The road in Bryce Canyon follows the ridge line (actually a plateau) to the end where it is a point of land overlooking lower plateaus. The highest point is 9100 feet approximately and the road ends at Rainbow Point. This point is really interesting because you get a view of the entire park, and we spent time trying to figure out exactly where Bryce Canyon itself was.
The overall shape of the plateau is moon shaped. However, Bryce Canyon is actually runs inward behind a ridge about 2/3 of the way around the C. From the point we are standing we could see the area where we believed Bryce Canyon started as it moved behind the ridge in front. We learned later as we travelled back stopping at all the viewpoints that was in fact the case.
However from this viewpoint we could see the canyon lands, plateaus and even into the flats area. From this point you can spot, if you know the names, the Navajo Mountain and the Kaibab Plateau. The foreground is awash in the colors of long-eroded slopes and remnant hoodoos.
From this point we also had the opportunity to walk to the very end of the plateau (again like a narrow ridge at this end) on a trail called the Bristlecone Loop Trail. Now you stand at the end and really have vista of southern Utah.
We headed back down the road and next stopped at Black Birch Canyon. In the pictures you will notice the elevations so I will not repeat them here.
We then stopped at the Ponderosa Canyon and could not figure out why it got this name at all.
Next stop was the Aqua Canyon which sounded like we should find lots of water – NOT. We moved on to the next stop which was the Natural Bridge. This actually is misnamed we learned since a natural bridge occurs when it is caused by erosion by water that washes out below a rock cropping leaving a bridge effect. This is actually an arch which is created in a very different process of erosion.
The next stop was Fairview Point. Nice views but nothing unique. I think the pictures will fill in the following Whiteman Bench, Swamp Canyon (no swamp that I could see), Paria View, Bryce Point and Inspiration Point. When we had finished this we decided to drive into the nearest town for gas and lunch.
So off we go to Tropic, Utah which is about 15 miles from the park. What I did not know before heading out was that Wes had noticed that on the route there was a site called Mossy Cave and water fall. I insisted that we have lunch first before trekking up to the Cave and waterfall since it was already late afternoon, so that is what we did. Now the trek was not long but steep and here is the story. The cave has water seepage year round so there is moss in the cave even though it really is desert around. The time of year is poor since in the winter the cave fills up with icicles which are quite spectacular – so the sign said. As for the waterfall, it is caused by a system of diverting water from a river up closer to Bryce Canyon and created some ditches to move the water over to the plateau where Tropic is situated. They used as much of the natural waterways as possible and one is the gulch that runs pass the Mosey cave and as it happens there is a waterfall created in the process. Very interesting to see all this.
After we go back to camp I worked on the pictures for the blog and Wes decided to take one more stroll along the rim of the canyon. After dinner we went to the Park Ranger’s talk about the Moon – called Lun-a-see where he talked about the moon, its orbits, relationship to the earth and myths surrounding it. After the talk we went over a parking lot where they had set up 4 powerful telescopes where we were able to look at Jupiter and its 4 moons, a star cluster, and a nebulus. It was awesome and the temperature outside was actually not that cool. The moon was full by the way. Great ending to our stay at Bryce Canyon.
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