Bryce Canyon

This was another very long, great day. We spent too much time on the bus, but even some of that had its excitement.

We started out from the Lake Powell Lodge and made our first stop in Kanab, Utah, about an hour and a half later. At Denny’s Wigwam, another evolved trading post, we had to “spring forward,” because Utah does observe Daylight Savings Time, though Arizona does not. Denny’s was a lot of fun, and they had ice cream!

Bryce Canyon, where we went immediately after lunch, was another stunning place. Its main feature is the large number of hoodoos (not making that word up), which looked like nothing else so much as overly large drip castles made from red sand. Or ochre sand. Or some such color. They present a stunning sight, no matter your viewpoint — above, below, or right up next to one.

Altogether one of the most concentrated site of stunning sights we’ve seen — ever.

I walked part of the way down one of the trails, while Judy stayed up top and listened to the Ranger talk. Each of us had a great time. Had there been more than an hour to spend here, I would have done one of the shorter trails full length. Even the little way I walked showed something new to ooh and ahh over at every turn.

We had to go back out the same road we came in on. Along the road was a really pretty strip of meadow/pasture, and going in I had remarked to Judy that there was a pretty little stream zig-zagging through its entire length. Turns out it was the Sevier river. Another shock for the kid from the southeast, where such a small stream that you could wade across and almost step over would just be a creek. With that kind of landscape ,valleys with real trees and grass and scrub on the red hills, this part of Utah is really pretty.

As you’ll see on the next page, Zion National Park is the very embodiment of all the beautiful parts of Utah I just described: rocks, hills, and green valleys. All it took was an afternoon ride to get there.

Meanwhile, you can check out the Bryce Canyon photos here: