-offs to the floor of the canyon. Now we were face to face with the towering hoodoos, while lush greens pine trees surrounded us, growing at angles out of the hoodoos themselves. At this point, although it seemed impossible, the canyon began to be even more beautiful. The light and shadows became even clearer and the shapes of the rocks were even more incredible at eye level. Widows suddenly appeared in the walls. Deep crevices provided natural frames for our views and photographs, and rocks to stand on and clamber on provided even better vantage points. Chipmunks scuttled and danced around our feet, and at times it felt like we were the only people inside the canyon.
As we got down to the bottom of the canyon, it became hotter and we took frequent rest breaks to rehydrate. Looking up ay the dramatic scenery, we noticed that black clouds had started to roll in, and we heard ominous rumbles of thunder. We had been warned that lightning strikes in the area can often be fatal, and had been told to take shelter in the event of a storm. However, fortunately for us, the thunder only threatened to turn into a storm, and it did not come to fruition while we were hiking. We continued on our way, stopping to photograph the playful chipmunks at a shady spot on the valley floor. Again, the views were ever changing, now we could see the hoodoos from below stretching up to the rim of the canyon.
The trail began to climb steeply from this point and we realised why this was classed as a moderate hike. Steep switchbacks took us sharply back up towards the canyon rim. Although the path was well worn and paved, the gradient of the climb made it thirsty work. However, the views around us more than made up for the effort we were putting into hiking, and the stunning scenery provided a multitude of opportunities to stop for a breather while taking photographs of what lay before us. We hiked past the Twin Bridges - two natural bridges formed by water rushing under them for thousands of years, surrounded by empty crevices crated by ice freezing and melting over the same time period. Eventually, these bridges too, will erode and collapse, leaving hoodoos behind. The view as we climbed became even more dramatic, particularly with the grey and black clouds providing a dramatic backdrop and contrast to the bight reds of the rocks. We truly had saved the best views for last. From the top of the winding trail, you could look down at the miles of switchbacks and valley below you and see how far you had climbed. The hoodoos and peaks were now changing colour again and we had yet another vantage point looking across the wide mouth of the canyon on with the hoodoos rising up in front of us.
On reaching the rim, we decided to take a quick rest and then hike back down an alternative path to the bottom of the canyon again, to then climb up and have differing views of the spectacular scenery once again. However, as we set back off towards the trail head, it started to rain. Huge drops of water, the size of marbles, tumbled from the sky and the thunder began to clap loudly overhead. When we saw the flashes of lightning, and heard the thunder a second later, we decided to take refuge from the open spaces and trees and headed for the lodge for ice cream! By this point, the rain had stopped, but it had begun to go chilly. We interacted with a very bizarre assistant at the shop there (we've noticed that most of the park workers here seem to be a little eccentric - perhaps it's the solitude of the place that either attracts the odd or perhaps it is the solitude that creates the eccentricities, either way, they like to talk...!) who offered us invisible cutlery, before shining his scanner into the ice cream and declaring it "Oh so pretty."
As we drove away from the lodge, towards our camp site, the rain began in earnest. Battering the windscreen and bouncing off the road, creating rivers and puddles, the rain was incessant. This was the time that we needed to pitch our tents, set up the cooking equipment and make dinner. It did not bode well. The weather forecast did not provide us with any hope that it was going to abate at any point soon. Jen made some phone calls, while we took shelter in the local Best Western hotel. Finally, Jen called us with some news. She had found an alternative provision for us to sleep in this evening. We were all speculating on what it could be - was it the Best Western? Real beds and private bathrooms? Was it the wooden lodges on the camp site? Were we going to drive out of Bryce and stay in a hotel nearer our next destination? Well, not quite. Jen had booked us a teepee. Each? Nope. One teepee, for the whole group. Yes. You read it correctly. We were all going to sleep together, this group of people who had known each other for a day, in a teepee. If we weren't happy, Jen had informed us, we could still pitch a tent, but with the rain still hammering down, we knew that this would be a miserable and wet prospect. So, we entered into the spirit of the occasion and went to check out our new accommodation. The floor was covered in huge damp patches. Looking up at the roof of the teepee, we saw that there was a large hole in the roof, where the poles poked out of the canvas. There were also several smaller holes in each of the sides of the teepee. However, we laid ground sheets on the floor to combat the damp patches that were already there, and then we decided to rig a tarpaulin from the ties of the canvas stretched at chest height across the teepee. This would at least keep our heads dry if we all slept with them in the middle. One traveller did not want to sleep with us, and booked himself into the Best Western for the princely sum of $250 for the night. We threw our essentials under the tarpaulin and headed out to the van for dinner.
Jen, thankfully, knew a little place down the road where we could eat dinner without being completely soaked through to the skin. So, we set off for the diner, known locally as the best place to eat in the area. When we arrived, they knew Jen and so made room for 10 hungry, tired, wet and apprehensive travellers. The menu was packed with good, old-fashioned American food, and we ate like kings - it really was delicious and we were making the best of a bad situation. We also found plug sockets around the table where we were able to get a little bit of charge into our electrical items, and charge cameras, iPods and phones, ready for a communal night's sleep! (Fortunately, a quick survey revealed that nobody was a snorer!) When we came out of the restaurant, the weather was thankfully much drier than we had been experiencing. It gave us a brief spell in which to get our bags out of the van, get our wash bags, sleeping bags and pyjamas out and get washed and ready for bed. Once we were all in the teepee, and the nervous giggles were out of the way, it was time to sleep.

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