Bryce Canyon

We packed up from Lake Powell on Tuesday morning, went for a swim and then caught the noon ferry across the lake. It was this tiny little ferry that took us across. Nothing was open on the Halls Crossing side where we stayed and the ferry only accepted cash. With only $17 in our wallets, we had to scrounge up the last bit in loose change. So, we paid our way with our $17 in bills and a sandwich bag of coins – complete with 45 pennies. Money is money, right?

We took this ridiculous road toward Bryce Canyon. It was so skinny and twisty with no guard rails on the edges. When you get to the top and see how far you've come...my goodness. I'm not afraid of heights at all, but at the edge of this gravel road mountain pass, you can't help but imagine all the 'what ifs'...

We got to Bryce Canyon Tuesday night. It was such a spectacular place that we decided we probably wanted an entire day here, so we explored today and we're camping here tonight as well.

We took the Navajo Trail Loop hike into the canyon this morning. It was only a mile and a half, but it was pretty much straight down the canyon and straight back up with tight little switchbacks. It's not what I expected at all. It reminds me of an exposed cavern with giant stalagmites as far as you can see. From a bird's eye view, it appears like castles in the sand, or like the remaining walls of an old cathedral or something. The columns are called Hoodoos. Frost and ice erosion cracks and breaks the canyon walls and flood waters go through and remove the loose sediment and create these spectacular hoodoos. The whole thing is really fantastic. This park is definitely highly recommended.

After our hike, we just drove around the park and stopped at the scenic outlook points. They were all very cool, but our favorite was Bryce Point. There are hundreds of thousands (if not more) of these columns sticking up from the bottom of the canyon everywhere – for as far as you can see. And what was amazing to think about was that earlier that morning on our hike, we felt so minuscule down among the hoodoos. And as we're standing there, now hundreds of feet above them, they look so tiny. I'm beginning to feel like a broken record with all of these sights we've seen, but it truly was breathtaking.