ZION BRYCE GRAND CANYON DAY 4 – AN AUDIENCE WITH THE QUEEN

We pull up stakes at Zion and start driving east on Mount Carmel Highway through the park, but we have one last hike to do before we go.  As we swing the first switchback and look back west, the park gives us a farewell treat.  The West Temple Mountain, so called for it’s cathedral-like cap formation at it’s 7800’ summit, is bathed in vibrant orange early morning sunlight, glowing behind the shaded peaks in the foreground.  Hovering slightly above, almost perfectly centered, is the last bright vestiges of the full Harvest Moon.  It’s mesmerizing and surreal, and we understand how lucky we are to have this rare moment.

We continue on through the Zion Mount Carmel Tunnel, a 1.1 mile affair carved through the sandstone in 1930 specifically to connect Zion to Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon.  Just past the east end of the tunnel is the trailhead to Canyon Overlook Trail, a 1 mile hike up the slickrock of the Grand Arch.  The trail is a riot of shapes and textures, the rising morning sun and contradictory shadows bringing the shapes to life.  A long fallen partially petrified tree starts as a cunning snake then morphs into a pair of provocative impressionist models.  The huge arc of a false cave door on the adjacent mountain shimmers with rainbow colors like a drop of oil on the surface of a pond.

About halfway up we enter a vast alcove, an open-mouthed cave like the one behind Niagara Falls.  The alcove curves around almost 180 degrees, exiting to the final ascent of the hike as the sun finally crests the peaks to our east.  The soft sandstone erodes in layers like the shell of my favorite Italian sfogliatelle (pronounced SCHVEE-a-dell) pastry.  The Mars like landscape glows green white orange with a prominent beehive-shaped rock center stage.  A few hundred more yards to the main event, the thousand-foot high overlook onto the east side of the park.  Zion’s trails continue to be the most fun we have ever had hiking.  We feel like we’re 9 years old on a summer day with no school, climbing, crawling, exploring.  We perch on top of the highest rocks we can find and overlook the expanse below like a superhero in the final panel of a comic after saving the earth, wind blowing our imaginary capes for effect.  We look over the edge until we’re dizzy.  We selfie and kiss and take it all in.

We’re back on the road by 9, a couple hour drive ahead of us.  The last few miles of the Mount Carmel Highway is a curvy two lane through a massive field of textured slickrock, swirly, drippy, white like blowing desert sand stuck forever in freezeframe. I had no expectations of Driving through Utah.  I just never thought of it at all, and throughout the planning of this trip I pretty much said VegasZionBryceGrandCannyon as a single word, a single trip and mentally never got past Nevada.  Palm slap to the forehead as I realized of course this is the wide-open wild west (Mandy was mentally ahead of me here, but that’s hardly news…)  Huge swathes of beautifully undeveloped land, dotted with ranches set against an endless blue sky with mountain ranges at every horizon.  It’s literally called “Scenic Route 89” for a reason.  The pit stop in Hatch, UT, gave us a 10 minute crash course in what’s left of ‘60s roadside attractions: faded neon signs, long since neglected motels, two rock shops and a guy in a cowboy hat hawking overpriced “authentic silver and turquoise jewelry” from a big counter in the back of a gas station convenience store.

Back on the road, the pattern continues, big land, little town, big land, little town.  The pattern ends when we turn on Rt 12 and approach the Dixie National Forrest with its iconic U.S. Department of Agriculture sign.  At the western edge of Dixie National Forrest is the Red Caynon, formations of red limestone on either side, and in a few cases right over, the road.  It's right out of a 1950's linen postcard.

Arriving in Bryce Canyon, we have lunch at Ruby’s Inn Cowboy Buffet and Steak Room because, well, ‘Merica.  We continue on into the park for our first Bryce hike, the fabled Queens Gardens & Navajo Loop.  This hike is the main attraction through the main attraction here.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Bryce Canyon is known for its huge field of “Hoodoos”, totem spire shaped rock formations jutting as much as 300’ up from the floor of the canyon.  When you look at them, the hoodoos take the form people, animals, buildings and more, and some of the most obvious ones are named.  The canyon is easily accessed from several parking areas, with spectacular views from the Sunrise Point and Sunset Point viewing areas.  Even if we couldn’t hike a step, the site of the canyon would be worth the trip. 

But hike we do.  The Queen’s Garden loop trail winds you down up-close and through the formations onto the canyon floor to see the hoodoos from every angle.  Groups of the tall columns look to be bright orange chess men, forever waiting for the first move.  Other formations look to be bleached white cities carved into the mountainside on the Adriatic Sea.  We find ourselves taking way too many pictures of rocks, then taking some more.  The trail ends at Queen Victoria, so named for its resemblance to the statue of the Monarch in London.  Here the Queen sits in front of her own castle and looks across at Gulliver’s Castle.

The Navajo Loop trail provides a more bottom up view of everything, shade provided by the tall Douglass Firs.  The loop features the park’s most famous element, Thor’s Hammer, which looks exactly like what you are thinking of.  More cool rocks, more cool pix.  Somewhere along the way, I find myself wondering why I waited 55 years to get to here.  The ginormous scale of everything around us is humbling, the sites unlike anywhere else.  Navajo’s ends at Wall Street, a tall narrow slot canyon where the bouncing light plays tricks on your eyes.  A single tree braves to grow from the bottom of Wall Street up, up towards the light.  Wall Street reconnects with the upper rim via a series of sandy switchbacks apparently designed as a fitness test at the end of a fitness test.

Spent for real, we drive into Tropic, UT, to our hotel, The Bryce Canyon Inn.  Mandy has booked us a beautiful cabin, a traditional-west-meets-modern-sleek number replete with warm pine paneled walls and vaulted ceiling.  Dinner choices in town are limited, so we end up at Showdowns, an indoor/outdoor open barn style joint attached to a campground advertising “Live Country Music” on the flashing sign out front.  The music was more traditional Western tonight, and the talented singer/guitar player put his style on songs from Willy to Hank to Hank Jr to Janis.  As for the cuisine, let’s just say it was not a foodie day.  We finish the night with a drive a few miles outside of town to look at the stars in genuine darkness and before moonrise.  It was a first for me, seeing more stars than I ever had before, seeing the Milky Way stretch on from horizon to horizon.  Jupiter, Venus and Saturn made bright appearances, and we could pick out the few constellations we know.