Kanab, UT, to Springdale, UT

19 January 2016:  I moved on to another canyon today: Bryce Canyon National Park, an extraordinary place.  The heart of the Park is a ridge (the "rim") oriented roughly north-south, with an 18-mile road that gives access to outlook points over the dramatic rock formations on the eastern side of this rim.  The elevation ranges from 7894 ft. (2406 m.) at the northern entrance of the Park to 9115 ft. (2778 m.) at Rainbow Point in the south.  There are a number of excellent hiking trails that descend from the rim.  One would need proper equipment (in particular, good boots with some sort of cleats or crampons) to hike on today's packed snow.  Since I lacked such gear, I remained on the rim:  I drove from the entrance of the Park to the southern end of the road, stopping at each outlook point to admire the view.  Here are the highlights of my day:

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The scenery as one approaches Bryce Canyon is already striking:

Sunset Point and Sunrise Point look over the area called the Bryce Amphitheater.

The distinctive features of Bryce Canyon are "hoodoos", bulbous pillars of limestone formed by weathering and erosion -- in particular, the process of "frost-wedging" (when water within cracks and fissures in the rock repeatedly freezes and thaws).

One of the trails descending from the rim is visible here:

A tenacious tree!

Continuing south, Bryce Point also looks over the Amphitheater.

A panoramic view:

South of Bryce Point, I drove through an area where there had been a fire in 2009:

The Park was not empty today, but there were not very many visitors.  At some outlook points, I was alone.

More tenacious trees:

I left Bryce Canyon in the mid-afternoon and drove to Springdale, at the entrance to Zion National Park.  The road passed through spectacular moutainous terrain.  Even the road matches the color of the mountains. 

The view from my motel room tonight: