20.04 - Day 96 - Zion to Bryce Canyon

Saturday 20th April - Zion (Springdale), Utah - Bryce Canyon, Utah (Day 96)

To squeeze in a little more of Zion before we depart, I quietly leave Zion Park Motel at 6:15am, driving to the Visitor Centre and begin the Watchman Trail with just the first bits of daylight before sunrise to light the way. I see not another living soul on the 2.6km walk looping around the hills edges rising up 120 metres. 

I am a little conscious of the situation, staying just a foot further away from the edge than normal not wanting Kate to have to deal with me falling down a ravine. But without a rucksack filled with food (and no little people with their shorter legs) I bound up in 25 minutes to the overlook with sweeping views up the valley to the right, the steep rock walls in front and opening up to the grassland out of the valley to the left. 

The rising sun behind me is starting to light up the mountains in front. It’s another tough day. Without distraction on the descent it’s noticeable the number of small but colourful flowers dotted in between the cacti, yuccas and other shrubs. 

I’m back at the room by 8am, to find everyone still in bed, perfect timing to then all head to Porters Cafe next door for an oversized breakfast. Sienna and Seb play in the small park in the Motel whilst Kate and I pack up and check out our well rehearsed routine, coffee and tea in the flasks in the centre console, snacks to hand to drip feed to the kids as necessary. 

It’s only two hours to Bryce Canyon, but we will stop after 50 minutes at a grocery store on one side of the road and The Rock Stop on the other. There are four rock shops within 200 metres of each other yet nothing at all within a 30 minutes radius. Outside The Rock Stop are piles and crates of different rocks for sale by the lb / pound. But a one pound of lava is a slightly impractical souvenir to carry for 9 months. Inside the rock shaped building are smaller polished rocks; the kids each choosing one, whilst Kate and I select two stone rings - having left our wedding and engagement rings back in Sydney. 

The drive through Utah continues with long straight roads, large mountains and bright blue skies. Turning off the interstate it’s 10 miles or so of windy roads, red rocks and dust emerging before turning right to Bryce Canyon City at that rarity of things in America, a roundabout. City isn’t an exaggeration, it’s a lie. One set of owners have almost a stranglehold with accommodation, general store, campsites and that’s it, the complete contents of the city. 

Bryce View Lodge is our home for two nights, 4 blocks of two story motel rooms. It’s across the road from the main complex, but  it's half the price and clean and functional. A seemingly standard 4pm check in seems very late, but thankfully at our 2pm arrival they let us in - again it definitely feels like shoulder season. 

Unpacked, we pop the three miles to the park's edge to collect the Junior Rangers booklet and get advice on what to see / do with a 6 & 9 year old - they must repeat themselves hundreds of times a day to fly by visitors but it doesn’t seem a chore. 

On their recommendation we do the 36 mile there and back drive, through the National Park, leaving the trails and walks which are nearer the visitor centre for tomorrow. We drive to the final lookout point to work our way back. 

Since turning off the main road Sienna and Seb have become very animated at the scattered patches of snow - these are children whose only interaction with snow was a weekend near Canberra on a small slope created by snow machines. 

So driving higher with more snow is getting them very excited and at the end of the road at the highest point of 9,115 feet at Rainbow Point, they don’t care for scenery, they rush out the car to grab snow and start throwing. We expected it to be rock hard, but actually it’s still prime snow ball material, or good for mini snowmen that Sienna crafts. 

For all the other visitors its the views over Bryce Canyon we’re come for - water and ice erosion has left behind hundreds of hoodoos - tall sandstone structures with layers of colour from white to red depending on the amount of iron ore mixed in with each sedimentary layer. There’s thousands of them in this area viewable from the half dozen spots we stop at on the way back to Bryce View Lodge - at each lookout by the road the kids are mildly impressed but immediately turn and look for more snow to play in whilst Kate and I admire the changing shades as the sun starts to dip behind us. 

Back in the city we take advantage of the large indoor pool in the complex and thankfully have found one of the four Destination Chargers (which means slow but free) where we leave the car overnight. For a quick dinner hit we walk through the General Store sweeping up some soups and noodles for a quiet dinner in the room - the kids again wanting to play The Check-In game before bed.