The drive up to Bryce was only about 90 miles and we made good time despite the incredible scenery. This stretch of road from Zions to Bryce to Arches/Moab has got to be one of the most beautiful in the country. We’ve all seen pictures of the rock formations that these parks were established to protect and preserve and the formations are indeed amazing. More amazing in person than the best pictures you’ve seen. This amazing scenery isn’t limited to just the national parks – there were amazing sights around every bend in the road.
We pulled in to Bryce Canyon National Park about 8 in the evening. I scoped out the visitor’s center and, upon my return to the RV, noticed that we had a flat tire. We weren’t going much farther this evening so we pulled into the North Campground and got a spot for the night. Bryce is at about 8000’ of elevation and there was snow on the ground in the campground. The temperature dipped into the 30’s during the night and the furnace in the RV got a workout. Always up for a challenge, I briefly considered changing the tire myself. I then recalled that I purchased the Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service shortly before we left on our trip. Good move – a call to the folks at Good Sam at 8:00 am the next morning got us a service truck within 20 minutes. I consider this a minor miracle as Bryce is not only at 8000’ elevation but it’s also very remote.
We took a short hike out to the canyon and caught the rock formations in morning’s light. The spires left standing in this canyon seem so intricately carved. The exposed layers of rock are amazing and very different from Zion. I’ve got a fear of heights and I really liked the fact that the walls of the canyon weren’t cliffs. The erosion occurring within the canyon created a natural amphitheatre where the eroded material created a complex series of ridges leading into the middle of the canyon. Walking down the ridges yielded some great views of the rock formations.
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| Bryce Canyon |
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| More Bryce Canyon |
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| Another view of Bryce |
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| On top of the world - view from almost 10,000' on Boulder Mountain |
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| View of part of Capitol Reef National Park |
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