Day 17 – 5/29/2021 – Grand Staircase & Bryce Canyon
Today the plan is to go to Bryce Canyon. Our first planned stop is at Anasazi State
Park Museum in Boulder, Utah. Shortly
after leaving Torrey, we pass one ranch which had many horses. Great riding lands and I would imagine fantastic trails.
Leaving the Capitol Reef area, I think that we are seeing
the last of these rugged landscapes.
As we near the Larb Hollow Overlook we can see a wide span
of aspen trees just on the edge of a field, beginning to get their leaves. I am fascinated with aspens and white birches
since I can see their yellow leaves both in the spring then again in the fall.
Making a quick stop at Larb Hollow Overlook, we get a good
view of the surrounding area. The
plateau field in the foreground to the mountains in the distance we see
forests, grass fields, mountains, and waterways.
After leaving Larb Hollow we came along a field bordered by
aspen and happen to see deer in the field.
There were at least ten deer, some laying in the trees and a few running around
the field. One looked pregnant to me
because of her swollen belly, but I may be mistaken.
A closer look at some of the deer. The one in the middle is the one I think is pregnant. We must stop and take picture of any deer we
see and this is no difference. We could
be here until they leave, but we are suppose to be on our way to Bryce Canyon,
so we must continue. The one behind and the one just to the right of the rock on the left of the picture were running and frolicking and stopped just before I took the picture.
I decided to get a close up picture of a couple of deer in the field before we leave. As I said before; animals and flowers, we can not stop taking pictures of them.
Our next stop is the Anasazi State Park Museum, we get here
just before 9:00 AM, and they do not open until 9:00, so while we wait, we are
looking at the flowers around the front of the building.
We entered the museum, and find out that there are several “digs”
behind the museum. Touring the grounds
we find out that people lived here for about 75 during the 12th
century and that there are about 100 structures on site. This is one of the buildings excavated, which
is part of a multi-room pueblo. Not sure
why the vertical beams look burnt, but you can see how the building and rooms
were made.
The pit house on the property shows how they completed the
construction by digging a pit then added poles, a roof, mud, and brush. The ground insulates the Pit houses better than
wood and therefore cooler on hot days.
I hear a bird and finally see it flying into the tree next
to me. Once again, I am not sure what
the bird is, but our guess is the Juniper Titmouse, mostly because of all the
juniper trees in the area.
On our way out, we pass a replica building with a couple of
rooms. It supposed to show how the
construction created walls and ceilings.
The rooms have dirt floors where I would have expected hay or something
on the floors.
Back on the road, we pass this ranch with barn and
sheep.
Entering the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and
we first see some of the park’s landscape, it is no wonder this is
preserved. Once again, we see a
landscape that could be from another planet.
At this location, we can see a large gorge or slot canyon. It would be interesting to hike the canyon,
but not today.
As we continue to travel through the Grand Staircase, it is
clear that this is a special place. The
rock formations, canyons, and ravines would take days to explore, more time
than we have available on this trip.
Crisscrossing in the upper sandstone layer is clearly
visible over the other defined layers of rock.
The darker stone near the bottom of the cliff can be seen next to the
cars parked in a trail’s parking lot.
As you can see, the road hugs the cliff and even though it
is two lanes wide, Carmen insists we not get near the edge. Even after clearing part of the cliff to make
the road you can still see several of the weathered onion top formations.
During one of our stops, I see this flower, which looks like
a cross between an Iris and an Orchid.
It is in fact a Palmer's Penstemon or in my research that is what it looks like.
Another flower and we are hard pressed to figure out what
its name is. It might be a form of
Primrose or even a Monkey-Flower, but we are not sure.
Now I think this is a Smallflower Globemallow, I know,
strange name for a flower. Anyway, it is
part of the Globemallow family and there are about 7 or 8 flowers with that
name.
As we near the end of our travel through Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument, we look back to the road we drove up on
and the landscape we traveled.
Approaching Bryce Canyon, we still see mountains created by
the pressures of time. The single layer
of white stone is evident in the hill beyond.
Still on route-12 and near Bryce Canyon, there is a turn-off
with an information kiosk and we decide to check it out. This is what we see from the viewpoint. A viewing tube points to the right hand
corner of the arch that is beginning to form.
