Red Canyons, Hoodoo Heaven

The grandeur of Bryce Canyon was thrilling. The views of Bryce’s iconic hoodoos were endless as we drove through the park, each scenic overlook offering new angles of cascading canyons with morning light dancing across red, white, grey, and even bluish hues. Myriad shapes and sizes of the towering hoodoo spindles merged into a magical landscape carved over thousands of years by the Master Architect. In fact, both Skip and I were brought to tears as we gazed over the Rainbow Point at the end of the scenic drive through this splendid national park. The beauty of it all touched our souls deeply.

We were rewarded for our early start on Wednesday with open parking spaces and plenty of photo ops in the stillness of the magnificent canyons. We braved 31 degrees with wind chill reminiscent of our Minnesota heritage rattling our bones at 9,000 feet, but it was worth it! Fun fact – hoodoo is derived from the native language of the southern Paiute people. Their word ooh doo is an expression of being scared, more commonly pronounced ‘uuuuuudooooooooo’ in a moment of fear. These geological marvels are created in large part due to the effect of frost creating cracks in the rock which later expand, causing rock to fall from the rock wall, ultimately leaving hoodoos towering in the canyon.

When planning this adventure, we had no idea that wind would be such a defining element of the experience. We’ve had five days when high winds gusting to 50 mph forced us to remain in the rig. As we returned to our campground after our first morning in Bryce, we were stuck on Hwy 12 for about 40 minutes while fire crews were putting out fires along the road just about a mile from our rig. That was certainly unsettling. As the afternoon wore on, the gusts increased. Nonetheless, we were thankful that no further fire danger occurred nearby. Days of wind are now behind us…we hope!

Thursday’s warmer temperature and reduced wind afforded the opportunity to hike down into the famed Bryce amphitheater. We began at Sunrise point, then traversed the switchbacks down into the canyon to the Queen’s Garden. We hiked through the cool shade of huge ponderosa pines on the base of the canyon along the Navaho Trail loop before trekking through the Wall Street slot canyon. Then began the steep ascent, all 625 feet’s worth. The switchbacks seemed infinite…I told myself just keep moving…one foot, then the next foot. An occasional stop for a breath or two was helpful; younger folks blew by us. As the crowds grew, the narrow path made for close passage.

Hiking into the canyon allowed us to see hoodoos up close. It was an entirely different perspective! Most radiated a vibrant red but a few were white due to their limestone composition.

We finished Thursday with a trail ride through the Dixie National Forest and then along the rim of Bryce Canyon on private land owned by Ruby’s family. The nearby town includes Ruby’s diner, hotel, general store, cowboy restaurant, tours, etc… Ruby is a big name in these parts. The story goes that about 100 years ago, Reuben (Ruby) Syrett bought ranch land in southern Utah. At the time of purchasing the land, he had no knowledge of the massive and beautiful canyon adjacent to his property. Once he learned of the canyon, he was distressed that this giant “hole” would hamper his plans to expand the ranch. Once he visited the canyon, Ruby and his family embraced tourism over ranching as their life’s work, wanting to share its beauty with the world.

Next stop… Capital Reef National park, one of the the lesser known and visited parks. We can’t wait to share with you what we discover!