How Do You Do, Hoodoos?

Brain cancer is...

...breaking out jeans and hiking shoes today, Day Four.

Today we were stunned by the beauty of Bryce Canyon National Park in the winter.  Yesterday was Zion, bottom to top.  Today was Bryce, top to bottom.  (We started at the rim then hiked down.) Here are a few pics.

(Side note:  Here's a 2:28-minute video if you'd like more of the day's scenery.  Click here for YouTube link instead.)

The top:

Our First Peek, Sunset Point

Down we went, to the Queen's Garden:

That's the Garden, Behind Us.

That's the Queen...

...Queen Victoria, that Is.

And then back up via Navajo Loop to Sunrise Point:

Switchbacks, from the Top, after We Climbed them.

The View on the Way Up.

Where to Put Mud Flaps?

One more, from our drive around the rim:

Aptly Named Inspiration Point

Here are some things we enjoyed learning about Bryce:

1. Bryce Canyon is not a canyon.  It's a series of amphitheaters.
2. Bryce Canyon is much smaller than Zion, and less traveled.  It's also higher in elevation (witness the snow), from 8,000-9,000 feet. We were actually off season at Bryce, compared to busy Zion just yesterday.
3. We saw bristle cone pines, estimated at 1,600 years of age.
4. Those rock spires are called hoodoos.  They form when softer rock near the bottom of the spire is covered with harder rock, and the softer rock erodes first.

Okay, here's the new hat after dinner.

So snazzy.

It's been nice, Bryce!