Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon National Park

Welcome to Bryce Canyon country

Check out is 10 am and I’m close to the wire in driving off. But I’ve another busy day ahead. It was however another bad night’s (not) sleep but the bed was not right, it seemed convex and I felt I was falling off the edges all the time, constantly waking me up. I liked the cabin but the bed was not a good point.

It is a cool 73º F / 23º C as I drive towards Bryce Canyon. I arrive at the Shuttle Station around 10.30 am and get a bus straight away, just as it was about to leave. The National Park Service recommends using the free Shuttle to visit what is known as the Bryce Amphitheater. Many people however ignore this advice and drive their own cars around to see the sights. Which they come to regret as later on as I see two parking lots are closed because they are full. This is why you are ‘asked’ to use the bus.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Eric is my first driver of the day and he is a jolly and happy chap. He deposits me and a few others at the first stop, Bryce Point. It’s a short 100 yards or so walk to see the open vista in front of me.

Bryce Canyon is not truly a canyon because no river runs through it. It is a series of natural amphitheaters carved into the edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The bowl-shaped features contain the world’s largest selection of varied rock spires known as hoodoos.

Hoodoos. Lots of Hoodoos.

Hoodoos. OMG. F****** amazing sight. Yeah, yeah, I’ve said that before on this trip but, seriously, the hoodoos (rock formations) and the vista they sit in are amazing. I’m at an altitude of 8,300 feet and I struggle a bit on the slopes up to the vista point due to the low oxygen levels up here.

But it was worth it. I have never seen anything like this before. I know now (after seeing these) that there are hoodoos elsewhere in the world, but not – I believe – on this scale. My field of vision over 180º is filled with hoodoos in varying states of erosion, with incredible shapes and colours. Incredible. I’ve said that before on this trip. I might be saying it again I think.

Bryce Point panorama

Back to the bus stop. The shuttles run every 10 minutes or so and one soon turns up. Next stop is Inspiration Point. The bus driver tells us that it’s a popular spot for weddings. Is this better than Bryce Point? Yes. But how could that be? Don’t ask me, look at the photos.

Then it’s on to Sunset Point. As the stop after this is Sunrise Point, I asked the driver do you see a sunset or sunrise, given they are both looking east. No, I am told. What you get at those times is the sun’s rays creating a different spectacle on the hoodoos depending on the time of day.

Sunset Point

For my money, Sunset Point is the best place of the lot in Bryce Canyon. It is just incredible. The formation known as Thor’s Hammer must get the vote alone. There is such a variety and bigger scale at Sunset than the previous two stops. Now, bear in mind I’m talking superlatives on top of superlatives, if that’s not a bad piece of English. It’s not like Bryce Point is suddenly bad, not at all, but this is just way better.

Sunset Point panoramas

Last stop was Sunrise Point. Bit of a disappointment actually. Well, something had to be, didn’t it? It’s a nice view across a valley with some nice rocks but not many hoodoos. So, not everything is brilliant!

I’d been lucky with buses arriving almost as soon as I got to the stop at the previous three places but I must have just missed one at Sunrise. I have to wait almost 10 minutes for one to arrive. And Eric is driving. So he took me in and takes me out of the Amphitheater. He even remembered me!

I could not understand why, with at least two of the major viewing sites having parking lots that were full, they were still letting cars in. Because when a lot is full, a car is just waved on. They are not allowed to wait at the entrance until someone leaves. And there is nothing to see other than via the parking lots (you walk from a lot to a viewing area looking over a valley).

I asked Eric. He said the Rangers on entry don’t care, they just wait until all lots are full (closed) then they might think about restricting access to the Park. In a way I suppose it’s a way of telling people, if you want to be sure of seeing the hoodoos, use the shuttle bus. As said before, I can’t see why you wouldn’t. You still have to pay to get into the Park, so why do that then find you can’t get into a parking lot and see what you’ve come to see? Stupid.

