Utah - Day 21 - Bryce Canyon National Park

Cannonville KOA, Cannonville

Thursday, 21 October 2021

The daytime temps had warmed up to the low 60s and the nighttime temps had barely scraped freezing, so I decided the roads would be okay to go visit Bryce Canyon.  After seeing photos of it, this is one of the main places I wanted to visit here in Utah, and I'm glad the weather cooperated.

today's route

On the road

The turnoff to the canyon was only 12 miles from the campground, so it was an easy drive.  Along the way I saw more interesting scenery I hadn't noticed on the way down.

This white-with-red-stripes rock is common in this area,
and I've seen these towers of rock all over.  Think of the odd
erosion patterns that created this sculpture.

The AAA map shows Bryce Canyon City as almost being on UT-12, but it's actually several miles in on Hwy. 63, which runs all the way through the national park.  The town's sign said it was established in 2007, and since everything I saw was designed to attract tourists, I assume it was founded to capitalize on the growing popularity of the national park.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Once again, my senior pass got me in the park for free (usual cost is $35/vehicle, so this pass is saving me a fortune at all these national parks I've visited) and I stopped at the Visitor Center to walk the dogs.  Right next to the parking area I saw these:

At first I wondered why one smallish building would need so much
solar power, but then I realized they may need it for heat in the winter 
and AC in the summer, and tourists can be such fragile flowers.

During snow times, only the first 2½ miles or so of the park road are plowed, and the only viewpoints available are the first ones: Sunrise Point, Sunset Point, and Inspiration Point, all overlooking Bryce Amphitheater.  I would have liked to see these places, but it was nearly 10:00 when I got there and I could already see crowds of tourists.  Assuming that many would stop there before going farther, I decided to go as far out the road as the weather would allow.  Which turned out to be all 18 miles of it.

Leaving the Visitor Center area, I passed a warning sign I've never seen before:

This photo is copyrighted and credited to The World.
I apologize for using it but it's the only one that looks like the sign I saw.
In fact, I'll bet money this photo was taken here at Bryce, based on the background.

At the Visitor Center I'd seen signs that said certain areas beyond the parking lot were closed to protect prairie dog habitat.  I didn't see any of the critters (thank goodness, because Dext would have gotten excited) or their holes, but I'm sure that's their home.

Right after this sign I saw not prairie dogs but a half dozen deer grazing right by the road.  I slowed way down, to the consternation of the cars behind me, but I'll never forget the several times deer have run across the road inches from my front bumper, and I didn't want to make any sudden stops.  I'm pretty sure they were Mule Deer, based on their rear ends and ears.

The Visitor Center is at 7,894' and all the viewing points are at higher elevations.  This meant the road climbed most of the way out with plenty of s-curves, and I began to see patches of snow that I guess were left over from that storm that blew through Utah last week - sometimes even whole hillsides were covered.

Much of the drive was through what I thought of as alpine forest - a sign told me I was still in the Dixie National Forest, and there were plenty of trees to back it up.

The one place that intrigued me most was Natural Bridge, elev. 8,627', so I decided to go there first.  It's more than 12 miles out the road and likely isn't available during the winter.  The road was fine today though, and this is what I saw.

my first view of it

As people left, I could get a little closer.

There was a sign nearby explaining how this feature came to be.  The sign was badly weathered, though, so I'll just tell you it said this structure isn't really a bridge but instead an arch.  "Natural bridges are carved by rushing streams, whereas subtler forms of weather have sculpted this opening."

And it goes on to explain those subtler forms:  Headed "Illusion of Permanence" it reads:

"The arch began as a recess in a narrow limestone fin.  As moisture seeped into cracks, freezing and thawing combined with gravity and chemical weathering to erode the rock.

"Hollows may have developed on both sides of the wall, gradually deepening until sky showed through.

"Gaps usually form beneath harder caprock.  Though the gully below did not carve the arch, runoff washes away debris and deepens the span.

"It is impossible to predict when the span might fall.  At Arches National Park similar spans have collapsed without warning, leaving pillars to erode more slowly."

the caprock

the whole arch

the rock next door

Pictures don't begin to convey the jaw-dropping nature of this view.  This arch is quite near the road, where the park service had made a small parking lot.  But beyond it is a vast ocean of mountains and trees and it's just stunning.

I hadn't intended to go all the way to the end, but it was less than 6 miles from the Natural Bridge to the end and the road was clear so I decided to go on out.

There are 2 viewpoints at the end of the road.  Rainbow Point, elev. 9,115", is the most easily accessible, with Yovimpa Point down a short paved trail to overlook the other side of the ridge we were on.  I wanted to let the dogs out and went only to Rainbow Point, not wanting to press my luck on the longer trail.

from Rainbow Point

This photo shows more clearly the mountainous terrain of this large area.

