Last Updated Sunday October 07, 2007
On the Forth of July a few years ago we flew up to Bryce Canyon to see what we could see. This would have been at least a 14 hour drive from San Diego each way with the traffic on Interstate-15, but we made it in about 3 hours in our Maule. The combination of flying in a straight line (thanks to GPS navigation) and cruising at 140 to 150 miles and hour helps a lot. We visited Bryce canyon and flew over the Grand Canyon four times (see below for link) leaving Saturday morning and were home mid-afternoon on Sunday.
This is what the Bryce Amphitheater looks like from our plane. It's the centerpiece of the National Park. It turns out there are several places where these fantastic rock forms are nearby, which we could view from the air but most park visitors never see. They were all over, some of which didn't appear to be in the park at all.
The Bryce Canyon Airport has a nice long runway, and you need it at this high altitude. I'm glad we had that big 260 horsepower IO-540 up front because the density altitude was over 10,000 feet. They guys with the four cylinder engines wouldn't be able to get off the ground!
Our friend Mario took this picture of Nancy and Roy with our Maule at the Bryce Canyon Airport, then the two pilots, Mario and Roy.
This is the first time we have seen an airplane hanger built like a log cabin. There are lots of trees on the mesa above Bryce Canyon, which is why Ebenezer Bryce explored this area.
We stayed at Ruby's Inn, which even shows up on the aeronautical charts. To cross the busy road in front they supplied flags to stop the traffic. From Ruby's we took the Park shuttle bus to see the canyon inside the national park.
This is a panoramic shot of Bryce Canyon from Bryce Point, the farthest stop on the shuttle bus route. This is the first one you should try to get an overview of the best parts of the park.
If you walk a little ways along the trail from Bryce Point toward Inspiration Point and the clouds go away you get this view that includes the weird caves in the white rock. Looks like some Egyptian tomb city out of a movie.
I don't know how Mario could see all the reds and pinks with his blue sunglasses on.
Nancy trying to take a picture of Mario so the canyon down below shows behind him. You see some people in some funny poses.
The view from Sunset Point, the entry for the most popular trails that do down into the canyon.
There are trails that lead down into the canyon so you can look up at the rocks. We only had time for a short walk and the trails are steep.
Thor's Hammer, probably the most famous hoodoo, or rock pinnacle.
Up close you can almost imagine a face on the balanced rock of Thor's Hammer. You can see three other hammer shaped balanced rocks forming, each on their own tall spire, though you almost can't tell because they are so close together.
Some of the rock formations are so close together that it appears there is nothing but a cave between them. It will have to wait until next time to find out what's in there. Other Hoodoos are all lined up. There are so many it's mind boggling.
Some of the rock formations are like thin fins. Some of the fins have holes in them that look like windows.
Mario took this picture of Roy taking a picture of Nancy down the trail. And here's the resulting picture of Nancy under the formation known as the Sentinel.
This is as far as we walked down into the canyon. Would have loved to go all the way but we didn't have time. Rushing back up the hill at 8,000 feet took our breath away. Good thing there was a water fountain at the top.
The plants and animals weren't afraid of the steep drop-offs.
This puny little river carved the huge canyon you see here, exposing the pink cliffs that make up Bryce Canyon and many other examples of hoodoos.
The cliffs that the Bryce Canyon pink rock forms are cast from is the top step of the Grand Staircase.
The second step down is the white cliffs, which stretch for a hundred miles or more.
The third step is the vermilion cliffs. looking back we could see the top step in the distance on the right, then the other two steps coming closer to us.
There are many other layers that you have to go to the Grand Canyon to see, which we did on the way to and from Bryce Canyon.