Hoodoo Hikin'

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon looks like an alien planet from the set of a science fiction movie. Technically it's not a canyon at all but a humungous natural amphitheater, ablaze in colors so bright and rich; oranges, reds and whites that make the eroded rock formations, 'hoodoos,' look like fire. No vista was a disappointment and from the points you can see for miles and miles across the plateaus to cliffs and canyons beyond. 

I fell in love with a new word here, vermillion, because it described the landscape so perfectly. Hiking down into the hoodoos was incredible, towers of rock, caves, natural arches, and surprises like this guy around every turn. Hello giant tree!

I'm a sucker for the National Park pamphlets and newspapers, the ones they give you when you enter the park. I devour them, and then continue to reference them at every stop. But hey what can I say? I enjoy being informed. So there I am, reading the newspaper and I read about a great Junior Ranger program involving a scavenger hunt. My heart skips a beat! I am obsessed with anything remotely resembling a treasure hunt - geocaching, letterboxing, etc. etc. All we have to do is pick 3 hikes, locate these markers and collect our victory bounty - a neat-o patch. YES! So we set out to this great task of finding and documenting 3 markers. 3 hikes and about 6 miles later I proudly submit my findings to the Rangers only to be told that, while they are impressed that we found the geological survey markers, the real scavenger hunt has yet to begin because they are going to install markers for the game that are much easier to find.  I missed it by about a week. Oh. Could I maybe have a sticker then? I ask sheepishly. Um, No. I walk away.

That's ok, I saw some great things on the hikes!





Bristlecone Pines

Thor's Hammer!

As a National Park I think Bryce is extremely accessible, it has a great range of hikes and it's small enough that a lot can be accomplished in a short time. One of my favorite hikes in Bryce was the Navajo Loop (pictured below) which leads you down deep into the formations, beginning at Sunset Point, meeting up with the Queen's Garden, and ending at Sunrise Point - doesn't that just sound exciting?! Although there are still miles of trail for me to explore the next time I go, it was an excellent first stop to kick off the NPs!
On this hike I found a plaque (finding inspirational quote plaques is very common in the NPs I learned) with a quote from LBJ, "If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it."