Even after reading the books beforehand, everything about Bryce Canyon surprised us.   It is high and remote.   If not for the road section on Highway 12 through Red Canyon, we would have found the route through the Dixie Forest unimpressive.   Even after leaving Red Canyon, the high plateau is simply meadows and forest.   Not until you reach the actual brink of the canyon do you understand the scope and majesty of Bryce Canyon, and then it takes your breath away.   All of the visitors talk in hushed tones as their eyes try to make sense of the views below.

You arrive at the edge of an Amphitheatre at 8000 feet.   Paths follow the rim in each direction and most visitors walk the Rim Trail.   At the west end of the amphitheater, the Bryce Canyon Road goes for another 10 miles following the pier-like plateau to more viewpoints.  Below the rim are thousands of sculpted rock hoodoos, ridges, buttes, buttresses, and shapes that have no name.   Everything is dressed in colors, sorted by elevation – pink, orange, coral, white, black, grey, red, and yellow.   Trees line the gullies at lower elevations.   Trails go down into the canyon, the best way to experience the wonder of Bryce.   On our firs day we hiked queens Garden and drive the Bryce Canyon Road to the end.   On our second day, we returned to do the Fairyland Loop, our favorite hike for all of 2012.   These two hikes will be featured with stories to follow.

It took us about 2 hours and 20 minutes to drive to Bryce Canyon from the St. George area.   We drove Highway 15 to Cedar Creek, a steady climb.   From there, we went over the Cedar Breaks Road, Highway 14, which climbs to 9000 feet.   At one viewpoint, we enjoyed seeing the Zion Forest stretching away all the way to the Zion Canyons.   The central plateau of Utah has small towns, ranching and farming where there is water, and forested mountain slopes rising to 12 000 feet.   On both days, we chose to go south on Highway 89 to come back through the east side of Zion National Park, a longer drive, but an amazing journey.

From our recent trip to Bryce, we know that we have to return, to camp there, to hike/backpack the Under the Rim Trail, and to explore the unique vistas.

To follow:

• Queens Garden Trail
• Fairyland Loop