Days 11-15: Hoodoos and Canyons and Dinosaurs, oh my!

When last we saw our intrepid travelers, they were bravely soldiering on with limited WiFi and no cell signal at Bryce Canyon Lodge. The scenery more than made up for the primitive conditions. 

Ok, back to first person.

On Sunday we hiked down into the canyon and climbed back out (because what was the alternative?) I've never seen anywhere like Bryce Canyon. I'm not sure there is anywhere else like Bryce Canyon. The main section of the park, the Amphitheater, is full of hoodoos. What's a hoodoo, you ask? It's a spire of rock with an easily eroded column and a more resistant cap. The name comes from a variant of "voodoo." The Indians who were displaced by the white settlers believe that they contain the spirits of their ancestors, and the aforementioned white settlers thought this was like voodoo, also known as hoodoo. Because of course you know I looked that up. Hoodoos look like this.

And like this.

We look like this.

There was also a natural bridge because Bryce can't let Arches have all the fun.

And more hoodos.

The landscape looks like the kind of sandcastle you make by dripping sand onto a pile to make a tower.

And they are really that orange. Bryce is also at 9,000 feet elevation at the rim of the amphitheater. The hike in and out was only about three miles and we felt every single step. We heard thunder as we climbed the last few feet and embraced the opportunity to spend the rest of the day sitting on the balcony watching the intermittent rain and enjoying the fresh air. We ate dinner at a lovely restaurant in Tropic (yes, that's a town in Utah) and slept very well that night.

Sunday morning we packed up, replenished our ice, and headed for Zion Canyon National Park. We stopped for a couple of short hikes on the way out of Bryce. If there's a waterfall, we will find it.

The sheer scale of the cliffs at Zion is impossible to describe. It's overwhelming. The campground in the park was much more scenic and much less dusty than the one in Moab. Also quieter - no road noise and no neighboring rooster. We got ourselves set up and of course made cocktails.

When I woke up I had company on my way to the bathroom.

After breakfast we took the shuttle into Zion Canyon and hiked up to the Emerald Pools. Did I mention I love waterfalls? 

Zion is appreciably hotter than Bryce in part because it's 5,000 ft lower. When we arrived on Monday afternoon it was in the 90s and by the time we got down the hill from the Pools on Tuesday it was well into the 80s. We took the shuttle to the end of the line, ate some lunch in the shade, and then walked as far as we could toward the Narrows, so named because the canyon is at its narrowest. Along we way we saw some amazing hanging gardens.

To hike through the Narrows you walk in the Virgin River, and it's still running too high after a lot of snow and a rainy spring, so we turned around and took the shuttle back to the campground. 

One of David's geologist friends was in the area so we invited him over for (of course) cocktails and dinner. A fun evening!

Wednesday we drove up to Kolob Canyons in the backcountry of the park. Not nearly as crowded and very beautiful in yet a different way. I have been amazed at how different each landscape is everywhere we go. We walked down to Taylor Creek and then hiked upstream about three miles past a homesteader's cabin to an impressive double arch alcove. Totally worth the effort. Also: more waterfalls.

On the way down David asked me to take a photo of him in front of this fold. Because structural geology.

We ate lunch on the way back to the car and then drove into St. George. We've been following The Roadside Geology of Utah as we drive along and when we were on our way to Bryce we read about the plethora of dinosaur fossils and trackways in Utah. Turns out one of the most impressive sites is in St. George. The trackways were discovered in an alfalfa field in 2000 and they've built an incredible museum around the outcrop - literally. The center of the exhibit floor is an outcrop with trackways that is in situ. They built the building around it. Active research and preservation is ongoing and will be for a very, very long time. It's stunning. If you're anywhere near St. George, UT, GO. 

We made a stop at the St. George Art Museum and decided to drive back to Springdale (the town right outside the park) for a lovely dinner preceded by cocktails, all of which was overshadowed by the view.

Then we returned to the campsite and started to pack up. We made an early start this morning and despite rain and traffic we were in our AirBnB in Salt Lake City by 3:00 PM, ready to shower (OH THANK GD) and do laundry. Lots of laundry. Lots of sweaty dusty laundry. I may take another shower in the morning just because I can. Oh, and just outside of Zion we saw a California condor! We were driving and couldn't pull over in time to get a picture. Still so exciting! There are 347 condors free-flying in the wild and 70 live in the area around Zion. We didn't know that until we rode the shuttle into the park. I was disappointed not to see one - and there it was as we left town! There was really no question about what it was once we realized how HUGE it was.

So that's the end of the outdoorsy part of our trip. Six National Parks, one National Monument, one State Park, five nights in a tent, and 48 miles total walked and hiked. I have a deeper appreciation for the scale and magnificence of this part of the US. The news and photos from back East remind me of the fragility of that inheritance. 

Tomorrow is a driving day - at least eight hours to get to Ogallala, Nebraska. The trip is winding down - one more big adventure to go! Stay tuned.