A view from our SUV as we drove on UT Rt. 9
Another view from UT Rt. 9The road ultimately crested at the Mt. Carmel Tunnel - considered one of the engineering wonders of the world. This tunnel was built in the late 1920's and is cut over a mile through solid rock. The tunnel has no interior lighting (Duh! no electricity in this remote area.) and the only lighting comes from galleries cut in the side of the tunnel to the outside world. For more info, see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion_%E2%80%93_Mount_Carmel_Highway.
One of the switchbacks on UT Rt. 9
The entrance to the Mt. Carmel Tunnel
Some typical hoodoos - these are actually on the road to Bryce N.P.
A lone hoodoo
A cluster of these strange formations seen from one of Bryce's many lookout points.
One of the switchbacks on UT Rt. 9
The entrance to the Mt. Carmel TunnelEventually, our trusty route 9 led us out of Zion N.P. and down to a crossroad called Mt. Carmel Junction. From there, we turned North on another road toward Bryce N.P. On the way we stopped in a little town called Hatch at a place called the "Galaxy Diner". They served a decent breakfast but the interesting thing was the waitress telling us that they were expecting snow in a few days - because after all, the town was at over 6,000 feet elevation.
Backing up to our planning for the trip we had reasoned that it was late September, we were going to the desert - therefore shorts and summer clothes! Umm, right. Now it was over 100 degrees when we landed in Vegas, but that was Vegas, at only 2,000 feet. We had planned to probably buy some souvenir sweat shirts on the trip, but we didn't expect them to become a necessity. As it was, we sort of lucked out as the really cold weather seemed to always be a day or two behind us. But onward to Bryce Canyon.
Bryce is different from Zion in that the main road through the park goes along the top of the canyon, not unlike the Grand Canyon, and one looks down into the canyon, or, as it is more properly called in this case, amphitheater. There are hiking trails which one can take down into the amphitheater itself, but for our limited time frame, we chose to just do the auto road and the numerous lookouts.
The most typical feature of Bryce are the vertical red sandstone formations called "hoodoos". They are caused by erosion and are quite striking in appearance.
Backing up to our planning for the trip we had reasoned that it was late September, we were going to the desert - therefore shorts and summer clothes! Umm, right. Now it was over 100 degrees when we landed in Vegas, but that was Vegas, at only 2,000 feet. We had planned to probably buy some souvenir sweat shirts on the trip, but we didn't expect them to become a necessity. As it was, we sort of lucked out as the really cold weather seemed to always be a day or two behind us. But onward to Bryce Canyon.
Bryce is different from Zion in that the main road through the park goes along the top of the canyon, not unlike the Grand Canyon, and one looks down into the canyon, or, as it is more properly called in this case, amphitheater. There are hiking trails which one can take down into the amphitheater itself, but for our limited time frame, we chose to just do the auto road and the numerous lookouts.
The most typical feature of Bryce are the vertical red sandstone formations called "hoodoos". They are caused by erosion and are quite striking in appearance.
Some typical hoodoos - these are actually on the road to Bryce N.P.
A lone hoodoo
There were many narrow slot canyons. Hiking trails led through some of them.
A more long-range view looking out across the Bryce amphitheater
A sort of side canyon with a cluster of isolated hoodoos. Apparently, "hoodoo" is an actual geological term.
This particular Hoodoo is called "Thor's Hammer"
A spectacular view from one of the higher points in Bryce N.P.
A natural arch at one of the Bryce lookoutsA short video taken by Michelle at a lookout point near the "Grottos" Note on the left the many natural alcoves in the rock.
Bryce was extremely striking visually, but I think I preferred Zion for some reason. Maybe it was because it was more diverse, whereas Bryce was just mostly Hoodoo after Hoodoo.
That night we stayed in a place called "Ruby's Inn" which is currently a Best Western franchise but has been located at the entrance to Bryce Canyon N.P. since nineteen-ought something. It's pretty much the only game in town unless you want to drive a half-hour or more. The room was sort of a standard motel room: clean with an acceptable bed, but not anything like luxury. That night we were tired and did not want to take a lot of time for dinner, so we ate their dinner buffet. It was terrible. If I had to do it over I would have found lodgings and dinner elsewhere.
The next morning we were up early and off on our rather long drive to the Arches National Park in southwestern Utah. We had not originally planned such a long drive but since we wanted to make our way ultimately to the Durango and Silverton Railroad in southwestern Colorado, it was sort of on our way. We were glad we saw the Arches - they were pretty amazing.
More next time.
That night we stayed in a place called "Ruby's Inn" which is currently a Best Western franchise but has been located at the entrance to Bryce Canyon N.P. since nineteen-ought something. It's pretty much the only game in town unless you want to drive a half-hour or more. The room was sort of a standard motel room: clean with an acceptable bed, but not anything like luxury. That night we were tired and did not want to take a lot of time for dinner, so we ate their dinner buffet. It was terrible. If I had to do it over I would have found lodgings and dinner elsewhere.
The next morning we were up early and off on our rather long drive to the Arches National Park in southwestern Utah. We had not originally planned such a long drive but since we wanted to make our way ultimately to the Durango and Silverton Railroad in southwestern Colorado, it was sort of on our way. We were glad we saw the Arches - they were pretty amazing.
The road from Bryce Canyon to our next destination led through this natural arch.
More next time.
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