Canyonlands of Utah - A Geologist's Dream Come True

    We were excited as we left for Bryce Canyon knowing that the drive would bring us more of the awesome Utah canyon lands along the way. It did not take long for us to find a suitable spot to stop along the roadside to partake in yet another rock climb at a spot where the rocks laid in folded stacks as if a row of books had been knocked over. The boys and I ascended the stack to the top while Karen stayed at the bottom filming for prosperity on the video camera. Finally, just before entering Bryce Canyon National Park, we detoured through a blind box canyon right out of Butch Cassidy’s days.

    The closest lodging to the canyon is Ruby’s Inn, opened in 1916. It is all the wonderful things they say it is and more but the real attraction is obviously the giant natural amphitheater known as Bryce Canyon. Wind, rain and ice erosion has created thousands of multi-coloured Gothic spires thousands of feet tall in this area unlike any other on earth.
    It was a highlight of the trip as we hiked the Navajo Trail from the top to the bottom of the canyon providing us with some truly breathtaking views as we travelled deeper and deeper into the abyss. However, I strongly recommend you not attempt a journey such as this in cowboy boots. I believe they were made for riding because these boots weren’t made for walking.
    Surrounded by rock formations like castles and gigantic hoodoos we felt a mere speck in the universe as we wound our way around switchback curves to the canyon floor. The canyon floor was riddled with small caves, fallen trees and rock arches with huge rock formations lined up like sentinels on the hillside. The hike back up took us to the Natural Bridge lookout where we gazed across the canyon, engulfed by fir forests, and felt somewhat blessed that we had chosen to come to Bryce Canyon. As the sun began to set we gazed from the top of the lookout and felt a real sense of accomplishment knowing that we had ventured all the way to the bottom and returned unscathed to enjoy our final look at this most spectacular vista.

 

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