Day 35 ~ Bryce Canyon National Park

Day 35 ~ Bryce Canyon

Campground

No worries today.  There isn’t too much to this park.  Most of it will be driving for us.  Only 89 degrees today, but we are at a high elevation so the sun is really, really hot on our skin.  We took lots of pictures at every turn out.  They will probably all look the same to my gentle readers. 

These hoodoos (that is really what they are called!) were formed by the ocean that used to cover Utah.  So mostly they are formed by water erosion.  They are still being eroded and changed by rain, wind, and chemicals.  The reason the formations are so strange is the top limestone is a harder mix of rock, while the bottom limestone is softer and more easily eroded. 

Camera Trick

The Grand Canyon is out there Somewhere....
 

 

The amazing colors of Bryce Canyon are due to iron in the limestone oxidizing.  It is really a shockingly different scene. 

 

Helicopter Tours

 

These Cicada like insects were making a cacophony of clicking noises with their wings. 

Bryce Canyon is just 200 miles from the Grand Canyon.  You can see many similarities here.  We have already visited the Grand Canyon, so we opted to see Bryce instead.  Bryce Canyon is not a canyon, but rather a plateau.  It stair-steps down to the Grand Canyon.  You can see 100 miles from Bryce Canyon on a clear day. 

We added swimming later in the afternoon because it was so intensely hot.  It is hard to believe we were cold at the beginning of our journey!

Later that night we went  back to Bryce and saw this amazing hike down into the plateau.....

Sunset

Fairy Castles

Steep Climb Down

Rock Climbing

Looking Down

Thistles

Because we were late getting back to the campground the showers were full.  Usually, if we stay on Eastern Standard Time for a schedule, we miss the masses of people.  So we didn't get to bed until after 12:00 AM.  Unfortunately this would negatively affect Zion National Park.

Up next:  Zion National Park!