Day 4 – Torrey to Bryce Canyon National Park

We awoke the next morning to a view of red rock mountains out of our bedroom window, and to the delicious smells of a hot breakfast. To prepare us for the day ahead, Erika prepared us eggs benedict, a welcome change from the dried-out pastries that serve as a continental breakfast at most motels. She and Eldon joined us for the meal, and we were so happy they weren’t Mormon because they served us some great coffee! It was a detail I hadn’t considered when making the reservation, but apparently it’s a real consideration for a lot of the family run places in Utah – since Mormons don’t drink coffee, most won’t serve it to their guests.

Eldon was full of tales of rock hunting finds, and showed us some of his prized finds. The most compelling was the fossilized dinosaur pooh. He had someone use a rock polisher on the bottom of it, and it was just like quartz on the inside. Apparently scientists have studied these remains and can tell what the animals were eating. Lauren and I were keen to go with Eldon on an expedition to try to find a specimen to take home, and to see some of the other places he had discovered that were not on the tourist maps, like the fossilized dinosaur prints in a nearby canyon, but we just didn’t have enough time. Eldon didn’t want to send us away empty-handed, so he gave us each a couple of gastroliths – rocks that had passed through dinosaur digestive tracts. Apparently the herbivores used to eat them to help them digest their food, just like some birds do. They are smooth and beautiful, and we now keep them in our pockets like worry stones. This was a stay to remember.

We headed directly out for a hike at Capitol Reef state park, which is next to Torrey. We stopped on the way to see some more Indian petroglyphs, these ones drawn life-sized, and especially liked the cute little sheep that were portrayed on the towering red stone cliff face. Then we hiked a mile out to a natural feature called the Hickman Bridge, down through a small canyon that was very scenic and felt more intimate than a lot of the sites we’d seen. There was a field of low-growing cacti that Lauren found interesting, and decided she needed a cactus spine as a souvenir. She wanted to carry it in her hand the rest of the hike, instead of putting it away in the film canister that I suggested. Bet you can’t guess what happened. Does anyone know if cactus spines are poisonous? It was an invigorating way to start the day. We didn’t spend long here, though, as we still had Bryce Canyon on the agenda and we were told we definitely shouldn’t miss it.

The drive to Bryce from Torrey is on route 12, known as the first “All American Highway” in Utah. There are about 100 nationally recognized scenic byways, and route 12 is one of them. It truly is spectacular. The road climbed to a mountain pass of over 9,600 feet at one point, while we watched the car’s thermometer drop to a low of 26 degrees. We were also greeted with our first snow flurries, which made the surrounding white aspen trees look magical. On the descent down from the pass, there is a section of the road that is definitely not for the faint of heart. The road travels a winding, narrow mountain crest, with steep drop-offs simultaneously on both sides down to deep canyons. It is unbelievable and impossible to describe, and probably the top reason this route was chosen as “scenic”. The rest of the drive was a bit tamer, although still beautiful, winding past more red rock canyons and formations, through forests and open fields.

We arrived at Bryce in the early afternoon, and decided it might be a bit cold for a long hike. More snow was predicted for the afternoon, and the breeze was biting. But we were determined to see this crown jewel of a park, so we took the advice from the visitor’s center of a few special scenic overlooks that could be easily driven to. We stopped at a point called Sunset, and hiked about half a mile to the Sunrise point, and were greeted with perhaps the best scenery yet of our trip. There are miles of “hoodoos”, layer upon layer of wind-sculpted spires of varying shades of orange and white that are the park’s signature attraction. The trail we walked on ran right along a cliff, with crumbly dirt and no fence or other obstruction to keep you from the edge. Very nerve wracking for someone with such tender sensibilities as me, but I still found myself drawn to look over the edge so I wouldn’t miss any of it. We burned through another roll of film, took pics on the digital camera and some video footage as well, and can’t wait to see how they all turned out. We’re sure we won’t be able to capture the feeling of being there in person, but the photos should be able to help us keep our memories alive.

Snow arrived again, this time in big fat flakes that stuck to our hair and eyelashes, and we decided to head back early to the motel. We amused ourselves for a short while with the kids’ games outside of the little shopping area (which was closed for the season) until we were thoroughly chilled. We decided it was best to spend a bit of time indoors, so we went up to our room and watched a movie on the television while we warmed up, then headed out to an early dinner since we hadn’t stopped for lunch. In the two hours we’d been in our room, the snow had piled up on top of the cars and was sticking to the ground. We were in a winter wonderland! The snow continued for most of the evening, so we were left wondering how difficult it would be to get around in the morning. There was nothing we could do but put our wet jeans and shoes in front of the heater to dry out during the night.