The splendid southwest – 3

Off we went to sleep after a dinner of some pizza and pasta in Page, Arizona. We had booked an early morning tour at 7:30 AM to see the lower Antelope canyon. I had been to the upper Antelope canyon more than a year ago and had been quite disillusioned due to the crowd, the heat and severe commercialization. I felt this was nothing like that, firstly because it was cold and it was not as crowded as it could have been and secondly because the guide seemed very authentic and informative, only occasionally interfering with our reverie to click photos of us. This was much longer and difficult to get through than the upper canyon, just as beautiful. The sandstone formations with the light peeking at times from above manifest into the most stunning colors, elevated by our imagination that will unravel the head of a native Indian leader with all the headgear, a seahorse and the like. We had started without enough breakfast and were ravenous as we aimed for the cafeteria once the tour ended.

The horseshoe bend, another work of art built by the incessant efforts of the Colorado river, was our next stop. I had been here on my previous trip to Arizona too, and was still eager to see it. We luckily found a parking spot as we ignored the sign that said parking is full and we should come back later. This was because it is so easily accessible, a convenient stop for most traveling to and from the Grand Canyon. The last time, we were here for sunrise and had had a spot overlooking the canyon for ourselves without anybody stealing the space in the background of our perfect frames. It seemed to have grown hugely popular in the last year and the authorities were doing their part as well, having established railings at the overlook leaving some parts a little far away for the more adventurous. It was not the best time for photographs, the sun shining brightly on half of the view. I rediscovered my enchantment with the horseshoe bend as I fixed my gaze on the walls of the canyon which revealed something different each time. The charm that it radiated only swelled to the utmost as we contemplated it further. We walked around a little bit more, perceiving it at different angles and capturing all that our eyes could.

This marked the end of our stretch in Arizona on this trip. We were on road for our drive to the Bryce Canyon national park in Utah for about three hours, stopping at a town called Kanab for some burgers for lunch. It is only when the sign on the window next to me was pointed out that I felt slightly threatened. We quickly finished our meal and hit the road. The latter bit of the drive from the Mt Carmel junction to the entrance of the national park was breathtaking, winding through roads by the side of a river with the mountain canyons at a distance. We passed through the red canyon, Bryce canyon’s lesser known neighbor. The striking red hoodoo formations were far too tempting, and we would have stopped if not for my obsession to stick to the schedule. Our vision was tainted with red for a while. Talk about painting the town red!

On our arrival at the Bryce canyon national park, we stopped at the visitor center and were at a loss trying to decide where to go first. The most popular viewing points in Bryce are all around the Bryce amphitheater. We marveled at it from the Bryce point, the inspiration point, the sunrise and the sunset points. The trails by the side of the canyon are a must do if you have enough time at Bryce. It apparently has the highest concentration of hoodoos found anywhere on earth (courtesy of the NPS). Our room in the Bryce canyon resort is my favorite of all the places we stayed at on this trip. It was elegant, spacious and conveniently located. Like the Arches national park, the main road of Bryce is an 18-mile-long scenic drive leading to the highest elevations of the park through all the viewpoints. We arrived at the Rainbow point not so early in the day. It started snowing while we were there, adding to the cold and the spectacle that lay before us. As most people do not venture beyond the amphitheater especially during winter, we were in no rush, stopping at every point on our return drive north spending ample time at each. Every one of those offers a different perspective and you would spend hours trying to get the perfect photograph that would translate all that we see into a still that we can save forever. The formations were dreamlike at certain places, as if the castles from fairytales were here before us. The natural bridge appeared familiar from a lot of pictures that announced it as a must-see in Bryce. It certainly is. In Bryce, nature is restating that everything that we create is inspired and reared by what we see around us and by endangering it, we jeopardize ourselves.

A visit to no national park is complete without a hike or two, sometimes long, sometimes short that would let us explore more than what meets the eye at first glance. The Queen’s Garden and the Navajo loop are the most popular hiking trails in Bryce, enjoyed one at a time or together. We chose the latter which is shorter and more difficult of the two, mostly because being able to see the Thor’s hammer – seen in most pictures of Bryce canyon – is a highlight of this trail. We descended into the magnificent canyon through switchbacks, now covered by the beautiful red rocks on all sides. The trail led us through the bottom of the valley flanked the rocks on one side and tall Fir trees on the other putting together some amazing scenery. After a while we deviated from the path that led to the Queen’s Garden trail and started our climb back up to the sunset point. It is in this section that we meet the double arch that gives it the name “Two bridges” and Thor’s hammer. We drove around hoping to find some food nearby after the exhausting hike but exited the park and made a quick stop at Fairyland point which we might have missed, not expecting to see anything past the visitor center. Bryce canyon city served as the perfect pitstop where we grabbed lunch and spent a lot of time at a gift shop. I was finding it hard to choose between all the informative books with stunning pictures. It did not look like the same place that we had entered the shop from as it was snowing when we were finally ready to leave. Never had I had the experience of seeing a place as it is and covered in snow later in the day and I gaped at the landscape in awe, the red canyon and the mountains that we had seen on our drive here, now on our way to Zion national park. It would have been lovely to be able to see the Bryce Amphitheater covered in snow, just like picture on the pamphlet they give us at the entrance, but my fear stemming from my unfamiliarity with the weather conditions prompted me to say no to this idea.

A deer that narrowly escaped getting hit by our car knocked us off our trance, lost in the beauty of the surroundings. We arrived at our place of stay quite far from the Zion park entrance just after sunset. We were disappointed that we needed to use common restrooms and bathrooms. Imagine trudging out in the cold in the middle of the night or early in the morning. On our request, they upgraded us to a bigger suite with all the amenities free of charge. They had a very expensive thanksgiving dinner which we signed up for, choosing that instead of a long drive to some place else for food. It was delicious, not quite worth the price for a vegetarian like me, satiating, nevertheless. This is the first time I had had something special for thanksgiving and the taste of the sweet potato casserole lingers on my tongue as I type this almost two months later.