Bryce Canyon National Park

Day 8 Soundtrack:

Morning - The Velvet Underground, VU

Lunch - The Pesky Alders, Heavy Meadow

Evening - Roy Orbison, The Very Best Of

Half of the enjoyment of road-tripping is the driving.  Not the act of driving itself, but the opportunity to pass through miles and miles of land that one would otherwise miss if they flew. 

Scraping out Vanny's wheel-well, after tackling the Rocky Mountains.

Since leaving Ontario, the landscape has changed so frequently that it seems we are almost in a new land everyday. As we travelled South, the soil became lighter and lighter, slowly changing from the almost black, nutrient rich soil of Southern Ontario, to deep browns, to reds, to tans. The plants at first grew larger - in the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, everything seemed gigantic - and then slowly shrinking as we passed state after state. 

As we get further from the Canadian border, the environment becomes "curiouser and curiouser" as Alice might say, and Bryce Canyon was the tip of the "curiouser" iceberg. The most photogenic and striking park we've been to so far, the bright orange hoodoos stood with strength on a bright blue skyline. 

We pulled into Bryce after leaving our motel, travelling the historic byway (passing several "Prospector" themed stops - "Prospector Gasoline" "Prospector Lodge" "Prospector General Store") and slowly following the changing landscape. After the blizzard the night before, the sky was bright and clear, but it was a chilling -12C, the coldest day we'd had yet.  

We spent a number of hours hiking into the amphitheatre of hoodoos, following the Navajo and Queen's Garden trail in a loop from one edge of the rim to the next. 

Few people ventured deep into the amphitheatre that day, so we enjoyed the peace of the wooded valley just the two of us.

Despite the frigid weather, the sun shone brightly, and we couldn't help but sit in awe of what existed on this planet, right in front of us. It's a big, big world out there - lots to discover, and Bryce Canyon is a must see if you're in the Utah area. We will be back.