Road Trip 2018: Day 05 - Bryce Canyon National Park

Panguitch, a tiny town in Utah that exists only for tourists. We start by taking a couple of pictures of the old town and then we are off. Today our route takes us to Bryce Canyon National Park via SR89 East, UT12 East and UT63 South. It's about 30 miles, and takes us about 45 minutes to get there. It's a Saturday - there's a line at the entrance and takes about 20 minutes to get through.

There are sign's all over encouraging all to take the free shuttle as parking is tight, due to weekend. We stop at the Visitor Center to refresh, and decide to brave it - no shuttle for us, as waiting for it at every point would just add hours to our schedule. The decision is largely based on finding parking at the visitor center without having to circle for a few times.

We make our first stop at the Sunrise point and find parking! Actually there's a General store next to the Sunrise point so we park near the store. We pick up a couple of Turkey sandwiches for lunch from the store and have a picnic near by. Strong wind gusts blowing stinging pine needles at you a couple of times makes the picnic interesting. After lunch, we start on the short hike to Sunrise point and the Queen's trail. If yesterday's view's at Cedar Break were awe inspiring - I do not know how to describe the views here. They surpassed the views of yesterday. It was the same at every stop - Sunset point, Inspiration point, Paria point, Bryce point, etc. Each place presents a different view and angle of these spires and rock formations.

Now, a little science from the National Park Service:
Bryce Canyon is not a "real" canyon. It is not carved by flowing water. Water is the active ingredient here, but in the form of "frost-wedging" and chemical weathering. For 200 days a year the temperature goes above and below freezing every day. During the day, melt water seeps into fractures only to freeze at night, expanding by 9%. Now as ice, it exerts a tremendous force (2,000-20,000 pounds per square inch). Over time this "frost-wedging" shatters and pries rock apart. In addition, rain water, which is naturally acidic, slowly dissolves the limestone, rounding off edges and washing away debris.

After Bryce Canyon National Park, we head out over to another of Utah's "All-American Road" Scenic Byway UT12 - which takes us through the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. We stop at various scenic viewpoints for pictures and then take SR24 West to reach our night halt place called "The Snuggle Inn" in a cute little town called Loa.

Day Stats: approx 150 miles (including 20 miles inside the National Park)