Up to Rainbow Point

Bryce Canyon National Park leaflet

Eric drops me back at the shuttle lot and I then drive into the Park. I’m heading to Rainbow Point, 18 miles away at the end of Southern Scenic Drive. It’s another aspect to the Park. In fact it’s the highest viewpoint in the park. The NPS recommended driving straight to the Point then stopping at viewpoints on the way down. So I did.

It’s a good drive up, twisty and turning in places, although I end up behind slow moving cars at times. The parking lot at the top is very busy. I can see many cars just circling around waiting for someone to leave. I do the same and eventually get a space.

There are great views from Rainbow Point. What else did you expect? I’m running out of superlatives on this trip. You can’t get a good view of the scenery from the lot so once I’m done viewing I start the drive back down, with the intention of stopping in a turnout to eat lunch. I find one about half a mil from the summit.

Rainbow Point panorama

Setting off again I stop at Agua Canyon and Natural Bridge, the latter of which is almost unbelievable as to what nature has created of the rocks. The “bridge” is technically an arch. Going back down I get up some decent speed on the twisty road, until I catch some slow cars again. Soon I’m back at the Bryce Canyon Visitor Center.

To Page in Arizona

US-89 S near Glendale, UT

I use the rest rooms before setting off to drive to Page, my overnight stop. It’s still very high at the Center, 7,667 feet of altitude but only 70º F / 21º C. It will heat up I’m sure as I descend and hit Arizona later. Indeed, with clear blue skies, 30 miles from Page it is 87º F / 30º C.

Leaving the mountains of Bryce Canyon behind, the landscape flattens out. There is however a common sight on this trip. Driving along through flat terrain suddenly out of nowhere rock monoliths, semi-mountains, large mounds and great lumps of rock just appear at random, almost anywhere. Sometimes there’s just one, at other times there might be a few in a cluster.

Often they have sedimentary layers on show on their weatherworn sides. Eons of history on view. It’s quite amazing to be driving through a flat desert and some rock structures and formation are still standing. At some point in the past, the whole area must have been covered in rock but the rest has been eroded away. What’s left today has obviously got some qualities in the rock to allow it to survive. Whether it will last for ever, who knows?

I set off for Page knowing I will gain an hour in time as Arizona does not do Daylight Saving Time. They are on Mountain Standard Time, an hour behind Utah. From UT-12 W I turn left onto SR-89 S that will take me all the way to Page. There are a lot of straight, flat roads. I go through a couple of towns but there is not much else to report.

“Burning down the house” *

I check-in at the Best Western View of Lake Powell Hotel – the Lake is just about visible – then check my timings and bookings for tomorrow. Around 7.30 pm I walk out of the hotel and up the road to Grand Canyon Brewing + Distillery. It is one large ‘warehouse’ type room and quite busy, with a central bar and tables and chairs dotted around.

The bar staff are perfunctory at best, not unfriendly but not chatty. There is no-one else sitting at the bar on my side. My beer is Hop Canyon IPA and I eat some wings. I knew the bar closed at 10 pm, even tonight, a Saturday. But what appalled me was that at 9 pm, with the place still quite full, the bar and waiting staff start closing the place down. One guy was walking around stacking the metal chairs at the end of each table, making a huge amount of noise as he literally threw the chairs on top of each other. He was totally oblivious to the racket he was making. And he was doing this around tables that still had customers sitting at them.

The bar staff started to put all the various measuring cups, spoons and glasses away. Some new customers then came up to the bar looking for drinks only for the staff to completely ignore them. They didn’t leave however and grudgingly one of the staff eventually served them. This was at 9.15 pm, a full 45 minutes before closing time.

I was disgusted by this: I have never seen such blatantly bad customer service from a whole brigade of servers. Deciding I wasn’t going to give them anymore of my money, I cashed up and went back to the hotel. On the way I stopped at a Circle K gas station to buy a couple of beers. F*** you, Grand Canyon Brewing + Distillery.

This left a bit of a sour taste at the end of the evening to what had been an amazing day. I tried to let it not ruin it however, or get me down. Bryce Canyon – what a place!

* Burning down the house by Talking Heads