May 23 -- part 3, walking up out of the "canyon", and the rest of the day

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Here is a link to the interactive expedition map.  I added restaurant Hummus and Heifer to the map.



Walking up out of Bryce "Canyon."

Aquarius Plateau on the horizon.

A wider view of a sandy (rather than rocky) part of the near landscape.

I think we came up the trail that's visible on the right, but I can't remember being right next to that white hoodoo near the center of the image.  Note the big tree at right.  In a moment we'll be higher and will see its top.

Closer crop of the above.

Zig-zagging up and up.  The same big tree at right we saw before, from a higher angle.

Closer crop of the above -- I didn't notice this little tree until I saw the previous image on "the big screen."  I'm afraid this baby tree has chosen poorly.  I recently read a book by a botanist, who talked about the way seeds must choose when to germinate, throwing all of their genetic dice at once, and hoping for the best.  This looks like a very precarious position to me......

Hoodoo formation in "action"......  Water will continue to find its way into the vertical cracks, and will freeze there, crushing rock.  Gravel/sand resulting from the ice's expansion will trickle out of the cracks, and slowly slowly the hoodoos will separate from each other.

Keeping going.  Up and up.

Looking back whence we came.  There were a bunch of teenagers on this trail.  They kept running up past us, and then having to stop to breathe, so we caught up to them.  Over and over.

Now we are nearly up to the rim.

This next image shows Sunset Point, where we started this hike.  Sunset Point is just left of the middle of the image, above the zigzag of trail in the center of the image. 

Closer crop.  We walked down that zigzag about 2.5 hours before I took this pic.

Back to our room for a rest. That's our balcony, upper left.

What a pretty day.

Old folks sitting on the balcony, waiting for the youngster to finish her walk.

We left the park and went into Panguitch for supper.  This is Red Canyon.

This is Hummus and Heifer, a husband-and-wife vegetarian-and-barbeque place.  We had delicious salads, prepared by friendly people in a quirky and fun location.  Recommended.

My daughter's birthday is May 22.  One of her best friends from high school has a birthday on May 24.  They both love cheesecake.

May 23 is designated as Cheesecake Day.  This slice is from the Bryce Canyon National Park lodge restaurant, and it was a fine way to celebrate Cheesecake day.  There was a huge line at the restaurant; we got take-out cheesecake, and ate it on our balcony.  Mmmmmmm.

Here is a link to the next post about the Grand Canyon trip.

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