Hoodoos All Around Us

Sunday, May 22nd – Kanab, Arizona/Utah to Bryce Canyon and back – Day 101 

 We were debating going to Bryce Canyon yesterday. Our late night the night prior led to a late morning, and we had to call it off. The 90-minute drive was put off for today. Maybe we should have moved and camped closer to reduce the drive. Our start wasn’t much better today. 

 The 90-minute drive seemed much, much longer. The scenery was fantastic. Plenty of buttes, valleys, canyons to look at on the way. It’s amazing how in a place with little water you can go from the dull colours of the desert to the warm greens of farms in a heartbeat. We passed both hiking spots from the day before and the road to Zion National Park on our way. Since it was the long weekend, we tried to talk to people via video chat with little success. When we finally did get a hold of people, our cell service got tenuous and we dropped some calls. 

The visitor centre was busy. We left with a map, junior ranger activities and a plan. We spoke to a ranger who said her favourite trail in the park was the Bristlecone loop at the end of a long scenic drive. We drove all the way to the end of the drive and parked. Our first stop was Rainbow point for a very scenic view of some hoodoos, rock column structures that help define the park, and the Grand Staircase Escalante in the distance. 

We started down the 1.7-kilometre loop that walked past 1800-year-old bristlecone pines. A fire had past through sometime in the recent past suggested by the blackened wood and vegetation. We reached some more outstanding viewpoints. We took a picture next to a “I Hiked the Hoodoos” plaque. If we found three we got an additional “I Hiked the Hoodoos” badge. John ended up being carried for a while before racing his sisters the last bit of the trail. Our hike finished by seeing Yovimpa Point, another nice lookout. 

 The drive back was viewpoint after viewpoint. This is generally frowned upon in the Simnett family since the kids don’t want to get out of the car. If they do get out of the car, they don’t want to quickly get back in the car. Gen wasn’t feeling the greatest and wasn’t feeling the park very much. 

We finally reached Bryce amphitheatre, the central area of the park. We found the general store and the pay showers, Gen and the girls took a quick shower while a napping John and I waited in the car. We were considering taking the park bus from place to place but at this point the park had cleared out enough we could get parking easily. 

We parked at Sunset Point, which is oddly named for an easterly view. Charlotte decided to swing from the back hatch while Gen was looking for something and got smashed in the head. This provided more than a little angst and Gen was now very much not feeling the park. We walked to the see the amphitheatre. The amphitheatre was a valley of incredible rock formations; hoodoos and fins stretched out into the valley. 

To be continued....