Travelling Utah with a Campervan – Bryce Canyon National Park

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Continuing with our trip in October to Utah, Bryce Canyon National Park was our next stop after Zion National Park.

Bryce Canyon is part of the same geological plateau as Zion National Park, just at a higher altitude. We felt quite out of breath the first day, hiking up from the bottom of the canyon. Unlike Zion, here we started off with a magnificent view from the top and descended the sometimes steep switchback paths before having to climb back up. We saw a few helicopters from the bottom and joked that instead of aerial tours, they were rescuing stranded hikers who couldn’t make it back up! Bryce in October was rather chilly at night, down to maybe 0C. I was surprised I wore my lightweight puffer jacket all day, despite the constant sunshine. My mom is a bit claustrophobic and insisted on keeping a campervan window open at night – resulting in my dad and I sleeping in several layers of clothes. We loved hiking in the desert so much, we are planning on going back to Utah in May, and I am now equipped with a toasty-warm sleeping bag from MEC.

The special thing about Bryce Canyon are the hoodoos, aka fairy chimneys. They are pillars of stone that are remnants of erosion, especially from the snow and freezing water . Hoodoos were also numerous when descending the escarpment that Riyadh perches atop in Saudi Arabia. They all make for stupendous photographs.

I was surprised by the large amount of wildlife we spotted, including the Stellar’s Jay, the endangered Utah prairie dog, mule deer, and mountain chickadees. Along with the cute fauna, the park itself is dotted with lovely-sounding names, such as Rainbow Point, Sunrise and Sunset Points,  and Fairyland Loop. Of course, the views are so spectacular that it’s almost impossible to take a bad photograph!

Our days were spent hiking, but our nights were also fun and educational. Bryce Canyon is at such a high elevation and so far from any big cities that there is practically no light pollution. This made it a great location for stargazing, which we did with the Dark Rangers’ super powerful telescopes at the Visitor’s Centre. We were able to see (and I was later able to photograph) the Andromeda galaxy.

After spending several days hiking outdoors, I was disappointed to eventually return to work and sit at my desk for hours at a time. I quickly got used to the outdoor freedom, the fresh air and sunshine. I am eagerly anticipating our return to Utah in the spring!