Day 289: Zion National Park – Bryce Canyon
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Tuesday May 24th
A loud bus made for an extremely rude and early wake-up call at 5:15am, and after another hour of sleep we were up for our normal morning drill. In the car at 8:30, we had a few hours’ drive before a stop at a unique souvenir store, selling lots of Route 66 and Navajo Indians made products. I didn’t buy anything, but the others jostled with the Asian crowd already there to purchase souvenirs. Then it was onto a local market to stock up on supplies. The store was really in the middle of Hicksville, with gun shops and hat wearing cowboys, just like the movies!
We’d planned to get alcohol but the only alcohol store we could find was closed, despite our best efforts. Back on the road, we found a classic little stretch of road that had great items for photos, like a jail cell and those wooden cut-outs that you can stick your face in. That was right next to the ‘Welcome to Bryce Canyon’ sign, where we had a group photo and some flash planking photos (you have no idea what an addiction planking has become).
After lunch in the car park of Bryce Canyon, we had a few hours to walk the trails. Bryce Canyon was another spot none of us had really heard of, and is one of the smallest national parks in the US. It is known for its ‘hoodoo’ formations, which are almost like stalagmites made of red sandstone. Apparently they are formed because of the freezing and then unfreezing of the rocks, which results in cracks (the area has over 200 freezing days per year).There were lots of signs about warning us about rockfalls in the areas, so several paths were off limits, and I heard a ranger telling a couple that suicides were common here!
On the way to the campsite, Cassie took us to an odd-shaped rock, which looks like a man’s private parts. The others had some fun with their photos, but I was a good girl. The campsite tonight was a ‘primitive’ one – it wasn’t a real campsite with showers and electricity available. We had a drop toilet and a campfire pit, and that was it! After dinner of chilli, which my group cooked (I cooked the veggie version) we all tried to warm up (it was freezing!) by sitting around the campfire, telling stories, roasting s’mores and looking at the stars. This is real camping!!
A loud bus made for an extremely rude and early wake-up call at 5:15am, and after another hour of sleep we were up for our normal morning drill. In the car at 8:30, we had a few hours’ drive before a stop at a unique souvenir store, selling lots of Route 66 and Navajo Indians made products. I didn’t buy anything, but the others jostled with the Asian crowd already there to purchase souvenirs. Then it was onto a local market to stock up on supplies. The store was really in the middle of Hicksville, with gun shops and hat wearing cowboys, just like the movies!
We’d planned to get alcohol but the only alcohol store we could find was closed, despite our best efforts. Back on the road, we found a classic little stretch of road that had great items for photos, like a jail cell and those wooden cut-outs that you can stick your face in. That was right next to the ‘Welcome to Bryce Canyon’ sign, where we had a group photo and some flash planking photos (you have no idea what an addiction planking has become).
After lunch in the car park of Bryce Canyon, we had a few hours to walk the trails. Bryce Canyon was another spot none of us had really heard of, and is one of the smallest national parks in the US. It is known for its ‘hoodoo’ formations, which are almost like stalagmites made of red sandstone. Apparently they are formed because of the freezing and then unfreezing of the rocks, which results in cracks (the area has over 200 freezing days per year).There were lots of signs about warning us about rockfalls in the areas, so several paths were off limits, and I heard a ranger telling a couple that suicides were common here!
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