17 October 2017, Tuesday
Back to Bryce and Kodachrome Basin
Last night was relatively balmy! The temperature only got down to -5 degrees C, about 25 degrees F. We were also better prepared for the cold with a few more layers in Wglwof. This morning we return to Clarke’s Restaurant in Tropic for breakfast and then hurry back to the visitor center at Bryce in anticipation of our “prize” for hiking the two loops yesterday. The ranger at the desk gives us a big smile and insists on seeing the photos of us at the trail benchmarks. Then she does an imitation of confetti falling and fireworks going off and presents each of us with an “I hiked the hoodoos” decal. Hooray!!
We decide to take it easy today. O has a cold. Actually, I had it first while we were in Sabrina Basin and I guess I “shared.” We spend some time at the visitor center exploring the geologic history here and watching a film in which members of various tribes: Utes, Paiutes, Hopi, Zuni and Navajo discuss their relationship to this place, dating back long before it came to be called Bryce Canyon in the 1800’s. We learn that “hoodoo” is a Native American word for the rock forms which, according to legend, used to be people who were turned into rock spires by Coyote for misbehaving. Next, we drive the park road to its end at Rainbow Point. The colors truly are a rainbow. Bryce is very near the top of the “Grand Staircase” which steps its way down to Grand Canyon. At Bryce, we are almost 2000 feet higher than the top of Grand Canyon. Once again the views are spectacular.
Today we return to Kodachrome Basin in mid-afternoon. We check out the visitor center at the state park as well and discover that the tall rock “pipes” and spires here are the result of a wet sedimentary slush being pushed up by the pressure of overlying layers and then solidified into particularly hard rock by the pressure of surrounding layers. When the softer layers eroded away, the pipes were left standing. A National Geographic exploration in 1939 sought and received permission from Kodak to name the area Kodachrome Basin.
Later this afternoon we have time for showers and dinner here at the state park. The sun drops behind the rim of the basin, but it remains warm enough in the early evening to sit outside and enjoy the patterns of the shadows on the rim wall.