The next day, I got up and headed back to the park. I arrived at the entrance at the same time as carload of visitors from France. They asked if I would take their pictures. I love taking pictures of people, and they were happy to take mine, too.
I stopped at the Visitors Center and asked the ranger for a map and advice for how to see the park. She recommended that I drive to the end of the park and then work my way back. I stamped my National Parks Passport and headed out.
The park is a compact 55 square miles, as compared with Zion National Park’s 229 square miles. Bryce Canyon National Park was first established as a national monument in 1923. Its name was changed to Utah National Park in 1924 and it received its current name in 1928.
The park was named for Ebenezer Bryce, a Scottish immigrant and pioneer to the region. He converted to the Mormon faith and left Scotland at the age of 17. According to my sources, (Wikipedia) he was the only member of his family to convert to Mormonism and was “disowned” by his father.
After driving to the end of the park’s road, I arrived at Rainbow Point.
Wow! That’s some elevation! I walked over to the edge and looked at the view.
What a view! Spectacular!
I don’t know how far I saw on that day, but according to the park information, on a clear day, you can see 150 miles and even identify landforms in Arizona. The air is so clear!
I decided to eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and drink my water before I hiked the Bristlecone Loop. They had these incredible benches that are made out of split trunks of enormous pines. I do wish I had a photo of the benches. In lieu of the bench photo, here’s a shot of the toilet paper array in the vault toilet.
Something for everyone: over, under, left and right. Can’t say they don’t celebrate diversity!
I headed down the trail to the Bristlecone Loop. I came to the sign and turned left. Anyone notice something about the sign? I wondered why I met so many people coming toward me. Oh, well.
Winter hadn’t quite lost its grip up here above 9000 feet in the middle of April. There were a few patches of snow across the trail, but I managed to get around them without incident.
Every now and then, the trail would lead me back to the rim and another amazing vista.
When I got to a place with a little shelter, I asked some of the people I met walking toward me to take my photo.
The woman noticed my Kalamazoo jacket and told me that she and her husband were married in Kalamazoo. I asked her where the wedding was, and she told me that it was in Crane Park. What a small world! I lived in the apartments across the street from that park. She and her husband were attending college in Kalamazoo when they met.
Here is the marker that was at the point. They have a program where kids can get a small reward for hiking at Bryce Canyon. No such program for adults, however.
I always wondered what a bristlecone pine looked like. I think I may have found one.
The trees are slow-growing at this altitude. Given the dryness, they don’t even decay that quickly. I wonder how long this stump as been sitting there. 
The views just continued.
I got to another place for a photo-op and decided to display my Kalamazoo Promise tee shirt.
Views, views and more views.
You know, you don’t need to tell me twice. Actually, after all the views, I was ready to see the rest of the park.
I headed down the trail and back to Bart. I started back toward the entrance to the park. There were pullouts all the way back.
One of the stops was called Natural Bridge. It’s natural, but it’s not a bridge. Bridges are created by water flowing through them. This is an arch. It’s still impressive.
I drove and then pulled over to admire the views.
There was still snow in Black Birch Canyon.
There were hoodoos galore. A hoodoo is a tall, thin spire created by erosion. (Just in case you wanted to know.) They actually occur in many places around the world. They first time I encountered something like this was in Momostenango, Guatemala. There they were called “los riscos.”
Ah, but back to Utah.
While I was driving back toward the entrance, I noticed RVs being driven on the same road. I was thinking that I was so glad that I didn’t have to drive something so large through the park. When the opportunity arose, I took a photo of Bart with one of them. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that they were about the same length – and Bart had a longer wheel base!
One of my last stops in the park was the Bryce Canyon Lodge. I do like an interesting hotel!
The Bryce Canyon Lodge was built in the mid-twenties by the Utah Parks Company, which was a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad. This was part of the railroad’s project to develop tourist traffic to the national parks in Utah and Arizona by providing quality destination hotels at each park.
It is elegant, in a rustic way. I thought I might have dinner there. I looked over the menu and decided that I wasn’t hungry enough for a $35 dinner. I enjoyed looking around, though. I thought this was an interesting sign at the registration desk.
I actually saw families playing cards and sitting together reading in the lobby as they waited for the dining room to begin serving dinner.
I had one more stop to make before I returned to Flo for my dinner: Fairyland Canyon.
What a spectacular view!
My eyes were getting worn out from all the looking!
But one more shot before I head back to Ruby’s Inn and RV Park for dinner and to get rested up for the next day’s adventures.
