Bryce Canyon

For the past few years, we've been spending a lot of our vacation time in the beautiful state of Utah. It all started a couple of years ago with a stop at Zion National Park on our way to visit friends in Colorado. We had so much fun and loved it so much that we decided to go there for a couple of days last year on our way to Park City for a harp event for our daughter. We had so much fun that we went there for a few more days on our way home. You can read about those adventures here and here. This year, we decided to see Bryce...but we couldn't go there without visiting Zion!!!

We packed up our truck and trailer and hit the road. And, yup...even our dog and cat went with us. They love to travel...especially, Salsa. Here she is, ready to go!...


We left around 7:00 am and arrived just outside of Springdale/Zion around 3:00 pm. We spent the afternoon relaxing (and knitting). The next morning we went into Springdale (just outside the park) for a little shopping. For such a small town, it has some great shopping! We didn't have much time that day but made good use of it and found some awesome things. Then, it was back to get our trailer and head into Zion National Park, up to the tunnel, through, and over to Bryce. The switchbacks up to the tunnel were surrounded with spectacular views. When we arrived at the tunnel, we had a short wait for the rangers to be sure the tunnel was clear so they could only allow one way traffic through for our trailer to fit. The tunnel was completed in 1930 and it is 1.1 miles long. Here's the entrance (through the windshield)...


If you look where the blue arrow is pointing, you'll see an arched opening in the rock wall. That's a window/opening into the tunnel! Aside from the small bits of light from a few openings, it was pitch black inside. It was amazing to think that the tunnel was running just inside the face of the rock with hundreds, maybe a thousand feet or more of rock above us. Incredible! To help with understanding the scale...those tiny trees against the rock are actually quite big! (click on the pictures to see them bigger)...


When we came out on the other side, the temperature was much cooler and the scenery was much different...but still very beautiful and amazing. Here's our truck and trailer at a turnout...


When we planned our trip we noticed that the elevation for Bryce was pretty high but I guess it didn't register in our minds how high...about 8,000 feet just outside of the park...where we stayed. It was chilly most of the time we were there and there were thunder storms either in our area or surrounding areas everyday we were there. It was hard to stay warm and since we were looking forward to a 'warm' summer vacation, this was a little disapointing. But, after a few days we got our attitudes in check and made the most of it. The views of Bryce Canyon were spectacular. In fact, we took well over 1000 photos. Unfortunately, it's impossible to truly capture the awesome size and beauty of it in a photo...especially a small one on a blog...but here's a sample (be sure to click and make the pics bigger)...


It's hard to really understand the scale of what we could see down in the canyon until we started to hike down into it. Here's the top of a formation (that's my daughter in the forground and my husband in the background)...


Here they are a little farther down...


And further, still...notice the tiny people on the trail near the bottom, middle...


We hiked through tunnels...


And slots...


This is the bottom of a section of trail called "Wall Street". That's my hubby and I behind a lady taking a picture...


This is the switchback trail coming up and out of Wall Street. What a workout...especially at such a high elevation! Notice how far it goes down, and we weren't at the top, yet...


We went hiking again a couple of days later. And, of course, I try to never go anywhere without yarn and needles. That day was no exception. I had to do a little 'extreme knitting'!!! lol......


I'll share a few more photos tomorrow. Thanks for visiting! :-D