Hoodoos and Soaked Shoes.
Woke up to a crow hawking around our campsite at Bryce Canyon this morning. I walked up to the Amphitheater in the North Campground at 8am for Alli and Caitlin's service. It was 20 minutes long, and Alli gave a nice sermon on Matthew 6:1-15. If you're curious, the link to her sermon is here:
http://hoodoowhoknew.weebly.com/1/post/2012/06/sermon-62412.html
I also added Alli's Weebly to the left hand bar, for your viewing pleasure. She's living in Bryce for the summer, volunteering with Christian ministry in the National Parks, and working at the park's coffee/pizza shop. Who knows where her travels will take her come the fall!
A small breakfast of dry bagels/sandwiches and coffee was had, and once Alli and Caitlin got back from their second sermon, we drove up to Sunset Point, on the Canyon Amphitheater Region. The whole view of the canyon is very impressive. We walked down the Navajo Trail, which is a huge set of switchbacks that goes straight down into the canyon. The girls nicknamed it, very aptly, Lombard Street. Once we got to the bottom, the canyon was shaded and smothered in orange-tinted light. Such vivid colors. The copper pillars around us seemed to be off of a completely different planet.
The pillars you'll see in the photos are called "hoodoos". Native American legend says that the hoodoos are people-animal things that were turned into stone for "being bad". The copper color comes from iron, but there were also darker shades of red/orange, a mustardy yellow, and beige. The formation of the hoodoos are all sectioned and chipped at random, which makes every hoodoo unique and results in some interesting formations. Apparently, the whole canyon fills with snow during the winter, and ice in the cracks expands and cracks the rock formations. This process shapes the hoodoos further every winter.
There was a mix of dead and alive trees in the valley. We walked down "Wall Street" up to Peekaboo Junction, where Alli & Caitlin left us to do the Queens Garden trail. We hiked about another mile up to and thru the Peekaboo loop, before turning back down the loop and doing the Queens Garden trail ourselves.
We finished hiking around 1:00, completely covered in dust. We were out for approx. 2 hours, went about 3.5 miles. Alli and Caitlin *graciously* allowed us to shower up and eat in their dorm. We drove nine miles into Bryce to see the natural bridge (which is actually an arch), before departing for Zion Canyon National Park.
Unable to make a reservation in the park, we grabbed a campsite just outside of Zion. Set up camp around 5, and then drove into the park. It's a long 12 miles from the entrance to the visitor center, including a few long tunnels. Once out, the views were incredible. Kyle described it as a "reverse Grand Canyon", but it's even bigger than I could have imagined.
After a quick stop at the visitor center, we hopped on a shuttle and headed towards the Temple of Sinawava. The park doesn't allow cars into most areas in order to cut down on thru traffic. The temple is also at the end of the line, so it was a half hour drive out. From the temple, we took the mile long Riverside Walk out to what is called the Narrows. At the end of the mile, the path closes off and you're forced straight up the river. At one crucial point, the water reached up past my belly button and I had to carry our backpack over my head. With the red and blackened sandstone columns all around us, and the river flowing thru the pass only 20 feet wide or so... It just didn't seem real. So spectacular.
We took some great pictures on the fancy camera, but I neglected to snap any on my phone. We did some diving and swimming in the deeper parts of the river before heading back downstream. By no means did we hike the whole Narrows; a Ranger told us they go on longer than one could hike in a day. Our whole hike up and down the Riverside and Narrows was three or four miles, over about two hours.
Between the bus back to the visitor center, and then the half hour drive out of the park, we had to prepare our meal by headlights around 10:45. No cell service at the campground means this is getting posted during our drive into the park in the morning, where we plan on hiking up to Angel's Landing, amongst a few other spots in Zion. From there, we'll make the three hour drive to Sin City. If anyone wants to donate some hotel points, now's your chance. Hah.
http://hoodoowhoknew.weebly.com/1/post/2012/06/sermon-62412.html
I also added Alli's Weebly to the left hand bar, for your viewing pleasure. She's living in Bryce for the summer, volunteering with Christian ministry in the National Parks, and working at the park's coffee/pizza shop. Who knows where her travels will take her come the fall!
A small breakfast of dry bagels/sandwiches and coffee was had, and once Alli and Caitlin got back from their second sermon, we drove up to Sunset Point, on the Canyon Amphitheater Region. The whole view of the canyon is very impressive. We walked down the Navajo Trail, which is a huge set of switchbacks that goes straight down into the canyon. The girls nicknamed it, very aptly, Lombard Street. Once we got to the bottom, the canyon was shaded and smothered in orange-tinted light. Such vivid colors. The copper pillars around us seemed to be off of a completely different planet.
The pillars you'll see in the photos are called "hoodoos". Native American legend says that the hoodoos are people-animal things that were turned into stone for "being bad". The copper color comes from iron, but there were also darker shades of red/orange, a mustardy yellow, and beige. The formation of the hoodoos are all sectioned and chipped at random, which makes every hoodoo unique and results in some interesting formations. Apparently, the whole canyon fills with snow during the winter, and ice in the cracks expands and cracks the rock formations. This process shapes the hoodoos further every winter.
There was a mix of dead and alive trees in the valley. We walked down "Wall Street" up to Peekaboo Junction, where Alli & Caitlin left us to do the Queens Garden trail. We hiked about another mile up to and thru the Peekaboo loop, before turning back down the loop and doing the Queens Garden trail ourselves.
We finished hiking around 1:00, completely covered in dust. We were out for approx. 2 hours, went about 3.5 miles. Alli and Caitlin *graciously* allowed us to shower up and eat in their dorm. We drove nine miles into Bryce to see the natural bridge (which is actually an arch), before departing for Zion Canyon National Park.
Unable to make a reservation in the park, we grabbed a campsite just outside of Zion. Set up camp around 5, and then drove into the park. It's a long 12 miles from the entrance to the visitor center, including a few long tunnels. Once out, the views were incredible. Kyle described it as a "reverse Grand Canyon", but it's even bigger than I could have imagined.
After a quick stop at the visitor center, we hopped on a shuttle and headed towards the Temple of Sinawava. The park doesn't allow cars into most areas in order to cut down on thru traffic. The temple is also at the end of the line, so it was a half hour drive out. From the temple, we took the mile long Riverside Walk out to what is called the Narrows. At the end of the mile, the path closes off and you're forced straight up the river. At one crucial point, the water reached up past my belly button and I had to carry our backpack over my head. With the red and blackened sandstone columns all around us, and the river flowing thru the pass only 20 feet wide or so... It just didn't seem real. So spectacular.
We took some great pictures on the fancy camera, but I neglected to snap any on my phone. We did some diving and swimming in the deeper parts of the river before heading back downstream. By no means did we hike the whole Narrows; a Ranger told us they go on longer than one could hike in a day. Our whole hike up and down the Riverside and Narrows was three or four miles, over about two hours.
Between the bus back to the visitor center, and then the half hour drive out of the park, we had to prepare our meal by headlights around 10:45. No cell service at the campground means this is getting posted during our drive into the park in the morning, where we plan on hiking up to Angel's Landing, amongst a few other spots in Zion. From there, we'll make the three hour drive to Sin City. If anyone wants to donate some hotel points, now's your chance. Hah.
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