I'm not sure why it's called Rainbow Point and none of the park's handouts tell me.  Some view, though.

At all the stops I made I found lots of visitors from foreign countries, easily identifiable by their primary use of a language other than English.  And I saw a young woman who had no body below her torso and was in an expensive wheelchair.  She was with her parents who seemed to be taking good care of her - not overbearing, just doing what they could to be sure she was having a good time.  She was lucky.

As we drove back down the hill, I wanted to stop at some of the viewpoints I'd passed on the way up.  But the parking areas for all were small and most were completely full.  I was able to stop at Ponderosa Canyon, elev. 8,904'.  I couldn't decide which of these photos I liked best so I'm including them both.

And a little farther along, after missing several viewpoints, I found this pullout that didn't have a name but did have a parking place and a view.

Not far from the Visitor Center I tried to visit Sunset Point.  Big mistake.  It was going on noon and the fairly large parking area was completely jammed.  I got stuck behind drivers who had stopped in the path of traffic so they could be first in line for a parking space that might be available soon.  I had to dodge dozens of tourists - young and old - who were crossing the traffic lane to get from the viewing point I couldn't see to their parking places I couldn't fit into.  I had to go all the way around the parking loop because once in, that was the only way out.  The lesson learned: when I come back for another visit, I'll come early in the morning to avoid this mass of tourists.

The National Park Service handed out one of their excellent brochures at the entrance that explained a lot about how this area came to be.  It also had this photo:

I didn't see anything like this and assume the photo was taken at one of the viewpoints over the Bryce Amphitheater.  Too bad Sunset Point was so packed.  After that experience I didn't even bother to try the others in that area.

I saw the same 6 Mule Deer that seemed to be in almost the same place I'd seen them a few hours earlier.  Good grazing, I guess.

The park service brochure also explained the geology of Bryce Canyon.

So between ancient seas and tectonic plates, this area didn't have a chance - it had to change.

And in that same brochure, the park service thoughtfully included an explanation of the geology of the Grand Staircase and Bryce Canyon's place in it.

So Bryce Canyon is geologically connected to the Grand Canyon.
And the geological uniqueness of this area makes its preservation
much more important than just pretty scenery.

These weird rock formations I've been seeing are called hoodoos,
and this is how they're formed.

Back on the road

After stopping for gas at Bryce Canyon City - same price as in St. George (the west side of the highway) - I passed a place called Mossy Cave.  This is technically inside the boundary of the national park, and there's a small parking area (with overflow parking a little farther along the road) and the beginning of an .8-mile hiking trail.  The park service says, "Streamside walk up to a mossy grotto that fills with spectacular icicles in winter, and dripping mosses in summer."  When I'd driven past on my way to Cannonville a few days ago, the parking area was overflowing; today it was nearly full.  A popular hike, I guess.

I stopped at the only grocery store anywhere near Cannonville - a small grocery in Tropic, with 519 residents (2019 estimate).  Considering the town's size the store wasn't too badly stocked, and I asked the cashier (looked in her 50s) if Tropic was a nice place to live.  She said yes, she'd lived there all her life.  And when I asked what she liked best about it, she said she could get on her horse or her bike and go anywhere.  Which isn't a freedom to be sneered at.

I drove into Cannonville, elev. 5,886' and pop. 167 in 2010 (I looked it up), and discovered the town is about 2 blocks wide and 4 or 5 blocks long.  There didn't seem to be any businesses to speak of and I think it's mostly a farming community.  The KOA sits by the highway on 1 of the 2 streets, and a few blocks away I found the Visitor Center for the Kodachrome Basin State Park, which I'd considered visiting.  

The visitor center was closed, though, with no explanation posted.  The only brochures they'd left outside were for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (which didn't explain the geology like the Bryce Canyon brochure did).  This monument, along with Bears Ears National Monument, was a set-aside that Pres. Trump rescinded, and recently Pres. Biden reestablished.  I haven't planned to visit either of them solely because it looks like most access is via dirt roads, which I'm not fond of and especially not for long distances.  Another time in another vehicle maybe.

There was a display outside the closed visitor center about local settlements, with explanations that were undoubtedly written by an LDS member but were still interesting.

These were titled "Who Were Settlers."

Cannonville was named for George Q. Cannon,
a Mormon official, per the internet.

There was nothing behind me, as the sign said there was,
so I guess the "water lizard" was that barrel behind the sign.

These were titled "Making a Home."

The dogs and I took a short walk around a nice park across the street from the closed visitor center and then went back to the campground.

Back in the campground

I learned from various folks here that the best place to go for sunsets is Kodachrome State Park, because it's at a lower elevation.  And the best place to go for sunrises is Bryce Canyon, because of its higher elevation.  And in Bryce Canyon, the best place for sunrises is Sunset Point, not Sunrise Point which isn't nearly as good.  So now I know for future visits.