Photogenic Bryce Canyon

Think back to the first time you encountered the beauty of our National Parks.  Looking down Yosemite Valley, standing next to the waterfall at Niagara Falls, the raw beauty of both rims of the Grand Canyon.  The landscape of our great country is so grand and varied.  Then there is the completely different beauty of Bryce Canyon.  Standing on the edge, the colors take your breath away and no photos can do it justice.

We’ve been lucky to experience this beauty more than once, both times in the summer and as we pulled out this last time, I asked Mark if we could come back again in the winter.  I want to see snow on the hoodoos.

For us, the only place to stay is at Ruby’s Inn and Campground.  It’s literally a stone’s throw away from the park entrance complete with a park shuttle stop right out in front of the campground.  Ruby’s is almost a town unto itself.  There is a hotel, gift shop, grocery store and restaurant.  Across the street is a cute little market area set up like an old western street with really good ice cream.  The campground has many spots tucked into shady spots under pine trees and a newer wide open area with super wide spaces.  We’ve stayed in the new area both times, first time by luck and the second time by choice.

 

 

Bryce Canyon has some of the darkest skies in the country which makes it great for stargazing and a perfect spot in August for the annual Perseid Meteor Shower.  Our first visit was with our dear friends Bill and Deb and they brought their new telescope.  Mild hilarity ensued watching Mark and Bill get it ready for our nightly star show.  The summer storms cooperated leaving us crystal clear skies for viewing.  The only thing left was to stay up late enough for the full show.   Sadly, none of us lasted past midnight although I did peek out a couple of times during the night.  The Milky Way was the prettiest I’d ever seen it.

 

I’d seen pictures of the hoodoo amphitheaters at Bryce but I was wholly not prepared for its beauty in person.  Our first view was standing at Sunset Point.  Bright variations of sand, orange and red in both directions.  It was almost like walking into the middle of a painting.  We walked along the rim trail taking in the beauty and taking lots of pictures.

We drove down to the southernmost point of the park and stopped at all the viewpoints along the way back to the visitors center.  The park shuttles don’t go down that far and it’s a shame as the beauty that is Bryce Canyon doesn’t stop at the last shuttle stop. The views changed with every stop.  Sometimes there were lots of trees scattered among the hoodoos while other times they stood majestically facing you, as if frozen in a line.  The legend goes that Coyote, a trickster God, cast a curse on the people and turned them to stone.  You can “see” several different people in the hoodoos.  You can even see Queen Victoria at the bottom of the Victoria Garden trail, marked as the easiest trail inside the park.   It’s a totally doable hike for just about anyone.  Remember to bring water and rest when you are tired.  All trails start at the top making the end of your hike the hardest.

 

 

 

After our walk around the rim and hike down to see Queen Victoria, we headed toward the lodge to cool off and get a beverage as it was kind of warm  that day.  The lodge is a neat old building from the 20’s.  There is a big sign at the check-in desk that states there are no televisions in any of the rooms which made me chuckle.  There is a huge back porch with several wooden chairs and benches and we sat down to cool off.  A large family sat near us in the shade.   After a few minutes all but grandma got up and went inside.  We were just about finished with our break when we heard this loud noise coming from grandma.  We all knew what the sound was and quickly looked at each other with the expression, “Did you do that?”  After a couple of seconds we realized it was grandma.  In that moment, we all became 12-year old boys laughing inside because someone farted.  We now had a new code word for passing gas in public, “Lodge.”   Always an adventure.

 

The lodge area at Ruby’s Inn doubles as a concierge of sorts.  There are lots of activities and adventures in the area and those ladies are so helpful in setting you up with just the right excursion.  A horseback ride that went by Butch Cassidy’s hideout was up next for us.  Butch Cassidy was born in nearby Beaver, UT and often hid out in the hoodoos along the river.  The famous hoodoos aren’t confined to national park boundaries and can be seen in the immediate surrounding area.  The ride down the riverbed and back was delightfully peaceful.  We were in the middle of our summer storm season and recent flash floods were evident on the riverbanks.  Thinking back to the days of the Wild West, I thought about all the people who had ridden in this very riverbed either chasing the outlaw or as the outlaw being chased.  The hideout was way up the side of a hoodoo canyon and hard to see.  Our guide explained that he rode his horse all the way to his secret hideout.  What a feat that was by horseback.

 

 

Our last day was spent exploring the area 4-wheel trails in nearby Johnson Hollow.  There are lots and lots of forest service trails that made for a fun day.  We saw lots of deer, wild turkeys and more cows than we could count.  Bill even wanted to bring a couple of cute ones home.  We found a nice meadow for lunch then continued exploring.  One of the hilltops we stopped at looked like the top of a new group of hoodoos.  Mark took us on a trail with a sign that clearly said UTV’s only resulting in a tight fit on a trail between two trees.  Thankfully there were no scratches on the Jeep, all we had to do was pull the mirrors in.  After that, it was back to regular trails for us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As with so many of our trips, our time here was much too short.  We were lucky enough to return the following summer for more fun adventures including a 6 mile hike.  If you haven’t been to Bryce Canyon yet, add it to the top of your travel wish list and start making plans.  You will not be disappointed.