by Fletcher McDonald
We traveled west, up mountain road and through old railroad tunnel, journeying ever further along the delicately paved highway until we were too tired to stop – and then we journeyed more.
Suddenly, we arrived at our once-distant destination; Bryce Canyon National Park, before dawn, before the sun rise, before my phone died and before I could take any pictures.
I always wanted to visit Bryce Canyon on Utah’s eastern edge, and always wondered how.
Despite the untimely death of my cellular battery, I did manage to capture a short video of the sunrise, low quality as the video may be, it belies the majesty that is a sunrise at Bryce Canyon.
If only I knew how to edit video. Then I would have something cooler to show for all of my troubles.
The canyon or canyons, as they currently stand, are a series of eroded ravines and miniature valleys, sandwiched in between tall spires of harder sedimentary rock than the limestone that has been eroded away by weather and water and time – tall spires of rock with a unique name, a hoodoo.
Hoodoos are not unique to Bryce Canyon but it is the largest natural collection of them in the world. They have names, names such as Thor’s hammer, The Hunter, Queen Victoria, rising from a mere five feet to a towering one hundred and fifty.
They have ages, a lifespan, a birth and a death caused by the changing seasons and the whims of the world outside of themselves – and in this way we are not too different, Hoodoos and you and I.
However, we are not rocks. LOL.
Bryce Canyon National Park is located in Southern Utah, eight or nine hours from Denver, depending on how fast you drive. It’s on the way to the Great Canyon, it’s a little past Moab – it’s overlooked, and it has some great overlooks. You can hike into the canyons, or you can drop by and look at the view. If you get a chance, it won’t be here for long.
Maybe like 3 million more years.
Happy Travels,
Fletch
The Colorado Soul 