Memorial Day Snow in Bryce

Location: Bryce Canyon, UT

Last week, in Zion, the high temperature was 105 degrees. In Bryce, on Memorial Day, the low was 25 degrees. What a change!

As we had planned months ago, I met Ken and Pam (see blog entries here and here) in Bryce, and my friend John is also here. The four of us hiked a loop trail in Bryce Canyon on Sunday, and then on Monday, Memorial Day, we hiked from the rim down to a small town named Tropic. Ken had lived there for a short time when he was a boy, and this was a hike he remembered fondly from his childhood. We began the hike in the morning, and within minutes a light snow started falling. How ironic -- we were hiking to a place named Tropic in the snow!

The first indication that we were about to have a winter wonderland experience was when we saw the farthest hills and hoodoos softly fade into a misty white. Then the flakes began falling all around us as we navigated the switchbacks and trails going down from the rim. As we descended, the temperatures rose somewhat, and by the time we reached the bottom the snow had stopped, the sun was shining, and the temperature was pleasant. The rest of the hike was on flat terrain, through forests and shrubs, with the occasional sightings of chipmunks, lizards, and spring wildflowers.

We had dinner at Bryce Lodge, and then walked out to the rim for a last view of the canyon. (Tuesday we will all be traveling to Moab, UT). We asked a passerby to take out photo in front of the Canyon. From left to right, John, ZoAnn, Ken and Pam:

Hoodoos

Location: Bryce Canyon, UT

Bryce Canyon is not, technically, a canyon -- a canyon is carved from a single river, and, while the geology of Bryce does involve erosion by water, a single river was not responsible.

Instead, the land was uplifted and then water from several streams and lakes carved the landscape 63-40 million years ago. The rounded pillars, or hoodoos, have been chemically weathered by a weak solution of carbonic acid which forms when rain combines with carbon dioxide. The carbonic acid gradually removed the softer limestone and rounded the rock's sharp corners, leaving the hoodoos standing like sentinels.

Bryce Canyon is also a part of the Grand Staircase, a series of "steps" that increase in elevation from the lowest at the Grand Canyon (around 7000 feet), through the middle elevation at Zion, to the highest here at Bryce (around 8000-9000 feet).

Zion

Location: Zion National Park, Utah

It is hard to capture the enormity of the Grand Canyon -- it is too wide, too deep, and too immense. Likewise, Zion is difficult to capture, but its immensity goes in the other direction --up, and around, and up some more. It is one huge hunk of rock in front of other huge hunks of rocks, surrounded by more hunks of rock -- and they all take turns being in the foreground or fading to the back as the landscape changes and evolves with each turn in the road or trail.

One spectacular hike is to Angels Landing, approximately at the top of the mountain in the photo to the right. The trail begins at the river, ascends to, and through, a canyon and then follows switchbacks to the top. Once at the top, the trail narrows and continues over steep rocks where chains have been bolted into the rockface to assist hikers. We made it half way through this final section, and then returned to the trailhead. We hiked almost 5 miles, gained 1488 feet, and had amazing views of the canyon.

Here are additional photos of Zion:

California Condors and More Grand Canyon Images

Location: Grand Canyon, Arizona

Against the odds, the California Condor today soars over the Grand Canyon. These condors were plentiful in Arizona during the Pleistocene (50,000-10,000 years ago), but changing habitat and food sources reduced the population by the time European explorers came here in the 1500s. By the late 1800s, gold miners killed many of the remaining condors for their feathers, and entrepreneurs took their eggs to satisfy a Victorian fad for egg collecting. In 1924, the last Arizona condor was sighted in Williams, 60 miles south of the park.

By the 1980s, the remaining west-coast condors were dying from ingesting man-made poisons, flying into power lines, or eating animal carcasses that had lead bullets still within the flesh. 22 individuals were all that could be found, and a captive breeding program was begun to try to save the species. In 1996, the first California Condors were released into the wild. Two breeding populations have now been established: one here in Arizona, and one in Central California. They have had to learn how to be "wild," and there have been failures -- but the 50 California Condors that now fly over the Grand Canyon testify to the cautious success of the program.

Note: This photo is three views of the same bird. I once saw six flying at the same time, but more often I only saw one or two, if I saw any.

Here are other images of the Grand Canyon. Mouse over the image for more information, and, as usual, click for a larger image:

Grand Canyon Images

    

Bright Angel Trail Images