2015 Road Trip: Part 16 (Bryce)

Trans-Utah Loop: Bryce Canyon NP

Day 26
5.9.15

Remember that nice bare ground we had the night before?  This was my view outside the tent vestibule in the morning.

Nothing like a bit of high elevation precipitation to keep it all fresh right? Here's the tents.

Since it was actually still snowing in the morning, we had lots of fun being cold while trying to make some breakfast.  Eating in the car ensued.  This campsite was only a few miles away from Bryce Canyon, so after packing up the wet tents, it was a quick drive into the park.

I had seen pictures of Bryce before, but it's even more special to see it half covered in snow from the night.  It's like frosting on each of the hoodoos.  (The hoodoos are all the pointy spires in the canyon.  From Nat Geo: "The canyon's remarkable collection of whimsical hoodoo spires were believed by the early Paiute Indians to be people frozen in stone by the mischievous spirit Coyote.")

Snow-capped hoodoos

We were also faced with an interesting weather phenomenon - a temperature inversion.  Typically, canyons are warmer at the base than at the rim, but every so often, when the conditions are just right, the interior of the canyon will be colder than the rim, which allows clouds and/or fog to fill up the canyon.  This is a relatively rare event, and from what I could find, it happens once every few years, at least inside the Grand Canyon.  Not sure about here at Bryce.

Temperature inversion

Our plan was the hike the Fairyland Trail, which Noah had heard was the favorite trail of many rangers that work there.  The trail departs from Sunset point (which we were ironically leaving from at sunrise) and heads 5.5 miles north through the canyon to Fairyland Point.  Along the way we found a demented tree which Noah felt a strong connection to.

True friends.

Tower bridge was a short spur trail that we decided to check out.  This also gave me an excuse to remove some layers, since the sun was starting to burn off the clouds.  But most importantly, I got to smell some more Ponderosa pines.  There were many along the trail, just to keep the high going a bit longer.

Little clumps of plant life dotted the otherwise barren dirt and rock that made up the canyon.

I found a way to get on top of some hoodoos, which we both took advantage of.

This hoodoo looks like an unfortunate cat that was frozen by the spirit Coyote.

Cat

Our favorite viewpoint along the trail.  Especially with Table Cliffs
and Powell Point in the background.

As we ascended to Fairyland Point, I saw a tree that had been decorated by bug tunnels.

At Fairyland Point, we stopped for a break of banana bread, BBQ kettle chips (our new favorite hiking snack!), and string cheese.  We were joined by a friendly Stellar Jay who tried to prove his dominance by puffing out feathers.  I suppose he succeeded since I don't have any feathers to puff out.  Maybe he'd be impressed by my beard?

Stellar Jay (I think?)

During the 2.5 mile jaunt along the Rim trail, we got another view of the canyon, this time from above.  As the clouds were clearing, we got a view of some lakes that had been hiding below the clouds from the temperature inversion from the morning.

The total trail length was about 8 miles, and I can't remember how long it took - maybe 4 or 5 hours?

We had considered doing another hike in Bryce, but we decided against it since our next stop was Pando, about 3 hours away.  Pando is the largest aspen grove in the world, and also the oldest living organism on earth, estimated to be around 80,000 years old.  More details on that further down.

The Fairyland Trail provided us with a good representation of the canyon, even though we didn't see some of the more famous formations.

Noah told me that Rt. 12 in Utah was a spectacular drive, and even though it added considerable time to the trip, I was completely excited about it.  It would bring us through Escalante, UT, Grand Staircase-Escalante Nat'l Monument, and up through Loa, UT.  We stopped in Escalante for some internet and food.  Homemade sourdough crust with canadian bacon and baked chicken.  The internet found us a campground near Fish Lake, right by Pando.

Further along our journey on Rt. 12, we stopped along Boulder Mtn. to see a special place.  We were able to see the monocline of Capitol Reef NP.  This was where Noah had driven along on a prior road trip.  It is the largest monocline in North America, and to see it from elevation up on this mountain road was really meaningful.

Panorama from Boulder Mtn.

Wispy Hills of Utah

We found a rocky and muddy road that led to a dispersed camping area. We had the valley of Fish Lake effectively to ourselves this evening. Aspens rose up along the hills on both sides.  If only we had been here in the fall, when all the aspens turn bright yellow...perhaps on another trip.

The reason Pando is so old is because aspens tend to clone themselves via an underground root network, and then trees will shoot up from this. All trees in the same root system have the same genetic makeup, and this is very evident in the fall, because each network will change color to that bright yellow at its own time, and you can clearly see which trees belong to which root network.  The root system can stay alive for years and years as the trees above ground live and die off.  The average tree will grow to be about 130 years or so, but then new trees will sprout off from the root system, keeping it alive for the thousands of years that it's been here.

Fish Lake

With a rock to cook on, we were excited to get going on the ham steaks and couscous meal we had planned.  I'll tell you, I really enjoy cooking in the backcountry.  Stuff tends to taste a lot better, even if you cook it horribly.  You're just more hungry, so things taste good.  However, those steaks were cooked perfectly, and Noah can attest to that.

Cooking dinnahhhh

We rounded off the evening by trying to go to sleep.  But first, I brought out the accordion and played into the darkness.  It was cold, so I wore glove liners.  I lost considerable dexterity from this modification.  But it was fun nonetheless, even as snowflakes started to fall around me.  The accordion just needs to come out and breathe every once in awhile.

Route traveled today is below:

Trans-Utah Loop, Day 2: 180 miles