1993/07 Rockies trip - Bryce Canyon |
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Friday July 9th
The next day we had made such good time on the way south to Salt Lake City, 
and it was so hot, 90+, that we decided to carry on to the Bryce canyon area, rather than stay in that area. But, soon after that we had fuel starvation problems, so we had to find a Chevy dealer in Provo. The fuel inside the filter was black, so the chances are that we picked up some bad fuel somewhere. 
Not unusual, as they don't bother with pump filters out west. Also, a lot of the stations are closed all winter, so they deliver rust and crud to their first customers in June. 
By the time we had the filter replaced, it was even hotter, so we ignored the protesting engine and continued south along the Utah-Nevada border. We had to turn the air off a few times as the engine got close to boiling, but otherwise it was a good evening's driving. 
We passed what looked like the start of a big fire, saw flocks of bluebirds, and had a beautiful sunset. We arrived at the campground in Panguitch well after dark. This was the first time we'd done that, which
isn't bad for this type of holiday.
Saturday July10th
Sevier fault line
We set off for Bryce Canyon, but the route there through Red Canyon was so pretty that we took time to hike some of its trails before going on to Bryce. 
The first picture on this page shows a dramatic piece of geology, part of the 
Sevier fault line. The grey volcanic rock on the left has dropped and the orange sandstone has risen (I think). It's not a rare occurrence but it's not often that it's that visible. Even the non-geologist can see that something happened there,
Red Canyon's pinnacles and arches are a taste of what's to come in a larger scale inside Bryce. 
After the road arch there were a series of overlooks like these with thousands of pinnacles stretching to the horizon.
It was a perfect blue sky over the red rocks, but too hot for comfort, at least, too hot for those of us used to 45F and rain. The heat and altitude were getting to all of us, as Bryce is at around 9000ft. It's got to be a tough environment for the animals too but whenever we stopped for a snack there was always a ground squirrel there to greet us and share.
We went to a number of overlooks and gazed at the thousands of red spires, picture windows, and gnarly trees, hundreds of years old.
We saw swallowtail butterflies feeding on thistles. Edna asked me to take a picture of this bumble bee as there are no native bumbles in Australia. It was almost my last picture as I backed up too far and started sliding backwards down the cliff face. Luckily I dropped onto my knees and survived.
The scenery was spectacular, but the blazing sunshine and thin air was still taking its toll and we retired to Ruby's Inn,
just outside the park, for lunch and shopping. 
After lunch, John and I wanted to go down
amongst the scenery, so we decided to hike the Swamp Canyon trail while the ladies drove to
the trail's exit point. This time it was John who went down into the canyon the "quick way", and found that a can of 7-up .doesn't make a very good brake. It tends to wear through and explode! 
The hike through the canyon was pleasantly cool under the oaks and junipers, but we soon warmed up on the climb out of the canyon. No quick way for that bit of the trail.
The light had softened by the time we continued with the overlooks, making for some better pictures 
of the pinnacles. This cliff face with all the arches under construction was amazing.
By this time it had cooled enough to make the rest of the overlooks more enjoyable, and by nightfall it was really cold. Even this far south, Bryce occasionally has snow in July, but luckily not this time.