Bryce Canyon National Park is in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Utah, whose capital is Salt Lake City. As Wikipedia points out, "canyon" is actually a misnomer. There is no canyon in the park; instead, the park is "a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors."
The national park called Bryce Canyon covers an area of 141 km² (56 m²) and receives more than two million visitors annually. It's at a high elevation, with a rim that varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 meters) in altitude.
(All these photos can be enlarged.)
In 1998, I went to Utah with our friend Sue to see Bryce Canyon park and nearby Zion National Park. We were there in the month of April. The weather turned snowy. It wasn't too bad in Zion park, which is at a much lower elevation. The roads up to Bryce Canyon park were officially closed, however. It was a disappointment. In October 1999, Walt and I drove to Utah and were able to spend time and take photos in both of the parks. Bryce Canyon park is 900 kilometers (600 miles) east of San Francisco.
A funny thing that happened when we were there had to do with our dog Collette, who was traveling with us. We had read about a short hiking trail that led out to an overlook point with spectacular views of the hoodoos below. We parked there but then saw a sign that dogs were not allowed on the trail. So I walked out by myself to take some photos. When I got to the overlook, there were two people there, a man and a woman, admiring the views. When they saw me, they tried to ask if would be willing to take photo of them with their camera, with the view behind them.
Their English was fairly rudimentary and I recognized their accent. They were French. Mais bien sûr, I told them. Then we chatted for a few minutes in French while I took pictures for me and Walt. They were pretty surprised to meet somebody who spoke French in such a remote location, so many light years from France.
I had put Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park on my list, but we didn’t go because of the elevation. Frank had heart problems in Yellowstone and then, later, in Santa Fe, so we knew that elevation wasn’t for us.
ReplyDeleteFrom your beautiful photos and those I have seen before, I know how picturesque Bryce Canyon can be.
A place I ned to go.
ReplyDeleteI love that there were French people there, too. Your photos are nice to see and remember a family visit in 1992.
ReplyDeleteThose are amazing photos! I have never been (Betsy and Doug went, once, though!)
ReplyDeleteSimilar story about French speakers: We were at Busch stadium, to go to a Cardinals game. While walking around the outside, to find the entrance that was best for our seats, two guys came up and asked, hesitantly, in French-accented English, if we could help them find the ticket window. I told them, and then asked, in French, if they spoke French, and they were so excited to be able to converse comfortably! They were from Québec somewhere. We all laughed about how funny it was that they happened to ask me, since it's not like there are tons of French speakers in St. Louis, and I may have been the only one at the game that day. Ha! (Not as cool a venue as Bryce Canyon, though!)
Your pictures are truly beautiful and so lucky for the French tourists that you were there. I have great memories of visiting these parks about 25 years ago.
ReplyDeleteUtah is also a place on my "to do list" because of those colorful vistas and "hoodoos"!
ReplyDeleteWhen I hear a french accent from tourists here in America, I don't ask ...'do you speak french?' I just respond in french and then with their response I explain I thought I detected their accent! I have made many new friends (if only for a morning, afternoon or evening)! On once chance encounter, I met a young couple who had sold everything, ordered a new VW camper and picked it up in NYC and then drove across the US before my husband and I met them at a campground on the Oregon Coast. They had also driven up to Alaska and then were headed down to California and on to South America. They had a dog, no children and we had just started our week-end, but we invited them to join us at our inland home a couple of days in the future for a couple of days, warm baths/showers and a short tour of our surroundings and because we, too, had a dog, everyone was included! They changed their plans and took us up on our offer! We had a marvelous time, but I was never able to connect up with them again (they were from the Netherlands).