North Rim and Bryce Canyon

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We got an early start from Zion, hoping to snag one of the first-come, first-served campsites at the North Rim. The forecast was for daytime temps in the 60s, 40s at night. Pretty good camping weather. However, when we arrived at Grand Canyon Natl Park, it was only about 45 degrees, and the campsites were all filled. Probably best all around, as we were pretty done with cold nights.

We hiked out to Angels Landing, gasping for breath as usual in the high altitude, but the scenery was also breathtaking in its scope and variety. It seems as though there are more Europeans around the Parks than there are Americans this Fall, especially German and French tourists. Its good that more people are travelling to the U.S., in spite of the hassles of getting in. The boys are not so happy about looking at "more rocks," but we had a non-cancellable reservation for the following night at the Bryce Canyon lodge, so we decided to make our way to Kanab, UT for the night.

Kanab is somewhat famous for the many Western movies that were filmed there. Certainly the landscape is reminiscent of many cowboys-and-Indians epics, if you ignore the trailer parks. People in Kanab are very friendly, and we found some good Mexican food at a local eatery. We slept in, then headed out on the relatively short drive to Bryce Canyon Natl Park.

We arrived in plenty of time to hike around the rim of the canyons "amphitheater." It is, to me, one of the most spectacular natural sights in the world, at least the ones Ive seen. The play of light on the great number and variety of hoodoos, spires, and other fantastic shapes is endlessly fascinating.

We had a good early dinner at the Lodge, then, while the boys went back to the room to relax, I ventured into the canyon to catch the last of the days light. It was a great time. Of course, when you go down into the canyon, you have to pay the price of climbing back out in the thin air. I thought it was well worth it, and I continued snapping pictures until the light stop registering.

In the morning, we visited Fairyland Canyon (another section of Bryce) on our way out. The scenery is every bit as amazing as in the amphitheater. If I can suggest theme music for these two spectacular sights, it would have to be Bachs Toccata and Fugue in D. Our next destination: Canyon de Chelly, in the Arizona Navajo reservation.

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Photos

Formations in the haze
Unfortunately, air pollution has made the vistas a bit less clear, but they are still impressive.

Comments

[Ursula]

Bryce Canyon
Your pictures are so pretty. Thanks so much for taking us along.