#19 Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

Being back in Bryce Canyon after 17 years was bittersweet. The bitter part is that I'm here again without my angel girl and remembering 9/11.

The sweet part is the memory of Anna's delight

looking at the whimsical rock formations. As a 5 year old she was entranced with all the hoodoos and the beautiful canyon that they filled, and that she was too young to know what a horrible tragedy that day in September was to our country.

Yes, we were in Bryce Canyon on the morning of the infamous 9/11. Hearing the news as we were about to hike down into the hoodoos was surreal! How could something so tragic be happening while we looked at all this beauty?!? It was inconceivable!

Bryce Canyon

Anna & I sitting in an arch. What you can't see is that it's about 2,000 feet straight down right behind us.

17 years ago with Anna

Bryce Canyon is fascinating! So many hoodoos and colors that look like a peachy pumpkin! It almost doesn't feel real. These pictures can't possibly capture the warm colors that seem to emanate from the rocks. It was very overcast too, so that didn't help.

OK, what is this strange word I've been using? "Hoodoo"

A 'hoodoo' is formed from eroding rock walls called fins. We talked about fins at Arches National Park and how arches are formed from them. The fins in Bryce are limestone (the ones in Arches are sandstone) that was deposited when this area was water. The order of erosion in this canyon is: windows form in a fin, the top of the window finally collapses, and a hoodoo is born. Bryce Canyon has the largest concentration of Hoodoos in the world!

Here is an example of a window in the fin that will someday become a hoodoo.

We hiked part of the same trail that we did with Anna. It is a trail filled with "Oooh"s and "Ahhh"s!

How much longer before this one topples?

Bryce is filled with whimsy and wonder. Go see this fantastic park; just don't go in March. It was pretty cold and snowy and the trails were icy in areas.