Western Park Trip-Day 9, Monday, August 17, 2015

We agreed last night that we wanted to see the sunrise on Bryce Canyon.  It is an almost two-hour drive.  So we were up at 4 AM!!!  After breakfast we were on the road by 5:20 AM and arrived to watch the sun climb over the sandstone formations along Sunrise Point.  We also went to Sunset Point for similar views which overlooks the Bryce Amphitheater, too.  

The rising sun gave a yellow glow to everything!!  The native term for the spires of Navaho sandstone is hoodoo. 

Growing into the sides of rock are limber pine trees which are incredibly adaptable to the harsh environment.  These trees are hundreds of years old.  One is marked over 800 years old!

 As we walked the rim trail, which is nicely paved with wooden guardrails, we were offered an opportunity to provide breakfast to many chipmunks.  We were greeted by Stellar's jays, too. 

We went to the Visitors' Center to peruse displays and watch the video which explains the formation of the park's features over the 150 million years its taken to develop.  As we had done at Zion NP, we had planned to take the trolley which travels about 1/3 of the canyon road and decide which we wanted to visit on the return trip.  We were again blessed with a happenstance event, the arrival of a Rainbow Tour bus at the trolley stop.  This tour, while free, requires advance registration. Today, however, there were not many registrants, so the driver, Jay, was seeking additional travelers.  (He likes tips at the end of the tour, so a full bus is desirable!)  So in the luxury of an air-conditioned bus with continuous narration, we got to tour the entire paved road of the park.  Jay is an entertainer at a local inn for a western show.  We are not sure what his role is, but he is very knowledgeable of flora and fauna and features of the park and provided most interesting narrative while he drove. 

Bryce Canyon has been carved out of the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, one of the high plateaus of Utah. We traveled south to Rainbow and Yovimpa Points,  the southernmost paved section.  There we looked out over the Aquarius Plateau, the highest in the US, greater than 9,000 feet.  Jay showed us the bristlecone pine,  the oldest living thing at Bryce Canyon at 1800 years!!

Jay explains that the bristlecone pine chooses the most hostile environments.  This one is about 1800 years old, but one in California is almost 5000 years old!!

The promitory in the distance is Molly's nipple, looking towards the Aquarius Plateau.

As we headed north we stopped at Aqua Canyon  to see the Hunter and Rabbit, and Sphynx formations.  We were encouraged to see what other formations to name.

Next we stopped at Fairview Point where Jaba, the Hutt, Yodo and Munk were imagined.

At Natural Bridge we saw the beautiful Arch.

Our last stop was at Fairyland Point, which is actually at the beginning of the Park.

Leaving Bryce Canyon, we passed through Red Canyon, which is just full of hoodoos and spires, made of red limestone and sandstone.