Bryce Canyon

Let's go back in time a few weeks to our Fall Break. We loaded the kids in the car and headed south to Bryce Canyon. Along the way, we stopped to hunt for several geocaches. Geocaching is Elliot's new favorite, and he was thrilled to find every cache we searched for.

We also passed right by Big Rock Candy Mountain. It looks kinda cool!

We stayed in Panquitch for a night and then on to Bryce Canyon.

Now, if you're married to Nathan, hiking around a National Park is a requirement.

Hike #1

We went in search of the famous Bristlecone Pine tree. The ones in Bryce Canyon are roughly 1700 years old, but there are some in the world that are 4600 years old! Bristlecone Pines grow in the most desolate spots - where there's lots of sun and very little water. They are distinguished by the way the pine needles grow in a foxtail shape. Nathan was impressed.

That is a very sad looking Bristlecone Pine right behind us:

This was a cool formation. I was snapping a few shots when a guy from Canada asked if I wanted to use his fisheye lens for a minute. Heck yeah! See the difference?

Then he took a picture of us with his lens still on my camera. It's totally neat except for the fact that I ruined the picture with my blink.

Hike #2

We hiked down into the canyon right passed Thor's Hammer, the most famous Hoodoo in the park.

Yes, I said Hoodoo. Here's a quick lesson on how Bryce Canyon was formed:



It's basically from erosion and the freezing temperatures in the winter. Anyway, here's the rest of the hike.

This is the Bryce Canyon Ampitheater. It really does look like there are a bunch of hoodoos seated in an ampitheater watching a concert or something.

This tree looks like it's going to walk away!

Bryce Canyon was beautiful and it made for the perfect fall break family adventure!