Yes, another National Park

Bryce Canyon Overlook

Debate over whether we are staying in Glendale or Orderville, Utah.  Either way, we are between Bryce Canyon NP and Zion NP.  

Bryce Canyon was our destination Friday.  We passed through Dixie National Forest on our way.  There are 13 viewpoints on the scenic drive in Bryce.  The four main viewpoints include Sunrise Point, Sunset Point, Inspiration Point, and Bryce Point.  All four look out on what is called the "Bryce Amphitheater." 

Bryce offers a shuttle system that takes you to the 4 main viewpoints on the scenic road and a few others.  Taking the shuttle is not required, as it is in Zion NP, but recommended.  They stress that between 10 and 4 the park is at its busiest.  We arrived at 8:30 and chose to drive the scenic road ourselves so we could choose our stops.  We did not find the park over crowded.  The last stop on the south end was the only lot we had to circle a couple of times to find a parking spot.  As we were leaving the park at 1:00 we noticed the road that leads to Inspiration Point and Bryce Point was full though and closed.

We enjoyed meeting and visiting with Bill and Leona from Carson, NV.  Enjoy your travels!

We wanted to make sure we could get to viewpoints in the south before it got crowded, so we only chose 2 of the 4 overlooks surrounding the Bryce Amphitheater. 

Tonight I leave you with our view of Bryce Canyon on Thursday.  The photos are pretty much? in order and I can't begin to remember which stop they were all from.  I believe we were at 11 stops. We were each using our phones, I was also using the camera and they don't "mix" in a logical order on Google.  Let's just say every stop was beautiful.  

I want to point out the hoodoos.  Nowhere in the world are they as abundant as in the northern section of Bryce Canyon NP.   What are hoodoos?  They are tall, skinny shafts that protrude from the bottom of arid basins.  Compared to spires, hoodoos have a variable thickness, often described as a totem pole shaped.  At Bryce Canyon hoodoos can range from human height to a 10-story building.

Looking out at the Bryce Canyon Amphitheater.  Pat was happy to be at a National Park with trees!

The horse trail goes down to the bottom of the canyon at Sunrise Point.

Near the top of Sunrise Point.  If you look closely you can see people on the trail.

Bryce Point

Swamp Canyon overlook parking.  Looks like a lot here but no trouble finding a parking space.

Krikkit was only interested in one thing, as usual.  

A pleasant surprise at Farview Point.  It was only 10 a.m., but it was noon somewhere, so we had hotdogs.

Can't go under it, can't go over it, so cut out the middle and go through it. 

Indian Paintbrush

There's a little window towards the top, center.

2021

This picture, same as above, was taken in 1968 when I was 10.

When I was little my Dad always made a map of our camping trips.  They hung on one wall in our basement. We had a heavy canvas umbrella tent with a pole inside in the center.  My 2 older brothers were on one side of the pole, my parents on the other, and I had a half size air-mattress and slept in the middle where the pole was.  This was our trip that included Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks in 1968.

Our car made it back out of the tunnel.

 Dryer smell🦨, time to drain the water below.  For such a small space it seems like there's always something in the RV that needs worked on.

Where are the Piepers?  Glendale, UT or Orderville, UT?  Depends on who you ask!