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Although the Anasazi, Fremont, and Paiute Indians lived in what is now
Zion National Park from at least 750 C.E., Mormon explorers officially
“discovered” Zion Canyon around 1858. The Mormons found it a sanctuary
from both religious persecution and the Indians who feared the canyon.
To them, the surrounding mountains and rock formations were “natural
temples of God,” so they called the canyon “Little Zion.”
The names of these “natural temples” reflect the religious mindset of
the Mormon pioneers, in a kind of Rorschach test in stone. Above, at left,
is the “Great White Throne,” a symbol of Zion. At right, the “Court of
the Patriarchs.”
At far left, “The Watchman” and near left, “The Beehives.” A beehive
symbolizes the Mormon ideal of a harmonious, industrious society.
If you look at the peaceful Virgin River (presumably also named by
Mormons) during the dry visiting seasons of summer and autumn, you’ll
be left wondering how such a small stream (left) could have
carved through more than 1200 meters of rock to create Zion Canyon (right).
The river carries many small rock grains, and at a
surprisingly rapid flow rate. It acts like a liquid belt
sander. When the river floods during the rainy season, it can rise
enough to move large boulders along its banks.
East of Zion Canyon is another eroded canyon (below left), along with jumbled sedimentary rocks (below right) in which trees have taken root. The tree in the center picture is an ancient bristlecone pine.
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The guidebooks I read while planning my trip to Utah insisted that
Bryce Canyon was overrated and worth a visit of no more than a few
hours. This assessment might well be true in the summer. In July and
August the park is a prime “family vacation” destination, jam-packed
with tour buses and mini-vans filled with screaming kids. But in the
off season, when the crowds are gone, it is worth lingering.
Bryce Canyon really isn’t a canyon at all. Canyons are the work of
rivers that relentlessly dig their way through layers of rock. Bryce,
in contrast, is a bowl-shaped “amphitheater” that contains the
solidified silt of a large ancient lake. Once the lake dried up,
continuous freezing and thawing of ice, with the help of rain, cracked
and sculpted the rock into myriad spires, pillars, and “hoodoos.”
Layers of calcium carbonate (the miraculous stuff that makes
eggshells, chalk, pearls, and Tums) in the silt provide structure and
hardness, and traces of iron and manganese provide the color.
Hoodoos assume fanciful shapes and have equally
fanciful names. I think the one at right looks like a poodle, although
I have no idea what its official name is.
The “real” way to see Bryce Canyon is to hike a 36-kilometer trail
beneath the canyon rim. To do this fully takes a minimum of two days.
But if you lack the time (or the stamina and outdoor skills), there is
plenty to see from the many viewpoints along the paved road that runs
the length of the park, along the canyon rim. There are also other less
strenuous trails and walks that provide a peek under the rim.
As with so with many places, early morning and late afternoon are the best
times to see the colors of Bryce Canyon. “Fairyland Canyon” (right) looks best
in the morning.
After sunset, twilight suffuses the canyon with a soft pink glow (as
seen at left from the Agua Canyon viewpoint).
But wait... there’s more! Between Cedar City and Panguitch is Cedar
Breaks National Monument. It’s like a second Bryce Canyon, but in
miniature (only one “amphitheater” instead of 18). Because it’s
a bit out of the way, Cedar Breaks gets only a fraction of Bryce Canyon’s traffic.
So it’s a quieter place to contemplate nature’s erosional artistry.
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