After a sweltering evening, it finally cooled down last night around 1am.
I had been sleeping but woke up cold and needed to roll myself up into a blanket. After that it was sound sleeping right through until 8 o’clock. Going from sweating to shivering in a matter of hours; just some of your average ups and downs when tenting it.
I back tracked down highway 9, driving through the 1.1 mile long tunnel to Zion’s east end. I took my time leaving the park, stopping at several look outs. It’s strange how the landscape from Zion’s west end changes so dramatically by the time you reach the east end. The massive tunnel is the divider that separates the park’s two scenes, meaning that when you emerge from within the dark, underground route there’s a whole new side of Zion waiting for you. Again it was tough to say good bye to such a great National Park after only a day’s visit, but Bryce Canyon was the next stop, and I was eager to see another side of Utah’s wilderness.
Bryce Canyon’s pride and joy is its amazing gathering of hoodoos found within the Amphitheatre. Because of the extreme weather changes experienced in the region, the canyon is continually eroded and worn down creating the unique rock formations. It’s a picturesque bowl with hundreds of hoodoos varying in size and shape staring at you from below as you stare at them from the upper rim. The hike of choice for Bryce Canyon was the Queen's Garden/Navajo Loop.
The park ranger at the visitors center told me it was the perfect trail to give me the complete flavour of Bryce’s beauty. The route began with the Rim Trail that offered a number of different angles from which to view the Amphitheatre. At this point the day was warm with a slight overcast and a gentle breeze. I reached the start of the Queen's Garden loop at 1:30 and descended in amongst the hoodoo jungle. It was eerie to walk between the soaring towers of rock as they crowded around the trail. To anyone who considers viewing the Amphitheatre from the outer rim and only the outer rim, I warn you that you are missing out on an extraordinary experience; let the Hoodoos scare you a little. As I made my way through the Queen's Garden the temperature moved from warm to hot, 
and enormous gusts of wind threatened to steal my hat, my pack, and my glasses, even my freakin hair was at risk of getting torn from my head. The Navajo loop met up with the Queen's Garden circuit and allowed me to fade away from the intense collection of fire red hoodoos and venture into the Ponderosa Pine woods of the canyon. It was a flattened portion of the trail that provided relief from the sun in the shade of the trees. The last stage of the combined loop hike was a scenic ascent through slot canyons and rock stands back up to the ridge of the Amphitheatre. It was a fun two hour hike that allowed me to see Bryce Canyon from all different perspectives.
At the end of the trail I jumped onto the Bryce Canyon Shuttle and made two viewpoint stops, first at Bryce Point and then at Inspiration Point. The two overlooks gave 
additional angles of the canyon. I spent as much time staring into the Amphitheatre as the weather would allow, because unfortunately as I finished the hike, dark clouds rolled in, the temperature plummeted, and the warm winds that had howled along the canyon floor became frigid gusts preparing the area for rain. The rain started just as I got back on the shuttle. It was just after four, and it was all the time I needed to fall in love with Bryce Canyon National Park.
I just finished watching the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the sixth game of the Stanley Cup finals, courtesy of the small colour TV in my room at the Horizon Motel. Zion, Bryce, the Stanley Cup presentation, and shelter from the storm; it’s been a good day.
Day Seventeen: The Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, or Bryce Canyon National Park: Which one is the best? Just see them all… it’s a must.
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