Bryce Canyon, the Jewel in the Crown

Bryce is 75 miles from the campsite and in the mountains, so we expected a difficult drive. However the roads were first class, as you can see, even cutting through a rock as we neared our destination.

There was unusual rock scenery from here on to the park, like this column with what looks like a giant Budda on top.

The guide books, and everyone who had visited Bryce, said how fantastic it was, so you arrive expecting to be bowled over immediately. Here’s the first viewpoint, very nice, spectacular even, but nothing different to other parks we’ve visited.

But moving on round to the next overlook, some of the rock formations are now quite different. The colours especially are almost glowing. The scale is vast, particularly viewed in the second photo below.

At another point there are different shapes, stood like petrified figures, Where these have weathered into individual columns, as in the second photo, they are known as hoodoos. Particularly note the different colours. The white isn’t snow, although we are at 8,000 feet: it was actually a really warm day.

An information board quotes the wisdom of an elderly Paiute called Indian Dick who explains that before the Indians, the Legend People occupied the land and they did bad things, and so were turned to stone by the Spirits. More effective punishment than fines or probation, certainly. It needs little imagination to see theses columns as weathered stone statues, as in an ancient cathedral. This is a good example.

Continuing with the cathedral comparison, this cliff could easily be part of a medieval façade with alcoves, carvings and statues.

The rim of the canyon is eroding a few centimetres every decade and this is apparent from the exposed tree roots in places. These roots were level with the soil when the tree was established.

The trees are all firs of several different types, generally growing where you would expect, but occasionally one defies the odds- how does it manage to survive?

The canyon complex is crisscrossed by hiking and riding trails at all levels. This is a horse trek heading down to the canyon floor. We stayed firmly on the top and flattest level.

The canyon was named after one Ebeneezer Bryce, a mormon settler originally from Scotland. His famous quote sums up the fragmented, chaotic nature of the place: “a hellava place to lose a cow”. This next photo is a what we meant. The front ranks could even be the Chinese terracotta army.

From time to time we need to prove that we’ve visited places together, so here we are on one of the overlooks, kind permission of a passing tourist.

What a place! Never seen anything like it.