Bryce Canyon- 100 Day Celebration! Utah

The night after our visit to Capital Reef National Park we traveled down Route 12 along the "Hell's Backbone" to the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. This quiet park along the Wide Hollow Reservoir was home to a fabulous one mile hiking trail up through a petrified forest. These huge trees were remnants of a tropical forest that existed in prehistoric times...such a contrast to the arid climate that we see today.

Huge chunk of petrified tree.

The colors in the "wood" were incredible.

We arrived at Bryce Canyon on April 1 to find snow covering the 8,000 ft. elevations!! The park was just coming out of it's sleepy winter quiet and the day was a stunning 70+ degrees! The shuttle buses were not running yet, but we could easily navigate the park in the View.

After our stop at the Visitor Center we went to Sunset Point where we enjoyed a Ranger Talk on the geology of Bryce Canyon. He pointed out the fact that Bryce is not a true canyon, but that the differential erosion of the many layers of sandstone caused by snow melt, rain fall, and wind results in the Hoodoo formations and the canyon-like maze around them. Ancient peoples described the formations as a tribe that had been frozen in rock statues!

We took a hike down the Queen's Garden Loop and onto the Navajo Loop trail where we had to turn around before the end because snow/ice closed the trail. It was a perfect way to view the Hoodoos up close. We had a great close up encounter with the Queen Victoria formation.

The Bryce Canyon sign dotted with snow and Wanderluffs.

View from Sunset Point.

Hiking down the Queen's Garden Trail.

Hoodoo rock formations.

We named him the turtle from Kung Fu Panda.

The Silent City.

At the Bryce Canyon Lodge to celebrate our 100 days on the road!!

Our spectacular day in Bryce ended at the Lodge with a celebratory dinner for surviving 100 days together on the road!! We had covered 20 states, numerous islands, 8,000 long road miles,150 boat miles, and a couple of flights, at the halfway point in our trip! The dinner was fantastic.