Bryce Canyon

5/08/05 4:30pm, Panoramic view of Bryce Canyon. The first view of it is breathtaking -- like looking upon a lost city. 




5/08/2005 2:00pm, View of the hoodoos from down inside the canyon. It was overcast, so the colours are not nearly as vibrant as they were later in the day, but its just as well, as it got warmer the farther down we went. 




05/08/05 6:00pm, View of Bryce and the mesas beyond. The shadows are getting long and it is so quiet that the only sound you can hear is the wind. 




5/09/05 11:00am, Close-up of the hoodoos at Bryce Canyon 




5/09/05 11:00am, Another view of Bryce. There was still snow at higher elevations and some trails were closed due to snow and storm damage. Look at the colours: red, pink, orange, ochre, yellow. 



Bryce was phenomenal. It was completely different from the Grand Canyon, so it was in no way eclipsed by it. It is also completely isolated. It is difficult to see or hear any signs of civilization, in rather sharp contrast to the Grand Canyon, which was bustling with cars and buses and visitors. It was quiet at Bryce. Truly quiet. I could hear the trees creaking in the wind. I could hear the wind skirling among the hoodoos. I could hear the ravens and the blue jays and the scampering chipmonks. Most people spoke in hushed tones, and the most common sound was that of shutters clicking as people tried vainly to capture with their cameras something that defies words and images. I wanted most to sit there and zone for hours, communing with the stones that spoke to me without words, singing of mysteries and timelessness and the wind that is the breath of the world.