Last night, at the recommendation of a park ranger I parked the RV on a forest road a few minutes before the main entrance to Bryce National Park. There were a few other RVs parking along the same road, but it was private, quiet, and free.
At about 6:30AM I woke up, and by 7AM I was already hiking the “Rim Trail” portion of the Fairyland Loop, an 8 mile loop showing many of the unique geological formations in the National Park. The hike was relatively quiet but had stunning, scenery. It’s interesting to think about all the erosion that has occurred over millions of years in creating the current landscape. There are endless towers of earth hundreds of feet tall sticking out of the land below which have somehow escaped the erosion of the rest of the canyon/valley. They probably haven’t escaped erosion and will eventually be eroded to nothing, but they have been protected for longer periods of time than their surroundings. It’s also interesting to see how the visible layers of sediments in the earth towers throughout the valley match the layers of sediments in the canyon walls that are at the same elevation. This is evidence of the principle of horizontality and also shows that at one time in history this entire area was as even, level floor where sediments were uniformly deposited.
At about 10:15 AM, I completed the 8 mile loop at Sunrise Point. Sunrise Point had beautiful views of the inner canyon. Conveniently, Sunrise Point was also the starting point of “Figure-8 Loop,” another 9 mile hike in the shape of an “8,” which would be the next hike of the day.
After hiking over 17 miles, I had to walk 1 mile along the main highway inside the park back to where the RV was parked. While walking along the side of the road, a National Park shuttle stopped and offered me a ride which was a welcome act of kindness considering how tired I was.
After arriving at the RV, I decided to drive the entire length of the main Road of the park to its end at Rainbow Point.
After driving back to the main entrance of the park, I drove to a northern portion of the National Park that’s only accessible through Highway 12. The stop on the highway is the trailhead for the Mossy Cave Trail. The trail is about .8 miles round trip and follows a small, grayish river up until reaching a modest 15-20 foot waterfall. There’s also a side trail which leads to Mossy Cave, a cave which leaks water from the top of the cave and is protected from the sun. These conditions are ideal for moss growth, which is growing in some parts of the cave. During winter, the leaking water freezes thereby creating icicles (stalactite-like formations) frozen from the ceiling.
After visiting the cave, I drove about five miles to Ruby’s Campground and RV Park in Bryce Canyon City, where I used the non-time-limited shower facilities. Afterwards, I began heading to Zion National Park via the 15 Freeway. Because I’ve heard some snippets about Zion being extremely busy due to a race, I decided to stop in Cedar City, UT rather than driving too close to the National Park today. Cedar City, UT is a predominantly Mormon town, where a McDonald’s worker/high school student explains that there isn’t anything to do except hanging out in Walmart. However, she became very excited and enthusiastic while discussing a Mormon Temple that is planned to be built in the City.
