Our first task of the day was to check the weather for Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. As we mentioned in yesterdays blog, there was a winter storm predicted and we needed to know that the roads were still passable before we headed out from Page. Lady Luck was on our side.
So here is our trajectory for the day. 250k’s in total and two states.
Five minutes out of page and we crossed the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge. The two-lane bridge has an overall length of 1,271 feet (387 m) with a deck 700 feet (210 m) above the river, making it one of the highest bridges in the US. The bridge was the highest arch bridge in the world when completed in 1959.
The Glen Canyon Dam lies adjacent to the bridge just 865 feet (264 m) upstream. The 710-foot-high (220 m) dam was built from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powell, one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the U.S. with a capacity of more than 25 million acre-feet (31 km3) . It was very controversial when it was built and remains today. There is even talk of dismantling the dam but not sure if that is going to get enough traction.
Only about 30k down the road we crossed from Arizona to Utah and the temperature was only 7c. Hard to imagine how quickly the scenery and weather have changed.
So, from this short piece of road footage, you can see that we are now travelling in snow. The ploughs had been out overnight which made for easy driving though some slippery sections.
We now officially arrived at Bryce Canyon where we went through the park gates. On the trip down to Arizona back in November, we purchased a U.S. National Parks pass which at the time we thought was a bit on the steep side. Having now done four National Parks, it has paid for itself.
Having dropped into the Parks Headquarters and been provided with some guidance as to what to see we headed out along the rim to investigate. Take note of the elevation. The air is very dry, and it doesn’t take long for us to get out of breath. Walking through snow makes the task even more difficult.
So how were the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon formed. Laymans terms according to Geologist Mr Rowe go something like this: there is a hard cap that gets fractured, water gets into the fractures and freezes in winter forcing the cracks wider and eventually forming individual columns.
Here is a closer picture of the hoodoos. This is the largest area of hoodoos in the world. We actually have some just out of Banff but compared to these guys, ours aren’t even a ripple on the ocean.
The snow actually helped with the contrast.
There are a number of walks that are able to be done in the summer months that go down into the canyon floor and in amongst the hoodoos, but it is apparent from these photos that access is closed in winter.
Though certainly not as vast and grand as the Grand Canyon, it is unique in its own way.
The trees are indeed hardy but very slow growing. We are told that the trees are Ponderosa Pine which of course brings us to Bonanza. This certainly feels like we are in the Cartwrights back yard with Ben, Adam (eye candy), Hoss and Little Joe about to ride into the scenery at any moment.
The Ponderosa Ranch was actually meant to be set in Nevada but that doesn’t seem to have perturbed the locals here in Bryce Canyon. We are staying at an establishment called Ruby’s Inn which is absolutely enormous, and we are in the Ponderosa building which has approximately 60 rooms and there are another seven buildings the same size. Summer here is very busy and like most of the national parks in North America, bus shuttle services are set up as there just isn’t room for all the cars. There is a lot to do during the summer months with horse riding, ATV tours, hiking, rodeos, bike rentals, scenic flights, fishing and the list goes on.
This is a Ponderosa Pine and Fraser was told that if you smell the bark, it will give off the odour of either vanilla or butterscotch – he agrees to disagree with that. We thought we knew our trees a bit better after our tour through the Olympia Park in November and were busy calling these trees Douglas Firs – WRONG!!
We wandered over to the central lodge for a squiz and Fras thought he had died and gone to heaven. This is exactly what he wants in his man cave whenever that eventuates. He has both the original snowshoes and the wooden skis and now the knowledge how to hang them – he just needs to find the right wall.
A very welcoming fire and comfy chairs where we wiled away half an hour prior to going on the hunt for some dinner.
On our way back to the room we had to walk across the carpark, and it was snowing sago – this is very hard pellets of frozen snow but different to hail. We only had a short walk, but it was coming in at us sideways making for poor visibility. Toque wasn’t having a bar of it and insisted on being carried.
This is about five minutes of sago snow and there is the forecast for a lot more so now you understand why we have been crapping on about our new snow tyres. They can make all the difference between getting out of here tomorrow or being stuck. Cross your fingers it is the former otherwise tomorrows blog will be as boring as all hell.
Rowkin Rovings Blog 