#RSRSeesTheUSA Day 48: Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
Bryce Canyon National Park is seriously like a whole different world that somehow formed in the middle of this one. I hiked along the rim of the amphitheater full of hoodoos and down into the magical forest of fairy chimneys (my fave synonym for hoodoos) and limber pines and twisting cedars. I hung out with many chipmunks and squirrels and prairie dogs and Steller’s jays and mule deer and even a couple of pronghorns. I love the Steller’s jays and their chic teal/blue/black/white plumage and their punk mohawks. They’re described as “hefty, crested birds with an attitude”, “bold and inquisitive”, and the male and female jays share the nest building and nestling feeding duties. Superior to the Eastern variety of blue jay, if you ask me.
Ornithology aside, words won’t adequately capture the breathlessness of hiking down and up in the thin mountain air, with snow flurries drifting out of the gray clouds in the bright blue sky, with the warm sun and cold wind that I remember fondly from my time living in Colorado. The rocks were fascinating. The cloud shadows on the rocks were gorgeous. The trail company was friendly, leapfrogging each other along switchbacks as we all took our rest/drink/eat breaks. The color palette was one of my faves: steller’s jay blue sky, white highlights in the clouds and snow, layers of rock shading from rusty red to pinkish pearly white, and the sage-to-evergreen spectrum of leaves and pine needles.
Here’s a bunch of photos that still won’t capture it, but I share them with you before popping a couple ibuprofen, doing some stretches for my tight hiking muscles, and climbing into bed.
Cloud of the day: this one of many examples of white and gray, blowing and snow-carrying clouds casting clear shadows on the rocks below
