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 In-spire-ing Bryce Canyon After my donut breakfast at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, I packed up and drove a few hours north through red sandstone country to Bryce Canyon National Park. Despite its name, Bryce isn't really a canyon but rather a large amphitheatre that's etched into the side of a long plateau. As one early pioneer mused after seeing the thousands of eroded rock spires here, "That's a hell of a place to lose a cow."
At 8,000 feet in elevation, Bryce Canyon is one of the highest national parks in southern Utah. Being 4,000 feet higher than Zion National Park, Bryce is much cooler than Zion, which is great if you visit in the summer but not so great if you visit in the winter. I learned this fact the hard way about 15 years ago when I was young and foolish (as opposed to now when I'm old and foolish). Back in January of 1985, I stopped at empty Bryce Canyon National Park one frigid afternoon and decided to sleep in my Toyota truck in the campground there. Big mistake.
The three feet of snow in the campground should've been a warning. Or the fact that the campground was deserted. Nope – I went ahead and pulled into the empty campground, cooked up a quick dinner, then hopped into the back of my truck as the sun went down. As it got dark, it got really cold. Then it got REALLY cold. And then it kept getting colder – definitely a Three Dog Night, and maybe a Four Dog Night. I shivered in my thin sleeping bag as the temperature that evening dipped to 5 degrees below zero and groggily emerged from my frosty truck the next morning with icicles hanging from my nose. That was the last time I camped at Bryce.
In the summer, though, it's great.
Above left: Mob scene at Bryce Canyon National Park (well, whattya expect in June?) Above right: The endless spires at Bryce Canyon.
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