In that spot is an artifact that is a granary.
A closer view of the granary made using sandstone, blends in
with the surrounding rock and easily overlooked. This artifact is at least 800 years old, if
not older and wall art in the area dates back 4,000-8,000 years. There were other buildings along the arch
that is building, but this one also had the wall art, even though I’m not sure if
it is true ancient wall art or newly created graffiti.
Shortly after crossing into Bryce Canyon we take the
Fairyland Road to Fairyland Point. It is
easy to see why they named this Fairyland because of the Hoodoos looking like castle
spires. You can see people walking on the
Fairyland Loop Trail running along the bottom of the Hoodoos on the right side.
Every where you look, Hoodoos abound, some under creation
along a wall like these have not yet produced individual hoodoo spires. Notice the weathering that is creating a window
or arch in the center of the picture along the hoodoo wall.
Look at how white these hoodoos when compared to the others. Also, notice the tree growing on the edge of
the scree pile.
Before leaving the Fairyland viewpoint, we get another wide
view of the landscape. There is a large
variation in the hoodoo coloring.
Having left Fairyland Road we go to the Lodge area and park
near the cabins, where we stayed years ago on another trip. Making our way to the Rim Trail we have a great
view from Sunrise Point.
Walking along the Rim Trail, we head south to Sunset Point,
but before we get there, another view catches our eye. Again, we see the white in the hoodoos, this
is from a different layer of sandstone.
What a view from along Sunset Point.
We hike back to the car, but before we leave the trail,
Carmen gets a picture of people on the Navaho Loop Trail. You can see the formation known as Thor’s
Hammer where a large number of people are gathered. We have hiked this trail before and though we
would like to again, but we do not have the time.
At Bryce Point Overlook, we are at perhaps the most iconic of
the four major viewpoints in the park.
We planned to stay for about 20-30 minutes, but when we get to the parking
lot, there is a long line of cars waiting and driving in circles. Carmen gets out before getting to the parking
lot and takes a couple of pictures.
On the way to the next viewpoint, we can see a pronghorn
antelope the field before the trees. We
stop on the roadside and of course get pictures.
Looking out from Fairview Point, we can see a bridge or arch
depending on how you see it.
It is a short hike to Piracy Point and while on the trail, we
see many of these yellow flowers. They
look like a daisy, but I think these are Badlands Mule-ears, or maybe a
Goldeneye of some sort.
From Piracy Point, looking back towards Fairview, we can see
a wide section of the canyon before us.
Our next stop is the Natural Bridge overlook. At an elevation of 8,627 feet, we do not want
to run around much. Fortunately, for us,
it is a short walk to the viewpoint and when we get there, the Bridge is in
full view. This is a very large bridge. Look at the rock pinnacle on
the right; it looks like an Olympic torch with flame on the top.
Near the car, we see a whole bunch of yellow flowers, which
to me look like a sunflower of some sort.
Ponderosa Point in Bryce Canyon still has great views of the
hoodoos and landscape. This looks like
someone was making sand castle with very wet sand.
We follow the scenic road to the end and arrive at Rainbow
Point. At 9,115 feet, it is the highest
viewpoint in the Park. Tectonic uplift
has lifted this entire area from sea level over the last 20 million years
Looking towards the beginning of the Park, we can see a good
portion and the landscapes we saw at each viewpoint. Under the Rim Trail follows down in the trees
and runs between the Noon Canyon Butte in the top right and the hoodoos on the
left.
On our way out of the Park, we decided to check out
Inspiration Point, only because there were no parking spaces available when we
were there the first time. As the nearby
sign indicated there is a wide spectrum of color and stone that rewards the
viewer with indescribable beauty.
Another view from a different point at Inspiration Point and
we see many more hoodoo and fins.
We are simply inspired with the views from Bryce Canyon, but
we have to leave to get to our hotel for the night. I would have loved to stay to get a long
night exposure, but we need to retrace our drive to get to the hotel, we leave
with plenty of time to check in and then get dinner. Tomorrow we head to Coral Pink Sand Dunes in
Utah, drive to Page AZ, and then drive to Holbrook, AZ for night.
