Bryce Canyon

Today we drive East through Zion heading towards Bryce Canyon. We will gain another 2000 ft in elevation. We learned yesterday that Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon form the Grand Staircase of the southwest. The lowest layer of Bryce Canyon is the highest layer of Zion and the lowest layer of Zion is the highest layer of the Grand Canyon. It's actually possible on a more extended stay to see all 3 national parks, since the north rim of the Grand Canyon is only about 4 hours from Bryce Canyon. The drive through Zion is incredible, one amazing view after another. We also drive through a very long and very narrow tunnel in order to get to the other side of the mountains that form Zion. Once on the other side, the land immediately becomes flat as a pancake. I remember this from my trip to Wilson and Ming's wedding in Salt Lake City. Where there was no mountain, the land is very flat. As we head northeast and higher up, the deciduous trees are starting to turn colour. Also, there are more coniferous forests. Eventually it's all pine and the like, very few leafy trees. Eventually we get to Red Canyon and the landscape changes dramatically. On one side, it's shades of grey dotted with green trees, flat with an occasional mountain or hill. Turn 180 degrees and the rocks have turned red-orange and rise in front of us dramatically. It's like in the Wizard of Oz, but instead of a tornado, you drive from B&W Kansas to Technicolour Oz! Bryce is about 2 hours from Zion so we get there at lunch. Outside the park gates is a little cluster of businesses catering to the tourist crowd. There is no real town here. We have lunch at Ruby's Inn which seems to be the place to go. Large tour buses stop here. Strangely, there's a strong French presence; I'm not sure what they make of this food, it's only so-so. We finally get to the park and head to the Visitor Center again. Today the weather is very overcast. Bryce Canyon is supposed to be one of the darkest places in the US at night so has an astronomy program for visitors, but we're not sure if the weather will hold. This is a park you drive through. The scenic points are all slightly off the main road. We are on the top of what seems like a plateau. The primary highlight of Bryce is the hoodoos that are formed in the eroded landscape to the east of the road. Hoodoos are formed by erosion of softer rock under a hard cap forming these eerie looking pinnacles. The erosion also forms natural bridges and arches. Bryce Amphitheatre is the largest in the park and it's phenomenal. Because of the weather conditions, the sky was very dramatic with patches of clouds and occasional sunlight bursting out from behind. As at Zion, the quality of the rock changes depending on the light. It seems being able to hike down into the amphitheatre would be the best way to see the park. We're not equipped to take on the climb down and back up, but it appears that once you are down into the bottom, it's relatively flat. We watch from the viewpoint the little clusters of people down on the trails. You can also take horses down into the amphitheatre. Both Zion and Bryce are small parks and are easily viewable in about 1/2 day if you are not hiking. Of course if you are able to hike, I imagine you are able to get an even deeper appreciation for the places. By late afternoon, we had decided that the weather would not be amenable to skywatching that night so decided to drive back to Springdale. On the road back, wild animals were starting to come out for their evening meal. Wild turkeys attempted to cross the street in front of us (one made it, the other two decided to turn back). Deer were jumping over fences and across the street to get to the rest of their group. It's a rather remarkable thing to see this happening right next to your car!! Dinner in Springdale was at Pioneer Inn, which was okay, nothing remarkable. Because of the cloudy night sky, another attempt was made to photograph the moon before turning in.