Bryce Canyon National Park

It would be near impossible to match the beauty of Zion, but Bryce Canyon comes breathtakingly close to where I was the day before. Whereas Zion looks as if it were carved with swinging axe strokes, Bryce is finely detailed and brightly painted. Bryce Canyon National Park's most prominent feature is a sweeping amphitheater of fiery orange, pink, and white hoodoos on the edge of a great cliff.

From Zion, Bryce is slightly over an hour away. I stopped in Ordeville on the way and purchased a piece of petrified wood and an opalized shell fossil, but still got to the next park on my list by just after ten. Once in Bryce, I parked at Sunrise Point, laced up my hiking shoes, and set off for the overlook. The Sunset Point vista is spectacular as are the four other strategically placed lookouts I visited along the rim of Bryce Canyon.

After taking in the view from Sunrise Point, I ventured down into the labyrinth of dirt, sand, and stone. Note the exposed tree roots on the canyon's edge. These bare roots are visual evidence of how fast Bryce Canyon is eroding. The roots used to be underground, but the dirt has been washed away. I began on the Queens Garden Trail, then took the three mile Navajo Loop through the hoodoos.

The Navajo Loop trail leaves the maze of hoodoos at Sunset Point, another eyeful to behold. I then continued two more miles along the Rim Trail to the three Inspiration Point vistas, then on to Bryce Point. From Bryce Point, I took the free park shuttle back to where I had parked at Sunrise Point and, after briefly stopping at the Fairyland Canyon lookout continued on my way to Capital Reef National Park by way of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.