Bryce Canyon - Utah
Bryce Canyon is located in South-West Utah and is an incredible spectacle. Consisting of tall pinnacle hoodoo's reaching ever skyward from the bottom of an enormous amphitheatre it dominates the area in spectacular fashion. July 2009 was when I managed to visit this park. I was still not able to cover much ground walking at this time but I was keen to see this wonder before we returned to the UK and this was it.
Even the road leading to the entrance was beautiful.
Once inside the park the canyon spreads out around you covering huge swathes of land as you climb toward the 9,000 top of the canyon wall
the red, white and orange colours of the walls change hue as the sun moves across the sky or clouds diffuse the light, as always the best time to photograph this place would be the 'golden hour' (sunset of sunrise) whilst I didn't have the opportunity to do that today, it really didn't matter I was exhilarated to be here achieving another impossible goal.
at the top of the canyon I found a great spot for a picture and although walking out along the pinnacle of rock was concerning, the downward angle obtained made it worth it
the pathways were perfect as you would imagine. As I limped along a short section I met up with an Australian guy who said "you can't go any-bloody-where without running into a brit, I pointed out that he must be there also in order for that to happen. We shared a laugh and walked a couple of miles to the top together talking about 'brits abroad' and the like. Can't remember his name but I'm tempted to say Bruce....
No matter where you are on the rim of the canyon you will see trails leading off into the distance, I would love to return here when fit and walk some of these trails for a decent distance.
today I have to settle for a couple of short wanders, probably no more than 4/5 miles in total but I still enjoyed every minute of it and was blown away by the beauty of the place.
I would love to think that we will get back to Southern Utah for another longer visit and return here during that time, but I still count my blessings that I was able to see it at all.