USA 2019: A day around Bryce

It was our last day in the log cabin/shack and we spent it pottering about some local places. First, a walk on the periphery of Red Canyon, then a trip back to Bryce to complete the full package of places there, followed by a stroll to Moss Cave and a gravel drive to Tropic Reservoir. A full and varied day that culminated in scrambled egg on toast for dinner. We know how to live. Tomorrow we head east to Torrey for a couple of nights.

Our plan was to take The Arches Trail at Red Canyon. Unfortunately, somewhere along the track we missed a marker and ended up doing 3 miles on the Losee Canyon Trail instead. Notwithstanding our being on the wrong route, it was an enjoyable walk through pine trees and surrounded by red cliffs.

We were able to get up close to the hoodoos here and imagined that we had seen some arches - we didn't. Look at the blue sky. It was a shirt-sleeve walk and quite warm - compare with later in the day.

One of the places at Bryce we had not visited was Fairyland Point, so named bacause the formations here resembled fairy castles. That bit escaped me but the hoodoos were impressive.

Sorry, still no fairy castles for me. Perhaps we ought to rename this to Cynics' Point.

There I was eating my cheese and pickle sandwich when I heard the swoosh of wings. Luckily Mrs P grabbed my camera and managed to get this shot before the ravenous raptor swooped off triumphantly into the sky, chuckling, no doubt, in anticipation of a feast. They say that forbidden fruits always taste the sweetest. I shouldn't say this but I hope it got indigestion.

After I'd recovered my composure after the snatched sandwich incident, I returned to my Peppa Pig lunch box to find it empty. It's no good having that 'Who me? Butter wouldn't melt in my mouth' expression, Mr Pronghorn. I know it was you. Eating cheese? I thought you were a herbivore. You don't want to know the dark thoughts I'm harbouring about you but they start with a bun and end with a burger.

We drove into the National Park to see the hoodoo amphitheatre from Bryce Point just one last time. Guess what? It rained and sleeted, frightening away all the visitors and leaving Mrs P in splendid isolation on the viewing platform.

But even under such conditions, the view was worth seeing. As a point of record, yesterday at Zion, the temperatures were around 85F. Today at Bryce, they were 40F. Even Cornwall doesn't get such variations.

We also stopped off at Mossy Cave, a trail that lead to a cave that had moss in it. Big deal, you might think. In Cornwall we've got moss everywhere but that misses the point. Over here, the climatic conditions conducive for moss growth are rare, hence moss being classed as a tourist attraction. One man's meat and all that....
Notwithstanding the moss what was also interesting about this place is the fact that you are now looking at the Tropic Ditch - a large watercourse dug by hand in the 1890s to bring water to settlements such as Tropic. The builders used the paths of existing waterways as much as they could and it's still being used today to bring water down from the Tropic Reservoir.

A few neat hoodoos. Well, we are at the south end of Bryce.

What was impressive about this waterfall is not so much its height but the sheer volume of water coming over it.

A few arches that will eventually collapse to form hoodoos. It was raining when we were here and it was interesting to see how 'muddy' the surfaces of the rocks appeared.

No, not a push-me-pull-you (with apologies to Dr Dolittle) but two pronghorns by the gravel track on the way to Tropic Reservoir. I wonder if they knew about the pilfering exploits of their cousin at Bryce? I certainly wouldn't chance opening a lunch box near them just in case thieving is a congenital trait amongst this antelope group.

A large raptor of some sort at Tropic Reservoir. I'll need to consult a bird book to find out what sort this one is. It was wheeling around with, presumably, its mate.