bryce canyon national park

A Utah tourism commercial featuring their five national parks has caught my attention lately (one of the few commercials I'm ever excited to see more than two times), reminded me of this amazing stop on our road trip, and really deepened my itch to go to another national park (we also visited Grand Teton and Yellowstone). The commercial portrays the other four parks in Utah as having the same kind of look and feel as Bryce Canyon--huge red canyon rocks, deep gorges, sudden cliffs--and the drive wouldn't be unmanageable for a three day trip (is 9 hours unmanageable?) so I'm eyeing Capitol Reef and Zion as potential next stops on our goal to visit every national park (although California's famous Yosemite is also in the mix).

Bryce Canyon is one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. The surrounding pine forest conceals most of the canyon right up to the rim, making your first glimpse of the orange and red amphitheaters of carved rock incredibly dramatic.

We started at some of the more famous lookouts but decided to hike along the upper rim trail, which was decidedly less crowded. Possibly because the trail hugged the edge of the canyon--it was not for the faint of heart.

We were brave enough to saddle right up to the edge...

The two most famous rock formations in Bryce Canyon are "The Thumb" and "Thor's Hammer" which (surprise!) look like a thumb and a hammer.

Over the course of our road trip, I really perfected my ability to take self-timer photos. This photo was taken as the camera was wedged in the crook of a low tree branch.

peak hours

Yep, I'm still posting about that road trip I took in August/September.

You drive right into Grand Teton National Park when exiting Yellowstone. I wish I had a week to hike and camp there. The mountains were un-be-lievable. At one point I actually exclaimed, "I can't believe these peaks!!!"

I felt like I had stepped directly into Middle Earth's Misty Mountains (super nerdy reference).

yellowstone part 3 : what's that smell?

I know that the holiday season is in full swing (I think the leaves are even starting to turn in Southern California!) but let's take it back a few months and return to Yellowstone and our last leg of the visit to this National Park. On the southeast route, we hit a few tourist grabs--the Sulphur Pits and Yellowstone Lake.

The pits were the second prehistoric flashback I experienced in the park (the first, The Petrified Tree, you can read about here). These pools of mud and steam abruptly disrupted the smooth dirt of the forest floor. The odor emanating was absolutely disgusting--yes, it really does smell like the most rancid rotten eggs. It was almost like a game to see how long you could withstand the stench to snap some photos.

 

Yellowstone Lake was much cleaner. And stench-free. And, even though we were just coming from our city on huuuuuge Lake Michigan, this body of water was impressive. Lake Michigan doesn't have any of those shadowy mountains in the background, either (on a clear day, though, you can see the smokestacks of Gary).

Exiting Yellowstone, you practically drive directly in to Grand Teton National Park (hint, hint--that's what I'll be posting on next in this series).

Want to remind yourself of the whole shebang? You can read my posts on Yellowstone here and here. I can not recommend a visit to Yellowstone enough. I can't wait to go back and stay for a week--camp, hike, see the geysers, see more of the lake. There are so many gorgeous mountains, lakes, rivers, forests, falls, plateaus in this one National Park. I would even be so bold as to call it THE quintessential American National Park. That's right, I said it.

yellowstone part 2 : rise & fall

Two of the biggest attractions we saw at Yellowstone were the Petrified Tree and Tower Falls. It seems kind of silly to park in a little lot, climb a path, and take a photo next to an preserved tree, but it's also awe-inspiring to be so close to something so ancient and rare. It evoked a feeling in me that was a cross between putting my foot into a 40,000 year old footprint in Australia and watching the mosquito scene in Jurassic Park.


Tower falls was decidedly more touristy, with its paved viewing platform and proximity to a gift shop.

National park gift shops are a treasure trove for odd items with "Yellowstone" printed on the side. You have your usual mugs, aprons, magnets, but also artwork like this, titled "A Mother's Pride":

A Yellowstone magnet did make its way onto our fridge.

I think I may have already used the photo below, but I like it so I'm putting it in again. 

Happy Friday!

yellowstone part 1 : north east loop

Yellowstone National Park may be one of the most beautiful places in America. Dane & I decided that every American citizen should be required to visit the park at some point in their lifetime. The park is way too big to fit into one day, so we had some decisions to make about what to see. Yellowstone is shaped like a big figure 8:

image from yellowstonenationalpark.com

We we driving from the North Entrance to the South Entrance, so we could choose which route around the figure 8 to take. To save a little time, we avoided the sites that would likely be very crowded (Old Faithful & the geysers), and drove the eastern road through the park. Not seeing some of the big name attractions gives me an excuse to come back (and this time, spend a week there). Don't get me wrong, we still saw dozens of amazing sites! So many, in fact, that I'm splitting the trip into several posts.

I didn't really know what to expect from the landscape at Yellowstone. I never really put a face to the name, so to speak, despite learning about the park many, many times in school. Yes, I knew Yellowstone National Park was in Northwest Wyoming, it's one of the largest national parks, it's the home of Old Faithful, but seeing it is a completely different experience. It's so large and diverse. There are forests, streams, waterfalls, plateaus, mountains, lakes, wildlife, geysers, sulphur pits...

Yeah, I'm definitely going back.

little bighorn

On our way to our campground in Montana, we stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument/Custer National Cemetery (the site of what's often known as Custer's Last Stand). The battlefield sits quietly on the top of a mountain in the Crow Indian Reservation. If you don't know much about the Battle of Little Bighorn and its controversies-- both the action and the historical treatment of the event--I'd encourage you to at least do a little googling or wiki-ing if you're interested in the creation of historical perspective.

I'm not going to say much about it, because I think these photos speak for themselves--they're some of my favorites from our trip. Please enjoy.

It felt a little strange to pose for pictures. The site has a somber but proud feeling in the air--smiling at a battle ground felt disrespectful (here's where the cavalry fell!--eek) but not smiling felt too stern. Is there any proper way to take photos at important but bloody historical sites? If you know the answer, please share.