Utah and Bryce Canyon

We left Flagstaff bright and early Thursday morning for the 5 and half hour trip to Bryce Canyon. It was chilly 17F when we left (-8C) and we were very glad for the warm clothes Luke and Michelle lent us. Even the short walk from the hotel to the car was challenging and we couldn't wait to get in the car and start it. I found out by bitter experience that you do not use the windscreen washers when the temperature is below freezing as the water instantly freezes on your windscreen. We had to wait until the car warmed up and I could defrost the windscreen!

Butte in Utah

Although the trip was long to Bryce Canyon, the scenery in Utah has to be seen to be believed. Many, many rock formations called buttes are visible along the road, and every time you turned a corner, the vista would change to something else spectacular. The trip was not boring at all, not like driving up north of WA is, and the five hours went particularly quickly.

Vermillion Cliffs

However the best thing we saw on the way was the Vermillion Cliffs, sheer 2,000 foot cliffs towering above the plain coloured a gorgeous pinky-red colour. The picture does not do it justice. We could see it from miles away, and it just got more spectacular the closer you got to it. They stretched for miles either way as well. There was even a village at the base where they sold trinkets for tourists, which we resisted.

The closer we got to Bryce Canyon, the higher we got in altitude and the more extensive the snow became from a snowstorm that went through the area last week Fortunately for us it was clear and sunny. It was interesting because you'd be driving along the road and the sunlight side would have all the snow melted, but the side in shadow was still knee deep in snow!

Approaching Bryce Canyon

We thought the canyon would be fogged in, looking at the picture on the right, but once we got into the canyon proper, it fined up again nicely. It was also very dry, the humidity is around 0-5% even though there is snow all around, so you need to keep your fluids up.

We drove right to the end of the canyon to Rainbow Point, where it was over 9000 feet in altitude and boy did we notice it with our breathing in the thin air. We just took it easy and didn't try anything too strenuous. One gent in a shop we stopped at for coffee said it took him a month to acclimatise to the altitude before he could breathe normally again.

View from Rainbow Point

I took heaps of photos but I will not bore you here with them all, just picking the best ones we saw. From Rainbow Point you could see for about 30 miles away, with some awesome scenery.







Again I could not fit the vista into one photo, another panorama shot needed here.

Natural Bridge

Ponderosa Point

Another view of the canyon

By the time we had retraced our steps to the canyon's entrance, we were "canyoned out". We had been hoping to also see Zion Canyon nearby but we simply ran out of time, so we turned our car towards Las Vegas again and hit the road again. Four hours later we arrived and went out for tea and another movie, this time we saw American Sniper, a true story and one I would also recommend you go see. The movie theatre was embedded in a huge casino, with endless rows of slot machines, an incredible variety and cacophony of sounds and flashing lights, all trying to tempt you to try them out.
I've always said the quickest way to double you money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.