"Touring America 2008"
'Bryce Canyon & Zion National Park'
Bryce Canyon proved to be an unexpected delight, completely different to the Grand Canyon as they have been formed over time by two completely different processes. The Grand Canyon has been formed by the Colorado river cutting into the subsoil over 20 million years ago which combined with uplifting of the plateau caused the river to etch deeper and deeper into the canyon. Bryce Canyon has been formed primarily from erosion by wind and other natural elements such as water and chemicals. The rock consists mainly of limestone and for 200 days of the year the temperature goes above and below freezing every day causing 'frost-wedging' which in turn shatters the rock; acid in the rain dissolves the limestone and washes it away. A canyon has been formed by this process over millions of years but Bryce is not a 'natural' canyon.
Bryce may not be quite on the enormous scale of the Grand Canyon but the variety of rock formations and colours brought about by erosion of different rock structures makes it a fantastic sight and was our favourite place on the trip. A park ranger gave a very interesting talk on how the canyon had been formed which I listened to whilst the others trekked to the lower levels for a better view. An interesting event occurred when we drove in as a visiting British couple took a photo at the gate with a gnome that they were taking on a trip around America. The travelling gnome prank is the practice of returning a garden gnome "to the wild" and involves stealing a gnome, taking it on a trip, and photographing it at famous landmarks, with the photos being returned to the owner. This was the first time we had actually seen someone do this - great fun, maybe we should try it.
Time to move on again, this time to Zion National Park. Given the time and energy we could have done the Riverside Walk which is a 2-mile round-trip stroll beginning at the farthest end of Zion Canyon, in a natural amphitheater called the Temple of Sinawava. Instead we caught a shuttle bus that took us all the way there and back and we were able to enjoy it without the effort; we saw two climbers high up on the side of the canyon walls, so small that it took some time to actually focus on them. The so-called Temple is a large natural semi-circular enclosure with high walls and waterfalls cascading over pathways and is quite a sight (play video); worth the visit but I'm sure that if we had taken the Riverside Walk it would have been more natural and enjoyable. One of the surprising observations whenever you are a long way from any civilisation is that the sky at night is 'uncontaminated' by light and the number of stars in the sky is quite breathtaking.
On our way to our next stop in Las Vegas, we passed what appeared to be an old preserved mine called the 'Lost Virgin Mine' which looked quite interesting; time prevented us from staying too long and I was not sure how genuine this structure was. Back home I looked it up and the dearth of information on it suggests it's a bit of a sham put up for the tourists.
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