We got up early this morning (considering that this is Day 25, I'd say that 7:00AM could still be considered "early") so that we could catch the first shuttle into the park at 8:00AM. It picks up at the stop right in front of our hotel, so it doesn't get much more convenient than that! While taking the shuttle is voluntary (unlike the mandatory shuttle in Zion NP), we wanted to take advantage of it so that we only had to hike one-way, downhill.
We rode all the way out to Bryce Point (elev. 8300 ft) to see the morning sunlight hitting the hoodoos. Even though we weren't early enough to catch the sunrise, still, in a word, "WOW!"
We caught the next shuttle down to Inspiration Point (elev. 8100 ft) for another view along the rim of the canyon.
From here, we took the Rim Trail down to Sunset Point (walking clockwise/north along the edge of the canyon)...
I wish we could have hiked one of the trails down into the canyon to see some of the hoodoos up close, but no one (parents included) seemed up for it. I guess that means we'll have to come back again someday!
We hopped on the shuttle at Sunrise Point and went back to the visitor center to watch the park film. Sitting in a dark room for 20 minutes = me dozing off. Like I said before, it's Day 25! After that, we rode the shuttle out of the park back to the hotel to grab some lunch.
After we finished eating, we decided to drive out to Rainbow Point (the shuttle doesn't go out that far) to see what there was to see.
We stopped at a few other overlooks on the way back, but the skies were darkening with rain clouds and the views weren't quite as spectacular, so I won't post more pics here. Hoodoo overload reached.
The boys spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, then vegging in front of the TV. After dinner (and another catnap), we went back to Sunset Point to see (what else?)... the sun set.
We waited at the lodge for the 9:00PM ranger program to start. The astronomy topic was the Virgo Cluster. Good thing I had that nap after dinner! Afterwards, we went back to the visitor center to view the night sky through the huge telescopes they had set up. But there was too much cloud cover and the moon was nearly full, so there weren't many stars to view (and we were too tired to wait for the skies to clear). However, we were able to see the craters on the moon - the images were so well-defined! That was a cool way to end our day!
We hopped on the shuttle at Sunrise Point and went back to the visitor center to watch the park film. Sitting in a dark room for 20 minutes = me dozing off. Like I said before, it's Day 25! After that, we rode the shuttle out of the park back to the hotel to grab some lunch.
After we finished eating, we decided to drive out to Rainbow Point (the shuttle doesn't go out that far) to see what there was to see.
 |
| Natural Bridge |
 |
| Rainbow Point |
We stopped at a few other overlooks on the way back, but the skies were darkening with rain clouds and the views weren't quite as spectacular, so I won't post more pics here. Hoodoo overload reached.
The boys spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, then vegging in front of the TV. After dinner (and another catnap), we went back to Sunset Point to see (what else?)... the sun set.
 |
| We were too late to see the sunset hitting the hoodoos in the canyon and could only see the light on the cliffs off in the distance. |
We waited at the lodge for the 9:00PM ranger program to start. The astronomy topic was the Virgo Cluster. Good thing I had that nap after dinner! Afterwards, we went back to the visitor center to view the night sky through the huge telescopes they had set up. But there was too much cloud cover and the moon was nearly full, so there weren't many stars to view (and we were too tired to wait for the skies to clear). However, we were able to see the craters on the moon - the images were so well-defined! That was a cool way to end our day!
No comments:
Post a Comment