Brace for Bryce

Ruby's proved to be a surprise.  Located out in the middle of nowhere, at the intersection of two state highways, there suddenly appears a complex of buildings containing stores, gas stations, restaurants, gift shops, repair services, and more.  It's Ruby's!  A place that started out as little more than a gas station in the 1920's, is today the main private venue located on the outskirts of Bryce Canyon National Park.  My fears about accommodations and services were immediately assuaged when I opened the door to my room and found a desk, a table, two queen-sized beds, a flat screen T.V and a coffee maker, in other words, all the things a decent motel ought to have.  Meals (dinner and breakfast) were served from a large, well stocked buffet, which is apparently the standard for find dining in this part of the west.

Sorry to leave after only one night, and having purchased a splendid piece of Navajo pottery in the "indigenous" store, we boarded the bus for Bryce Canyon National Park, only a few miles away.  In a few minutes we began our climb to 8,600 feet to the Bryce Point overlook, and an amazing view it was!

First sight of Bryce Canyon

One of the first things we were told about Bryce Canyon is that it isn't really a canyon.  It's an amphitheater, and the erosion that created it is entirely different than that which shaped Zion.  Here a fault in the Colorado Plateau caused highly erosion-prone rick of the Pueblo sandstone formation to be exposed to the elements and rapid deterioration of the facade has created this wonder of nature.  We also learned that the shapes have all been given names.  There are wall, fins, windows and hoodoos.  Walls, fins and windows are pretty self explanatory, but a hoodoo requires and illustration.

Behold! the Hoodoo!

The formations at Bryce Canyon are beautiful in their coloring and intricacy.  It is almost impossible to look away because each glance brings a new sense of wonder and awe.  The overall impression one gets is of almost lacy sculpture from the imagination of a master tatter.  Stunning spires and crashing abysses compete for attention, and if one is lucky enough, as we were, to witness changes in light, an entirely new perspective is offered moment by moment.

A "crashing" abyss!

I walked the accessible area of the canyon rim and felt quite satisfied with the thouroghness of my exploration.  Some of our number felt compelled to do more in depth explorations and followed trails down to the bottom of the canyon.  I briefly considered making the trip with them, but quickly realized that going down was only half the story, and resigned myself, without much disappointment to exploring the Park Lodge, which is one of the few original National Park Lodges which has not burned down.  I feel that it was a much better use of my time and energy.

Bryce Canyon National Park Lodge.

We suffered and unexpected delay in our departure from Bryce Canyon due to two ladies from our group losing track of time in the gift shop, and then, not being able to find their way back to the bus.  Eventually, they were retrieved and we continued on our trek to Escalante,, Utah, where we ate a very nice lunch on the patio of a local farmer's home.  It was called a "Dutch Oven Dinner," but it seemed like an old fashioned country picnic with potato salad, beans and barbecue, pulled pork on a bun, with a little ice cream and a brownie for desert, to me.  The farmer invited people to take apples and pears off the trees in his orchard, and there was a mad rush to gather bounty from some members of the group.  I was able to resist such temptation, having concluded that I had little need for extra produce on this trip.

From Escalante, we made our way along Utah highway 12 to a thriving town of less than 200 whose name I did not write down and which I cannot recall.  It is the home of the Coombs Site,one of the sites of the archaeological remains of the Anasazi culture.  These are a mysterious people, who thrived in this arid and inhospitable land for some 900 to 1,000 years, and then simply pulled up stakes and left.  The current thinking is that their descendants can be found among Hopi, Zuni and Northern Pueblo tribes of today, but no one knows for sure.  The Anasazi produced fine arts and crafts and lived in permanent villages made of stone and mud.

 Remains of an Anasazi "L" house.

Anasazi round house.

This was followed by a presentation from the local expert in the life and history of the Anasazi.  He curated the museum associated with the site and has degrees in archaeology.  However, he seems to be struggling with senility, and his lecture, while providing some insight into the life of the Anasazi, was rambling and incoherent.  At one point he asked for questions, which he couldn't seem to remember long enough to answer.  Over all, disappointing, frustrating and embarrassing.  Apparently this same man has been "presenting" for Road Scholar for many years.  I'm afraid he has out lived his usefulness to this program.

We finished up the day with a long-ish drive to Torrey, Utah through some more spectacular scenery.   We were not told what the area is called, but it was the last area in the continental United States to be mapped.  Desolate does not begin to describe it.  I suppose it is safe to simply call it Canyon country.  It was beautiful in its starkness.  However, in what I think is a mistaken itinerary, there was no provision for a stop, even for pictures, a great loss of  an opportunity to capture more of this amazing territory in pictures.

Once again, we arrived to a wide spot in the road which serves as the jumping off point for Capitol Reef National Park, and once again, checked into a first class motel, before heading out for dinner at a local restaurant.  This time there was no buffet.  Instead, we were offered three entrees from which to chose, steak, trout, or rigatoni.  Quick and passable.  After a day of hiking at high altitude, I could not have asked for anything more.