BRYCE AND BAMBI

BRYCE CANYON - March 23
Another national treasure, Bryce Canyon National Park, is located about 80 miles northeast of Zion National Park.  Everyone I've talked to who has visited Bryce Canyon raves about how beautiful it is.  Being so close, we decided to drive up and see for ourselves.

Before arriving at the Park entrance, we drove through part of the Dixie National Forest and were oohing and awing over the rock formations.  We had no idea this was just a little preview of what we were about to see.

JIM MEETS BAMBI
After getting information at the Visitors Center about a 3 mile hike, we drove to the Trailhead at Sunset Point, ate our picnic lunch in the car because it was too windy and cold to eat outside.  We finished our lunch, got all set for the hike and locked the car.  Getting a few steps away, Jim realized we forgot our hiking sticks in the car.  The next thing I heard was "OH, S*IT!  The keys are locked in the Jeep."  I looked through the window, and sure enough, there they were dangling from the ignition, while seeming to mock us for being so stupid as to not have another set of keys with us.

Jim placed a call to Good Sam Emergency Road Service (they hate us by now).  The representative from Good Sam came on the phone (I'll call her Bambi) and part of the conversation between her and Jim went something like this:

JIM: "We are locked out of our car."

BAMBI: " You are locked out of your motor home?"

JIM:  "No, I'm driving our Jeep today; it's our tow vehicle.

BAMBI:  "You're towing your motor home with your Jeep?"

JIM:  "NO!, The motor home is back at the RV Park.  We are sightseeing with our Jeep."

BAMBI:  " Oh, ok, where are you?"

JIM: "I'm in Bryce Canyon National Park."

BAMBI: "What street is that on?"

JIM:  "There is no street.  There is one road through the Park.  It's Bryce Canyon National
           Park.  I'm at the Sunset Point parking lot."

BAMBI:  "What street is the parking lot on?"

JIM:  "THERE IS NO STREET."  (Bambi is getting flustered.)  "When you get ahold
           of a local service provider they will know where the Sunset Point parking lot is."

BAMBI:  "Oh, ok.  Just a moment please." (Bambi puts him on hold.)

After a few minutes, Bambi came back on the line.

BAMBI:  "Mr. Counter, someone is on the way.  They should be there within a half hour."

Within 15 minutes, two guys from the Bryce Canyon Towing Company showed up with their door unlocking equipment and got us out of another fine mess.

We decided to skip the hike and take the 18 mile (one way) road through the Park and stop at the 14 view points along the way.

HOODOOS
The process of how this unique geological wonder occurred is complex and took millions of years to create.  Technically, Bryce is not a canyon because it wasn't formed by a flowing river or stream.  The landscape was formed by naturally acidic rainwater dissolving the limestone and by freezing and thawing water doing most of the sculpting of Bryce Canyon.

The thousands of spires of rock with rounded tops are called hoodoos, and these impressive formations are found in only a few places around the world.  At each Viewpoint we were astounded at the magnificent colors and unique formations and sculptures before us.